What is "arabization"

alt. 1 that which has been Arabized 2 the process of Arabizing n. 1 that which has been Arabized 2 the process of Arabizing

Arabization or Arabisation ( ) describes either the conquest of a non-Arab area and the migration of Arab settlers into the new domain or a growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing their gradual adoption of the Arabic language and/or their incorporation of Arab culture and Arab identity. It was most prominently achieved during the 7th century Arabian Muslim conquests, in which Arab armies were followed by massive Arab tribal migrations into hitherto largely non-Arab and non-Muslim-occupied territories across the Middle East and North Africa, spreading the Arabic culture, language, and as a result Arab identity upon conquered nations and peoples. The religion of Islam and the associated istamist socio-political order, with their central Quran text written in Arabic language and tailored for Arab culture, had a central role in Arabization, which usually went hand in hand with Islamization of conquered lands. Generally, elements of Arabian origin were combined in various forms with elements from conquered civilizations and ultimately denominated "Arab". Arabization also continued in modern times, most prominently being enforced by the Arab nationalist regimes of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Mauritania, Algeria and Libya with policies which include expanding colonial Arab settlements, expulsion of non-Arab minorities and enforcement of Arab identity and culture upon non-Arab populations, in particular by means of not permitting autochthonous mother tongues other than Arabic in education. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, citing local witnesses, also claims that the aggressive persecution of non-Arab minorities by the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is forced Arabization.

After the rise of Islam in the Hejaz, both the Arabic culture and language were spread through conquest, trade and intermarriages between members of the non-Arab local population and the Arabs - in Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Sudan and Tunisia. The Arabic language became common across these areas; dialects were also formed. Although Yemen is traditionally held to be the homeland of the Arabs, most of the Yemeni population in fact did not speak Arabic (but instead South Semitic languages) prior to the spread of Islam. The influence of Arabic has also been profound in many other countries, whose cultures have been influenced by Islam. Arabic was a major source of vocabulary for languages as diverse as Berber, Indonesian, Tagalog, Malay, Maltese, Persian, Punjabi, Sindhi, Somali, Swahili, Turkish, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali as well as other languages in countries, where these languages are spoken; a process that reached its high point in the 10th to the 14th centuries, the high point of Arab culture, and although many of Arabic words have fallen out of use since, many still remain. For example, the Arabic word for book /kita:b/ is used in all the languages listed, apart from Malay, Somali, and Indonesian (where it specifically means "religious book").