Download PDF | Mohammad Rihan - The Politics and Culture of an Umayyad Tribe_ Conflict and Factionalism in the Early Islamic Period-I. B. Tauris (2014).
246 Pages
Mohammad Rihan
is an assistant professor at the Lebanese University. He holds a PhD in Islamic History and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Cambridge.
INTRODUCTION
Early Islamic political history is to a large extent tribal history. The early conquests were achieved by Arab tribes while the power base of the Sufyanids and the Marwanids consisted of Arab Syrian tribes and the civil wars that marred the Umayyad period were fought among tribal factions. The relatively extensive modern literature on the Umayyad period notwithstanding, our knowledge of the tribal world in the early Islamic period remains confused and incomplete. Despite the painstaking efforts of Arab historians to write ‘exact’ genealogies, confusion reigns in this field. Moreover the paucity of the sources concerning Syria under the Umayyads represents a serious obstacle for a better understanding of that period. This study is mainly an effort to shed some light on the history of the Umayyad tribal world by focusing on one of its Syrian tribes: ‘Amila.
The tribe ‘Amila was one of the Arab Syrian tribes settled in Bilad al-Sham long before the advent of Islam. They participated extensively in founding, protecting and expanding the Umayyad state. Their history however is shrouded in mist and their contribution practically forgotten. A few attempts were made to sketch some of their history mainly by twentieth century Arab Shi‘i historians from the region of Jabal ‘Amil (southern Lebanon today). Their works, however, are incomplete and suffer from serious shortcomings. They claim, contrary to historical evidence, that ‘Amila was settled in the region before the advent of Islam and that it adopted Shi‘ism, through Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, since the early days of Islam.
This study proposes to set out the political history of ‘Amila in the early Islamic age up to the late Umayyad period. Prior to the Islamic conquests, ‘Amila roamed the Syrian desert as a semi-nomadic tribe and probably performed its duty, as an Arab federate of the Byzantines, watching the desert frontier. After the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty in power, ‘Amila evolved from a mere nomadic group into a major participant in the decision-making process and established itself, with its sister tribes of Ahl al-Sham, as the protectors and guardians of the Umayyad empire. There exists a plethora of primary sources, from the books of genealogies to the traditional chronicles, that are relevant to the Umayyad period, but unfortunately, few of them were useful for this study. The tribe ‘Amila has left very few traces in these sources despite its relatively long presence in Bilad al-Sham. Most of the extant sources reflect the anti-Umayyad and anti-Syrian bias of the later ‘Abbasid historians. The use of hitherto neglected sources and a fresh look at the traditional ones is essential for relating the history of the Umayyad tribal world.
The Byzantine sources are undoubtedly useful for a better comprehension of the Umayyad period. They were however used in a limited way because they lacked references to the tribe ‘Amila per se. But many conclusions were drawn from their references regarding the other Syrian tribes such as the Ghassanids. Modern historiography has seldom resorted to Umayyad poetry as a reliable source for establishing the political history of that era. Unlike Jahili poetry,1 Umayyad poetry was not prone to significant nahl and its authenticity is relatively well established. Umayyad poetry has preserved for us many of the details pertaining to Umayyad political life. All the major civil wars, for instance, are reflected in the poetry of both Qaysi and Yamani poets. The Naqa’id of Jarir, al-Farazdaq and al-Akhtal is a good example that illustrates this point. This study has benefited significantly from the poetry of ‘Adi b. al-Riqa‘ al-‘Amili (d.c. 720 A.D). His diwan2 is a major testimony to many of the political and military events that occurred in the Umayyad period. Rulers, military leaders, individuals, tribes, cities, and villages were mentioned in his verses. Being the major poet of the tribe, he allocated to his tribe ‘Amila a substantial part of his poetry which became ‘the official public record’ of the tribe. Without the poetry of ‘Adi, an important part of the history of ‘Amila under the Umayyads would have vanished.
Mentioned in al-Nadim’s Fihrist, ‘Adi’s diwan was collected first by Tha‘lab al-Shibani in the third Hijra century. However, many other verses are extant in other sources like Yaqut al-Hamawi who, for instance, used his poetry extensively in order to identify villages and cities in Bilad-Sham. His poetry comprises all the established genres of the Umayyad period: hija’, fakhr, madih, and ghazal, but first and foremost it is a registry of his tribe’s deeds from Jahiliyya to his day. Many of the ‘Amilis’ battles, victories, enemies and allies were reported by ‘Adi. He personally witnessed some of the events he mentioned and he was close to the Umayyad court of both ‘Abd al-Malik and al-Walid b. ‘Abd al-Malik which enabled him to be part of the upper circle of decision making. His poetry is a live testimony to many of the battles (Marj Rahit and Dayr al-Jathaliq for instance) fought by the ‘Amilis.
Those battles as described by the ‘Abbasid chronicles did not mention the role of ‘Amila but rather spoke of Ahl al-Sham. Some of his verses are the only reference that shed some light on the history of ‘Amila under the Byzantines and on ‘Amila’s tribal alliances. Epigraphic and archaeological evidence have been used in the discussion of the pre-Islamic past of ‘Amila. The confusion reigning in the classical Arabic sources about this period discourages the attempt to write serious studies. Modern western scholarship (Lammens and Caskel) has dismissed the stories to be found in these later sources as ‘unworthy of belief’. However epigraphic data may be used to support some of the accounts mentioned by classical Arab historians and to establish a firmer chronological order of these accounts. In this book, the presentation of ‘Amila’s political history is preceded by a chapter that deals with theoretical questions relating to the tribal structure and its functions and dynamics. Based on modern anthropological studies of tribes and beduins in particular, this chapter intends to give a definiton of the tribe ‘Amila as it will be understood throughout the book. The second chapter investigates the pre-Islamic past of ‘Amila focusing on the ambiguous relation between ‘Amila and Zenobia in Palmyra as it is presented by the classical Arabic literary sources and which may be better understood with the discovery of new epigraphic evidence.
In the third chapter, an attempt is made to clarify further the role of the Arab Syrian tribes and in particular ‘Amila during the Islamic conquests. This role was underestimated by the traditional accounts and neglected by modern studies. In the fourth chapter, an attempt is made to retrace the political and military role of ‘Amila in building and protecting the Umayyad state. Finally, the last chapter is an attempt to revisit some of the unsubstantiated stories created by modern Arabic Shi‘i historians on the relation between ‘Amila, Jabal ‘Amil and the spread of Shi‘ism in the region.
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