Why Bedouin Tribes Are the Purest - Essay Example

Topic: Why Bedouin Tribes are the Purest and Why They Never Mixed of the University Topic: Why Bedouin Tribes are the Purest and Why They Never Mixed Introduction The prime features of a desert are vast stretches of sand, the blazing sun and lack of rainfall. Even in such grim conditions about 300 million people live in deserts, which forms one third of the Earth’s surface. There are hottest deserts where temperature is as much as 58 degree C, as well as the deserts that are freezing at minus 40 degree C. Thanks to the technological innovations and human ingenuity, giant cities amidst sand-dunes have come up like, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Reno. The Arabian Peninsula is the original home of the Bedouins. From this point, they began to disperse, forced by the adverse conditions of scarcity of water and food. According to Muslim traditional beliefs, Prophet Mohammed was instrumental in converting most of the Bedouins to Islam. The Bedouin warriors form the nucleus of the Muslim armies that repeatedly invaded Middle East and North Africa during the 7th century and later on. Bedouins and sedentary people Both Bedouins and sedentary people are natural groups. Name any human group living in any geographical area; they need basic necessities of life and for this objective they continuously challenge the vicissitudes of nature. Bedouins are one of the grittiest tribes to make a living in the inhospitable conditions in the deserts, and yet they maintain the cultural traditions, social organizations that are the hallmarks of their tribes. Their lifestyles often change as per the changing conditions of the nature and they have perfected the art of adjusting to those conditions. Their priority is to meet the simple necessities of life first, but they are not averse to enjoy other conveniences and luxuries of life. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Bedouin tribes and all other ancillary activities are related to land and cultivation. Vegetables, grains (for private consumption as well as for trade barter), animal husbandry, bee-keeping and breeding silkworms for getting silk for the related products, are some other vocations which they pursue steadily. With the availability of vast tracts of lands, it is possible for the Bedouin tribes to conduct such activities. As such their movements remain restricted to the deserts and their contact with the outside world is hardly worth mentioning. Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, “Their social organization and co-operation for the needs of life and civilization, such as food, shelter, and warmth, do not take them beyond the bare subsistence level, because of their inability (to provide) for anything beyond those (things)” (p.161). Simplicity is the self-imposed virtue with Bedouins. The Arabs are a natural group in the world. Bedouins have adapted to the desert conditions as the natural way of their life. They have no other alternative and they cannot think beyond deserts and occupations that are possible in deserts. They use hair, wool or wood for making their houses or take shelter in caverns and caves. They eat raw food and make minimum use of fire for cooking. Total dependence on cultivation and agriculture make their living self-centered and restricted to one region, as such communities remain stationary without the necessity to travel around. Thus they live in small communities, villages and mountain regions. Some make their living by raising camels and for such groups of people, movement is necessary. Yet their movement is within the desert areas and they have no active contact with the outside civilization. Camel-nomads make their excursions deep into the desert, which means their contact with the civilization in the plains is still remote. But their interaction with the outside world was through confrontation with militia, which they least liked. Nevertheless such encounters shaped them as the most savage human beings. Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, “Compared with sedentary people, they are on a level with wild, untamable (animals) and dumb beasts of prey. Such people are the Arabs.” (p.162). This comparison sounds harsh on Bedouins. Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, “Bedouins are prior to sedentary people. The desert is the basis and reservoir of civilization and cities.”(p.164) Bedouins are satisfied with the bare necessities of life and as such contentment is the hallmark of their life. Highlighting the distinction between the Bedouins and the sedentary people, Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, “Evidence for the fact that Bedouins are the basis of and prior to, sedentary people is furnished by investigating the inhabitants of any given city. We shall find that most of its inhabitants originated among Bedouins dwelling in the country and villages of the vicinity.” (p.164)The Bedouins have maintained their distinctiveness and separate identity as compared to the sedentary people and consider their clan as superior than another. So also, tribal loyalties and superiority complexes among the tribes are immense. Bedouins are a disciplined lot in their mutual dealings. Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, “They are closer to the first natural state and more remote from the evil habits that have been impressed upon the souls (of sedentary people) through numerous and ugly, blameworthy customs. Thus, they can more easily be cured than sedentary people.”(p.165) As such Bedouins are not disposed to evil tendencies and follow the good principles of life and they fit into the wise saying, "God loves those who fear God."(p.165) Even when Prophet Mohammed was travelling to spread the message of Islam, the Bedouins were not encouraged to accompany him, unlike the inhabitants of Mecca who emigrated to assist him in his divine mission. As such the Arab Bedouins remained aloof from the mainstream society. The living styles and the area surrounding, in which they inhabited, turned Bedouins more courageous than sedentary people. Living separate from the protected community of people, has its own challenges. They have no protection from the militia as they live in remote areas of desert and they do not aspire for the same. Their rustic defense system is self-managed and they do not entrust that responsibility to another agency. They invariably carry weapons. They live in groups and go to the desert in groups. Living in the desert demands togetherness as such Bedouins are held together by group feeling. Mutual conflicts in the towns and cities are controlled by the law enforcing authorities, but the Bedouins are free from such arrangements. It does not, however, mean that Bedouins have no one to keep a vigil on them. But respect for authority originates from their internal world. Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, The restraining influence among Bedouin tribes comes from their shaykhs and leaders. It results from the great respect and veneration they generally enjoy among the people. The hamlets of the Bedouins are defended against outside enemies by a tribal militia composed of noble youths of the tribe who are known for their courage. Their defense and protection are successful only if they are a closely-knit group of common descent. (p.170) Such youngsters make efforts to build their stamina and their mutual affection for the group members is a powerful force, which adds to their capacity to strike the enemy when the occasion demands. Luxurious lifestyles and materialistic amenities divide the humankind but the calamities and difficulties unite the community. The living conditions of Bedouins are hard and arduous viewed from any end. Their economic status is poor; their habitats are bad and unhealthy. Their subsistence depends on one important animal, which is camel. Living conditions in deserts are so harsh that they contribute much to the ruggedness in their day to day life. They do not have fixed or noble ambitions except to carry on with the life as best as they can in the routine that is made available to them by the elders of the tribe. As such their interaction with members of the other nations remained non-existent. The members of the other races also were not inclined to interact with them. The Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, Therefore, their pedigrees can be trusted not to have been mixed up and corrupted. They have been preserved pure in unbroken lines. This is the case, for instance, with Mudar tribes such as the Quraysh, the Kinanah, the Thaqif, the Banu Asad, the Hudhayl, and their Khuzaah neighbors. They lived a hard life in places where there was no agriculture or animal husbandry. (p.173) As if to invite further suffering, they lived far away from the fertile fields where intensive cultivation could have been possible. It was either due to the fear of enemy militia, or the lifestyles adopted by them since generations, with no special reason to support it, except exhibition of loyalty to their own tribe. Giving specific instances relating to this disposition by the Bedouin tribes, Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, “They lived far from the fertile fields of Syria and the Iraq, far from the sources of seasonings and grains. How pure have they kept their lineages! These are unmixed in every way, and are known to be unsullied.”(p.173)Maintaining purity is one of the toughest tasks. Several social and economic forces, conflicts and wars, act as the challenging powers that threaten purity and lineages become confused. Interactions with people with a different descent cannot be totally avoided. It can be a case of special attachment. It can be the master-servant relationship. One may be compelled to escape from the tutelage of a particular tribe on account of some crime committed. It may be either the voluntary escape or the punishment awarded to that individual by the community elders. Disassociation from a particular descent and association with members from another descent does not in any way affect the original descent of the concerned individual. If the association continues for a long time, the original descent may be like getting elapsed. The Ibn Khaldun (2012) writes, Family lines in this manner continually changed from one tribal group to another, and some people developed close contact with others (of a different descent). This happened both in pre-Islamic and in Islamic times, and between both Arabs and non-Arabs. If one studies the different opinions concerning the pedigree of the family of al-Mundhir and others, the matter will become somewhat clearer. (p.175) Wars among the different tribes of Bedouin to gain superiority, and control of wealth were very common. The war they fought with the Baghdad troops in the year 1809 is one such example. It was all over a strategic piece of land by the river Euphrates. They carried many small guns, some tents and about 500 horses to their capital city. Later they also extracted tribute from Syrian villages. Conclusion As the tribal strength grew, they often divided into different branches. This was done for administrative convenience, and it had nothing to do with maintaining purity. Purity was always been an individual aspect but under the tribal authority. The purity aspect was the overriding consideration in the dealings of each and every individual who owned loyalty to a particular descent; as such psychology played an important role in keeping the members of the descent united. Children of Bedouins learnt the concept and practical application of the principles of loyalty in the atmosphere they lived. As they grew, they became the strenuous supporters of the values of their tribe. On the whole the Bedouins are warlike tribes and some of the tribes own as much as five thousand tents. A tribe also becomes rich with the multiplicity of camels. Their historical background, their philosophical concepts and religious beliefs, their societal traditions, the geographical area in which they lived, lack total contact with the modern civilization, and absolute loyalty to their tribe and dictates of their leaders, all these factors contributed for Bedouins remaining the purest race who never mixed. But this purity should not be construed in absolute terms. It only means that the level of co-operation, the level of understanding and loyalty for the tribe and its customs and traditions. Profound interaction with the modern civilized world is not prevalent in the Bedouin tribe and perhaps its members find happiness in remaining as a secluded community. Reference Listed Ibn Khaldun, Abd Ar Rahman bin Muhammed. The Muqaddimah (Trans) Franz Rosenthal (2012) Chapter II, Points 1 to 10(pp161-175) Retrieved from: https://asadullahali.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/ibn_khaldun-al_muqaddimah.pd. Read More