The Arabian World Bedouin Societies—desert-dwellers herded camels

and goats. Other practiced agriculture in oasis towns.

Ruled by Clans—kin-related clans, basis of social organization. Clustered into larger tribal units that functioned only during crises.

Harsh environment, individual survival depended upon clan loyalty.

Wealth and status varied. Bedouin religion was a blend of animism and

polytheism

The Arabian World

o Leaders, or shaykhs, elected by council, usually were wealthy men.

o Clan cohesion was reinforced by interclan rivalry and by conflicts over water and pasturage. May instigate feuds enduring for centuries. Strifes weakened Bedouin society against its rivals.

Towns and Trade

o Cities developed along the trading system linking the Mediterranean to East Asia.

o Mecca—founded by the Umayyad clan. Site of Ka’ba, religious shrine.

o Medina second important town. Agricultural oasis and commercial center.

Marriage and Familyo Women enjoyed more freedom than in the Byzantine and

Sassanian Empires. o Key economic roles. Matriarchal society where males paid

a high dowry to the wife’s family. o Women did not wear veils and were not secludedo Both sexes had multiple marriage partnerso Traditional practices of property control, inheritance, and

divorce favored men. o Women did drudge labor, female status was even more

restricted in urban centers.

Muhammado Left an orphan, raised by his father’s family and

became a merchanto Resided in Mecca, married a widowo Merchant travels allowed Muhammad to observe

the forces undermining clan unity and encounter the spread of monotheistic ideas

o Muhammad became dissatisfied with a life focused on material gain and went to meditate in the hills.

Muhammado In 610 he began receiving revelations transmitted from

god via the angel Gabriel. Later, written in Arabic and collected in the Quran, they formed the basis for Islam

o Seen as a threat by Mecca’s rulers as his following grew. Invited to Medina mediate its clan quarrels

o In 622 Muhammad left Mecca for Medina where his skilled leadership brought new followers.

Upon his return to Mecca in 629, he converted most of its inhabitants to Islam

Arabs and Islam

o Initially adopted by town dwellers and Bedouins. o Islam offered opportunities for united Arabs by

providing a distinct indigenous monotheism taking over clan divisions and allowing an end to clan feuding

o The umma, the community of the faithful, transcended old tribal boundaries.

Arabs and Islam

o Islam also offered an ethical system capable of healing social rifts within Arab society.

o All believers were equal before Allah; the strong and wealthy were responsible for the care of the weak and poor

The prophet’s teachings and the Quran became the basis for laws regulating the Muslim faithful. All faced a last judgment by a stern but compassionate god.