The Tribe

The Tribe has always been an important concept in Arabian and Islamic history, creating divisions among its dwellers and followers. How has this caused problems in the history of Islam?

The tribe, in Arabic and Islamic history has always been a place of comfort, security, creating a strong sense of belonging and stability. In many ways it helped the people who belonged to a certain tribe to feel stronger as a group, but if two tribes met, it could have caused many quarrels and battles. For example, when Muhammad and his followers conquered the city of Mecca, the whole battle was just a large quarrel between two tribes. The reason that conflict occurred between tribes is that each tribe lived and traveled separately from other tribes, so groups were not as familiar with each other as people are today. Even though all the people had the same religion and nationality, living so separately from each other, they started to developed their own ways and slight variation to their customs. So when different tribes met, they had different ways and interpretations of religion, customs and life itself. For that reason, each tribe, being so separate form the other started to question the others, thinking that any their ways are right. Obviously, that kind of life would cause problems among the tribes, because each group developed slight differences in the their one religion and customs.