Patterns in Arab History

This research paper focuses on, and offers some explanations for two central patterns in Arab history, especially the contradictory themes of Arab unity and disunity, brotherhood and factional discord, which have coexisted throughout Arab history from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (571-632 A.D.) to the end of World War II.

Arab unity and the rise of Islam. The Islamic faith captured the minds and souls of the quarrelsome Arabian tribes of 7th century Medina and Mecca primarily because of Muhammad's militant faith and charismatic personality and his astuteness as a political, military and religious leader. According to Hitti, the Bedouin of the Arabian deserts and villages of that time had little concept of attachment to the common good "beyond that which pertains to his tribe" (10). The religion Muhammad founded was a great unifying force. According to Hitti, the Prophet replaced "the most vital bond of Arab relationship, that of tribal kinship [with] a new bond, that of faith" (40). The Islamic community of believers or umma accepted the central tenet that 'there is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet,' the Koran as the word of God, the hadith, which Hourani defines as "traditions of what the Prophet had said and done" and the sharia or Islamic law (1). A Muslim accepted without question the Five Pillars of Faith, shahada or the acceptance of Allah, the salat, prayer to Mecca five t

. . .
. . . drawn into a new world created in Western Europe . . . which led to the imposition of European control, and then to a revival of the strength and vitality of Arab societies" (Hourani 299). Arab Revival. Arab cultures sought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to borrow ideas, institutions and technology from the West without disrupting their traditional unity, religion and ways of life. However, the arousal of Arab nationalism prevailed over Pan-Arab unity with the result that during the first part of the twentieth century up to the end of World War II, European colonial powers were able to keep the tide of rising Arab nationalism in check. As World War Ii ended, educated elites in many Arab nations were united in their determination to end colonial rule but on little else. Summary Salient characteristics or patterns of Arab history were the dynamic tension between the cultural and religious unity of the Arab world and its strong centrifugal tendencies to fragment and to relapse into intra-Arab rivalry and conflict. Part Two Forces Explaining the Above Patterns No single factor but rather a complex of interrelated factors can explain why the Arabs, after their promising and dynamic expansion and despite the unive
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ibn Khaldun, Middle East, Explaining Patterns, Lapidus Islam, Mediterranean Religious, Umar II, Damascus Hitti, Jews Christians, Ramadan Hajj, Revival Arab, arab history, arab world, arab empire, world war, islamic religion, patterns arab history, patterns arab, late 19th 20th, 19th 20th, war ii, late 19th, arab unity, world war ii, throughout arab history, 19th 20th centuries,
Approximate Word count = 2160
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)