List of Arabs

This is a list of famous Arab figures through history and modern day

Public Figures and Politicians

• Abd ar-Rahman I (731–788) Founder of the Caliphate of Córdoba
• Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed
• André Azoulay, Jewish adviser to Moroccan King Mohammed VI
• Anwar Sadat
• Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Carlos Menem (b. 1930) President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999
• Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1904–1975) King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975
• Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) Second president of Egypt
• George J. Mitchell, (Lebanese) United States of America special envoy to the Middle East under the Obama administration, U.S. senator from Maine, Senate Majority Leader.
• Hanan Ashrawi (b. 1946) Palestinian legislator
• Harun al-Rashid (763–809) Fifth Abbasid caliph
• Hassan al-Turabi (b. c.1932) Sudanese religious and political leader
• Hosni Mubarak President of Egypt
• Ibn Saud (1876–1953) First king of Saudi Arabia
• John E. Sununu, (Palestinian) senator from New Hampshire.
• John H. Sununu, (Palestinian) Governor of New Hampshire and White House Chief of Staff under George H. W. Bush.
• Mitch Daniels, Assyrian governor of Indiana.
• Mohamed ElBaradei (b. 1942) Egyptian, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1997 to 2009
• Muammar al-Gaddafi (b. 1942) Libyan leader
• Muhammad Abduh
• Muhammad Husayn Haykal
• Muhammad Naguib President of Egypt
• Mustafa Kamil
• Mustafa Wahbi (1919–1971) Jordanian poet, lawyer, teacher, judge, political agitator and philosipher
• Nadya Suleman, (Iraqi father), "Octomom"
• Nick Rahall, (Lebanese) congressman from Wrest Virginia.
• Omar al-Bashir (b. 1944) President of Sudan
• Osama bin Laden (b. 1957) Founder of al-Qaeda
• Qasim Amin
• Rifa'a el-Tahtawi
• Rosemary Barkett, (Syrian), first woman Supreme Court Justice and Chief Justice for the state of Florida.
• Saad Zaghlul
• Saddam Hussein (former Iraqi president)
• Saud ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman Al Saud (1902–1969) Second king of Saudi Arabia
• Selwa Roosevelt, (Lebanese) former Chief of Protocol of the United States and wife of the late Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt, Jr., grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt.
• Spencer Abraham, (Lebanese) senator from Michigan and Secretary of Energy under Bush.
• Steve Bracks (b. 1954) Lebanese Australian politician
• Talaat Pasha Harb
• Umar ibn AbdulAziz (682-720) Notable Umayyad Caliph
• Victor G. Atiyeh, (Syrian) former Governor of Oregon.
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy, (Lebanese) attorney and widow of late Senator Ted Kennedy.
• Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918–2004) President of UAE from 1971 to 2004

Military

• Khalid ibn al-Walid (592–642) Arabian military commander
• George Joulwan, (Lebanese), retired general, former NATO commander-in-chief.
• John Abizaid, (Lebanese), retired general.
• Omar Nasiri, Moroccan spy

Activists

• Ralph Nader, (Lebanese) consumer advocate, politician, first Arab American to run for President of the United States.
• James Zogby, (Lebanese) founder and president of the Arab American Institute.
• Umar al-Tilmisani, The third General Guide (Murshid al-'Am) of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers
• Zainab Salbi, (Iraqi), co-founder and president of Women for Women International.

Religious Figures

• Muhammad (570 or 571–632) Founder of Islam
• Abu Bakr, Companion of Prophet Muhammad and First Caliph
• Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah
• Aisha (d.678) Last wife of Prophet Muhammad and narrator of many hadith
• Ali ibn Abi Talib (c.599–661) Cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad and Fourth Caliph, according to Shi'a Muslims, his successor
• Hafsa bint Umar Wife of Prophet Muhammad
• Khadijah bint Khuwaylid (555–619) First wife of Prophet Muhammad
• Saeed ibn Zaid
• Umar ibn al-Khattab, Companion of Prophet Muhammad and Second Caliph
• Uthman ibn Affan, Companion of Prophet Muhammad and Third Caliph
• Zayd ibn Thabit, the personal scribe of Muhammad and was assigned the role of authenticating and collecting the oral Quranic traditions into a single bounded volume

Scientific and Academic Figures

Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry

• Ahmed ibn Yusuf (835, Baghdad - 912, Egypt) - Mathematician.
• Ibn Tahir al-Baghdadi (980, Baghdad, Iraq - 1037, ? ) Arithmetic.
• Ibrahim ibn Sinan (908 – 946) mathematician and astronomer in Baghdad
• Al-Uqlidisi (920, Damascus, Syria - 980, Damascus, Syria) Wrote two works on arithmetic. He may have anticipated the invention of decimals.
• Al-Umawi (1400, Spain - 1489, Damascus, Syria) Mathematician who wrote works on mensuration and arithmetic.
• Al-Zarqali (1028,Spain - 1087,? CE) He was a leading mathematician and the foremost astronomer of his time. He excelled at the construction of precision instruments for astronomical use. He constructed a flat astrolabe that was 'universal,' for it could be used at any latitude, and he built a water clock capable of determining the hours of the day and night and indicating the days of the lunar months. He was the first to prove conclusively the motion of the aphelion relative to the fixed background of the stars. He measured its rate of motion as 12.04 seconds per year, which is remarkably close to the modern calculation of 11.8 seconds. He also contributed to the famous Tables of Toledo.
• Ahmed Zewail (b.1946) Egyptian-American scientist, winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• Farouk El-Baz (b. 1938) Egyptian scientist
• Charles Elachi, (Lebanese) director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• Fawwaz T. Ulaby (Syrian) winner of the 2006 IEEE Edison Medal and former Vice President of Research for the University of Michigan.
• George A. Doumani, Geologist whose explorations helped prove the theory of continental drift.
• Ali ibn Ridwan (c. 988–c., Giza, Egypt - 1061) Astronomer and geometer with Khalid Ben Abdulmelik.
• Muhammad al-Fazari credited with building the first astrolabe in the Islamic world.

Biology and Medicine

• Abd el-Latif el-Baghdadi (1162, Baghdad, Iraq – 1231) physician, historian and Egyptologist.
• Elias Zerhouni (Algerian) current director of the National Institutes of Health.
• Ibn Zuhr (1091, Seville, Spain - 1161, Seville, Spain) Was one of the most prominent physicians, clinicians and parasitologists of the Middle Ages. He was the first to test different medicines and surgical procedures on animals before using them with humans and is considered the father of experimental surgery. He was also the first to describe in detail scabies, a widespread itch mite, and is thus regarded as the first parasitologist for his discovery of the parasite. He was a practical man and disliked medical speculations. For that reason, he opposed the teachings of Galen and Avicenna.
• Michael DeBakey
• Ibn Abi Usaibia (1203–1270, Damascus, Syria), an Arab physician and Historian. He wrote Uyun al-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba or Lives of the Physicians.
• Al-Zahrawi (936, Cordoba, Spain - 1013, Cordoba, Spain) Was Islam's greatest medieval surgeon, whose comprehensive medical texts, combining Middle-Eastern, Indian and Greco-Roman classical teachings, shaped European surgical procedures until the Renaissance. He is considered the "father Of surgery". His greatest contribution to history is Al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume collection of medical practice.
• Al-Asma'i (739, Basra, Iraq - 831, Basra, Iraq) pioneer of Zoology, Botany and Animal Husbandry.
• Afif Abdul Wahab - doctor surgeon
• Sami Ibrahim Haddad - doctor, surgeon and writer
• Wafaa El-Sadr, director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs

Engineering

• Bernard Khoury, Architect
• Hassan Fathy (1900 – 1989) noted Egyptian architect
• Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah, a pioneer in the field of electrical engineering and inventor who worked for the General Electric Company (GE) in the 1920s and 30s. His research led to 52 patent applications, among them innovations in solar energy and television tubes.
• Rifat Chadirji, Architect
• Suad Amiry, Architect
• Yasmin Al-Ani Spence, Architect
• Zaha Hadid (b. 1950) British Iraqi architect

Humanities and Social Sciences

• Edward Said (1935–2003) Palestinian-American literary theorist.
• Ella Shohat, Professor of Cultural Studies at New York University, and has taught, lectured and written extensively on issues having to do with Eurocentrism and Orientalism, as well as with postcolonial and transnational approaches to Cultural Studies.
• Ibn Wahshiyya (fl. 9th century/10th century) One of the first historians to partly decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.
• Jack Shaheen, emeritus professor of mass communications at Southern Illinois University and author of books like “The TV Arab” and “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People.”
• Nada Shabout (b. 1962) Iraqi American art historian, lecturer, author.
• Sasson Somekh (b. 1933) Professor emeritus of Modern Arab Literature at Tel Aviv University.
• Usamah ibn Munqidh (1095–1188, Damascus, Syria), an Arab historian, politician, and diplomat.

Philosophy

• Averroes (1126–1198) Andalusian polymath; also known as Ibn Rushd
• Ibn Hazm (994–1064) Andalusian philosopher
• Nassim Nicholas Taleb, philosopher, researcher, and veteran practitioner of financial mathematics

Other

• Abbas Ibn Firnas (810–887) Berber polymath
• Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (936–1013) Andalusian scientist; also known as Abulcasis
• Alhazen (965–c.1039) Scientist from Basra (modern Iraq)
• Al-Jazari (1136–1206) Polymath from Al-Jazira (modern Iraq/Syria)
• Christa McAuliffe, Arab American: schoolteacher/astronaut who lost her live aboard the space shuttle Challenger
• Fatima al-Fihri (d. 880) founder of the University of Qarawiyyin, Morocco
• Ibn Battuta (1304–1368 or 1369) Moroccan scholar and explorer
• Ibn Majid (1421–c.1500) Arabian navigator
• Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf (1526–1585) Polymath from Damascus
• Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen)
• Wasil ibn Ata
• Al-Kindi

Cultural Figures

Film, TV, and Stage

• Alia Shawkat, (Iraqi father) actress
• Anissa Jones, {Lebanese maternal grandparents} actress Family Affair.
• Casey Kasem, (Lebanese) radio personality and voice actor.
• Chris Kattan, (Iraqi Jewish father), comedian and actor, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live.
• Danny Nucci, (Moroccan mother) actor.
• Danny Thomas, (Lebanese) actor and his daughter Marlo Thomas, actress.
• Duraid Lahham (b. 1934) Syrian Comedian and director
• Fawaz Gerges, (Lebanese) ABC analyst and regular guest on Oprah's Anti-war series.
• George Nader, (Lebanese) 1950's Hollywood actor.
• George Noory, (Lebanese) radio host, host of Coast To Coast AM with George Noory.
• Haifa Wehbe, Lebanese former beauty pageant contestant, singer and actress
• Jamie Farr, (Lebanese) Hollywood actor especially famous for his role as Klinger (also Lebanese) in the TV series "M*A*S*H".
• Jim Backus, (Lebanese) actor/comedian
• Kathy Najimy, (Lebanese) actress in many American films that include Sister Act.
• Michael Ansara, (Syriac), actor.
• Moustapha Akkad, (Syrian) film producer and director
• Omar Sharif (b. 1932) Egyptian actor
• Ronnie Khalil, (Egyptian) stand-up comedian.
• Sanaa Hamri, (Moroccan) music video and movie director; her films include the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.
• Shannon Elizabeth, (Syrian father) actress.
• Tony Shalhoub, (Lebanese) executive producer and actor of Monk.
• Vic Tayback, (Syrian), actor.
• Vince Vaughn, (partially Lebanese) actor.
• Wendie Malick, (Egyptian), actress and fashion model
• Wentworth Miller, (Part Syrian/Lebanese) actor.
• Hoda Kotb, (Egyptian) television news personality for Dateline NBC and the Today Show.
• Hala Gorani, (Syrian) CNN International news correspondent.
• Yousef Abu-Taleb, (Jordanian) actor Lonelygirl15, Film Producer
• Susie Gharib, co-anchor of the Nightly Business Report, 100 most influential business journalists.
• Hala Gorani, (Syrian) journalist and anchor of CNN's International Desk.
• Remy Munasifi, (Iraqi father/Lebanese mother) comedian also known an GoRemy
• Sahar Dika, (Lebanese) MTV's The Real World: New Orleans (2010) participant
• Salma Hayek, (Lebanese), Actress, director and producer
• Sean Yazbeck, (Lebanese), winner of Donald Trumps 'The Apprentice', NBC (2006)

Musicians

• Asmahan (1918–1944) Syrian-Egyptian singer and actress
• Fairuz (b. 1935) Lebanese diva
• Frank Zappa, (half Arab father) musician.
• Fredwreck, (Palestinian) hip hop producer.
• Cheb Khaled (b. 1960) Algerian raï musician
• DJ Khaled, (Palestinian) rapper, music producer.
• Maryem Tollar, Egyptian singer who primarily sings Arabic songs.
• Mohammed Al-Senan Saudi Arabian music/song composer.
• Naser Mestarihi (Jordanian father) Hard rock musician.
• Paul Anka, (Lebanese) singer/songwriter.
• Paula Abdul, ( Syrian Jewish father), recording artist, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality
• Sammy Hagar, (partially Lebanese) rock musician and former lead singer of Van Halen.
• Shakira, (Part Lebanese), Singer
• Umm Kulthum (c.1900–1975) Egyptian singer
• Wafah Dufour, (Saudi Arabian Father) supermodel and singer

Writers

• Abbas Mahmud al-Aqqad (June 28, 1889–March 12, 1964) Egyptian thinker and writer
• Abdel Rahman Shokry ''(b. 12 October 1886) Egyptian poet.
• Al-Khansa (7th century) Arabian poetess
• Al-Mutanabbi (915–965) Poet from Samawah (modern Iraq)
• Amin Maalouf (b.1949) Lebanese author
• Antarah ibn Shaddad (fl.580) Pre-Islamic Arabian hero and poet
• Fadwa Touqan (1917–2003) Palestinian Poet, known for her representations of resistance to Israeli occupation in contemporary Arab poetry
• Ibrahim Touqan (1905–1941) Palestinian Poet and college professor
• Imru' al-Qais (c.501–c.544) Arabian poet
• Khalil Gibran or Gibran Khalil Gibran, (1883–1931) Lebanese-American writer, philosopher, and painter.
• Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) Egyptian novelist
• Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952) Palestinian-American writer.
• Sinan Antoon (b. 1967) Iraqi poet and novelist.
• Taha Hussein (1889–1973) Egyptian writer
• Edward Said, (Palestinian) literary theorist and outspoken Palestinian activist.
• Helen Thomas, (Lebanese) reporter, columnist and White House correspondent.
• Ismail al-Faruqi, (Palestinian) philosopher and authority on Islam and comparative religion.
• Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Nasiri, Moroccan writer
• Mona Simpson, (Syrian father Abdulfattah Jandali) novelist.
• Lorraine Ali, (Iraqi) reporter, editor, culture writer, and music critic for Newsweek.
• Mohamed Ali al-Nasiri, Iraqi journalist
• Mohammed al-Makki al-Nasiri, Moroccan writer
• Albert Memmi, Tunisian writer.
• Wafaa Abed Al Razzaq (b. 1952) Iraqi poet and writer
• Alia Malek, Lawyer and journalist. Author of the book "A Country Called Amreeka."

Artists

• Dia Azzawi, Iraqi artist.
• Emad Hajjaj (b.1967) Jordanian Cartoonist.
• Ghada Amer
• Hussam A. Fadhli, an award-winning sculptor whose work is displayed around the world, including the Bush Presidential Library.
• Kahlil Gibran
• Karim Rashid, industrial designer who is among the major talents of 21st-century design with work in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
• Kinda Hibrawi (Syrian) Internationally known Artist for Arabic Calligraphy paintings
• Naji Al-Ali (1938–1987) Palestinian cartoonist
• Sherif Sonbol (b. 1956) chief photographer of the Cairo Opera House and Al Ahram Weekly, book author, first Egyptian photographer whose work has been subject of an exhibit at New York´s Lincoln Center
• Wafaa Bilal (b. 1966) Iraqi American artist
• Khalil Rabah, Palesttinian Architect and Artist. Founder of the RIWAQ Gallery, Ramallah, Palestine.

Fashion

• Elie Saab (b. 1964) Lebanese fashion designer.
• Frederic Fekkai, hair stylist
• Joseph Abboud, Menswear designer.
• Reem Acra Lebanese fashion designer.

Other

• Rima Fakih Lebanese, Miss USA 2010
• Valerie Domínguez Tarud, (Lebanese) previous Miss Colombia.
• Dina Azar, Miss Lebanon 1995
• Gabrielle Bou Rached, Miss Lebanon 2005
• Sonia Fares, Miss Lebanon 1969
• Nadine Njeim, Miss Lebanon 2007
• Georgina Rizk (b. 1953) Miss Lebanon 1970/Miss Universe 1971
• Christina Sawaya, Miss Lebanon 2001/Miss International 2002
• Rosarita Tawil, Miss Lebanon 2008

Entrepreneurs

• Ahmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (1968–2010) Emirati businessman
• Al-Waleed bin Talal (b.1955) Member of the Saudi royal family, and world's 19th richest person in 2010
• Carlos Slim (b. 1940) Mexican businessman and world's wealthiest person (April 2010)
• Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. (Syrian father Abdulfattah Jandali).
• Kaysar Ridha, (Iraqi) businessman and contestant on reality series Big Brother.
• John Zogby, (Lebanese) founder and current President/CEO of Zogby International.
• Naguib Sawiris, 62nd richest person on earth in a 2007 list of billionaires, reaching US$10.0 billion with his company Orascom Telecom Holding
• Najeeb Halaby, (Syrian) father of Queen Noor of Jordan Lisa Elhalabi, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. CEO, and chairman of Pan Am.
• Manuel Moroun, owner of CenTra, Inc., the holding company which controls the Ambassador Bridge and Michigan Central Depot.
• Jacques Nasser, (Lebanese) former president and CEO of Ford Motor Company.
• John J. Mack, (Lebanese) Chairman of the Board and CEO of Morgan Stanley.
• Ray R. Irani, (Palestinian) Chairman and CEO of Occidental Petroleum.

Sports

• Abe Gibran, former Cleveland Brown
• Ahmed Kaddour, (Lebanese) professional boxer, from NBC show The Contender
• Alaa Abdelnaby, NBA player for the Portland Trail Blazers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Sacramento Kings
• Bill George, NFL player and Hall of Famer
• Drew Haddad, of the Indianapolis Colts
• Doug Flutie, (Lebanese father) NFL Player of the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers.
• Gavin Maloof, own the Sacramento Kings
• George Maloof, Sr. owned the NBA’s Houston Rockets
• Jeff George, quarterback for several NFL teams
• Jim Harrick, UCLA’s coach
• Joe Maloof, own the Sacramento Kings
• Joe Robbie, former owner and founder of the NFL's Miami Dolphins.
• John Jaha, sports athlete, of the MLB Milwaukee Brewers.
• Justin Abdelkader, an American ice hockey forward playing for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL).
• Khalid Khannouchi, (Moroccan) marathon world record holder.
• Nader Abdallah, (Palestinian) NFL Player of the Baltimore Ravens.
• Omar Sheika, (Palestinian) professional boxer, four-time world title challenger.
• Rich Kotite, NFL coach
• Rocco Baldelli, (Syrian) professional baseball Red Sox.
• Rony Seikaly,(Lebanese) Former NBA Player, now DJ

See also

• Arabic language
• Arab people
• List of Arab scientists and scholars
• List of Jews from the Arab World
• List of Lebanese people
• List of Muslim scientists