As expectations regarding good manners differ from person to person and vary according to each situation, no treatise on the rules of etiquette nor any list of faux pas can ever be complete. As the perception of behaviors and actions vary, intercultural competence is essential. However, a lack of knowledge about the customs and expectations of people of the Middle East can make even the best-intentioned person seem rude, foolish, or worse.
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As expectations regarding good manners differ from person to person and vary according to each situation, no treatise on the rules of etiquette nor any list of faux pas can ever be complete. As the perception of behaviors and actions vary, intercultural competence is essential. However, a lack of knowledge about the customs and expectations of people of the Middle East can make even the best-intentioned person seem rude, foolish, or worse.
Middle East defines a geocultural area, so it does not have precise borders. The common (although somewhat arbitrary) definition includes:
Many matters of etiquette in the Middle East are connected to Islam as it is revealed in the Qur'an and how it has been traditionally understood and practiced throughout the centuries. Prescribed Arabic-Islamic etiquette is referred to as Adab, and described as "refinement, good manners, morals, decorum, decency, humaneness".
As such, many points discussed in this article are applicable in other regions of the...
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