I finished Musk, Hashish and Blood by Hector France. He was a colonial soldier in French Algeria and his stories are absolutely crazy. I like the perspective, because there's so much that's different, so much that isn't. He has Bedouin friends, but looks down on (In a racist way) the various other tribes. There's a strange hierarchy wherein a 'Mohammedan' can be both the epitome of culture and progressive thinking or a completely unknowable savage, depending on context. I should probably re-read it, there's a metric ton of footnotes that I mostly ignored the first time through.
Before you do, I recommend Edward Said's Orientalism. He'll break down that strange heirarchy for you in a way that you probably won't be able to shake every time you read anything touching on muslims and the Middle East. It's basically an academic version of your black friend pointing out what a racist cracker you are without you even knowing it.