6 chapter one
of endurance played, among other factors, an important role in build-
ing up a strong army during the expansion of the Islamic state.
Because of the high standard of endurance, the armies consisted of
strong units who were able to survive on less food than that of other
armies. With lighter provisions than those of the Byzantine and
Persian troops, the Islamic army must have been able to move faster
and to travel further. (A remarkable example could be taken from
the history of the early expansion of the Islamic state when the
Islamic army crossed the desert from southern Iraq to the south of
Syria to engage with the Byzantine troops in a quite unexpected
move). The scarcity of economic resources and the need to preserve
them is stressed in the Islamic approach to consumer behaviour. The
concept of moderation is emphasised in Islamic economic theory
where the no-niggard-no-extravagant pattern of consumption is
ordained in the Qur"àn (Qur"àn: 7:31, 17:29), as will be discussed
in due course.
Individualism. This was another distinct trait of the Bedouin char-
acter. Individualism was twofold: loyalty to the “self ” and loyalty to
the clan. Beyond these two levels, with a descending priority, the
interest of others was not the individual’s concern. This character-
istic was also a reflection of the effect of the environment. The desert
was vast and open, which gave the Bedouin the sense of freedom
and liberty. If it became difficult to live in a land where there was
a repressive political regime they would move somewhere else. Also,
individualism was enhanced by, or was a product of, the hardship
of desert life. The law of survival in such a hostile environment
would force a descending priority: self, then others. The Bedouin,
as Hitti says, has never been able to raise himself to become a social
being of the international type, much less to develop ideals of devo-
tion to the common good beyond that which pertained to the tribe
(Hitti, 1963).
That sense of individualism seems to have penetrated deeply in
the Bedouin character to the extent that even after the coming of
Islam, with its social caring teachings, a Bedouin is reported to have
pleaded, “O Lord, have mercy upon me and upon Muœammad but
upon no one else besides!” (Abù-Dawood, 1280, quoted in Hitti,
1963). Regardless of whether such society was qualified for the descrip-
tion of being “capitalist”, the society bore one of the early signs of
the spirit of capitalism, individualism.