Islamic Legitimacy and Arab Tribal Society
4. Islamic Legitimacy and Ideology
Every organization needs social legitimacy, which is provided by ideology. Legitimation: A set of arguments explaining that the organization is “natural” under the assumption that the entire universe has an order, and all must adapt.
Ideology is often projected on a theory of knowledge, i.e., an explanation of the world and the role of humans in it. The theory of knowledge was initially developed by philosophy, but from the Middle Ages, it was in open conflict with religion.
Classical Islamic Ideology (VI-XI centuries) was based essentially on the emanationist theory, the eternity of the world by defending a permanent emanation from the first cause.
The God of the revelation of the Qur’an, for this theory, can be equated with the first cause. However, this theory also considers matter as a generating principle, and as such, forever. This questioned the creation by God of all existence, as defended by Islamic religion (including Christianity). The great Islamic theorists of the first period (Ibn Sina, al-Farabi) considered religion valid only for the people, while the rulers had to rely on the Emanate. Consequently, authority was legitimate above the revealed law. It also followed as principles for the law, personal opinion, and personal effort of interpretation, which were proof of the hegemony of the private.
Between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, adjustment was conceived within the very structure of Islamic ideology. Theologians such as al-Ghazali gave religion a dominant role on all levels. Philosophers such as Ibn Tufail sought to reconcile revelation with philosophy, or knowledge through faith with knowledge through personal effort and logical reasoning. This setting was maintained until the break of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the nineteenth century, capitalism was imposed, breaking that model and transforming society. Even in the legal field, a strong link with the supposed principles of Islamic law remains. Religious sectors began to acquire significant influence only in the late tenth century. The political crisis of the eleventh century brought to the fore the issue of the legitimacy of power and facilitated the penetration of al-Ghazali’s “refreshing” proposals.
5. Tribal Society
Many researchers believe that the society in Mecca during Muhammad’s time was a tribal society, and that the basic structure of this still existed several centuries later, not only in Arabia but was imposed in many conquered territories. The existence of tribal groups in al-Andalus, the degree of continuity in time of these groups, and the level of their impact on the formation of al-Andalus have been part of any serious discussion of the history of this period.
Tribal societies are based on their articulation into tribes. Tribes are socio-political groups composed of large confederations, subdivided into clans, and these into lineages. Individuals belonging to a clan cannot clearly establish the line of ancestors connecting them with the theoretical founder. The lineages descend down the line. The clans belong to extended families, encompassing many degrees of kinship. In the lineages, only those of the same degree of close relationship belong.
From the socioeconomic point of view, a tribal society often seems to have communal ownership of property, particularly land. This makes it a stable productive organization, where changes must be made by consensus, and all elements involved are integrated. Tribal societies are also called segmental, where the political organization is based on the balance of the clans. They do not recognize the legitimacy of political structures over the tribe. All these factors make tribal groupings peacefully resist absorption by another type of society.
6. The Relationship
There are many ways in which a society establishes kinship relations, divided into agnatic and cognate. Agnatic kinship prevails in the male line (patrilineal) or female (matrilineal). The matrilineal are rarer. In cognatic kinship, descendants belong to the families of both parents. The society can also be outbreeding or inbreeding. In the former, marriage must take place outside of the kin group, although levels of prohibition vary in different societies. In inbred societies, marriages tend to be within the group. These societies tend to accept polygamy, and it is particularly honorable to seize foreign women by force or to be sufficiently respected by another lineage to be in a dominant position over it. Women will never belong to the husband’s group, but their children will, thus strengthening the group; the women coming weakens it. This overcomes the difficulty and the risk of genetic degeneration. The “ideal” of a group is to have the power or prestige necessary to absorb other women without giving up any of their own, thus constantly increasing their strength while women’s groups would yield to their disappearance.
Among the Arabs, agnatic relations survived, although tribal ties were already in the process of dissolution at the time of the conquest. Individuals and groups began to articulate and establish relationships based on their position within state institutions.
7. Unification and Expansion
Muhammad had managed to unite most of Arabia, and as a result, could begin to prepare attacks against the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. At his death, many tribes did not accept that groups from Medina and Mecca would exercise power, and they broke alliances. The first caliph reacted against secession, described as apostasy, and in a quick series of campaigns, forced the rebel tribes into submission, unifying Arabia. Between the death of Muhammad (632) and the early eighth century, the Arabs formed an empire that stretched from Iran to the south of France.