yes arabs call others bhai or behan too. It is so tacky.
I do not think religion asks us to call each othe brother or sister when communicating. Culturally it might have been.
I never said that religion "ASKS us to call" each other brother and sister. I said that it refers to us as brother and sister. This can be seen in various ahadith. Does not mean that one is obligated to refer to another as their brother or sister. The hadiths might use such titles to foster brotherhood or unity.....*or perhaps is based upon the belief that all we've all descended from Adam and Eve and are referred to as children of Adam. * We know there is no value of 'munh bola' bhai or 'munh boli' behan.
Value according to whom or what? Saying that one is LIKE your brother or sister can be done for a variety of reasons (to give an analogy for how close the relationship is, etc). "Munh bola" bhai/behan may not have any legal value. Subjectively....the extent of the value will vary from person to person. Sometimes people don't value their "saghay" relationships. I'm not supporting or favoring the idea of "munh" bola anything.............just looking at the issue from various perspectives.
It appears more of a cultural thing.
*Could be cultural. If one looks at ahadith....religious value may also be given to it. Many things....various tradtions are...."cultural." One may follow one an not the other. * And why would we even worry about clarifying someone we are not romantically interested in them? If someone is not then someone is not. If there is a potential then why not?
**I've even heard goray laug tell their friends that "Gee, I only see you as a brother or a sister." So, once again, such clarification is not only confined to desi culture. It's like how one might say, "I only see you as a friend." Or a person might say that "You're like my brother/sister"......to show that they have deep regard and affection (almost equivalent to that of a sibling)....even though the romantic interest is not there.
Sure, it may hurt the one on the receiving end. But perhaps such words are used to mitigate the pain/rejection by showing that while you're not not interested in one type of relationship (romantic)..........you're interested in maintaining another relationship (friendship.)
Clarification (whether you call a person as "just a friend" or however you do it) can be necessary to prevent the other person from entertaining any false assumptions.
Well, obviously..."if the potential" is there....you would never refer to the other person as "brother or sister"
** What I am referring is to unnecessary political correctness.
**
^One can be politically correct about a lot of things. Even political correctness can be overdone at times by people.**
If I had a brother, it would be his job to do that. 