Umm Al Quwain - Sharjah Airport: 37 Km - 24 mins

Al Budoor says many researchers have supposed that the word Sharqah, to which Sharjah owes its origins, comes from light. The terrain is so flat that the sun shines evenly on the land. 
Sultan Al Omaimi, a UAE poet and researcher in folk literature, says that some historians speculate that Sharjah was the name of an idol worshipped in the pre-Islamic era which was known as Abed Al Shareq. It also had a feminine form called Al Shareqa. 
This idol, therefore, dates back to antiquity, but has been throughout a strong presence in the region's traditions, says Obaid. Another theory finds that the word Sharqah comes from a fort in Andalusia — as is mentioned in the encyclopaedic book, Kitab mu'jam al-buldan written by the Muslim scholar Yaqut Al Hamawi. 
Other researchers link the word Sharqah to the fact that the city is located to the Sharq, or east, of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hence the Arabic classical form of Sharjah is Al Shareqah. It is the colloquial form that is Al Sharjah. 
In fact, Handhal says that the residents of Abu Dhabi call the inhabitants of Dubai, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman, and Ras Al Khaimah, the Sharagwah, or easterners. 
Umm Khanoor is the other name for Sharjah, Handhal says. "There is a village attached to Sharjah called Umm Khanoor. However, nobody lives there anymore."