for the people next door
Heritage and identity

Is “Arab” the same as “Muslim”?

2 min read Answered by the Neighbor Radio team Neighbor review in progress Updated

No. Arab describes a people who share a language and culture. Muslim describes a religion. Most Muslims in the world are not Arab, and the country with the most Muslims is Indonesia. Many Arab Americans are Christian. And many people from the Middle East aren’t Arab at all, including Iranians, Turks, Kurds and Israeli Jews. When you’re not sure, ask.

1 · MindWhat people believe, and how they know

“Arab” usually means someone whose heritage traces to the Arabic-speaking world, from Morocco to Iraq. The Arab League has 22 member states. Arabs can be Muslim, Christian, Druze, Jewish or not religious at all.

“Muslim” means someone who follows Islam. Only about one in five Muslims lives in the Middle East or North Africa. The largest share live in South and Southeast Asia, and many live in Africa. In the U.S., Muslims come from many backgrounds, and Black Americans make up a large share.

Many of the first Arab immigrants to America, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, were Christians from what is now Lebanon and Syria. Arab Christians pray to God as “Allah,” the Arabic word for God. In 2024, the federal government approved a new Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category, which agencies are slowly adding to their forms. Before that, most people from the region were counted as white.

What each tradition or community says

Many Arab Christians

Their churches are some of the oldest in the world, and they’re tired of being told they must be Muslim.

Many Arab Muslims

Islam began in Arabia and the Qur’an is in Arabic, so the link is real. But faith and ethnicity are still two different things.

Many non-Arab Muslims

South Asian, African, Black American, Indonesian, Turkish and white Muslims often get asked to explain the Middle East. Many have never been there.

Many Iranian Americans

Iranians are Persian, not Arab, and speak Persian, not Arabic. Calling them Arab is a common mistake.

2 · HeartWhat it feels like

Being mislabeled over and over gets tiring. It can feel like people see a category before they see you.

It can also be scary. Arab Christians, Sikhs and others have been targeted by people who assumed they were Muslim.

Your Lebanese neighbor might be Catholic. Your Indonesian neighbor might be Muslim. The map in our heads is usually smaller than the real one.Neighbor Radio

3 · HandsHow to be a good neighbor

Don’t guess someone’s religion from their name, accent or face. If it comes up naturally, ask about their family’s story. Use the words people use for themselves. And if you get it wrong, a simple “Sorry, I assumed” is plenty.

This weekLook up which countries are in the Arab League. Then look up the five countries with the most Muslims. Notice how little they overlap.

Plain wordsWhat do these words mean?

Allah
The Arabic word for God. Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use it too.
Qur’an
The holy book of Islam. Muslims believe God revealed it to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
Catholic
The largest Christian church in the world, led by the Pope in Rome.

All the words →

Four questions to take with you

From Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan, about the stranger who stopped to help. We call it the Samaritan Test.

  1. Did they see? Or look right past?
  2. Did they stop? Even when it was inconvenient?
  3. Did it cost them? Time, money, comfort, reputation?
  4. Did they treat the person like a person? Not like a label?

Try it on: how often do you decide who someone is before they’ve said a word?

Quick questions

Are Iranians Arab?

No. Most Iranians are Persian and speak Persian. Most are Muslim, but they aren’t Arab.

Are Turks Arab?

No. Turks are a separate people who speak Turkish.

Do Arab Christians say “Allah”?

Yes. It’s the Arabic word for God, used in Arabic Bibles.

Sources and research
  1. Pew Research Center, 2017: Muslims and Islam, key findings
  2. Arab American Institute: Demographics
  3. U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 2024: Revised race and ethnicity standards (SPD 15)
How this answer was made

Written in plain words by the Neighbor Radio team. Each faith's and community's section is checked by someone from that faith or community. Until then, this page says so. Spot something wrong? Tell us. We read every note and fix mistakes.

Where to go next

Free tools that go with this

  • Free Constitution (opens in a new tab)→ Read

    The founding documents in full, searchable and in plain order. The rules every American neighbor shares.

    First step: Read the First Amendment. It’s 45 words.

  • Luther's World (opens in a new tab)→ Learn

    Gentle, plain-language lessons from the Lutheran tradition. Tap any word you don’t know and it explains itself.

    First step: Start with the Lord’s Prayer, one line at a time.