Not blues as we know it now and I'm definitely not trying to set myself up as an expert. Far from it. I've never bothered to research this properly bc I can't sustain enough interest in it. Whenever I dip into it, though, I do see people putting forward theories about the influence of Islamic sound on the development of the blues. How accepted / contested these theories are I couldn't say. It has been standard in the past to connect the blues with the musical traditions of West Africa. What seems to be happening in recent years is people are saying, 'hang on, West Africa was a region that had been heavily influenced by Islam for centuries.' I've seen people suggest that you can clearly hear the similarity between 'Levee Camp Holler' and the Islamic call to prayer. I haven't checked it out myself although it does sound intriguing.
You're the musicologist not me so I'm just throwing out ideas here. But I've seen enough stuff supporting this particular theory to think it might well be true. Some of the slaves brought to America from West Africa were Muslim, or so I believe, and thus had different musical and cultural practices to other groups of slaves.
Blues in the Middle East? Not exactly but the sounds and ideas from Islamic music might well have influenced the blues. If the music and culture of West African slaves influenced the birth and development of the blues in the US then surely those West African slaves who happened to be Muslim would also have had some influence on it.
Not really going to get into this and, again, not an area I have any expertise in. All I can say is, based on random bits of reading I've done, some people think otherwise. Maybe it depends on how you define 'guitar' and how much the oud feeds into the development of the guitar. I believe Muslims brought the oud to Spain, Europeans invented the frets which turned it into a lute which eventually turned into the guitar. Or maybe it didn't. Actually, ngl, I see conflicting and confusing stories about this lute/guitar thing so I might leave this to one side, lol. But stringed instruments were definitely part of Islamic culture. And the American banjo originated with African slaves, afaik.
None of this is about downgrading the development of music in Europe, it's more about acknowledging that influences move easily back and forth and are not trapped behind tight boundaries.
Bringing it back to Michael, one of my fave quotes from him:
"The rhythms of Africa, which is the roots of rhythm, that's my favourite music. I think that's the favourite music of the world. Because all music is derived from that."