Why do Pakistanis think they are Arabs when Pakistanis are a lot

darker skinned compare to Arabs?

Do they really? It seems to me as if this is one of those myths that are far more popular
outside of Pakistan (especially on the internet).

I haven’t yet to meet Pakistani people, except for one, who actually believe that they are
Arabs. The exception believed so because he actually was half-Arab. It seems to that
there is this unhealthy obsession that people (from outside of Pakistan) have with
Pakistani people. This includes this weird claim that Pakistani people consider themselves
as Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, etc; or try to pass themselves of as such. These people
often back their claims by anecdotal evidence; i.e. “I once met one Pakistani person that
said so”. Yet, funny enough, such claims would surprise most Pakistani people
themselves. You know, Pakistani people who have lived amongst other Pakistani people
for many decades. It just goes to show such people who make these claims do not seem
to actually know a lot of Pakistani people.
Here we can see a Pakistani couple trying their hardest to pass off as Arabs from Saudi
Arabia. Or maybe they are trying to pass off as Syrians. Or maybe Moroccans. That has to
be the reason why the man is wearing a Shalwar Kameez, a form of clothing that almost
serves as an identity for the Pakistani people.

Pakistan is a multi-ethnic nation that consists of several different groups of people. The
major ethnic (or ethno-linguistic) groups being the Punjabi, Pashtun/Afghan, Sindhi,
Saraiki, Baloch and Muhajir. Each group has their own history, language, traditions, and
culture. Note that none of the major ethnic groups are Arabs. Nor claim to be.

The only people who generally associate themselves with Arabs in any way are the
castes/tribes that claim tribal association with some Arab tribe of the past, due to
ancestry from some significant historical figure/tribe. These groups are a small minority
(a few percent at best) of the total population of Pakistan. Examples being the Sayyid,
Quraishi, or Hashmi. The Sayyids for example claim to be descendants of the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH). The Qureshi for example claim tribal association from the Arab
Quraysh tribal group, while the Hashmi came tribal association with the Banu Hashim
tribe of the Quraysh; both via descent from some historical figure of the tribe that
migrated into the region many centuries ago. The purpose is generally for religious
reasons (association with the Prophet via lineage or tribe); rather than any desire to claim
to be an Arab. None of these groups claim to be Arabs - part of the broad Arab ethno-
linguistic group - but rather an indirect association with the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
in some form.

A lot people find this concept of tribal affiliation difficult to understand for some reason.
Let me explain. Note that the ancestral line of a person in the region is determined via
their patrilineal line only. So a person, who is descended from a member of the Arab
aristocracy ten generations ago via his paternal line would associate himself with this
lineage; regardless of the extent of mixing with other groups during these centuries. This
is a similar case to many other similar honorifics (Khan, Mirza, Baig), which have now
become surnames or castes. That is why a person, with tens of thousands of ancestors,
would at the end only associate himself with that one patrilineal line. The rest are
deemed as irrelevant in this part of the world.

One factor that often goes ignored is the change in surname/caste by people of the
lower castes in the past (early modern period and colonial era) to avoid discrimination.
Some would also take on names associated with Islamic figures/tribes/history upon
conversion to Islam. This was also true when some of the lower caste migrants moved
into the larger urban centers. Some of the butchers (Qasai) for example would take on
the name Qureshi. All of this was to elevate themselves above their humble origins by
abandoning the old castes/surnames of their lower status in favor of one associated with
Islamic figures. This claim of descent from old Arab aristocracy could be seen as
concocting a more grand ancestry in an attempt to rise among the rigid socio-economic
class structure of the era. It is a similar to how some converts from lower castes would
take up titles of the Mughal castes to elevate their social standing. This contrasts sharply
with most of the Muslim converts from the upper castes (Rajputs, Jatts, etc) who
continued to hold onto the same tribal/caste affiliations, and thus maintain the same
surnames even today. It is safe to assume that this would also be the case with some of
these castes/tribes (Sayyids, Qureshi, Ansari, Hashmi).
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, is one such
person from the Qureshi caste/tribe/group.

Pakistan is a diverse country that consists of several different ethnic groups. The majority
of these people have a skin tone that is some shade of brown (light brown to dark
brown). However, there can be a great deal of diversity in terms of skin tone even within
a single ethnic group. The same holds true for the other ethnic groups. This is to be
expected because ethnic groups are not a monolith. Humans have also been mixing with
each other since the beginning of time. Some level of diversity in phenotypical features
exists among all ethnic groups.

I should mention that there are also some small minority groups that can have a very
light skin tone similar to Europeans (Kalash people for example) or dark skin tone and
phenotypical features similar to East Africans (Sheedi people). These groups of people
are a negligibly small minority in terms of percentage of the total population. The vast
majority of the Pakistani people however come in various shades of brown (light to dark
brown).

It is also a bit weird to compare the skin tones of ethnic groups. Especially with a broad
ethno-linguistic group like the Arabs that is spread out thoughout multiple countries in
West Asia and North Africa. What this means is that these are loose and diverse ethnic
groups are based on a similar linguistic and cultural basis. The Arabs for example are just
a diverse group of people that speak a similar language, share a similar culture and fall
under a similar identity. It has very little to do with ancestry or genetics. Skin tone does
not factor into it at all. An Arab from Syria for example may have a very different tone
from Sudan.

What is this weird obsession that some people have with trying to prove that they are
“white” anyways. I have seen quite a few people from Asia (North Indians, Pakistani,
Afghans, Irani, Arabs, etc) trying to show that they lie closer to the Europeans in terms of
physical appearance. These are often associated with claims that their ethnic group or
nationality has a far higher prevalence of “whiter skin tone” or “blue/grey eyes” than
their neighboring groups. They seem to this supposed closer association to the
European phenotype as a sign of their own inherent superiority. This seems to me like it
stems from an inferiority complex. It is quite honestly pathetic.