Bedouin Arabs of Arabia Desert

Arabia was considered a god-less region and none of the more advanced religions, which were associated with modernity and progress, had managed to penetrate the area. The intractable steppes of Arabia were a terrifying wilderness, inhabited by a wild race of men to whom the Greeks had given the name ‘Sarakenoi’, the people who dwell in tents.

The nomads formed themselves into autonomous groups, on the basis of blood and kinship. Only the tribe could ensure the personal survival of its members, but that meant that. Everything had to be subordinated to the interests of the group. An individual on his own stood no chance at all. There was no room for individualism

To cultivate this communal spirit, the Arabs evolved an ideology of courage in battle, patience and endurance in suffering, and a dedication to the chivalrous duties of avenging wrong done to the tribe, protecting its weaker members and defying the strong. The tribe looked after its own. It encouraged an indifference to material goods, which was essential in a region where there were not enough of the basic necessities to go round.

Its chief was expected to take care of the weaker members of his group and to distribute its possessions and goods equally. To protect the tribe and its members a chief had to be prepared to avenge each and every injury. Outside the tribe, obligation ceased.

Vendettas

Life was cheap and there was nothing immoral about killing per se: it was only wrong to kill your own tribesmen or their allies. Each tribe had to avenge the death of a single one of its members by killing somebody in the murderer’s tribe. One vendetta bred another if a tribe felt that revenge had been disproportionate. Robbery was not considered immoral unless you stole the goods of kinsmen. What food and goods were available were shared between the tribes.

Women / Infanticide

Only the strong could survive and that meant the weak were eliminated and grievously exploited. Infanticide was the normal means of population control: female babies survived infancy more frequently than boys and, since no tribe could support more than a certain number of women, female babies were killed. Women, like slaves, had no human or legal rights, and could expect no amelioration of their lot. Men could take as many wives as they wanted.

Poets and Illiteracy

Poets were of crucial importance in the political and social life of Arabia. As illiteracy was the rule in the peninsula, poets would recite their verses aloud. They fulfilled the function of the responsible press in our own society, disseminated information and interoperated events. The poet fulfilled many of the functions of a priest or prophet in other communities. Poetry was considered superhuman and to have magical qualities.

Arabic Spirituality / Rituals

The most important shrine was the Kaaba. The granite boxlike shrine is extremely ancient. Embedded in its eastern corner was the sacred Black Stone. Around the Kaaba was a circular area where pilgrims gathered to perform the seven ritual circumambulations of the shrine. The circumambulation induces a meditation performed in a kind of ‘trot’.

The shrine was surrounded by 360 effigies of the gods of all the different tribes that came to worship there during the appointed month. The land around Mecca [on a twenty-mile radius from the Kaaba] was a sacred area, a sanctuary where all violence and fighting was forbidden.

Persia and Byzantium Empire Conflict

In the sixth century, Persia and Christian Byzantium were locked in a debilitating struggle with one another. The Persians favored Judaism. Both were anxious to cultivate the Southern Arabs. Southern Arabia [Yemen] had the benefit of the monsoon rains, so it was rich, fertile and had an ancient and sophisticated culture. Having affiliated Abyssinia, Byzantium encouraged its ruler to infiltrate Southern Arabia to bring it under the suzerainty of Constantinople.

In 570, Persia invaded Southern Arabia and made Southern Arabia a colony of Persia.

Arabian Desert Remains Neutral

The Bedouin Arabs of Arabia Desert were suspicious of both Judaism and Christianity. The Bedouin Arabs had been intensely proud of their southern Arab neighbors and saw their fall as a catastrophe. They knew that the great powers of Persia and Byzantium were ready to use both faiths as a means of imperial control. In order to avoid the fate of the kingdom of the South, they remained strictly neutral in the struggle between Persia and Byzantium.

The Quraysh Tribe

The nomads gradually penetrated the desert regions of the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian Peninsula. They were followed by pioneering farmers, who settled in the oases, irrigated the surrounding area and made the desert bloom. The agriculturists depended on the nomads’ greater mobility, which provided them with goods from abroad. The nomads were more skilful warriors; they provided the settled Arabs with protection in return for a portion of the harvest.

The tribal system and the old paganism had served the Bedouin well for centuries, but during the sixth century life had changed. The Arabs had begun to engage in trade with the civilized countries.

Mecca was ideally situated for long-term business ventures. The prestige of the Kaaba brought many Arabs on the hajj to the city each year and the Sanctuary created a climate that was favorable to trade. Mecca stood conveniently at the crossroads of the two major trade routes of Arabia: the Hijaz Road, which linked the Arabs with Syria, Palestine and Transjordan, and the Najd Road which linked them with Iraq.

The Quraysh tribe had become the greatest power in Arabia during the sixth century. They ensured the security of the city by building alliances with the Bedouin in the area. In return for military help, the Bedouins had shares in various Meccan companies.