Generation Faithful

Interesting article about young Muslims living in culturally hybrid Dubai. Muslim identity is changing in the socially mixed state.

In Egypt, and across much of the Arab world, there is an Islamic revival being driven by young people, where faith and ritual are increasingly the cornerstone of identity. But that is not true amid the ethnic mix that is Dubai, where 80 percent of the people are expatriates, with 200 nationalities.

This economically vital, socially freewheeling yet unmistakably Muslim state has had a transforming effect on young men. Religion has become more of a personal choice and Islam less of a common bond than national identity.

Generation Faithful - Young and Arab in Land of Mosques and Bars - Series - NYTimes.com

Several other good articles on Arab youth are also available from the NYTimes.com