Power Differential Among Pre-Islamic Arab Tribes

Last updated: April 29th, 2025 at 11:28 am · Est. Reading Time: < 1 minute

All late antique Arabian tribes did not have equal social status.  Early Islamic sources consider some tribes to be respected and powerful, and others not that respected and rather weak.  We don’t know exactly what made a tribe respected in the eyes of fellow Arabs.  One guess is that the numerical strength of a tribe made it respected.  That could be the case of Tamim (Tamīm تَمِيم).¹ Another reason could be the material wealth of the tribe. Sources consider the poorer tribes, like Hawazin (Hawāzin هَوازِن) to be weak.²  The third factor towards respect of a tribe could be its authority over a religious sanctuary.  This could be the case of the Quraysh.

Further Reading

History of Islam, Social Structure of Pre-Islamic Arabs, https://historyofislam.org/social-structure-of-pre-islamic-arabs/

Footnotes

1. Al-Bakri. Kitāb mu’jam māsta’jam, ed H. F. Wustenfield, (Paris: Maisonneuve, 1876), 1: 88.  According to Bakri, Tamim was the largest tribe in central Arabia.
2. Ibn Abd Rabbih notes that the Hawazin were weak and poor as they used to graze goats.  See: Aḥmad Muḥammad Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih al-Andalusi, Kitāb al-‘iqd al-farīd, (Cairo: 1949 – 1965), 5: 135 – 137.