Intermarriage between Arab and Ajam

Emirati society is a mix of Arab, Ajam and other ethnic groups. The majority of Ajam who live in UAE, are essentially Arabs that migrated a while back to Iran from the Arabian Peninsula and migrated back again to the UAE shortly before or at the time of the formation of the country’s union. The main issue is that Arab, question the purity of Ajam due to their acculturation with the Persians. The discrimination against Ajam has become a silent racial issue affecting the relationship between the two groups. This perception has restricted the intermarriage between the two groups. The study considers Arabs and Ajam inter-relationships, social cohesion, and level of mutual acceptance, using a mixed method of data collection and analytical study of ethnological works. The objective is documenting the relationship between Arabs and Ajam, and understanding obstacles facing them with a view of proposing possible solutions for this social problem. The significance of this study is the fact that this social reality has not yet been studied in the open and addressed with its multifaceted dimensions taking place at the chore of UAE social fabric. The finding shows that: first, intermarriage between Arabs and Ajam exists commonly more often than the past; secondly, the social distance comes from old generation and significantly from Arabs more than Ajam; and finally, the young generation is more open to intermarriage and integration between the two groups in general due to moderation namely education, awareness, more openness and less conservatism.