Page 154 - UAE Truncal States
P. 154

The Islamic Basis of Society

          As has been mentioned, during the very early years of Islam the old
        approach routes to Oman, namely the one from al Bahrayn along the
        edge of the sobkhcih, through Tu’am (Buraimi) and the Wadi Jizi, and
        the route from Julfar (Ra’s al Khaimah) along the mountains as far as
        Daid or Buraimi before a crossing through the mountains was
        attempted, were as much in use as ever. The armies of the Caliph are
        not reported to have encountered hostility on that leg of their long
        march from Medina, and it may be assumed that the majority of the
        tribes living to the west and north-west of the Hajar were either
        already all faithful supporters of the new regime in Medina or
        certainly were not militantly opposed to it. Those who were
         supporters of the Omani seceders and of Dhul Taj Lakit had probably
        all marched to Dibah to swell his ranks.
          To what extent the tribal population, during the first decade of the
         conversion of Eastern Arabia to Islam, had already grasped how
         profoundly this would change their way of life, their social and
         domestic customs, and above all their concept of right and wrong,
         cannot be easily determined. But it was a fortunate circumstance that
         after the battle at Dibah there was for several decades no more
         fighting necessary in the name of the new faith in Eastern Arabia.
         Once the military and political aspects of Islamisation of the region
         were settled,11 the moral values and the spiritual scope of the religion
         could unfold gradually, become appreciated and whole-heartedly
         adopted by the population. Miles describes aptly the slowness of this
         process: “We hear of no religious persecutions or tumults in Oman.
         No martyr suffered in the cause of heathenism. The people simply
         ceased to adore idols openly and to frequent the temples to worship
         the graven images . . . Probably the people long maintained the
         existing order of things and offered an inert resistance to the
         encroachments, while nominally accepting the change; but their
         feelings and interests were not much affected, and it was only as time
         went on that the . . . invasion of Islam swept away that old system. It
         was by degrees that the people acquired pride and enthusiasm about
         Islam and its founder and stamped out paganism as an accursed
         thing. i. 12
           The radical change in customs and ideas probably took more than
         one generation, but the merits of Islam became eventually self-
         evident to people who had previously known only their own internal
         tribal laws. Before Islam they had not had much sense of security and
         fair justice in the face of constant encroachment on their property by
         other tribes. Their insecurity even extended to their beliefs, because
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