the features of the landscape (rocks, trees, and
springs) and religious shrines were the focal
points of their religious activity, which included
pilgrimage and animal sacrifice. In addition, four
specific months of the year were held to be sacred
times when warfare was prohibited for Arabs liv-
ing in the vicinity of mecca. The early Muslim
community in medina built alliances with Bed-
ouin tribes and won their conversion to islam,
which was expressed by performance of Islamic
prayer and almgsgiving. However, Bedouin also
allied with mUhammad’s opponents, and when he
died in 632, many tribes that had converted to
Islam when he was alive attempted to abandon
it. This led to the Wars of apostasy, in which the
Muslim forces under the leadership of the caliph
abU bakr (r. 632–634) proved victorious. The
rebellious tribes were reincorporated into the
Muslim community, and they played an important
role in the early Arab Muslim conquest of the
Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Indeed, the
conquest was really conducted as an extension of
Bedouin-style warfare involving small-scale raids
rather than massive troop movements.
The Arab historian ibn khaldUn (d. 1406)
developed a theory of the rise and fall of civiliza-
tions based on his knowledge of the involvement
of Bedouin Arabs in the early conquests and the
subsequent emergence of Islamicate civilization
in the Middle East and North Africa. This theory
rested on the thesis that civilizations originate
with tribal solidarity (asabiyya) and the ability
of one tribe to dominate others. Eventually, this
dominance leads to the accumulation of wealth
and power and the birth of urban institutions.
Religion reinforces the moral basis of urban civi-
lization and tempers the destructiveness of social
forces, but eventually civilization succumbs to the
onslaught of new, more vigorous tribal groups.
A recent example of this pattern can be seen in
the rise of Saudi Arabia, which began in the 18th
century when the Saudi clan formed a multitribal
fighting force motivated by the religious ideology
of mUhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792).
See also agricUltUre; Food and drink; honor
and shame.Further reading: Leila Abu Lughod, Veiled Sentiments:
Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society (Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 2000); Donald P. Cole, Nomads
of the Nomads: The Al Murrah Bedouin of the Empty
Quarter (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1975);
Dale F. Eickelman, The Middle East and Central Asia: An
Anthropological Approach. 4th ed. (Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001); Jibrail Jabbur, The Bedouins
and the Desert: Aspects of Nomadic Life in the Arab East
(New York: State University of New York Press, 1995).Bektashi Sufi Order
The Bektashi Order, which is based in tUrkey, was
formed by disciples of the 13th-century saint Haji
Bektash Veli (wali), who is said to have migrated
to Anatolia from Khorasan. He settled in a village
in central Anatolia and exerted a strong influence
over the Turkish peasants and wandering der-
vishes living in the region. After his death, the site
of his tomb attracted followers, who eventually
formed a coherent order, which was firmly insti-
tutionalized by Balim Sultan in the early 16th cen-
tury. The order spread through lands occupied by
the Ottomans, especially in the Balkans. Bektashis
were affiliated with the Janissary corps of the Sul-
tan’s army, for whom they served as chaplains. It
was this relationship that led to their suppression
when Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries
in 1826. Bektashis later reappeared but were again
officially closed down along with all other dervish
orders in Turkey in 1925. Nevertheless, Bektashis
have continued to exist in Turkey, and there are
also communities in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia,
and Albania.
Like the Shia, Bektashis revere Ali and the
Twelve Imams but also Haji Bektash and other
saints. They seek spiritual perfection through cor-
rect behavior and disguise their beliefs through
a complex symbolism that pervades all Bektashi
ritual, clothing, art, and poetry. Disciples areBektashi Sufi Order 99 J