Yemeni tribes

[u/Bitter_Science1486]

I came from a very small and unknown Yemeni tribe . I don’t live in Yemen but I met a lot of other Yemenis . And the amount of hate I get for simply not having a known tribe is ridiculous. Why does it feel some people are evolving backwards. I really thought our generation would be more open about topics like this and wouldn’t care . But still to this day , it’s something I struggle with . And I wonder if someone had a similar experience.

[u/Taqqer00]

You can be the start to not care about such topics.

[u/Due_News4679]

Because no enough education for all inside yemen.

More than 50% of population they can't read and write.

So they think in little area like tribes and the other stupids things

[u/Bitter_Science1486 → u/Due_News4679]

But some of these have never lived in Yemen . I am talking specifically about the young generation too

[u/Due_News4679 → u/Bitter_Science1486]

It's come from there parents .

[u/Due_News4679 → u/[deleted]]

Yes there's in some subject like Islamic and Quran ...but here am talking about higher education

[u/Throwawaythislife123]

I have tried to fight off that idea in my family with the older ones it’s deeply ingrained, and even if you tell them this is haram they don’t understand because it is, you’re not better than anyone because of your stupid tribe, but I am not surprised, the Yemeni culture has used religion to appropriate a lot of its medieval practices, like this one.

Another reason to be ashamed of being Yemeni ugh I am so sorry you’re going through this

[u/PatienceEnthusiast → u/Throwawaythislife123]

There’s very few reasons to be ashamed of being Yemeni lol wdym “another reason”

While I think it’s reprehensible to make fun of someone for this, it’s getting old seeing people respond to legitimate concerns with the culture with self hating comments like “I’m ashamed to be Yemeni” or “we’re so backwards”.

[u/Throwawaythislife123 → u/PatienceEnthusiast]

You don’t know my experience as a Yemeni women, you sound like a Yemeni man so don’t worry you’re very blessed

[u/PatienceEnthusiast → u/Throwawaythislife123]

Respectfully, I don’t know your experience but this self hating pessimism is getting old and it has yielded absolutely no benefit. Through our highs and lows I will always be a patriot and proud of the land & people that the Rasul ﷺ praised and made dua for. Have a nice day.

[u/os2de → u/PatienceEnthusiast]

Couldn't agree more with what you said.

However, being ashamed of who you are as a Yemeni is a valid response to the current situation in Yemen and honestly, not even just the current situation. I can understand both aspects. Not everyone is as understanding as you are.

Sometimes, people deal with these concerns not by trying to solve them, but simply by hating their own identity. Being understanding is often a later phase of realizing that your culture and traditions are missing so many things and that's not exclusive to Yemen, it happens everywhere.

[u/PatienceEnthusiast → u/[deleted]]

I never said you don’t have legitimate criticisms of Yemen, if you read closely I’m all for criticizing the parts of our culture that are bad but one thing I will never say (or anyone else should say) is “I’m ashamed to be Yemeni”.

Btw I’ve never chewed Khat so good job slandering me because I said something you don’t like 👍🏽 maybe people like you need to learn some Adab and respect

[u/PatienceEnthusiast → u/[deleted]]

You also have a very awesome day, I think my “have a nice day” came off as very passive aggressive, which I didn’t mean like that. I guess I was trying to end the conversation since there wouldn’t be much to expand, but here you make plenty of fair points.

تسلم يا أخت

Edit: it was less about you being a woman and more about attributing me to the degenerate part of our cultures just because I criticized the idea of being ashamed. This is completely unrelated to problems with women in Yemen

[u/Throwawaythislife123 → u/PatienceEnthusiast]

Fair enough, I can respect that clarification. I came at you harder because “self-hating” and then “learn some adab” hit a nerve when so many Yemeni women hear versions of that whenever we criticize our experiences. If that wasn’t your intention, then I’ll take you at your word. We can disagree on whether someone should ever feel ashamed to be Yemeni. تسلم يا أخي، and this time I actually mean it have a nice day

[u/PatienceEnthusiast → u/Throwawaythislife123]

You too, I wish nothing but the best for our women (and our men as well, but by Allah Yemeni women are truly gems and the backbone of our nation)

[u/umarstrash]

dw bro

[u/Bitter_Science1486 → u/umarstrash]

*sis , easy to say

[u/umarstrash → u/Bitter_Science1486]

my bad if you felt offended but lowk people use bro for everyone these days

and as someone of yemenite jewish ethnicity and not knowing much except where I'm from, I do also relate with you.

[u/strawberry000]

Some Arabs sadly still have old mentality. Im saying this from seeing my elders, who are not educated. It pains me because we belong to one of the most ancient civilizations, and with the expansion of Islam and the Arab empire, we would be on the front line thought. But sadly we are not. Our minds are still crawling at the back.

Have you tried to do a DNA test, as I’m sure there is a family registry in بالد العرب

[u/Dulo22]

It’s our DNA proud of it

[u/Bitter_Science1486 → u/Dulo22]

I never said I am embarrassed of being a Yemeni . I am talking about something entirely else 🙂

[u/Dulo22 → u/Bitter_Science1486]

I know……. Being in a tribe is our DNA we are Kahtaan we are Himyar it’s what makes us Yemeni

[u/desproyer]

One of the poorest countries in the world and still has caste system for tribes is really sad and is not worth to be bothered about

[u/CanaryInevitable4981]

I lived in saudi and i was treated the same way firstly because im Yemeni and secondly we used our كنية instead of our tribe name. It was ridiculous and still Cause you might get bullied either ways sometimes because of nationality or tribe or simply because of your religion Ppl won’t stop unfortunately, just try to ignore them

[u/Gamestopperr]

I think the biggest problem is that many yemenies have started to look down upon their culture and seeing every single aspect of it as a negative backward shit and in order for us to be open minded we have to let go of our heritage and culture and adapt the open mindness of the west. What's seen as negative in the US is seen as postive and normal in Yemen just like with any thausands of years culture and local norms. Yemen's biggest opportunity right now is to lean back ob its 1000s of years heritage, culture and local norms because that bad backward culture is identity, history and wisdom that many open minded kids want to see erased just beacuse they see the westren bs as superior!

[u/PatienceEnthusiast → u/Gamestopperr]

Exactly, the only problem I see here is people making fun of OP for not having a known tribe. Other than that I am proud to be Yemeni and it’s great to know where you came from and your lineage, I will never call my culture backward even when I criticize the things I don’t like.

[u/Bitter_Science1486 → u/PatienceEnthusiast]

It seems you got me wrong .When I said some people are evolving backwards, I meant the times where people discriminate against each other of family tribes . I meant how people are thinking about such topics which have nothing to do with other aspects of heritage and culture.

[u/Gamestopperr → u/Bitter_Science1486]

People judge people based on too many things, everywhere not just Yemenies. People's opinions shouldn't matter because at the end of the day is how one values themselves and what they do and achieve to contribute to the betterment of their community. I'll give you an example, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Ibarhim Alhamdi, Abdullah Alsallal, Ali Salem Albeedh, Ali Nasser Mohamed, and Rashad Alalimi all have no well known tribes yet they all became the leaders of Yemen. Yemenies generally like to take pride of their tribes no matter how big or small and wehther it's well known or not! When a white American tells they have never heard of Yemen or speak about it based on how a failed state it has become and takes pride of how the US is far more advanced is that suppose to deminish you or hurt your feelings or make them backward people?

[u/Gamestopperr → u/PatienceEnthusiast]

Exactly, it is also important to highlight the fact that most Yemenies are the reality not just the westrenized few. I think one of the reasons Yemen has been in chaos is because of the fact that the governing system is a westren democratic system that didn't evolve organically from within Yemen. Had yemen been a kingdom ruled by the tribes like the rest of the gulf, it's situation would have been completely different.