Arabs vs Pakistanis
It is okay if you are as confused as I was on the differences between Arabs and Pakistanis. If you have reached this article, then surely you are looking for the answers to these questions. Basically, the information and education about what each is (or not) would certainly answer this question.
The source of the confusion is topography and lineage consideration. Because there is a country named Saudi Arabia and there also exists a country named Pakistan, both lie in the Middle East Asian topography it is sure to be confusing. Fortunately, this very pertinent information can shed light on this multi-level of confusion.
Let us take a look at the Arabs first. “Arab” is an ethnicity specifying the people who live in the Arab world–the region in the Middle East, West Asia, and North Africa. They are an ethnic group of people that has an identified and unique linguistic, genealogical, and cultural origin of their own. Their identity is based on their tribal relationships that are to say internal and grounded in their roots.
An Arab, nonetheless, can be identified by this ethnicity, and it does not necessarily mean that he is from Saudi Arabia (or from other countries in the Middle East for that matter). An Arab can be found in most parts of the Middle East and the rest of the world. As long as his roots are Arabic – bedouin roots and generally speaks Arabic, and has this ethnolinguistic identity, then the person is broadly referred to as an Arab. The Arab religion is predominantly Islam, but take note that not all Muslims are Arabs. Again, Arabs are people with that particular lineage.
On the other hand, Pakistanis are people living in the country of Pakistan. Pakistani people are citizens of the said country and have lived there with all its multi-ethnicities and cultures. Thus, a Pakistani need not be Arab in lineage. Pakistani is a nationality; therefore, lineage can be of Arab descent or not.
Pakistanis are mostly Muslims because Pakistan is a Muslim state. Though religion does not necessarily form a prerequisite to become a citizen of whichever country, it only says that in Pakistan, Islam is the majority. Thus, some Pakistanis are of Arab lineage, and their nationality is just Pakistani (in that case there is no use to differentiate the two).
There goes the line that separates Arabs and Pakistanis. Generally and basically, “Arab” is lineage, and “Pakistani” is nationality or citizenship. To further illustrate the meaning and difference between the two, let us compare them with other countries and their lineage. If you say “American,” you are referring to the people of the United States of America. But when you take a look closer, not all Americans are Caucasians or whites. There are African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and so on. The word “American” is their citizenship, and the latter demographic specifics are lineage.
To further discuss this, Arabs can be citizens of Pakistan, thus making them Pakistani by nationality but Arabs in lineage. But we call them Pakistani, like we call an Asian-American with American citizenship as American or has American citizenship. But if you ask him his lineage, he would say he’s Asian. (That can still be specified into: Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Indonesian, etc.).
Summary:
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