Page 187 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Four

5 Conclusion: The tribal system of the
Trucial States and Islam
Traditionally, social differentiation in the Trucial Slates stemmed
from the tribal structure rather than from class distinction and
material well-being. The various levels of identification—family,
sub-tribe and tribe—allocated to a person his particular place in
society; thus even the poorest member of a powerful tribe could have
more social prestige than a prosperous trader without tribal
connections in the shaikhdom.
The role of Islam was that of levelling many of the differences
which are inherent in any society’s structure. When it came to
observing the tenets of Islam there was only one set of behaviour
for rich and poor alike, symbolised for instance in the way in which
all men make the same movement simultaneously when praying
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together.
In pre-Islamic times the Arab tribal structure of society evolved in
parallel with the development of the means to exploit the meagre
resources of their homeland. The tribal structure became the back­
bone of nomadic existence. The settled and the nomadic existences of
the population were often forced by circumstances to be interchange­
able; even village life in Eastern Arabia, after it had been colonised
by the various Arab tribes, remained for centuries based on tribal
bonds rather than on neighbourhood affiliations. This strongest of
social bonds, the tribal structure, survived more or less intact in
Inner Oman and on the coasts of Oman from pre-Islamic times until
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the present day, weathering foreign invasions, temporary subjuga­
tion by Persian overlords, religious strife, civil war and the threat of
colonial rule from the Portuguese and the British.
The historical evidence of this is readily available in the falaj-
irrigated towns and villages of Inner Oman and the Hajar mountain
range. As for the tribal population of the mountain foreland and the
desert to the west, the sparse water resources from wells dug in the
sand did not favour permanent settlement. The majority of the popula­ I
tion there remained nomadic until quite recently, and like all nomads
they depended vitally on the system of group identification, mutual
assistance and hospitality which the tribal structure provided.
Islam, itself moulded by and grafted onto the tribal society of the
Hijaz, therefore did not disrupt tribalism in Eastern Arabia, but
rather solidified it and enhanced its strength, enabling this tribal
society to withstand adversities of wars and economic crises. As for

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