Arabs and the universality of Islam |
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Collection title
Islamic era in Jordan
First broadcast date
2003
Abstract
From this episode, we learn of the twinning that linked the Arabs and the Arabic language with Islam. Arabic is the language of the Quran and of the prophet Mohamed peace be upon him.
The Islamic conquests have contributed to the spread of the Arabic language in the Arab territories: Syria, Hidjaz….where prayers are in Arabic.
Production companies
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Television - Own production
Broadcaster
JRTV - Jordan Television
Audiovisual form
Documentary
Primary theme
Arab and muslim worlds
Secondary themes
- Tourism and cultural sites
- Society and way of life
Credits / Cast
- Toufan Fawaz - Author of original work
- Toufan Fawaz - Speaker
- AL Kardi Innad - Director
Map locations
- Jordan - Transjordan Plateau - Provinces
Additional information
The sahara - camels - desert population - the holy Kaaba - Omr palace - knights - Islamic and Byzantine museums -
Context
The Arabs and the universal nature of Islam
Norig Neveu
This episode is part of a series of documentaries on the Islamic history of Jordan. It focusses on the history of the Middle East before the advent of Islam and on the first part of the Islamic conquest, stopping on the evolution of the Arabic language.
Pre-Islamic Arabia in the first centuries BC is usually divided into several regions: Southern Arabia, Central Arabia (the Thamudic alphabet) and Northern Arabia (the Safaitic alphabet), plus the systo-Mesopotamian fringes inhabited by the Nabataeans who used an alphabet derived from Aramaic which is considered the fore-runner of Classical Arabic. The documentary mentions the existence of the kingdoms of Edom, Moab and Canaan, territorial divisions handed down from the Bible, showing the influence of biblical archaeology in the evolution of Jordanian history.
In Arabia, in the centuries leading up to the advent of Islam, the socio-political organization was dominated by tribes, mainly Bedouin. We can distinguish the southern and northern tribes which shared Arabic as the language of poetry. Poetry competitions were organized every year in Mecca. The poems of some of the winners, the mu'allaqât remain famous. Mecca was ruled by a large tribe of nomadic merchants, the Quraysh. There were also Christian and Jewish colonies in Arabia, including Yathrib, the future Medina. Apart from the Byzantine presence, independent political systems existed on the fringes of Arabia, including confederations of Christian tribes: the Ghassanids and Lakhmids.
This was the setting into which the Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570. He belonged to the Quraysh tribe. An orphan, he was raised by his uncle Abu Talib and at a very young age joined the caravans going to Syria. His first revelation occurred when he was 40 years old. The Prophet then tried to rally the main tribes of north-eastern and eastern Arabia to Islam. He also sent a letter to the Byzantine emperor Heraclius in 628-629 trying to persuade him to join Islam. The original of that letter is preserved in Jordan and is a priceless heritage linking Jordan's history with the Prophet.
The battles Mu'ta (629), Fahl (635) and Yamouk (636) allowed the Muslim armies to conquer the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire. The conquest of the Bilad al-Sham (Syria) only took place during the reign of Abu Bakr, Muhammad's successor. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab continued the conquest. In 661, Mu'awiyya ibn Abi Sufyan governor of Syria triumphed in his claim to obtain the caliphate. He made Damascus the capital of his dynasty, the Umayyads. Their conception of power was based on mobility. They built comfortable homes in the country, known as the Desert Castles. There are eighteen in Jordan, the most famous being the bath-house at Qasr 'Amra.
The documentary tries to situate pre-Islamic Jordanian history and the early days of Islam in a more general context, emphasizing the importance of this territory in Islamic history.
Bibliography:
Claude Cahen, L’Islam des origines au début de l’Empire ottoman, Paris, Hachette, 1995.
Bruno Chiesa, Valentina Colombo, Gabriele Crespi, L’Arabie avant l’islam, Aix-en-Provence, Edisud, 1994.
Jan Restö, The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads,Londres, New York; Routledge Curzon, 2003.
Dominique Sourdel, Histoire des Arabes, Paris, PUF, 1998.