Nomads and City Dwellers

In the seventh century, the vast deserts of the Arabian peninsula were populated by both sedentary (settled) and nomadic peoples. The sedentary peoples, sometimes farmers, sometimes merchants and artisans, lived in oases. They far outnumbered the nomads, known as Bedouins, who herded livestock and raided one another for plunder, slaves, and wives (men practiced polygyny—having more than one wife at a time). Their poetry, oral rather than written, expressed their esteem for honor, friendship, bravery, and love.

Islam began as a religion of the sedentary, but it soon found support and military strength among the nomads. It started in Mecca, an important commercial and religious center south of Medina. Mecca was the home of the Ka‘ba, a shrine that contained the images of many gods. It was a sacred place within which war and violence were prohibited. The tribe that dominated Mecca, the Quraysh, controlled access to the shrine, taxing the pilgrims who flocked there. Visitors, assured of their safety, bartered on the sacred grounds, transforming the plunder from raids into trade.