Old Arab's one quiet mother, very classy (10)

I believe the answer is:

ishmaelite

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'old arab's one quiet mother very classy' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'one quiet mother very classy' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'quiet' becomes 'sh' ('sh' is used to tell someone to be quiet).
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'very classy' becomes 'elite' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'i'+'sh'+'ma'+'elite'='ISHMAELITE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ishmaelite that I've seen before include "descendant of Abraham?" , "Desert person" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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