HISTORY OF THE ARABS

Evening Star, Issue 22882, 14 February 1938, Page 17

HISTORY OF THE ARABS

THE RAGE IN AFRICA RISE AND FALL OF A NATION In connection with recent disturbances in French North Africa, we are frequently hearing the term “ Pan* Arabisin’’ (writes J. T. Cullum Blackmore, in the ‘ Christian Science Monitor’), The following appraisal of the prospects of Pan-Arabisra in North Africa is based on a quarter of a century’s residence among the Arabs in that region. First as to Arabia—the home of the Arabs, who are considered to be the purest of Semitic peoples. Their land is a peninsula of deserts, unsurpassed for heat, with a thin fringe of lertile lands around most of its coastline, its little-known history, from the days of the Queen of Sheba on down, shows short fitful periods of importance. The population of Arabia is estimated at from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000. About twice that number should include all authentic Arabs scattered in other countries, an approximate total of 16,000,000.

The Arabic language has spread much more than Arab blood. Possibly 50.000. persons use ‘ it as their mother tongue. Moreover, there are 230,000,000 Moslems in the world to whom the Arabic Koran and Mecca are very sacred. With that number _ of adherents, Pan-Islamism could imaginably be a very serious movement in the world. OF it might have been before “ modernism ” crept in. Turkey especially would be rather a “ broken reed ” for Islam to rely on to-day. There the Caliphate, for centuries vested entirely in the Turkish Sultan, was just dropped overboard in 1924—and it sank. Other Moslem peoples have considered fishing it up again, but the chances of such action are becoming increasingly remote. Turkey also officially dethroned the Arabic language. To-day the nationalistic spirit everywhere is riding across religious landmarks, and in other ways modern ideas have so worked that Pan-Islamism can no longer be considered as a serious possibility. The use of the English language is not likelv ever to make British of the 125.000. Americans. Still less is the use of a common InngiCii/i a bond strong enough to achieve any serious alliance among 50,000,000 Arabic-speak-ing people, scattered, as they are, and separated by stronger opposing forces,' nationalism, politics, and economics. The blood bond is the least likely of all to produce any concerted action by all, or by anv large group, of the 16.000. Arabs of' the world. Pan-

Arabism is, I feel, steadily decreasing as a possibility.

THE RISE OF MOHAMMED,

The rise of Mohammed was the greatest epoch in the history of Arabia. Mohammed found his people utterly disorganised, separated into mutually hostile groups of tribes. The Moslem era dates from the Hegira (the prophet’s flight from Mecca to Medina), which took place in 622 a.d. The next 10 years saw Mohammed’s recognition as a prophet; the establishment of his religion; the fusing of all the tribes into one people. Then followed Arabia’s golden age of 20-odd years. The new laith made the intense nature of the Arabs to glow with white heat, and they went forth, conquering Persia, Babylonia, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Libya. Islam had it? Pope or Caliph (successor), who was its political and religious head, and, until 656, Mecca remained the capital of that mushroom Empire. Then the Caliphate moved to Mesopotamia, never to return to Arabia. Soon quarrels led to there being two Caliphs, the second one residing in Egypt.

in 670, the Egyptian Caliph sent Sidi Okba ben Nafi on a triumphal raid westward, and he carried the banner of Mohammed clear across the continent to the Atlantic, riding his horse impetuously into the sea and shaking his scimitar calling for other countries to conquer. He established his headquarters at Kairouan in Tunisia. Doubtless some of his officials were Arabs and a few probably took root there, as in other centres. But not much real Arab blood camo to those parts until some centuries later. After the loss of the Cailphate, Arabia itself sank gradually back and within 300 years was almost as disorganised as in pre-Islamic days, except that the holy cities, Medina and Mecca, never lost their sacredness for pilgrims. In the eleventh century numerous tribes were roaming the whole desert section of Asia right up to Bagdad. They took to plundering the caravans of pilgrims going to Mecca. The Caliph in Cairo, who nominally ruled Arabia at that time, deported thousands of the lawless Hilalian tribespeople to the Sudan and settled them on the east bank of the Nile, where they became almost more troublesome than before About this time (1049) the province of Africa (Tunisia), also under the Egyptian Caliph, rebelled and transferred its allegiance to the Caliph of Bagdad. Thinking to “ kill two birds with one stone,” the Egyptian ruler presented a gold piece to each Hilalian leader and sent them with their hordes across the Nile westward to punish the rebels. These first raided Libya, from whence they sent back reports of such rich plunder to their hungry brethren in Arabia that fresh hordes started westward. So many there were that the Caliph reversed his method and began charging each family a gold piece for 1 crossing the Nile, whereby he quidkly

regained more than his former gifts, This was the great invasion of North Africa by Arab blood. Of a very low type of culture themselves, these Arabs had no use for cities, so they razed them. They were not even agriculturists. (Reared nomads, they loved raiding, and for homes, tents out on the sandy stretches.

The province of Africa, 1,500 miles from the Nile, was overwhelmed and the flood rolled on another 300 miles as far as Constantine in Algeria. Subsequently some Arab blood trickled still farther westward through the lowlands and along the confines of the desert. There is a tribe called the Benni Hilal in Morocco to-day.

ATTENDED BY IMPOVERISHMENT

The ravages of these Arabs, plus thier nomadic habits, brought permanent impoverishment to North Africa. Nor is the name “ Arab ” so honoured there as some seem to suppose. From his long experience, the writer would say that in the rural sections of the country the Berbers strongly resent being called Arabs. For such, they think, are the thriftless nomads, whole families of whom can be seen camped on the borders of the main highways, where they work for the Government, breaking stones.

Only those who know them closely can realise the profound, difference betwen the outlook of nomads and that of all sedentary peoples. The former have no desire to economise their earnings for the acquisition of land or houses. They spend all on food, clothing, jewels, silks, tents, and a few camels.

The difference between these two types is quickly discovered by the large industrialist in France, where a few of these “ Arabs ” go along with thousands of their Berber brethren to work. The Berber-speaking ones are always preferred as being better, steadier workmen, quicker to learn how to use machinery. In contradiction to the foregoing paragraphs the anomaly must be admitted that in the large cities of Algiers and Tunis, especially in literary circles, it seems to be aristocratic to boast of Arab descent and thus more surely avoid being thought as “ rough Berbers from the mountains.” But a recent painstaking survey made by French specialists showed that less than onetenth of the Algerian natives are of Arab blood. Yet religion and all learning having beeen in Arabic for so long, the sacred language has spread at the expense of unwritten Berber tongues so that fully two-thirds of the natives there use Arabic for Their only language. The French authorities know better than anyone else that everything Arabic, religion, language, customs, tends to ’unfit the Berbers for co-operation with Europeans, so, while not opposing any of those things, they increasingly seek to avoid encouraging that which would Islamise or Arabise their North African subjects.