Nomads and Sedentary Arabs - Islamic History

Last updated: April 30th, 2025 at 12:34 pm · Est. Reading Time: 3 minutes

Pre-Islamic Arabs were of two types in terms of their way of life: nomads (Bedouin, baddū, بدو) and sedentary (al-mustaqraʾ, المستقرأ). Nomads roamed the countryside, grazing their herds of camels and sheep. The sedentary lived in fixed settlements as farmers, traders, or engaged in other economic activities.¹

Change in Historical Perception

Classical historians believed that pre-Islamic Arab tribes were either nomadic or sedentary. More recently, historians have found this categorization to be an oversimplification. Donner points out that many had a dual character—they grazed when the climate was favorable and returned to settlements when it was not. He also notes that members of some fully nomadic tribes, such as Tamim (Tamīm تَمِيم), owned orchards in settlements as well.²

Ratio of Nomads to the Sedentary

The exact percentage of either Bedouin or sedentary Arabs in the total population is unknown. Many regions of Arabia—such as Yemen, Ḥaḍramaut, Oman, Iraq, and Syria—were almost entirely settled. Other areas also had settlements. Since settled regions support more people per square kilometer than grazing lands, one can estimate that about three-quarters of Arabs were sedentary.³

Cultural Dominance of the Nomads

Despite the sedentary population being in the majority, it was culturally influenced by the nomadic segment. This was especially true in the Tribal Zone of Arabia, such as Hejaz and Yamama. One reason may be that many settlements were inhabited by settled clans (Baṭn) of nomadic tribes.⁴ Very few tribes, such as Ḥanīfah (حَنِيفَة), were entirely sedentary.⁵

The tribal character of society originated from and was maintained by the nomads. Harsh grazing conditions forced Bedouins to divide into small groups of fifteen to twenty tents. At the same time, security concerns required them to stay within a few hours’ reach of each other to form larger groups of up to five hundred tents when needed. These natural necessities organized Bedouins into a tribal system.⁶

However, it was the town dwellers who instilled a sense of Arab solidarity in the Bedouins.⁷ Ultimately, it was also the town dwellers who embraced and spread Islam with enthusiasm.

Nomad–Sedentary Interaction

Nomads and sedentary people did not live in isolation from each other. Both were essential parts of society and maintained continuous interaction. This contrasts with many other parts of the world, where nomads lived in entirely self-sufficient groups. This interaction was one of the key reasons why the history of the Middle East differed from that of contemporary Europe, which lacked nomad–settler interaction.⁸

Perception of Foreigners About Nomads

The Bedouin lifestyle was appalling to many of their non-Arab neighbors. A 4th-century CE Byzantine historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, writes of them:

“The Saracens, whom we never found desirable either as friends or enemies… ranging up and down the country, in a brief space of time laid waste whatever they could find, like rapacious kites… They cannot long endure the same sky, nor does the sun of a single district ever content them… A woman marries in one place, gives birth in another, and rears her children far away… I have seen many of them who were wholly unacquainted with grain and wine. So much for this dangerous people.”⁹

Nomads in Modern Times

The Bedouin way of life persisted into modern times. Laurent d’Arvieux was the first sociologist to describe the culture of Bedouins in Palestine and the Arabian desert. His observations from 1664–1665 were published in 1717.¹⁰ Such studies help draw parallels between modern Bedouin social practices and their pre-Islamic counterparts.

Traces of nomadic culture can still be seen throughout Arabia, though many have transitioned into settled communities. Most no longer roam for grazing or water. While they may still live in tents, these often include permanent elements such as brick columns and tin roofs. Many have electricity and water, their children attend school, and they use modern transportation.

Footnotes

Francis E. Peters. The Arabs and Arabia on the Eve of Islam: The Formation of the Classical Islamic World, (Surrey: Ashgate, 2010), xiv.
Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), 16.
Fred M. Donner, The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981), 11; Peppelenbosch, P. G. N. “Nomadism on the Arabian Peninsula – A General Appraisal.” Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale Geografie 59 (1968): 335–346.
Warner Caskel, “The Bedouinization of Arabia,” American Anthropologist 52, no. 2, part 2, memoir no. 76 (1954): 38. For use of the word Baṭn for a clan, see: Abū Jā’far Muḥammad bin Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, The History of al-Ṭabarī, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. Michael Fishbein (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 21:29, footnote 121.
The History of al-Ṭabarī, vol. XX, ed. Ehsan Yar-Shater, trans. G. R. Hawting (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 26.
Warner Caskel, “The Bedouinization of Arabia,” American Anthropologist 52, no. 2, part 2, memoir no. 76 (1954): 35.
Gustave E. Grunebaum, “The Nature of Arab Unity before Islam.” Arabica 10, no. 1 (1963): 18–19.
Fred M. Donner, “The Role of Nomads in the Near East in Late Antiquity (400–800 C.E.),” in Traditions and Innovation in Late Antiquity, eds. Clover F. M. and R. S. Humphreys (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), 73.
Ammianus Marcellinus, Ammianus Marcellinus, vol. I, ed. and trans. John C. Rolfe (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1935), 27–29.
L. d’Arvieux, Voyage… (Paris, 1717) and Mémoires du chevalier d’Arvieux (1735).