The Arabs in History

1. Arabia's Diverse Pre-Islamic Landscape

The dominant feature of the population of central and northern Arabia in this crucial period immediately preceding the rise of Islam is Bedouin tribalism.

Ancient roots. Arabia, a vast peninsula of deserts and oases, had diverse populations long before Islam. Early records mention Arabs in Assyrian inscriptions from the 9th century BC, primarily nomadic groups in the north. Southern Arabia, like Yemen, developed advanced sedentary civilizations based on agriculture and trade, known for spices and impressive structures like the Ma'rib dam.

Nomads and settled. The peninsula was broadly divided between the settled peoples of the south and oases, and the nomadic Bedouin of the vast interior. The Bedouin lived by herding and raiding, organized in tribes based on blood ties, with rudimentary political structures led by elected sheikhs whose authority was consensual, not absolute. Their religion was polytheistic, centered on tribal deities.

Trade and external contact. Arabia lay on crucial trade routes linking the Mediterranean to the East. This led to the rise of trading centers like Mecca and semi-sedentary border states influenced by Hellenistic and Aramaic cultures, such as the Nabateans and Palmyrenes in the north, and the Ghassanids and Hira on the Byzantine and Persian frontiers. These contacts introduced new ideas, including monotheism, but much of Arabia remained isolated and tribal.

2. Muḥammad Fuses Faith and State in Medina

In Mecca Muḥammad is portrayed as a private citizen, in Medina as the chief magistrate of a community.

Prophet's mission. Born in Mecca around 570 AD, Muḥammad began preaching a new monotheistic faith, Islam, emphasizing the unity of God (Allah) and the wickedness of idolatry. Initially facing opposition from the Meccan oligarchy who feared disruption of their religious and economic status, his early followers were few, mainly from humbler classes.

The Hijra. Facing persecution, Muḥammad and his followers migrated in 622 AD to Medina (formerly Yathrib), marking the Hijra and the beginning of the Islamic calendar. This was a pivotal moment, transforming Muḥammad from a preacher into the leader of a community (Umma) and a state. Medina provided a political base and a population willing to accept his arbitration and leadership.

Faith as social bond. In Medina, Muḥammad established a new social order where faith, not blood, became the primary bond, replacing tribal feuds with a sense of collective identity under divine authority. The community engaged in raiding Meccan caravans, leading to key battles like Badr, which solidified the Umma's power and prestige, eventually leading to the conquest of Mecca in 630 AD and the submission of many Arabian tribes.

3. Rapid Conquests Forge an Arab Empire

Initially the great conquests were an expansion not of Islam but of the Arab nation, driven by the pressure of over-population in its native peninsula to seek an outlet in the neighbouring countries.

Post-Prophet expansion. Following Muḥammad's death in 632 AD, the nascent Muslim community faced internal challenges (the Ridda wars) and external opportunities. Under the first Caliphs, particularly Abū Bakr and ̔Umar, Arabian tribes were unified under Medinese authority, channeling their energies outwards in a series of rapid conquests.

Weak empires. The Byzantine and Persian Sasanid empires, exhausted by centuries of warfare and facing internal dissent (religious minorities, heavy taxation), proved vulnerable. Arab armies, utilizing desert mobility and superior tactics, quickly overran Syria and Iraq (633-637 AD), culminating in decisive victories like Yarmūk and Qādisiyya.

Establishing control. Egypt fell by 642 AD, and expansion continued into North Africa and Persia. The conquests were initially an Arab national movement, with Islam serving as a unifying banner. Administration often retained existing Byzantine and Persian structures and personnel, with Arabs forming a ruling military aristocracy settled in garrison towns (Amṣār) on the edge of the desert and cultivated lands.

4. The Arab Kingdom (Umayyads)

After the Caliphate of ̔Alī they speak of the Kingship (Mulk) of Mu̔āwiya and the rest of the Umayyads, with the sole exception of the pious ̔Umar II (717–20), who alone is granted the title of Caliph.

Dynastic rule. The murder of the third Caliph, ̔Uthmān, and the subsequent civil war led to the rise of Mu̔āwiya, founder of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750 AD), who shifted the capital to Damascus. This marked a transition from the patriarchal, elected Caliphate to a more centralized, hereditary monarchy, often viewed by later historians as a deviation from true Islamic governance.

Arab dominance. The Umayyad state was primarily an Arab kingdom, with Arabs forming a privileged military and social caste. They received stipends from state revenues and largely controlled administration, often relying on non-Muslims for technical expertise. Non-Arab converts to Islam (Mawālī) were theoretically equal but faced social and economic discrimination, fueling discontent.

Internal tensions. The Umayyad period was marked by internal conflicts: tribal feuds among the Arabs themselves (North vs. South), opposition from the pious who resented the secularization of the Caliphate, and revolts by the Khārijites (egalitarian purists) and the Shī̔a (partisans of ̔Alī's family), who became a vehicle for Mawālī grievances. Despite these challenges, the empire expanded significantly, reaching Spain and Central Asia.

5. Abbasids Build a Cosmopolitan Islamic Empire

The replacement of the Umayyads by the ̔Abbāsids in the headship of the Islamic community was more than a mere change of dynasty.

Revolutionary change. The ̔Abbāsid revolution (750 AD), fueled by a coalition of discontented elements including Shī̔a, Mawālī, and some Arabs, overthrew the Umayyads. This was a profound shift, transforming the state from an Arab kingdom into a cosmopolitan Islamic empire where membership was based on faith rather than ethnic origin.

Baghdad's rise. The capital moved eastward to Iraq, culminating in the founding of Baghdad (Madīnat as-Salām) in 762 AD. Baghdad became a major center of trade, administration, and culture, symbolizing the empire's new orientation towards the East and incorporating Persian administrative traditions. The Caliphate became a more absolute autocracy, relying on a salaried bureaucracy and a professional army, increasingly composed of non-Arabs, particularly Turkish Mamlūks.

Cultural flourishing. The ̔Abbāsid era (roughly 8th-10th centuries) is considered a golden age of Islamic civilization. With Arabic as the lingua franca, scholars and artists from diverse backgrounds contributed to advancements in science, philosophy, literature, and art, drawing heavily on the inherited knowledge of Greek, Persian, and Indian civilizations through extensive translation efforts. The Mawālī achieved social and economic equality, playing crucial roles in administration, commerce, and intellectual life.

6. Fragmentation and Internal Revolts Emerge

Whenever a grievance or a conflict of interests created a faction in Islam, its doctrines were a theology, its instrument a sect, its agent a missionary, its leader usually a messianic claimant or his representative.

Decline of central power. Despite the initial strength of the ̔Abbāsid Caliphate, signs of political fragmentation appeared from the 9th century. Governors and military commanders, often Turkish or Iranian, became virtually independent in their provinces, reducing the Caliph's authority to Iraq and eventually making him a puppet of military strongmen (like the Buwayhids).

Social and religious dissent. Economic changes, including the growth of a wealthy merchant class and a discontented urban proletariat, coupled with social inequalities and regional loyalties, fueled numerous revolts. These movements often took religious forms, expressing dissent through sectarian ideologies.

• Peasant revolts in Iran (e.g., Bābak's Khurramiyya)
• The Zanj revolt of black slaves in southern Iraq
• The rise of radical Shī̔ite sects like the Carmathians and Ismā̔īlīs

Ismā̔īlī challenge. The Ismā̔īlī movement, with its complex doctrines and secret organization, posed a significant threat, culminating in the establishment of the rival Fāṭimid Caliphate in North Africa (909 AD), which later conquered Egypt (969 AD) and challenged ̔Abbāsid legitimacy across the Muslim world. These internal divisions weakened the empire from within.

7. Arabs Establish Enduring Presence in Europe

It was in the Iberian peninsula that the Arabs achieved their greatest and most enduring conquest in Europe.

Conquest of Spain. Beginning in 711 AD, Arab and Berber forces rapidly conquered most of the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus), ending Visigothic rule. Checked in France at Poitiers (732 AD), Muslim rule in Spain lasted for centuries, establishing a vibrant civilization. An independent Umayyad emirate, later a Caliphate, was founded in Cordoba in 756 AD by a refugee prince from Damascus.

Cultural synthesis. Muslim Spain developed a unique Hispano-Arab civilization, blending Arab, Berber, and indigenous Iberian elements. Agriculture flourished with new irrigation techniques and crops. Cities like Cordoba became major centers of learning, art, and industry. Christians and Jews (Mozarabs and Sephardim) lived under Muslim rule, often adopting Arabic language and culture.

Transmission of knowledge. Al-Andalus and Muslim Sicily (conquered from the 9th century) served as crucial bridges for the transmission of knowledge to Western Europe. European scholars traveled to centers like Toledo to translate Arabic works on science, philosophy (especially Aristotle), and medicine, which had preserved and expanded upon ancient Greek learning, significantly contributing to the European Renaissance. Despite the eventual Christian Reconquista, Arab influence left a lasting mark on Spanish language, culture, and architecture.

8. Islamic Civilization Flourishes Through Assimilation

Arabic is one of the great languages of human civilization and history.

Language and faith. The civilization that developed under Arab rule was not solely Arab but Islamic, with Arabic as its primary language and Islam as its unifying force. Arabic evolved from a tribal language into a sophisticated vehicle for administration, science, philosophy, and literature, absorbing vocabulary and concepts from older cultures. Islam provided the legal, social, and intellectual framework, shaping everything from government to daily life.

Cultural melting pot. This civilization was a product of collaboration among diverse peoples—Arabs, Persians, Egyptians, Syrians, and others—including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians. It assimilated elements from the great pre-Islamic cultures of the region, particularly Hellenistic (Greek), Persian, and Indian traditions, creating a rich synthesis.

Intellectual and artistic achievements. The classical period saw major advancements in various fields:

• Sciences: Mathematics (algebra, trigonometry, Arabic numerals), astronomy, medicine, chemistry.
• Philosophy: Preservation and development of Greek thought (Aristotle, Neoplatonism).
• Literature: Poetry (classical forms, new themes), prose (belles-lettres, history, geography).
• Arts: Architecture (mosques, palaces), decorative arts (ceramics, metalwork, textiles), calligraphy.
  This vibrant culture, though eventually facing intellectual stagnation in some areas due to theological conservatism, left an indelible mark on human history.

9. Turkish and Mongol Powers Eclipse Arab Rule

The subjection of the Arabs to Turkish rule, begun under the Caliph al-Mu̔tasim, confirmed by the Seljuqs and Mamlūks, was maintained by the Ottomans.

Shift in power. From the 9th century, Turkish peoples, initially imported as military slaves (Mamlūks), gained increasing power within the ̔Abbāsid Caliphate. By the 11th century, nomadic Turkish tribes, notably the Seljuqs, entered the Middle East as conquerors, establishing vast empires that superseded Arab political dominance.

Seljuqs and Mamlūks. The Seljuqs conquered Persia, Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia, becoming the new protectors of Sunnī Islam against the Fāṭimids and Crusaders. Their rule introduced a form of military feudalism (Iqṭā̔). In Egypt and Syria, the Mamlūks, a self-perpetuating military caste of slave origin (primarily Turkish and Circassian), seized power in the mid-13th century, forming a powerful state that repelled the Mongols and Crusaders.

Mongol devastation. The Mongol invasions in the 13th century, led by Jenghiz Khan and Hülekü, brought immense destruction, culminating in the sack of Baghdad in 1258 and the abolition of the ̔Abbāsid Caliphate. While Iran saw a cultural revival under Mongol rule, Iraq suffered greatly from the collapse of its irrigation systems and economic marginalization as trade routes shifted.

10. Western Impact Reshapes the Arab World

The impact of the West, with its printing-presses and computers, aeroplanes and cinemas, factories and universities, oil-prospectors and archaeologists, machine-guns and ideas, has shattered beyond repair the traditional structure of life...

European ascendancy. From the 16th century, Western Europe, undergoing the Renaissance, Reformation, and technological revolution, began its global expansion. While initially engaging with the Ottoman Empire (which ruled most Arab lands) through trade agreements (Capitulations), the balance of power gradually shifted. European technological superiority, particularly in military and naval technology, became evident.

Penetration and control. The 19th century saw increased European penetration, initially economic (trade, infrastructure like the Suez Canal) and cultural (missionaries, schools), leading to direct political control. France occupied Algeria (1830), Britain took Aden (1839) and Egypt (1882). After World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed, and most Arab lands came under British and French mandates or direct colonial rule.

Modern challenges. This period of foreign domination, though relatively brief in historical terms, profoundly disrupted traditional Arab society and economy. It introduced Western political ideas like nationalism, which became the primary vehicle for resistance and the struggle for independence. The post-colonial era brought formal sovereignty but also new challenges:

• The Arab-Israeli conflict.
• Internal political instability and authoritarianism.
• Economic disparities and the impact of oil wealth.
• The clash between traditional Islamic identity and imported Western ideologies (socialism, nationalism, democracy).
  The Arab world today grapples with the legacy of this impact and the search for a path forward amidst competing visions for its future.

Last updated: May 19, 2025