Assalamu Aleikum!
One of the things I had no idea about before I came to work with the Bedouin in the UAE was how they greeted each other. I presumed, in my ignorance, that they shook hands and said 'Assalamu Aleikum'. If pushed I might have hazarded a guess that they would hug each other. I remembered reading an anthropological article many years ago that said the Arabs stood closest to each other when conversing. This was out of all the other peoples. If I remember rightly the British stood furthest apart!
When Bedouin men meet they touch noses much like the Eskimoes. It seems to only be the Bedouin as the ex-pat Arabs simply shake hands. It's wonderful to watch two men move their faces slowly together until their noses touch. For a split second they are looking each other in the eye with only an inch or so separating. It seems very intimate and for a good solid Briton a touch too intimate. A firm handshake seems more my cup of tea.
Masalamah
Yahya
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2 comments:
assalamu alaikum brother, This is not the first time I've heard of this greeting. My husband's friend, a Syrian, used to greet a very old Sheikh in Dubai this way, except that when the noses touched, the two brothers would then do a "muack" (pucker their lips to make a kiss noise) :).
I have only met bedu in Oman. Even though they were recently "settled" in houses, they were, masha'allah, quite strong looking people.
Assalamu Aleikum
Jazakallah for your comment. Now you mention it I've noticed the puckering of lips & kissing sound.
Yahya
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