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Ray · 07-31-2005, 01:17 AM

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Issue 26 / January 1999
The Arab Psyche

As we approach the 21st century, the Arab nation is experiencing a crisis that it must overcome, to move successfully into the new millennium. In the second of a series of articles, Al Shindagah looks at the Arab psyche, past and present.

The Arabs before Islam

The Arabs are an ancient Semitic people of the Middle East. They are proud in their belief that they are descended from the Prophet Noah’s son Shem, and honoured that the last of the lineage of God’s prophets was from their midst, and humbled that God enlightened mankind by revealing the Holy Word in their language.

The complex history of the Arab’s is conveniently divided into two parts, before and after, by the Revelation. In the pre-Islamic period, the social structure that evolved in the harsh environment of the Arab Peninsula was based on the tribal unit. Some tribes from the era survive even to this day, while others perished during the process of God’s unfolding plan.

The Holy Quran is a source of much sociological history of the Arab. In it is revealed information about some of the tribes that disappeared. Among them were the people called the Aad, to whom God sent the prophet Hud:

Such were the Aad, that they rejected the signs of their Lord, disobeyed His messengers, and followed the command of every powerful, obstinate transgressor. They instead were pursued by a curse in this life, and on the Day of Judgement (it will be said to them):

‘Ah! The Aad rejected their Lord.
Away with them, the people of Hud!’
(Chapter of Hud, v.59-60)

Another tribe that became extinct was the Thamoud, to whom God had sent the prophet Saleh, as evidenced by the following verse from the Quran:

‘To the Thamoud people we sent Saleh, one of their own brethren. He told them, ‘My people, worship God, you have no other God but Him. Now a clear sign has come to you from your Lord! This she-camel of God is that sign. Leave it to graze on God’s earth, and let her come to no harm, or you will be stricken with a grievous punishment.’
(Chapter of the Aaref, v.73)

The Arabic tribes which did not perish but which survived to the modern era can be divided into those clans of pure lineage, and those peoples who have gradually become naturalised within the Arabic family. The core tribe of the pure Arab is the Qahtan, whose land of origin is found within Yemen. Arab historians identify the first king of Yemen as Yar’ub bin Qahtan, who was succeeded by his son Yashjub, who in turn was followed by his son Abdu-Shams. This latter ruler was an early king of Sheba, and it was in his reign that the famous Dam of Ma’rib was constructed. That dam pooled the waters of the Yemeni Mountains, and provided the basis of an advanced irrigation system that established it as the fertile and bountiful home-land of the Arabs.

The Al Qahtani established a number of states, such as Maeen, Sheba and Himyar. The rulers of Himyar were known as the Tubba. Five hundred years after the birth of the Christ, the last of these Tubbas was named Dhu Nuwas al Himyari. This king converted to Judaism and forced his people to do likewise. Dhu Nawas was responsible for a terrible incident which has been seared into the memory of the Arabs ever since. In the year 525 AD, he gathered the Christians of Najran (currently a province of Saudi Arabia) into a large pit. For their crime of having refused to embrace Judaism, the Tubba burned them alive. According to the Quran:

Woe to the makers of the pit of fire supplied abundantly with fuel!
They sat to watch and witnessed all that was done against the Believers.
(Chapter of the Burooj, v.3-8)

Arab historians believe that the ancient civilisation of Yemen was as significant as that of ancient Egypt and Phoenicia. It featured prosperous towns, advanced agriculture, and far-reaching commerce in precious fragrances and the tree sap now called gum arabica. For the wealth generated by the trade in frankincense and myrrh, the Romans called Yemen ‘arabia felix’, happy Arabia!

The great Dam of Ma’rib was the keystone to Yemeni civilisation. In the following Quranic verse, however, the story is recounted of its destruction:

There was for Saba a long time ago a Sign in their homeland, two gardens to the right and to the left. Eat of the sustenance provided by your Lord, and be grateful to Him for your fair and happy territory and for His forgiving nature.
But Saba turned away from God, and We destroyed their great dam to send against them a flood. We caused their two gardens to then grow bitter fruit and tamarisks and some few stunted lote trees.
(Chapter of the Saba, v.15-16)

It should be noted that several years ago the great Ma’rib Dam was recently rebuilt to collect the waters of Yemen once again. Its reconstruction will hopefully herald a new age of prosperity for the Yemenis. One of the generous financial backers of this achievement was His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahayan, President of the United Arab Emirates.

The second group of Arabs who have survived from the pre-Islamic era are those which are referred to as naturalised, being from the peoples which mixed and intermarried with the Qahtan. These Arabs descended from the Prophet Ismail, who had settled in the holy city of Mecca. They are also known as the Adnani and the Nizari, after their great-grandfather Adnan, and their father Nizar bin Maad bin Adnan.

Among the prominent tribes of this group are the Madar, the Rabeea, the Iyad, and the Anmar. These Arabs were concentrated in the upper region of the Arab Peninsula, and were thus known as the northerners. One of the tribes descended from this lineage was the Quraish, into which the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was born.

Today’s modern Arabs therefore consist of the descendants of these southern and northern Arabs, and their off-spring due to intermarriage with other peoples. With the emergence of Islam, and the subsequent Muslim conquest, their nation has spread far and wide across the world.

Pagan Beliefs

Prior to the revelation of God’s Word, the early Arabs did not have the benefit of a unified dogma to explain their world to them, or to discipline their unruly habits. Though there were some Christians and Jews among them, these Arabs were primarily pagans who worshipped idols. During those dark days, Mecca’s holy shrine (called even at that time Al Kaaba) was burdened with statues and images of these false gods. The tribe of the Prophet, the Quraish, worshipped one of them, calling it by the name of Hobal. With the emergence of Islam and the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, cleansed the Kaaba of idols. The Holy Quran cites the names of some of the graven images which were smashed, such as Lat, Uzza, and Manat, as evidenced by the verses, ‘Have you seen Lat and Uzz, and the third goddess,Manat?’
(Chapter of the Najirn, v.19-20)

The pagan Arabs believed that these images provided a medium which somehow brought them closer to the divine, as shown in the Quranic verse:

Is it not to God that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors others than the One God say, ‘We only serve them in order that they may bring us closer to God.’ Truly God will judge between them in their differences, but God guides not the false and ungrateful.
(Chapter of the Zumar, v.3)

Tribal System

During the pre-Islamic era, the tribe was the primary social and political unit of the Arabs. The function of the clan structure was to defend its members, whether right or wrong. Correspondingly, the tribesmen devoted themselves to protect their collective honour, and obeyed the dictates of their tribal elders. A pre-Islamic poet eloquently expressed this unquestioning loyalty as follows:

I am nothing but a member of my tribe.
If it goes astray, I will too,
and if it follows the right path, so will I.

The Holy Quran preached strongly against this blind loyalty and the destructive prejudices that resulted. The Word of God decreed better criteria to differentiate between people, being their devotion to Islam. A Quranic verse posits “The closest of you to God is the most pious.” In the Hadith, the collection of traditions collected from the life of the Prophet, Mohammed is quoted to have said, “An Arab is by no means better than a non-Arab, for piety is the only base for distinction.”

Unfortunately tribal allegiances and prejudices have continued throughout Arabic history. Sad to say, but this tendency has been one of the primary factors which has weakened the Muslim nation by provoking disputes among the believers. Even during the modern era there is abundant evidence of this divisive devotion to tribalism. The fragmentation of the Arab nation is only of benefit to its enemies, as disunity denies the Arab his strength.

Practical Knowledge and Science

Arabic culture of the pre-Islamic era did not invent the sort of complex mythologies and creation myths that characterised ancient cultures such as Greece. Hellenic mythology was based on a belief system featuring many rival gods and goddesses in constant struggle against each other. Each of this pantheon of gods had their devotees among men. One consequence of such a ritualistic and complex method of understanding the world was to broaden the classic imagination. Thus did ancient Greece gift mankind such epics as the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Early Arabic tribesmen were more prosaic in their perceptions of the reality they inhabited. Of utmost concern were the skills needed to survive their harsh environment and the predators in it, both animal and human. As a consequence, the scientific knowledge that developed among the early Arabs was practical in nature, such as astronomical knowledge, useful for predicting weather, animal reproduction, travel, and migration.

The ancient Arabs also exhibited a full awareness of genealogy that they used to keep track of the complexities of tribal kinship. And as would be expected of a pastoral and nomadic people, skills gradually evolved for veterinary and popular medicine, with techniques such as herbal treatments, cautery and cupping among those in which they gained extensive expertise.

The always-quarrelling tribes developed skills of warfare. Animal husbandry evolved not just for alimentary reasons, but for breeding faster, stronger horses and camels for battle. The settled Arabs, called the hathar, became skilled craftsmen of metal working, which was useful for fashioning the lethal daggers and swords for which Arab warriors gained fame.

Continued....