History of the Arab Nation
The Arab nation is one of the great nations in the world, which is famous for its unique culture and as the birthplace of one of the major religions in the world, namely Islam. The Arabic word first appeared in the 9th century BC. According to Arabic, Arabic itself means arid desert, without water and plants, and with barren land.
Therefore, the community groups or tribal groups who live in this desert area are called Arabs. The Arabs or desert peoples are the designations given to tribal groups who live in the Arabian peninsula throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Talking about Arabs may consist of Jews and Christians, it is not always synonymous with Muslims.
Geographical Location of Arabia
Geographically, the Arabian Peninsula region is located in the southwest part of the Asian continent, which consists mostly of deserts that lie in the middle of the Peninsula. The temperature in the Arabian Peninsula is very high with a very hot climate.
To be called an Arab nation, one must meet several requirements which refer to the 1946 Arab League agreement, namely:
Politically; A person is said to be an Arab if he has citizenship or nationality in one of the countries in the Arabian peninsula.
in language; a person can be called an Arab if he can speak Arabic, speak Arabic or use Arabic as his mother tongue. This condition received a lot of opposition from the Egyptians.
Genealogically: a person can claim to be an Arab if he has Arab descent or his ancestors/ancestors live in one of the Arab countries.
Knowledge: a person is said to be an Arab if he has all knowledge of Arabic.
Socially: a person can be called an Arab if he cares about the fate of the Arab nation as a whole and specifically the Arab countries.
The genealogy of the Arabs
Historians divide the Arabs into three parts, based on the forerunner and genealogy of their descendants, namely:
Musta'ribah Arabs are Arabs who come from the descendants of Prophet Isma'il AS who inhabit the Hedzjaz area and are also called 'Adnaniyah because one of the one of the descendants of the Prophet Ismail AS there is named Adnan.
Called Musta'rabah or Muta'arribah because Prophet Ismail AS, their first ancestor, spoke Hebrew or Syriac and did not speak Arabic.
Arabs 'Aribah also called Qahthaniyah are Arabs who come from the descendants of Ya'rib bin Yashjub bin Qahthan. Arab Aribah is a descendant of Qahtan which in the Torah is called Yaqzan. According to historical records, in Yemen, they succeeded in building cities and erecting magnificent palaces with very high quality architecture.
They also already have a formidable army, trade relations with neighboring kingdoms, are able to cultivate agriculture with an irrigation system, are experts in carving, especially sculpting statues, astrologers or astrology. These Arab Aribah tribes include the Jurhum, Kahlan, and Himyar tribes.
Ba'idah Arabs are thought to be the original descendants of the Semitic Nation consisting of the Ê¿Ä€d, Thamud, Thasm, Judais, 'Imlaq and others that existed long before Islam. But these earlier Arabs are extinct and there are no more descendants.
However, their history can be traced in detail and clearly. The story of Arab Bai'dah who is the original descendant of the Semitic Nation can be known from the Jahili Arabic poetry and sawami books such as the Qur'an.
According to history, the existence of the Ba'idah Arab tribe can be traced from archaeological traces in the northern Arabian Peninsula as well as in Asia Minor, especially the Babylon region where they have long lived and built civilization in both places.
Early Arab History (4 – 6 BC)
Arabs are historically of Semitic descent. Initially this Semitic Nation was a large and strong nation consisting of the Minean, Assyrian, Akkadian, and Aramaic Nations, it was proven that they were able to build civilization in Syria and Mesopotamia.
However, because of the great desire for power at that time from the Non-Semitic Nations and the Semitic Nomads, the Semitic Nations slowly lost their political dominance. Then in 330 BC due to the Persian attack and the arrival of the Greeks, the Semites finally lost their power and had to surrender.
The attack caused the Semitic Nation to be expelled and had to leave the area they had been inhabiting. They also moved to the southern and northern areas of Mesopotamia which are desert areas.
In the new area they re-established Arab civilization (desert civilization) which in the North was called the Nabataean Arab Civilization, while in the South they formed caravans which later established an empire in the area of Yemen which the Greeks called Arabia Felix or the Lucky Arab Region. .
Like the Arabs, the nations of the world continue to develop. Including the Roman Empire which continued to invade and conquer many desert areas in the East, including Syria, which was then called Arab Petra or Arabi.
The conquest caused many tribes to migrate in the first century AD including the Kindi, Lakhm, and Ghassans who migrated to Petra Arabia.
These tribes continued to grow where the Kindi tribe moved to the North and then moved again to Bahrain and settled in Yemen. The Lakhm lived in the middle of the Tigris River and allied themselves with the Sassanids against the Ghassans and the Byzantine Empire and then controlled central Arabia.
Meanwhile the Ghassan tribe moved and controlled Syria until the arrival of the Muslims there and then migrated to the Levantine (Palestine and Lebanon) and Hurran areas.
The Development of Pre-Islamic
Arabia The word A'raab is the Assyrian term for the nations they once conquered. Arabic words are increasingly known to refer to the nomadic desert tribes called A'raab and to refer to the Muslims who settled in Medina. In the Qur'an we will not find the word arab, because in the Qur'an the adjective used is arabiyyun.
Based on historical stories, Prophet Ibrahim (as) brought Siti Hajar and Ismail (as) to Mecca. In the story, it is stated that this small family was able to adjust to the Jurhum tribe who were descendants of Qahtan.
The Qahtan tribe had settled earlier than Ibrahim and his family. Growing up, Ismail (as) married. He married a woman from the Jurhum tribe. Together with that woman, he had 12 sons and daughters. the twelve men's and women's Ishmael who was the ancestor of the tribe of Quraish, which we both know is the ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Arabs can be divided into pen urban population and rural population when referring to the factor of residence. Urban Arab residents are those who have good farming skills and a fairly advanced way of trading and already have a permanent residence in the cities.
While the inhabitants of the interior Arabs are those who live nomadic lives while carrying livestock from one area to another in search of pasture and water sources, therefore they do not have permanent settlements or permanent residences.
Before the birth of Islam, the Arab region was hit by constant wars because the Arabs, both settled and nomad, lived in tribes, making them vulnerable to conflict and disputes.
Post-Islamic Developments
Since prehistoric times, humans have believed that there is a power in the universe that is greater than themselves. This is evidenced by the discovery of various offering altars, temples of worship, and other buildings where humans make offerings to something they believe to be God.
Although at that time the religion that developed was animism. Likewise with the Arabs who when the time of Prophet Ibrahim AS and Ismail AS already had this kind of belief.
Basically, both the teachings of Prophet Ibrahim AS and Ismail As have clearly stated that God is one, that is, only Allah SWT.
Worship of God is only aimed at the only One who has the power to create and regulate the universe, namely Allah SWT. At that time Islam was not yet known, and the teachings brought by Prophet Ibrahim AS and Ismail As were called hanif.
Over time, human nature with its thoughts and choices of attitude to act has brought the Arabs away from the hanif teachings and even tend to associate partners with Allah SWT.
They worshiped many Gods through formless stones as well as formless stones. Worship of this stone gave birth to a religion known as the Wasaniyah religion.
The Jahiliyah Arabs actually believed in the existence of God or the creator at that time, but they felt that there was no direct link between humans and their God. For example, when they pray they are confused to whom the prayer is addressed and how God should be called. Therefore, they feel they need an intermediary to connect them with their Lord.
They feel they need something that is considered to be a medium in conveying prayers and all hopes. Thinking like this then moved the Arabs of Jahiliyah to make idols called idols.
The spiritual need of man to rely on or depend on something greater than himself to the Jahiliyah Arabs at that time, resulted in rituals or traditions of worshiping idols in every family and tribe. Idolatry is not only done in places of worship but also at home at certain times which are regulated by mutual agreement.
In addition, some Arabs of ignorance are not bound by strict morals where drinking wine, gambling, adultery, stealing, and robbing are seen as commonplace. Women are considered as assets that can be inherited or traded and are looked down upon.
There are even certain tribes who consider taking care of daughters to adulthood as a burden and can cause disgrace to their tribes so that it is justified to bury their daughters alive.
The struggle of the Prophet Muhammad SAW to awaken the people of Mecca to no longer worship idols such as Uzza, Manata, Latta, and Hubah at that time is a story full of blood and tears. Mecca, which is the place of his birth, actually gave strong resistance to accept Islam.
In contrast to the people of Medina who are easier and embrace Islam. When Prophet Muhammad SAW conquered the city of Mecca. Starting from a subtle approach to a repressive method carried out by the Prophet, one of them was by destroying a number of idols displayed around the Kaaba with the support of the Muslim army.
Even though at that time the Wasaniyah religion was growing rapidly, not all Arabs embraced this religion. Many Arabs have also embraced Christianity since Christianity entered the Arabian peninsula in the 1st century AD scattered in Sham and Egypt, including the family of the Prophet Muhammad.
Others embraced Judaism. Until the 6th century AD, Islam was born and until now Islam in Arabia is divided into Shia, Sunni, and Ibadiah.
The development of Islam accelerated in the 7th century AD when the Muslims occupied Persia and Syria. The inhabitants of Adnan and Qahtan in Sham and Persia without a fight immediately embraced Islam.
The Arabs also reached their peak in the 8th century AD because they succeeded in controlling the Finisi and Carthage Nations in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Then with the help of the Berbers, the Arab Caliphs could rule Spain until the 17th century.
In the Middle Ages, the glory of this Islamic Arab caliphate spread from the Pyrenees Mountains to the end of the Persian Gulf. Because of its fame, this Arab Islamic caliphate was referred to as "Saracen" by European Christians and also called Moors by Christians in Iberia.
The sacred building of the Kaaba is one of the proofs of the culture and glory of the Arab civilization of the past which until now can still be seen and visited by Muslims all over the world. Likewise with the tombs of prophets such as the tombs of Prophet Ibrahim AS and Prophet Muhammad SAW.
In addition, there are many buildings that are full of the history and development of Islam, such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is a witness to the Isra' Miraj event of the Prophet Muhammad SAW and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina which became an icon when the Prophet held leadership in the spread of Islam.
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