The oud is a fretless short-necked lute of Central Asian origin. It seems originally to have had only 4 courses of strings (rather than today's 6), and a face that was half skin and half wood. The Arabs, who brought Islam to Central Asia, put a wooden face on it and from then called it al-'ud... "wood."
   Taking it with them wherever they went, it became the "King of Instruments," eventually reaching Andalusian Spain where European musicians, in order to play chords, tied frets to its neck and pronounced it "lute," the forerunner of the guitar. The instrument is as popular in North Africa and the Middle East as the guitar is in Europe and the Americas.
 

Turkish:

Dincer Dalkilic (USA/Turkey)