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ORIGINS OF ISLAM: POLITICAL-ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT
Author(s): Andrey Korotaev, Vladimir Klimenko and Dmitry Proussakov
Source: Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, Vol. 52, No. 3/4 (1999), pp. 243-
276
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
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Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 52 (3-4), 243-276 (1999)
ORIGINS OF ISLAM: POLITICAL- ANTHROPOLOGICAL

AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT
Andrey Korotaev, Vladimir Klimenko, Dmitry Proussakov

(Moscow)
The authors suggest to view the origins of Islam against the background of the 6th century AD
Arabian socio-ecological crisis whose model is specified in the paper through the study of clima-
tological, seismological, volcanological and epidemiological history of the period. Most socio-po-
litical systems of the Arabs reacted to the socio-ecological crisis by getting rid of the rigid supra-
tribal political structures (kingdoms and chiefdoms) which started posing a real threat to their very
survival. The decades of fighting which led to the destruction of most of the Arabian kingdoms and
chiefdoms (reflected in Ayyãm al- 'Arab tradition) led to the elaboration of some definite "anti-
royal" freedom-loving tribal ethos. At the beginning of the 7th century tribes which would recog-
nise themselves as subjects of some terrestrial super-tribal political authority, the "king", risked to
lose its honour. However, this seems not to be applicable to the authority of another type, the "ce-
lestial" one. At the meantime the early 7th century evidences the merging of the Arabian tradition
of prophecy and the Arabian Monotheist "Rahmanist" tradition which produced "the Arabian pro-
phetic movement". The Monotheist "Rahmanist" prophets appear to have represented a supratribal
authority just of the type many Arab tribes were looking for at this very time, which seems to ex-
plain to a certain extent those prophets' political success (including the extreme political success of
Muhammad).
Key-words : Islam, Arabia, ecology, political anthropology, history, climate, evolution
South Arabian puzzle
For many years we were a bit puzzled by a strangely quick collapse of the South Ara-
bian Empire of the "Kings of Saba' and dhū-Raydān and Hadramawt and Yamanat
and Their Arabs in the Highland and the Coastal Plain" (' mlk SB' w-d-RYDn w-
HDRMWT w-YMNT w- ' 'rb-hmw TWDm w-THMT) in the second half of the 6th cen-
tury AD.
Of course, at the beginning of this century South Arabia experienced a series
of rather turbulent events: dhū-Nuwās' coup, violent persecutions of the Christians,
Ethiopian invasions and conquest, rebellion (successful) of the Ethiopian soldiers
deployed in Yemen, their leader (Abraha) getting the royal power etc. - see Sabaic
0001-6446 /99/ $ 5.00 © 1999 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
244 ANDREY KOROTAEV-VLADIMIR KLIMENKO-DMITRY PROUSSAKOV
inscriptions C621; Ry507; 508; 510; Ja 1028; as well as: Pirenne and T
(1982); Carpenter (1869); M0berg (1924); Berzina and Kubbel' (1990, p
249); Shahīd (1971); Lundin (1961); Kobishchanov (1980, pp. 10-88); Piot
(1985, pp. 17-23); Smith (1954); Robin et al. (1996) etc. Then, however,
Abrahams rule the Empire seemed to have stabilised and achieved rea
florescence by the end of the 540s: Abraha managed to organise the su
repairs of the famous Mārib Dam ('RAf [C 541]), campaigns to Central and N
Arabia etc. (Ry 506; Vasil'ev 1907; Kobishchanov 1980, pp. 64-89; Piot
1985, pp. 23-24)
And then in the second half of the century the Empire (together with the
year-old South Arabian civilisation) simply collapses without any apparent
reason. The study of this collapse is further complicated by the fact that the ca
phe appears to have been so profound that the written texts seem to have st
be produced in South Arabia - since the 7th decade of the 6th century (this
including) we have no authentic dated South Arabian texts up to the Islam
which stands in a sharp contrast with the comparatively well documented
5 decades of the century.1
The collapse seems to have been so profound that when in 570 AD (Sh
1995, p. 365) Khusraw [I] Parwěz reluctantly sent (as a sort of punishmen
hundred convicted criminals to put Yemen into the Persian sphere of influe
sidering this such an adventure that it would be wiser not to risk with the
troops), they (the convicted criminals) did manage to overthrow the dyna
Abraha, though, of course, not without the help of the Yemenites opposed to th
nasty - see e.g. al-Tabarī (1964, pp. 950-956).
North Arabian puzzle
Of course, it is evident that what happened in the 6th-century Yemen was not a
lated event. Already if we look at Arabia as a whole, we shall get a bit dif
perspective.
To begin with, in the Soviet Islamology up to the 1980s the dominant theory
of the origins of Islam connected it with the crisis and degeneration of the clan-tribal
system in the 6th-early 7th century Arabia, the process of the state and class forma-
tion (Tolstov 1932; Smirnov 1954, pp. 180 ff; Beljaev 1965; Petrushevskij 1966, pp.
5-11; Mavljutov 1974; Zhukov 1974, p. 29; Fil'shtinskij 1977, p. 22, p. 107; Negņa
1981 etc.; a preliminary critique of this point see e.g. Bol'shakov 1989, p. 40).
A somewhat strange theory, we must say, as the very well-known facts show quite
clearly that the actual processes were simply contrary to the ones described above.
The clan-tribal systems in pre-Islamic Arabia were strengthening and consolidating,
1 The last dated Sabaic text (C 325 - see Müller 1991) is (see line 5) of the year 669 of the
"Himy arite" Era ~ AD 554/555, or much more likely AD 559/560, depending on the solution of
the problem of the beginning of this era - for the current state of this question see de Blois (1990);
Shahīd (1994); Kitchen (1994, pp. 1-9); and especially Robin et al. (1996).
Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999
ORIGINS OF ISLAM 245
whereas these were precisely the state

in the first century before al-Hijrah .
see a few kingdoms controlling most
huge Kingdom of the tabãbVah in Y
bian South but also considerable par
dom (the vassal of the first one) in
ent on the Sassanid Empire) in the A
parts of Northern and Central Arab
the Byzantine Empire) in the North
(1899); Olinder (1927); Pigulevskaja
What is more, even in the territo
mentioned kingdoms we normally f
chiefdoms rather than true tribes. T
(sg. malik ) "kings" - see e.g. Negrj
The situation at the beginning of th
ginning of Muhammad's Prophecy)
great Arabian kingdoms had disappear
almost no "kings" left in Arabia; and
now we see true free tribes.2
Some neglected causes of th
It appears that the 6th century AD ev

tion and the peak of the tectonic an
the Mediterranean region [see Appen
is not quite self-evident what this h
Naturally, the earthquakes affected
century AD Arabian societies, leavin
ginning of the famous Earthquake
hã {2.} wa-akhrajat 1 ' l-arçt ath
the earth is shaken with an earthquak
'What has happened to it?'" etc.). St
34) have already proposed to connec
bian civilisation with the seismic a
final
deadly blow to the most ancient
Yemeni desert, which were already o
AD and which depended heavily on
2 Even for the 6th-century Mecca there

tion of a quasi-chiefdom polity into a trib
1964, pp. 1083-1100). At the age of Muha
e.g. ibn Hischām 1858-1860, II, p. 971), but
towards the replacement of the "royal" aut
(see below in the section on "Origins of Is
Acta Orient. Hung
could be significantly affected by the earthquakes. But this does not seem to be t
case with the kingdoms and chiefdoms of the Arabian North which could not be
parently affected by the earthquakes to a critical extent. Thus, the most signific
outcome of the seismic activity seems to be volcano eruptions rather than eart
quakes. Again, it is not self-evident how, say, the volcano eruptions on the New Brit-
ain Island near New Guinea could affect the evolution of the Arabian communities.
Again, what is significant here is not the direct effect though some of the South Ara-
bian sites were destroyed just in this way (though not necessarily in the 6th century -
see e.g. Müller and Wissmann [1976]). What is really important are volcanic gases
and tephra which are thrown to the atmosphere in great quantities during such erup-
tions. And this could affect significantly really huge areas. E.g. sulphuric aerosols
would halt partially solar radiation, causing the cooling of the Earth surface and,
hence, droughts, or otherwise floods, and various disbalances in the ecological sys-
tems, which could result in the outbursts of the numbers of the epidemic disease bear-
ing' animals, plague fleas etc., and the causal link between the tectonic and volcanic
activity and the epidemics was noticed long ago.
However, the most significant factor seems to be the droughts - and there are
documented cases when, say, changing solar activity or massive volcano eruption,
resulting in a global climatic shift, caused severe droughts in various parts of the
world (naturally, North Arabia could have been affected in such cases too [see Ap-
pendix C for detail]).
Hence, global climate deterioration and the peak of the tectonic activity pro-
duced such an array of primary, secondary, and tertiary factors (earthquakes and
volcano eruptions themselves, epidemics, droughts, barbarian invasions caused by
the socio-ecological crises on the barbarian peripheries) which could pose a deadly
threat for the survival of most of affected civilisations of the time. We ourselves
came to terms with the sudden death of the 1500-year-old pre-Islamic South Arabian
civilisation when we realised that this happened simultaneously with the severe crisis
in the Byzantine Empire which put it on the brink of an almost complete collapse
(the early 7th to early 6th century comparison would produce for Byzantine results
rather similar to the ones obtained above for the Arabian North and South in any
case). And what was an almost deadly blow for strong Byzantine appeared to have
been just a deadly blow for the weaker South Arabian civilisation as well as for most
Arabian kingdoms.3
This is not a mere speculation, especially for the Arabian North. Indeed, as
was mentioned above the second half of the 6th-century history of South Arabia is
documented very poorly (especially, in comparison with the earlier periods). But this
is not as true for the Arabian North. It is not simply that by the early 7th-early 6th-
century comparison we can deduce that most North and Central Arabian kingdoms
disintegrated, without knowing what happened in between. No, it is possible not only
3 The weakening of the state structures of the Byzantine, Sassanid and Yemeni empires
(caused to a considerable extent by the same socio-ecological factors), of course, led to the further
decline of the Arabian kingdoms and chiefdoms most of which were to a considerable degree
rather dependent on the support of those Near Eastern great powers.
to deduce this disintegration, but also

gration proceeded. Indeed, we have
Arab historical tradition, the so cal
And one of the typical "Days" can b
strongman (a head of a kingdom, o
and arrogant manner. Such a behavi
a she-camel of some woman,4 but, ver
to collect taxes in a "lean" year (us
p. 249); Ibn al-Athīr (1867, pp. 368-
e.g. the description by the Day of H
uprising against Hujr (which finally
killing of Hujr and the destruction of
Irina Hujr m kãnafl Banī Asad wa-

sanat1" ... thumma ba'atha ilay-him
mana'ü dhãlik wa-Hujr yawma-id
hu wa-darajü-hum "Hujr was [th
from them were due to him every
them [Banū Asad] and they [Banū
was that time in Tihāmah), beat t
them" ("the Day of Hujr" - al-Isf
Ibn al-Athīr [1867, p. 376]; al-Maw
The beginning of the "Day of al-Nafra

rendered as follows (for the full qu
the Hawäzin had to bring their taxe
did not like the quantity and quality o
old woman and rudely pushed her
Athīr 1867, p. 413; Ibn 'Abdi-Rabbi
al. 1942, pp. 235-236).
A typical reaction to "royal" misb
ins would go to such a chief and ju
attempts on the part of the murdered
"Day" which could last for years fil
(e.g. "the Day of Hujr" [al-Isfahānī
pp. 373-382; al-Mawlā-bik et al. 194
Isfahānī 1955-1964, XI, pp. 77-83
Rabbi-hi 1949-1965, V, pp. 135-13
Day of Khazāz" in Yaqüt's edition [1
the famous pre-Islamic poet 'Amr b
4 Incidentally, according to Ayyäm , su

hostilities, known by the name of the abo
(al-Isfahānī 1955-1964, V, pp. 29-55; Ibn
1965, V, pp. 213-250; Yâqût 1410/1990,
etc.), c. 490-530 AD.
Acta Orient. Hung
248 ANDREY KOROTAEV- VLADIMIR KLIMENKO-DMITRY PROUSSAKOV
38-54] who himself took an active part in his tribe's struggle against the La
Kingdom which seems to have contributed significantly to the weakening an
dissolution of this political entity; on the struggle of Arab tribes against th
sanid kings see e.g. Negija [1981, pp. 36-37]; see also e.g. al-Bayātī [1407/198
232 ff]). In any case, at the end we normally find original chiefdoms or kin
disintegrated with free true tribes in their places.
The Arab adaptation to the 6th century AD socio-ecological crisis
Actually, what was described at the end of the previous section may well be cons
as an important component of this rather effective adaptation. This was simp
most socio-political systems of the Arabs (or, for the extreme methodologic
vidualists, the Arabs themselves, anyhow, it could be well described in both
reacted rather adequately to the socio-ecological crisis by getting rid of th
supratribal political structures (i.e. all those kings, chiefs and their retainers
started posing a real threat to their very survival. Indeed, it is rather difficult t
ine anything more nasty than the royal messengers coming to you in a "lea
(which may well have been preceded by one or two similar years) and dem
from you to pay royal taxes when you yourself have nothing to eat and to feed y
children.
However, the Arabs did not only destroy most of those rigid political
communal structures which were alienating the tribal sovereignty; they als
oped their alternatives - soft structures not posing any threat to the soverei
tribes. Most noticeable of them seems to be the development of the system o
enclaves, regular pilgrimages to them and the regular pilgrim fairs ( mawãsim ) w
accompanied those pilgrimages.
The result was the development of rather effective intersocietal networ
which the best known is the Western Arabian religious-political area (the functio
and evolution of which, incidentally, left a noticeable trace on the history of the
System as a whole). It seems to have been formed as a result of the expansion
zones of influence of the respective sanctuaries, their interweaving into one
less integrated religious-political area.
This of course was primarily a religious area, yet it had evident politic
mensions too. It was in the pilgrimage-fairs ( mawãsim ) at the above-mentioned
tuaries "that traditional tribal society established its manifold contacts, the e
of the religious and cultural ideas, as well as the barter of products with on
value. Furthermore, the various legal problems (armistice, debts, benefits, p
of blood-money, bailing out of prisoners, finding of clients, looking for disa
persons, questions of heritage, etc.) of the participants were also settled ther
exchange of ideas and goods, as well as the spreading of legal customs and cul
mon to several tribes, that is, regular social contact in general, played no ne
role in the extension of particular tribal consciousness" (Simon 1989, p. 90; a
especially Wellhausen [1897/1961, pp. 88-91]).
As a result we can observe the for

less correlating with the religious one,
ious, but also the political culture we
travellers in ashhur hurum , the holy
the year as the holy months), where th
the same places to settle their conflicts
mediation etc. The most remarkable
cant intertribal warfare in "the Are
Majāz, 'Ukāz and Mecca5) between the
in the last decade of the 6th century
lims. Actually at this time we can o
tural-political entity, which in the ab
secured the existence of a huge cultu
very productive) exchange of informat
Incidentally, these types of cultural-

(without any reasonable justificat
theories of social evolution (e.g. C
et al. 1985; Fried 1967; Hallpike
Sanderson 1990; 1995; Service 19
seem to fit in all these essentially
cially in their most popular band
(with all its modifications). Indeed
the early 7th century appear to have
5 Of course, 'Arafah and Mina could be a

ever, they could be also regarded as parts o
6 In the early 7th century AD it covere
parts of the other Arabian regions.
7 Being polycentric (it is rather doubtful
tant centre [see e.g. Crone 1987]) the Weste
erogeneous structure including a few inter
aries. The best known is the hums amphycti
1858-1960, 1, pp. 126-129; al-Azraqï 1858,
Ibn Habib 1942, pp. 178-181). Kister observe
mainly spread along the trade routes of Qu
was made that this was a kind of trading a
1989, pp. 63-64). This might appear impl
affiliation to hums was normally transmitte
p. 127; al-Azraqī 1858, p. 122), which is ap
religious norms through alliances. However,
before Islam practised extensively exogamic
fortuitous at all and aimed at establishing all
could be also taken into consideration tha
unless on the condition that the children w
unpublished Ms by al-Jāhiz; see also al-Azr
clans that they became hums just in this
consideration the fact that the main inter
routes, it is not so surprising to find the hum
Acta Orient. Hung.
cal structures (which seems to be valid even with respect to the Meccan
community [see e.g. Dostal 1991]) and, according, to such schemes
could be only classified as "autonomous communities", "tribes", at most
as "chiefdoms" (though most Arabian "chiefdoms" seem to have
disintegrated in the second half of the 6th century AD). However, they
were parts of a much wider cultural-political entity whose overall level
of social complexity may well be compared with the one of an average
"early state"; though lacking the political centralisation this entity fails
to find its place in the above-mentioned schemes (this appears to be
true with respect to any processes of socio-cultural growth which are
not accompanied by the growing political centralisation, or especially
going in hand with the political decentralisation).
In general, the Arabs appear to have developed a rather effective adaptation to

6th century socio-ecological crisis. The soft intersocietal networks they created
permitted them to assume a role of the guardians of the important World Sys
links in the World System Southern area, a role which the Great Powers of the
6th-early 7th century were already unable to perform.
In the late 1980s two monographs specifically dedicated to the subject

of the Meccan trade were published (Crone 1987; Simon 1989). Crone
questioned the usual point that the Meccan trade was extremely profit-
able and important, and that Mecca itself was the capital of a huge mer-
chant empire. Indeed, the plausibility of the caravan trade route between
Southern Arabia and the Fertile Crescent which the Meccans were sup-
posed to serve does not appear very high after the beginning of the CE;
as is well known, in the 1st century BC-lst century AD the main
trading routes between South Arabia and the North were transferred to
the sea (J. Ryckmans 1951, p. 331; Bowen 1958, p. 35; Irvine 1973, p.
301; von Wissmann 1981, p. 66; Robin 1982a, I, p. 98; 1982b, p. 17;
1984, p. 212; Crone 1987, pp. 23-36; Audouin-Breton-Robin 1988, p.
74; Bauer-Lundin 1994, pp. 105-106). After that the old Transarabian
caravan "incense" route definitely lost all its importance unable to com-
pete with the much more effective sea way. Hence, it is rather difficult
to imagine after that anything like a "Meccan commercial empire"
thriving on just the Transarabian caravan trade. Meccan Trade and
Islam by Róbert Simon was published two years after Patricia Crone's
Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Actually, Simon's monograph is
the English translation of his A mekkai kereskedelem kialakulása és
jellege originally published by Akadémiai Kiadó in Budapest in 1975.
However, the impression is that Simon's monograph was actually writ-
ten after Crone's book, as he managed to find the "golden middle" be-
tween the uncritical traditional accounts of the ancient and huge "Mec-
can commercial empire" (e.g. Lammens 1910; 1924; Watt 1953, p. 3;
1964, p. 1; Donner 1977) and the hypercritical position of Crone. Simon
ORIGINS OF ISLAM 25 1
has shown that the reasonably (thoug

able Meccan Transarabian trading ne
late phenomenon, having arisen in a
the 90s of the 6th and the very beginn
the Meccan direct trade with Iraq on
the 7th century; Simon e.g. cites (p.
pronounced by a rather famous conte
yān b. Harb (the father of the first
ing what seems to have been the Mec
at the beginning of the 7th century
direct commercial links between Me
masīri-nā la- * alā khatarin mã qudümu
dhan la-nã fi 'l-qudüm 'alay-hi wa-la
("We are indeed in danger on our prese
ful king who did not give us permiss
no trading place for us" [al-Isfahānī
directly suggests that the formation o
network became possible just becaus
Arabian kingdoms which earlier cont
any Meccan control over the Arabian
lematic before the destruction of the
controlled this trade). Thus the form
network could well be seen as a part
century socio-ecological crisis.8
8 However, Simon seems to have overlooke

enhanced significantly the viability of the Tran
of the Meccan trading network at the beginnin
of Yemen by the Persians at the very end of
have been extremely risky for the Greek merc
taking into consideration the very unstable
expedition, internal strife etc.). And, of course
the Greek merchants with Yemen after the f
immense Greek-Persian hostilities just at that
circumstances appear to have been precisely
(though in no way extremely) profitable Mecc
between Yemen and Syria). Demonstrating the
the Meccan (and in general, Arabian) trade Cr
a curious people in that they sailed to Africa
reaching their native shores" (Crone 1987, p. 9
jens 1962, p. 115; Doe 1971, p. 50). This refers
nobody seems to insist on the probability of th
to be valid for the 6th century AD as well - an
chandises could be first delivered by sea to Yem
than the Red Sea. However, after the final Pe
25 -year Persian-Byzantine war this really stran
beginning of the CE, became reasonable. Pet
"Muhammad and the Origins of Islam" (Peters
Acta Orient. Hung.
Origins of Islam: socio-political context
Though some pre-Islamic Arabian tribes managed to find a rather effective ada
tion to the crisis along the lines described in the previous section, this adaptation do
not appear to have been quite perfect everywhere. After the destruction of the polit
Crone and Simon (whose monograph, although, does not appear to be known to him), maint
that "the Arab caravan cities like Petra. . . still bear eloquent testimony to the prosperity of its m
chants in the form of capital investment in municipal buildings and monuments. Muhamm
Mecca, on the other hand, boasted one unroofed stone building, the Ka'bah, amidst its mud-b
dwellings" (p. 72). Surprisingly Peters fails to recollect at this point (though he manages to do
a considerable bit later [pp. 102, 138-141]) that there was at least one major "capital investm
of this kind in pre-Islamic Mecca. This "investment" is rather well known and that is the "re
struction" of the Ka'bah in c. 603-605 AD, a "reconstruction" which, incidentally, involved t
pulling down of all the sanctuary walls and the construction of the new ones, twice as high (c. 9
as the old ones, as well as the roofing of the building (apparently for the first time in its histo
additionally the walls were plastered and artistically painted from inside (al-Azraql 1858, pp.
118; Ibn Hischām: 1858-1860, 1, pp. 122-126). Actually, the old unroofed sanctuary building
pulled down and a new, twice as high, roofed one was built. After that "Muhammad's M
(< contra Peters) could boast at least one decent roofed "municipal" building. Note that this w
capital investment in the most strict sense of this word (of course, if one at least partly believe
traditional Muslim accounts of the fact that the Meccans derived a considerable part of their we
from the servicing of the pilgrims coming to the Ka'bah, and that their commercial links en
special protection due to their special association with this apparently rather venerated Ara
sanctuary [e.g. Kister 1965]). Of course this only major pre-Islamic "capital investment" doe
fit well in the traditional portrayal of the fabulously rich Meccan commercial empire flourishin
the way through the 6th century AD since the time of Hāshim, but it fits entirely well Sim
reconstruction, according to which the effective Transarabian Meccan trading network was a
tively recent phenomenon with the Meccan community achieving a reasonable (but by no m
fabulous) level of well-being just by the time of the "Reconstruction of the Ka'bah". Anyhow
general impression is that the Meccan Transarabian commercial network formed in its full-fledg
form just at the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century. Just during the first
ades of Muhammad's life the Meccans appear to have managed to finalise the formation of t
commercial network and to make it work rather effectively (Muhammad himself took his pa
this, e.g. participating in the 590s in the 'Ukaz Battle [e.g. Ibn Hischām 1858-1960, I, pp.
119; Ibn Saad 1905, pp. 181-182; Ibn Habīb 1942, p. 210, p. 211, p. 218] of the War of Fijār
which Mecca eliminated the last internal and external middlemen and obtained supremacy ove
transit trade [in] the Arabian peninsula" (Simon 1989, p. 159; see, however, a different interp
tion of these events in Crone 1987, pp. 145-148). Just by the beginning of Muhammad's Prop
the Meccans seem to have finally and completely succeeded in finding their rather effective
out of the 6th-century Arabian crisis, having sorted out all the major economic and political p
lems and achieved a rather reasonable (but by no means fabulous) level of well-being. Note t
the Qur'ân itself portrays a rather affluent society where it could be rather difficult to unders
why some other people have to kill their new-born babies when there are lots of food all aro
(VI, ayahs 140-141; ayah 151; XVII, ayah 31; CVIII). Hence, there is no surprise that the M
community (which had sorted out all the major problems and did not really need any radical str
tural changes, any new type of political authority) was not at all the best place where Muhamma
Prophecy could be completely accepted, though it seems to have provided a good environment
the initial development of the prophecy (with its lack of the political centralisation and a re
able level of well-being, when a considerable proportion of Meccans could afford to spend lot
time on thinking about the things other than their daily bread, without being too much afra
some state-sponsored persecutions).
cal structures of the Arabian kingdom

ties entirely succeeded in working ou
have succeeded e.g. in the Meccan ar
space for Muhammad's Prophetic activ
so successful already on the peripher
tribes could not sort out their relatio
authority.
Such a problem was not new in Arabia. And at the end of the 5th, or the begin-
ning of the 6th century the answer was quite clear - to send messengers to some
great Arabian King and to ask him to appoint a king over those tribes (see Appendix
A; or e.g. Ibn Habib [1942, p. 249]).
However, such a practice appears to have become unacceptable by the 7th
century. The decades of fighting which led to the destruction of most of the Arabian
kingdoms and chiefdoms seem to have also led to the elaboration of some definite
"anti-royal" freedom-loving tribal ethos codified in the tribal historical traditions and
poetry - see e.g. al-mu'allaqah of 'Amr b. Kulthūm [e.g. Ibn Kulthūm 1983, pp. 263-
269; or al-Zawzanī 1972, pp. 163-187], or such lines as: wa-laysa ' alay-nã qatlu-
hum [al-mulūk] bi-muharramn ("It is not forbidden to us to kill the kings!" - al-Dabbī
1964, p. 21 1, note 42, the second half of bayt 20; a line with a similar sense see e.g.
in the "Warning to Imru'-'l-Qays" by 'Abīd b. al-Abras [1983, p. 164/ bayt 20]) etc.
The reflections of this ethos seem to be present even in al-Qur'ãn - see XXVII/34:
al-mulūk" idhã dakhalü qaryaf1 afsadü-hä wa-ja'alü a'izzaf ahli-hã adhillať" wa-
ka-dhãlika yaf ' alün ("The kings, when they enter a town, they corrupt it; they make
the most glorious of its folk the most base, they do it this way"). The second Caliph,
'Umar, would even say: inna-hu la-yaqbuhu bi-'l-'arab an yamlika ba'du-hum ba'cfn
("It is disgusting for the Arabs that some of them reigned over others" - al-Tabari
1964, p. 2012) - a striking contrast with the situation a century before when most
Arabs were subject (in one, or another way) to the kings.
Anyway, at the beginning of the 7th century a tribe which would recognise
itself as subject of some terrestrial supertribal political authority, a "king", risked to
lose its honour. However, this seems not to be applicable to the authority of another
type, the "celestial" one.
Note, e.g. the words of a famous Arab poet al-Hutay'ah said at the time of the
Arab tribes' revolts after the death of the Prophet during the reign of the first Caliph,
Abū-Bakr:
ata 'nã rasüf ' llãfi idh kãna bayna-nã

fa-yã la- 'ibãct ' llãht mã li-Abī Bakr
a-yãrithu-hã Bakrn idhã māta ba'da-hu ...
"We obeyed the God's messenger, when he was among us.

We are the servants of the God, not the servants of Abū Bakr!
Will he leave us to Bakr9 as inheritance?" (al-Isfahānī 1955-1964, II, p. 130).
9 Abū Bakr literally means "the father of Bakr".
Hence, the impression is that whereas for many Arab tribes becoming sub
some terrestrial king was entirely unacceptable, was tantamount to an enorm
of honour, the recognition of some "celestial" authority (naturally through its te
trial representative) was more or less acceptable.
Another group of facts should be also taken into consideration here. Th
Islamic Arabia knew rather well the figure of "prophet" ( kãhin - see e.g. al-M
1965, pp. 151-176; Ibn Khaldūn 1415/1995, pp. 96-98; Fahd 1966, pp. 91
Anyhow, an average Arab seems to have known quite well how a "prophet"
like, what the prophetic trans was, etc. However, all the pre-7th-century Arab pr
ets ( kahanah ) were the ones of the pagan deities. Hence, their authority was
best possible one, as the recognition of their authority would mean the reco
of the authority of the respective pagan deity, whereas all the cults of such
would be normally connected with a specific tribe, whose protector this deit
hence, such a recognition would imply the recognition of the authority of the re
tive tribe as well (as is amply evidenced e.g. by the South Arabian epigraph
e.g. Beeston 1984a).
Hence, the best possible figure here would be rather some Monotheist proph
However, the prophets of the established Monotheist Faiths would not be en
suitable as well, as the recognition of their authority would imply the depend
some extra- Arabian powers, or in the case of Judaism would put the Arab
tribes in an advantageous position.
At the meantime there seems to have been a more or less independent M
theist Arabian ("Rahmanist"/al-Hanîfiyyah) tradition.10 However, its North A
adherents ( hunafã ') do not appear to have given any prophets before the 7th cen
(see e.g. Piotrovskij [1984, p. 20]). Yet, in the early 7th century both traditio
Arabian tradition of prophecy and the Arabian Monotheist "Rahmanist" trad
seem to have merged, producing what Piotrovskij calls "the Arabian prophetic
ment" (Piotrovskij 1984). It should be taken into consideration that in addi
Muhammad there were at least 5 other Monotheist prophets (pseudo-proph
course, from the Moslem point of view) in Arabia at the time of Muhammad
one Judaic prophet in Yathrib (Ibn Sayyäd - see e.g. Halperin [1976]) and a
Christian prophetess, Sajāh (e.g. al-Tabari 1964, pp. 1911-1916), 3 others (al-M
limah, al-Aswad and [rather hypothetically] Tulayhah b. Khuwaylid) seem t
belonged to the Arabian "Rahmanist" tradition (e.g. Bartol'd 1925; Piotr
1984). Note (e.g. al-Tabari 1964, p. 1933, p. 1937; Balādhūri 1866, pp. 10
that both al-Musaylimah and al-Aswad called the God al-Rahmān (just as wa
by Muhammad - see especially al-Qur'ãn XVII, p. 110: qui ud'ü {A}llãha a
'l-Rahmãn ayyan-mã tad'ü fa-la-hu ' l-asmä'u 'l-husnã "Say - invoke the Go
invoke Rahmān, however you would call, He has the best names" - it has bee
suggested that bi-smi '{AJllãhi ' l-rahmãni yl-rahīm may well be translated as "In
10 This hypothesis is still under attack (see e.g. Rippin 1991), however we do not th
has been either finally proved, or rejected, and can be still regarded as a working hypoth
especially Shahid 1989, pp. 154-156, pp. 162-172, pp. 332-338; and Beeston 1984a; 1984
Rubin 1990; Peters 1994, pp. 117-128; Korotayev 1996b etc.)
name of the merciful God Rahmān"

also called Rahmãn(ãn)
authors o by the
Arabia (incidentally, most of them co
or as Christian [e.g. Robin 1980; 199
By the moment our impression is th

independent autochthonous monoth
millat/dīn Ibrahim (= al-Hanlfiyya
and "Rahmanism" of Yemen and al
best, to our knowledge) collection
bian millat Ibrahim see Peters 199
1990, pp. 85-112, as well as Ibn Hi
p. 293, pp. 311-312 etc.; Watt 1975
etc. The Rahmanist tradition which i
two autochthonous Monotheist pro
from the Muslim point of view),
limah in al-Yamāmah (cf. e.g. al
lādhūrī 1866, pp. 105-107), seems
than the Northern Abrahamic trad
cially judaicised population of the
fact that the North-Western Abrahamic monotheist tradition was con-
siderably more ancient than the Southern Rahmanist one seems to be
shown by the data supplied by Sozomen and Theodorite (see e.g.
Shahid 1989, pp. 154-156, pp. 167-172, pp. 332-338; cf. Robin 1991,
p. 146). The point that unlike millat Ibrahim the Rahmanist tradition
seems to have been virtually unknown in pre-Islamic Mecca appears to
be evidenced by the well-known fact: when Muhammad during his
second Meccan period started using al-Rahmān as the name of the God,
it turned out that this name (unlike the notion of Allãh ) was unknown to
almost all the Meccans, as is shown e.g. by the following Qur'anic
ãyah: idhã qlla la-humu * sjudū li- 'l-Rahmãn qãlã wa-mã ' l-Rahmãn".. .
"If it is said to them: 'Prostrate yourselves before al-Rahmān', they will
say: 4 And what is al-Rahmān?' ..." (XXV/60; see also XIII/30; XXI/36).
Indeed, Rahmān as the name of the God is attested in the Northern
Jewish texts (Sokoloff 1990, p. 522), including the epigraphic ones, e.g.
l-smh d-Rhmnh "in the name of Rahmān" (MPAT-A22/10; see also
MPAT-A 39/2 ff). However, the pervasive use of RHMNn as the name
of the God (in the Jewish, Christian and indefinite Monotheist texts),
seems to be a peculiar phenomenon of the late 5th-early 6th-century
South Arabia; at this time here the God was named Rahmān8" in
11 " Dans V invocation bi-{i}smi { AJllāh ar-rahmān ar-rahïm, il est clair que ar-Rahmãn
était à V origine un nom propre et que les sens premier était : 'au nom du dieu ar-Rahmãn le misé-
ricordieux (Robin 1991, p. 146).
12 In any case, apparently not earlier than 460-470 AD when RHMN" appeared as the main
name of the God in the South Arabian Monotheist inscriptions (e.g. Robin 1980; 1991, pp. 146-147).
virtually all the texts mentioning the God's name (c. 2 dozen cases)
(Robin 1980, pp. 85-96), which stands in quite a sharp contrast with
e.g. the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic epigraphic texts of the Byzantine
period where the God is named Rhmnh only twice (Sokoloff 1990, p
522), though the total number of these texts exceeds the number of the
late 5th-early 6th-century South Arabian texts. Within such a contex
any Monotheists "deviating" from the established Monotheist faiths
were most likely to call the God just Rahmãnãn/al-Rahmãn. Inciden
tally, these developments could not be without repercussions in Centra
Arabia (including al-Yamāmah) where the Yemenites exerted consider-
able influence just at this time through their Kindite vassals (e.g. Gajd
1996; Robin 1996), hence, the presence in al-Yamāmah of the inde-
pendent Rahmanist tradition which at the age of Muhammad even pro
duced a Rahmanist prophet (or, naturally, pseudo-prophet from the Mus-
lim point of view) appears here of no surprise - for more detail see e.g
Korotayev (1996b). Irrespective of what have been mentioned above, i
this paper we denote as "Rahmanist" all the prophets belonging to th
Arabian autochthonous monotheist traditions for the present-day lack of
any other more adequate term.
The Monotheist "Rahmanist" prophets appear to have represented a supert

thority just of the type many Arab tribes were looking for at this very time. N
all the "Rahmanist" prophets achieved considerable political success in th
(al-Musaylimah in al-Yamamah [e.g. al-Tabari 1964, pp. 1929 ff], Tulayhah
tral Arabia [e.g. al-Tabari 1964, pp. 1885 ff], al-Aswad in Yemen [e.g.
1964, pp. 1851 ff], though the political success of Sajāh in the Arabian ex
North-East [e.g. al-Tabari 1964, pp. 1908 ff] also appears relevant in this re
their success could not be compared with the one of Muhammad, but their
success was considerable, however; and they seem to show that in the early
tury Arabia such success could be achieved by a "Rahmanist" prophet rather
a king.
In general, our impression is that the origins of Islam could be well considered
as a rather logical outcome of the Arabian processes of adaptation to the 6th-century
socio-ecological crisis in the context of the developing autochthonous Arabian pro-
phetic and monotheist traditions, i.e. this adaptation did not actually cause the forma-
tion of Islam, but rather created in many parts of the Peninsula a socio-political
environment most suitable for the development of an autochthonous Arabian mono-
theist religion (spiritual preconditions of which already existed by the age of the crisis).
Some world system consequences: pilgrimage structures
From what has been mentioned in the previous section it must be rather clear that the
Arab adaptation to the 6th century AD crisis influenced the world system develop-
ment mainly through one of its more or less logical outcomes, the formation of Islam.
Indeed, it seems possible to show that

many of the important patterns, structu
Arabs during this adaptation.
One of the most obvious points here is
Arabian type. Of course, the Arabian pilg
century AD. They are much older being at
documents of the beginning of the 1st m
epigraphy [YM 375 = YM 1064 = CIAS { 1
6th century AD when the most effective
largely on the enhanced pilgrimage pract
network which served as a rather potent su
structures principally destroyed by the A
century crisis.
Islam was embraced and spread by the
of the Western Arabian intersocietal networ
essential "structure-constituting" role. Of
scribed by al-Qur'ān, but not all such pres
the Arabs to the same extent13. The pilgrim
tently and effectively to a considerable exte
was self-evident for the Arabs.
For a specialist in pre-Islamic Arabia t
tion appears (to a considerable degree) as
many important ancient Arabian structur
traced in Arabia for about 1500 years bef
of these patterns look more like South (rath
The South Arabian religious-political ar
expansion of respective South Arabian sta
sion of the conquerors' religion within th
The formation of the religious-political area
of its kingdom-creator (on evolution and
cultural-political area see e.g. Korotayev
The Western Arabian religious-political
ated by the proliferation of the religious au
could of course have some connection with
however, this political activity was entirely
sion of the South Arabian states).
The expansion of the religious authority
the correlating political culture. Hence, in
Arabian religious-political areas "the polit
Western Arabia religion appears to have "go
13 Note e.g. the prohibition of wine (a rather

raqten 1993]) which was not applied quite fully a
poetry" ( khamriyyãt ).
Acta Orient. Hung. 5
Surprisingly, we can observe the South Arabian pattern with respect t

evolution of the religious-political area with the centre in Western Arabia in
lamic Age. This religious-political area is just what is usually called the "Isl
Civilisation". Indeed, its evolution presents just the familiar South Arabian s
of the development of a religious-political area: the political (mainly military
sion creates an "empire" - the religion of conquerors spreads within this e
after the disintegration of the empire religious-political area remains and ex
beyond its borders; the population of the area shares common religious norm
common norms of political culture; a very important role in the integration of t
ligious-political area is played by the pilgrimage to the central sanctuary.
Anyhow, the establishment of the Islamic Pilgrimage system had impo
consequences for the world system evolution.
It should be taken into consideration that the pre-Islamic West Arabian
grimage system (on the basis of which the Islamic one was formed) was ve
adapted to serve as an integrating mechanism for an intersocietal commun
network lacking the political unity. It might not be a mere coincidence th
Islamic one turned out to have rather similar properties. Of course, for the f
years of Islam the Moslem pilgrimage area was more or less identical w
territory controlled by the united Islamic polity. However, after the disintegrati
the latter, this system turned out to work precisely as its pre-Islamic Arabian co
parts, serving as an important integrating mechanism for an intersocietal commu
tion network not united politically.
Hence, one might suppose that one of the world system consequences o
Arab adaptation to the 6th-century crisis was the formation of an important
nism securing the integration of a huge intersocietal network covering som
important central areas of the world system (and many peripheral areas as
a mechanism which secured the unity of some significant patterns, values an
tices throughout all this territory, guaranteeing the annual meeting of the repre
tives of all the societies covered by the respective network in one place, the exch
of information between them, the constant reintegration of the network, etc.
Some world system consequences: tribal structures
As has been already mentioned above Arabs elaborated a rather effective ada
to the 6th-century crisis to a considerable extent through the massive tran
tion of their state and chiefdom structures into the tribal ones. This could h
regarded as a "degeneration" because the newly elaborated tribal structures
out to be able to serve the functional needs of rather complex stratified societies
With the Islamic conquests these tribal structures and tribal ethos (< al
byalah) appear to have proliferated through almost all of the territory of t
Islamic state.
Of course, it should be stressed that there is not so much of al-qabya
Islam itself. Yet it seems necessary to take into account the following points.
To start with, within the Russian

traditionally designated as the "Arab-
objections on the part of our Moslem
[e.g. Ahmadjonzoda 1988]).
However, we would stress that thi
spects. The fact is that this civilisatio
Islamic Empire) seems to contain imp
be understood without taking them i
of them.
It is essential to mention that the Arabs were the dominant ethnos within the
Islamic Empire at least till the Abbasid revolution in the middle of the 8th century
AD; and the Arab culture as a whole (including its non-Islamic components, like al-
qabyalah) acquired a rather high prestige and proliferated within the borders of the
Empire.
The proliferation of the tribal structures and tribal ethos seems to have had
both positive and negative consequences.
On the one hand, in the areas where most of the population acquired the tribal
organisation it often permitted the existence of complex systems of non-oppressed
agriculturists (which is very difficult to find otherwise in the pre-industrial world).
One of the most evident cases is the North-East Yemen Highlands of this millen-
nium, where the tribal organisation for most time effectively prevented the exploita-
tion of most agriculturists (who were honourable armed tribesmen), at the meantime
securing the existence of an intense network of markets, towns, centres of learning
etc. [see e.g. Dresch 1989].
Notwithstanding all the attractiveness of such systems, some negative conse-
quences of their proliferation should neither be overlooked. Looking rather attractive
from inside they often looked entirely unattractive for their non-tribal neighbours,
who often had to deal with rather destructive side-effects of their functioning. In
general, the proliferation of the tribal structures seem to have played a rather impor-
tant role in the inducing of the cyclical "Khaldunian" processes (for a model of such
processes in addition to Ibn Khaldūn's al-Muqaddimah [e.g. Ibn Khaldūn 1958] it-
self see e.g. Gellner [1981, pp. 1-85]) which contributed significantly to the Middle
Eastern "involution" in the 1 1th- 18th centuries, and through this to the loss of its for-
mer central part in the world system.
Appendix A
The "Inviting of the kings" in ''pre-crisis" Arabia
1)
Lammã tasãfahat Bakr ibn Wä'il wa-ghalaba-hum sufahã'u-hã ... irta'ā ru 'sã ' li-
hům fa-qälü inna sufahã'a-nã qad ghalabü 'alã amri-na fa-akala 'l-qawiyyu 'l-da'īf,
wa-lã nastatV 14 taghylr dhãlik, fa-narã an numallik a 'alay-nã malik™ nu 'tī-hi ' l-shãf
wa-'l-ba'îr fa-yďkhudhu li- 'l-da'īf1 mina ' l-qawiyy , wa-yarudď 'alã 'l-mazlüm
mina ' l-zãlim , wa-lã yumkin an yakün min ba' d qabã 'ili-nã fa-ya 'bã-hu 'l-ãkharun
... wa-lãkin-nã na'tī Tubba'an fa-numalliku-hu ' alay-nã . Fa-ataw-hu fa-dhakarü la-
hu amra-hum, fa-mallaka 'alay-him al-Hãritha 'bn 'AmrÀkil al-Murãr al-Kindī
"When [the tribal confederation] Bakr b. Wä'il got corrupted and dominated by
shameless people among it..., the leaders of them [i.e. of the confederation tribes]
came to decision and said: 'We are unable to change this; our opinion is to make
king over us to whom we shall give (as a tax) sheep and camels, and he will protect
the weak from the strong, and the oppressed from the oppressor; it is impossible that
he will be from one of our tribes, as the other (tribes) will not accept him... Rather
we shall come to the tubba' [the Himyarite king of Yemen], and make him a king
over us'; so, they came to him and told him about their problem and he made al-
Hārith b. 'Amr Ākil al-Murār al-Kindī king over them" (Ibn 'Abd Rabbi-hi 1949-
1965, V, p. 222; see also e.g. al-Isfahānī [1955-1964, XII, p. 207]; Ibn al-Athīr
[1867, pp. 374-375]).
2)
Lammã tafãsadaí '1-qabã'it min Nizãr atã-hu ashrãfu-hum fa-qalü in-nã fi dīni-ka
wa-nahnu nakhãf an natafãnã fi-mã yahduth" bayna-nã, fa-wajjih ma ' a-nã banī-ka
yanzilüna fi-nã fa~yakufļuna ba'da-nä ' an ba'd fa-farraqa wulda-hu fi qabã* it 7-
' Arab fa-mallaka 'bna-hu Hujrm * alã Banī Asad wa-Ghatafãn, wa-fbna-hu Shurihbīl
... ' alã Bakr b. Wä'il ... wa-mallaka ' bna-hu Mďadkarib ... 'alã Banī Taghlib ...
wa-mallaka ť bna-hu 'Abď ' llãh ' alã ' Abct 'l-Qays; wa-mallaka ' bna-hu Salamah
' alã Qays
"When the tribes of the Nizār [confederation] got corrupted, their nobles came to him
[i.e. to al-Hārith b. 'Amr, reigning in al-Hīrah at that moment] and said: 'We are in
your power (judgement) we are afraid that we shall annihilate each other because of
what is happening between us; send with us your sons so that they will rule us - they
will secure the order among us (lit.: hold some of us back from the others). So he
distributed his offspring among the tribes of the Arabs: he made his son Hujr king
over Banū Asad and Ghatafān, his son Shurihbīl ... - over Bakr b. Wä'il ..., his son
Ma'adīkarib ... - over Banū Taghlib ..

his son Salamah - over Qays" (the be
1955-1964, IX, pp. 80-81; Ibn al-Athīr 1
see also the beginning of "the First Da
p. 207; Ibn al-Athīr 1867, p. 406; Ibn 'A
lā-bik et al. 1942, p. 46; see also the beg
of Yāqūt [1410/1990, II, pp. 418-419]; a
Appendix B
End of Arabian chiefdoms
1)
The end of the previous story ("the killing of the kings" taking place in the 530-40s,
i.e. after the beginning of the Arabian socio-ecological crisis):
Mallakat Banū 'Āmir Sharāhīl ibn ' l-Hãrith wa-mallakat Banū Tamīm ... Mu-
harriqan ibn ' l-Hãrith wa-mallakat Wã 'il Shurihbīl ibn ' l-Hãrith ..., kãna malika Ba-
ni Taghlib ... Salamať 'bri* 'l-Hãrith, wa-mallakat baqiyyať Qays ... Ma'adīkarib
ibn 'l-Hãrith ... [!!!] fa-qatalat Banū Asad Hujr"1 ... wa-nahadat Banū 'Āmir 'alã
Sharāhīl fa-qatalü-hu ... wa-qatalat Banū Tamīm Muharriq an ... wa-qatalat Wä'il
Shurihbīl .. [!!!]
"Banū 'Àmir made Sharāhīl the son of al-Hārith king [over them]; Banū Tamīm ...
made Muharriq the son of al-Hārith king [over them]; Wä'il made Shurihbīl the son
of al-Hārith king [over them] ...; Salamah the son of al-Hārith became king over
Banā Taghlib ... ; and the rest of Qays . . . made Ma'adīkarib the son of al-Hārith king
[over them]... Then Banü Asad killed Hujr ...; Banū 'Āmir rose up against Sharāhīl
and killed him ...; Banū Tamīm killed Muharriq ...; and Wä'il killed Shurihbīl.. "
(the end of the introduction to "the Day of Khazāz" in Yaqůťs edition [1410/1990,
II, pp. 418-419]).
2)
End of an Arabian chiefdom
[Kãnat] Hawãzin lã tarã Zuhayr b . Jazīmah illã rabb™ wa-Hawãzin yawma idhin lã
khayr fi-hã... wa-inna-mã hum ri'ã'u 'l-shãyi fi ' l-jibãl ... wa-kãna Zuhayr ya'shuru-
hum... fa-ta'tī-hi Hawãzin bi-'l-itâwat* ' llatī kãnat la-hu fi a'nãqi-him fa-ya'tūna-hu
bi- 'l-samrí wa-yl-aqii wa- 'l-ghanam. . . atat-hu ' ajüzm min Hawãzin bi-samnin fi nahy,
wa-"tadharat ilay-hi wa-shakat1 ' l-sinīna 'llatī tatāba'na ' alã 'l-nãs fa-dhãqa-hu fa-
lam yarda ta' ma-hu fa-da" a-hã bi-qausin fi yadi-hi 'utuť fi sadri-hã fa- 'stalqat li-
halãwai ' ' l-qafã ... fa-ghadabat min dhãlika Hawãzin wa-haqadat 'alay-hi i
kãnafl sadri-hã mina 'l-ghayz wa-'l-diman... wa-tadhãmarat 'Āmir b. Sa' sa' ah
ãlã Khãlid b. Ja' far fa-qãl wa-'llahl la-aj'alanna dhirä'ayya warä'a 'unuqi-hi hat
uqtať aw yuqtaf . . .
wa-qãla Khãlid b . Ja' far yamunn 'alā Hawãzin bi-qatli-hi Zuhayr n. . . :
bal kayfa takfuru-nī Hawãzin ba ' da-mã

a ' taqtu-hum fa-tawãladã ahrãrn
wa-qataltu rabba-hum Zuhayrn ba ' da-mã

jada'a ' l-unüf wa-akthara ' l-awzãrã
wa-ja 'altu hazin bilãdi-him wa-jibãli-him

*an s> i _ « an t i an * • t - an
ara *an fada s> i _ « an sahlat t i an wa- * ishar • t -
"The Hawãzin [confederation] considered Zuhayr b. Jazīmah [their] lord. That time
they lived in poverty ,... they grazed [their] goats in the mountains... Zuhayr was
taxing them with 'ushr [a 10% tax]... The Hawãzin people brought to him the tribute
which he imposed on them, they brought to him melted butter, cheese, sheep... Once
an old Hawãzin women brought him a skinful of melted butter, apologised to him
[for the modesty of her tribute ]y and complaint of the ["lean"] years which struck
[her] people (The emphasis is ours - A. K., V. K., D. P.). He tried the butter, did not
like its taste and pushed her with a stringless bow which he held in his hand - she
fell flat on her back... The Hawãzin got angry because of that, bore rancour against
him; this added to spite and rancour which they nursed against him. And [the tribe]
'Ãmir b. Sa'sa'ah [one of the Hawãzin tribes] began to call for war, and Khãlid b.
Ja'far swore: I swear in the name of the God that my hands will reach his neck -
either I shall die, or he will..." [Finally {not without lots of trouble} Khãlid and his
fellow tribesmen manage to kill Zuhayr and destroy his chiefdom.] ". . .And Khãlid b.
Ja'far said, boasting in front of the Hawãzin of killing Zuhayr. . .
Well, how may the Hawãzin not recognize me now after

I brought free life for them - they have been reborn as free people!
I have killed their tyrant Zuhayr after the time when

He cut off [their] noses and increased [their] burdens,
I have transformed their land which was cramped and rugged

Into an open plain full of camels! . . ."
(al-Isfahānī 1955-1964, XI, pp. 77-83; see also Ibn al-Athīr 1867, pp. 411-414; Ibn
'Abd Rabbi-hi 1949-1965, V, pp. 135-137; al-Mawlā-bik et al. 1942, pp. 235-241
etc.).
Appendix C
Some environmental background
Lately historical research has been c

natural sciences. Systematic socio-nat
often allowing us to considerably dev
don't think that research of this kind
when we deal with such problems as
approach is the most objective of all the
factors and the course of the social ev
of the environmental conditions of the
The latest Russian interdisciplinary
history of civilisations (Klimenko 19
(Kuť pin 1990) and Egypt (Proussakov
are in close connection with natural p
natural impacts. All this is utterly relev
as its birth was preceded by a series o
the Mediterranean region and in the
Here we are going to discuss those phen
physical than historical pattern, it bear
tory of Islam, because the Arabian so
socio-ecological crisis of the 6th centu
For those who deal with socio-natu
an outstanding epoch. First of all, the m
ised by a considerable global cooling w
of the 6th century (Klimenko 1997).
about 0.7-0.9 °C lower than now, i.e. c
the so-called "Little Ice Age" (betwee
dence of this cooling can be found i
advances in the Alps, Himalaya/Kara
cas, New Zealand (Röthlisberger 1986
tions of tree-ring widths and densitie
cal reconstructions of climate based o
marine microfauna data, received th
Leclerc and Schräder 1987); and hi
Easton 1928).
Among those listed, there are two
which have the best temporal resolut
nological and historical. Let us have a
climate of the middle of the first m
that the years 535, 536, 541 and 685
was the coolest bidecadal period of t
Acta Orient. Hung.
264 ANDREY KOROT AE V- VLADIMIR KLIMENKO-DMITRY PROUSSAKOV
noted, however, that dendrochronological data provide reliable information concern-

ing only a warm part of the year, covering typically April through September. For
the information concerning a cold part of the year one should consult the results
provided by historical climatology (see e.g. Easton 1928; Weikinn 1958; Chu Ko-
chen 1973). Historical evidence shows that there were several unusually cold winters
in Europe and Byzantine in the 6th and early 7th centuries - in 508, 509 AD
(possibly these two dates refer to the same event), 524, 545, 548, 554, 559, 565, 566,
568 (possibly these three dates refer to the same event), 609, 620 and 642 (Easton
1928; Weikinn 1958; Borisenkov and Pasetskij 1988; Camuffo 1987); Chinese re-
cords also confirm that the 6th century was one of the coldest and driest in the first
millennium AD (Chu Ko-chen 1973, p. 252; Zhang Deer 1984, p. 826; Fang and Liu
1992, p. 162). Later from around the middle of the 7th century the number of reports
about cold winters and droughts sharply decreases. Therefore, there is a lot of direc
evidence that the 6th and early 7th centuries have witnessed a considerable globa
cooling which affected undoubtedly all parts of the globe including Middle East and
adjacent regions.
To one of the most important regional manifestations of global climate change
one can attribute the resumption of the intensive monsoon circulation. As was shown
by Fairbridge (1986), between 1400 BC and 500 AD the catastrophic collapse of
regular monsoonal circulation above the North-Western part of the Indian Ocean
took place which was followed by a general desiccation of the savannas of North-
western India and semi-deserts of South Arabia. After 500 AD the Indian Ocean
monsoon recovered, although since that time it has never reached the intensity
recorded in the early and middle Holocene. Nevertheless, one can assume that in th
course of the 6th-7th centuries AD there was a sudden increase of summer precipit
tion in South Arabia. It may well be that it contributed to the final destruction of the
famous Mārib Dam through a catastrophic flood. There is also another piece of indi
rect evidence pointing to the reappearance of intensive monsoon rains - the increas
of the Nile discharge up to the levels which were by 30-40% higher than the moder
ones (Fairbridge 1976, p. 535).
One can assume that the Northern part of the Arabian Desert also became
wetter in the middle of the first millennium AD. Palaeoreconstruction data show that,
starting from about the late 6th century, the Dead Sea level, which was extremely
low in the preceding two millennia (or more), experienced a rapid rise (Varushenk
et al. 1987, p. 149).
On the other hand, based on palaeoreconstructions and contemporary instru-
mental data, one can assume that in the middle of the first millennium AD climate of
the major part of the Arabian Peninsula (excluding its northwestern and southern
portions discussed above) was drier than at present (for details see Klimenko [1998
and references herein).
Apart from massive climatic changes, the 6th and 7th centuries AD were also
a period of large worldwide tectonic and volcanic activities. In the history of th
Mediterranean region, we may compare it, perhaps, only with the tectonic catastro
phe of the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, which was crowned with the greates
Santorini eruption in the Aegean Se

1978) that seems to have become fata
Galanopoulos 1960; Duginov and Stre
ture of these phenomena it is importan
tion, which had the most substantial cl
of the second half of the Holocene (B
1983a, p. 412, tab. 1), correlate closely
temperature curve for the past 4000
curve was recently obtained in the M
the superposition of three major long-t
yr connected probably to solar and
means that the ecological crisis of the 6
be actually explained from the stand
appearance of the Earth.
The problem of a relationship bet
quite recently disputable (Stothers 19
hall and Self 1982, p. 1235). But afte
(Gushchenko 1979; Simkin et al. 19
were published in the late 70s and the e
relation between peaks of volcanism
turned out that eruptions tend to conc
mums, though a few large eruptions
mum (Stothers 1989, pp. 17378-17379
shown that the later part of the 6th ce
activity (Mikushina et al. 1997, p. 32
may be that this peak which overlaps w
cycles has played its part in the dev
disaster of the 6th century.
The mechanism of solar-volcanic
follows. According to one of the hy
cycles, increase in the solar activity i
and continental glaciers and, corresp
Ocean level; as a result, the angular velo
forces decrease; the globe becomes le
solar radiation and growing of the ice
and the Earth becomes more "flattened
the Globe along its axis triggers in th
of the gravitational equilibrium: the
tions. During such "adjustments" num
place on the Earth (Reznichenko-Rezn
minor solar variations cause changes
induce additional crustal stresses
p. 17378). This is the geophysical mod
of the 6th century.
Acta Orient. Hung.
Nowadays the most reliable method of reconstruction of the Holocene

ism is through the detection in ancient glaciers of volcanic, first of all sulphuri
which is stored in the ice layers as a result of deposition of acid aerosols
(from 2 [Zielinski et al. 1994, p. 948] to 3-4 or even 5-6 years) after eruptio
turov et al. 1986, p. 181). Rich sources of this information for the Norther
sphere are the ice cores drilled in the Greenland ice sheet; these cores are d
well dated acidity records. Nowadays several cores are at researchers'
Thus, the core from Camp Century, North-West Greenland, 1390 m long (Jo
al. 1970; Johnsen et al. 1972), and the core from Crête, central Greenland
long (Hammer 1977, pp. 483-486; Hammer et al. 1980) both cover 10,00
giving us a clear picture of the Holocene volcanic history. A peak of acidity
second core corresponds to 553 AD, but unfortunately there is a 500-year ga
data of the two cores including the first half of the 6th century: 40 to 540 AD
mer et al. 1980, p. 230, fig. 1, p. 231, tab. 1; Stothers-Rampino 1983a, pp. 4
One of the latest, the so-called GISP2 Greenland ice core, providing a reco
volcanism since 7000 BC, due to drilling problems tells us almost nothing a
6th century (Mayewski et al. 1993a; Zielinski et al. 1994, p. 949, tab. 1). An
cores are silent also, because they are not deep enough (Legrand and Delm
Delmas et al. 1992). The lack of information is supplemented either by spec
ern volcanological research (Kelly-Sear 1984) or by original sources (direct o
rect atmospheric observations) (Stothers-Rampino 1983a; 1983b), which corr
the statement of high world volcanic activity in this period. For example,
536 AD was marked by Vesuvio explosion (Simkin et al. 1981, p. 1 12). Besid
the famous historical event of the "dry fog" and other atmospheric phenom
Europe and Middle East in 536-537 AD (Stothers 1984) were caused by an u
eruption twice as large as that of Tambora in 1815 AD; some scientists belie
be the explosion of Rabaul volcano, on the New Britain Island near New
(Palais-Sigurdsson 1989, pp. 41-42), which took place 1450±60 radiocarb
BP (Heming 1974, p. 1258); according to another theory, it might have been
cano eruption at the upper reaches of the Yukon river, Alaska (Macdonald
p. 141), preliminary dated to 540±10 AD, of estimated global acid fall-out
million tons (Hammer et al. 1980, p. 235); besides, it is not unlikely that bo
explosions took place almost simultaneously. The information about large ex
volcanic activities between 533 and 537 AD is confirmed by data from the
Greenland deep ice core (Herron 1982, p. 3055). According to recent Russi
search (Brajtseva et al. 1997) another giant eruption took place in 606 AD fr
Opala volcano in Kamchatka - this one was the most violent Kamchatka er
during the past 1500 years and could match the most powerful history in
Tambora eruption (1815 AD) which had long-lasting atmospheric and clim
sequences.
Volcanic explosions inject great volumes of silicate dust and aerosol-forming
sulphur gases into ¿he troposphere and stratosphere; while the fine ash gravitationally
settles down within a few weeks or months, aerosols are spread globally with strato-
spheric winds and suspend in the stratosphere for several years altering the planet
heat balance and, therefore, climate

Rampino-Self 1982; 1984). The effect
During the first few months after a
rather large, a warming of the Earth's
flected terrestrial radiation by these
soon decrease or are washed down by ra
into the stratosphere cools the Earth
phuric acid to solar radiation (Baldwi
known that the Krakatau explosion i
mospheric transmissivity in the Nor
aerosol distribution after large erupt
1977, p. 482; Stothers-Rampino 1983
addition, rather rapid (Hansen et al. 1
explosion of 536 AD mentioned abov
take not more than 2 or 3 weeks for th
nean region; as for the territorial scal
by contemporary authors from Rom
ple, the latter wrote: "The Sun was dark
each day it shone for about four hour
... the fruit did not ripen and the wi
quoted from: Stothers 1984; Stother
in Europe and the Middle East was ex
Mesopotamia (Stothers 1984; Stothe
of zonal mean temperature is observed
1975). Thus, the Tambora event in 18
sphere temperature decrease within 0
the "year without summer" in the No
Europe (Stommel-Stommel 1979). Eve
the so-called clustered eruptions that
ence of volcanoes on climate is so considerable that the information about volcanic
eruptions was even used as a basis for estimating possible climatic effect of a nuclear
war in various nuclear winter models (Rampino-Stothers 1985). The fact is estab-
lished that massive volcanic eruptions triggered initially the great Pleistocene ice
sheets (Bray 1974; 1976; Rampino-Self 1992; Zielinski et al. 1996). A prolong term
of volcanism is considered to be an actual cause of the so-called Younger Dry as -
the period of near-glacial conditions which began 12-13 thousand years BP and
lasted for 1300±70 years (Alley et al. 1993; Mayewski et al. 1993b). As for the so-
cial history, it is of great importance that cooling of the Earth's surface in all the
tropical and some of the subtropical latitudes (including the Arabian Peninsula) re-
sults in droughts (Borzenkova 1992, pp. 162-174); droughts lasting for several years
can sometimes lead to significant social transformations. Besides, warming and cool-
ing after explosive eruptions, being abrupt climatic shifts, may disbalance the bio-
sphere and trigger endemic hotbeds of plague or other diseases (Bogolepov 1912,
p. 21); for example, cooling in tropical latitudes creates favourable living conditi
for fleas - carriers of plague (Cavanaugh 1971).
The ancient historical sources do not definitely mention volcanic eruptions
Arabia proper, but according to modern natural studies the influence of volcanis
upon it is beyond doubt: it is conditioned both by geological structure and geographi-
cal location of the Arabian Peninsula. On the one hand, the Red Sea and the Oce
coasts of Arabia is a part of the seismic East-African Rift System (Belousov et
1974); thus, Western and Southern Arabia is situated in a volcanic zone (Belousov
al. 1974, I, p. 41; Koronovskij 1971; Macdonald 1975, p. 327, fig. 14-1). On t
other hand, Arabia could feel the force of tectonism and volcanism of the Mediterra-
nean region and the rest of the world, e.g. the consequence of earthquakes and in
tions of volcanic aerosols into the atmosphere. It is also important to note that th
is natural hotbed of plague in Arabia (Kozlov-Sultanov 1993, pp. 201-203) and th
earthquakes and plague epidemics often coincide (Biraben 1976, pp. 16-17).
In the 6th century AD the Mediterranean region has been going through o
of the heaviest tectonic disasters in its recent history. According to historical d
(Gezer 1867), it began in 512 AD with the Vesuvio eruption (see also Simkin et
[1981, p. 112]). In 526 AD there was a great earthquake in Syria, where 250 tho
sand people perished only in Antioch; it was followed by heavy earthquakes in A
Minor and Europe. In Egypt in summer 547 the highest Nile flooded the Delta an
prevented the sowing; as a result, the whole country suffered from famine. In 5
a new wave of earthquakes rolled from Constantinople to Alexandria. Earthqua
and volcanism were accompanied by inundations, droughts and widest spread o
plague - the so-called Justinianos pandemia, 531-580 AD, during which about se
eral million people perished (Ostrovskij 1978, p. 258). It is important that volca
activity at the same time was characteristic also for the Arabian Peninsula proper
the 6th-7th centuries AD there were eruptions of at least 5 volcanoes in Arabia
according to the recent volcanological research (Simkin et al. 1981, p. 1 12; Aprod
1982, pp. 269-270; Gushchenko 1979, pp. 12-13).
Taking the mechanism of interaction of processes in the atmosphere, hydro
sphere and lithosphère, as well as after-effects of seismic disasters (droughts, pla
pandemics etc.) into consideration, we have certain grounds to consider the 6th-
centuries AD as one of the ecologically most crucial periods in the history of t
Middle East including the Arabian Peninsula. The scale of the ecological catastrop
under consideration forces us to bear it in mind while studying the early history of I
lamic Arabia. We think that a socio-ecological rather than a purely social crisis in
6th century AD caused the disintegration of most Arabian kingdoms and chiefdo
and, consequently, the development of some alternative cultural-political structur
which provided the optimum environment for the development of the autochthonous
Arabian monotheist religion.
As volcanologists say, "empirical studies concerning volcanic effects on cl
mate tend to raise as many, if not more, questions than they answer" (Kelly-S
1984, p. 742). But we think the more questions we have, the more interesting
further work will be. In this paper we tried to raise an important problem of soc
natural evolution in Arabia at the age

hope that this approach will demonstrat
Acknowledgements
The research has been supported by th

Our thanks also go to Professor Pat
Study in Princeton for her very useful
colleague Leonid Kogan of the Russia
cow, for his invaluable advice concern
brew terms.
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Andrey V. Korotaev
Institute of Cultural Anthropology
Russian State University for Humanities
6 Miusskaja Ploščaď
Moscow 125267, Russia
e-mail: [email protected]
Vladimir V. Klimenko
Moscow Institute of Energy
14 Krasnokazarmennaja ulica
e-mail: [email protected]
Dmitry B. Proussakov
Oriental Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
12 Roždestvenka
e-mai: [email protected]
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ORIGINS OF ISLAM: POLITICAL-ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL

Article in Acta Orientalia · January 1999

A. Korotayev Vladimir Klimenko

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ORIGINS OF ISLAM: POLITICAL- ANTHROPOLOGICAL

Andrey Korotaev, Vladimir Klimenko, Dmitry Proussakov

Key-words : Islam, Arabia, ecology, political anthropology, history, climate, evolution

South Arabian puzzle

0001-6446 /99/ $ 5.00 © 1999 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest

North Arabian puzzle

whereas these were precisely the state

Some neglected causes of th

It appears that the 6th century AD ev

2 Even for the 6th-century Mecca there

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

to deduce this disintegration, but also

Irina Hujr m kãnafl Banī Asad wa-

The beginning of the "Day of al-Nafra

4 Incidentally, according to Ayyäm , su

Acta Orient. Hung

The Arab adaptation to the 6th century AD socio-ecological crisis

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

As a result we can observe the for

Incidentally, these types of cultural-

5 Of course, 'Arafah and Mina could be a

Acta Orient. Hung.

In general, the Arabs appear to have developed a rather effective adaptation to

In the late 1980s two monographs specifically dedicated to the subject

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

has shown that the reasonably (thoug

8 However, Simon seems to have overlooke

Origins of Islam: socio-political context

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

cal structures of the Arabian kingdom

ata 'nã rasüf ' llãfi idh kãna bayna-nã

"We obeyed the God's messenger, when he was among us.

9 Abū Bakr literally means "the father of Bakr".

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

name of the merciful God Rahmān"

By the moment our impression is th

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

The Monotheist "Rahmanist" prophets appear to have represented a supert

Some world system consequences: pilgrimage structures

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

Indeed, it seems possible to show that

13 Note e.g. the prohibition of wine (a rather

Acta Orient. Hung. 5

Surprisingly, we can observe the South Arabian pattern with respect t

Some world system consequences: tribal structures

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

To start with, within the Russian

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

The "Inviting of the kings" in ''pre-crisis" Arabia

Acta Orient. Hung. 52, 1999

Ma'adīkarib ... - over Banū Taghlib ..

ara an fada s> i _ « an sahlat t i an wa- ishar • t -