RISE OF THE MUSLIMS: Writing on the wall, Islamic History, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic History

RISE OF THE MUSLIMS: Writing on the wall

Ashok V. Desai on a book about how Islam changed the world

That is the sort of world in which Arabs lived. Arabs existed before Islam; they were tribes that inhabited the desert to the east of the fertile crescent that extends along the Mediterranean coast from Egypt through Palestine and Syria to Turkey. Outside Nemara, an ancient fort near Damascus (the capital of today’s Syria), lies the grave of Imrul-Qays, son of Amr, described as king of Arabs, who died in AD 328 — much before Muhammad was born. Two hundred years later, this area was under Ghassanids, who were governors under the Romans. They held a fair every spring at the shrine of St Sergius where Arabs from the mountains and desert further east would come to pray and celebrate; at that time, those Arabs were obviously Christians sometimes. They were nomads; they kept camels, goats and sheep. They lived in tents. They rode horses. They traded wool and hides for grain, wine and olive oil. And they carried arms — swords and bows — to protect their herds from theft. So they were also equipped for robbery — and probably collected a tribute from the Byzantine settlements to their west in lieu of robbing them.

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