History 2606E Lecture 5: Middle East 2606E- lecture 5
26 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Islamic city; topography and layout 10/19/2015 10:26:00 pm. In arabia the tribal system ensured some but not universal equality among the tribal members. Origin and descent were used in determining social position. Servile status or black ancestry were considered demeaning. With islam things changed and equality among all muslims was proclaimed. As conversion accelerated in the middle east, not all new converts were admitted as equal. We witness the creation of a new social class, named the maw li from the. These were converts to islam, mostly of persian origin, living in the areas of iraq/iran, who in order to gain membership in the islamic community were requested to join" an arab tribe in order to be accepted. So there is a combination here of islam and arab identities. Nonetheless, being foreign remained an identity marker throughout. Islamic law recognizes only one category of the community members and they were equal.
