140-543: Najd ( Arabic : نَجْدٌ , pronounced [nad͡ʒd] ) is the central region of Saudi Arabia , in which about a third of the country's modern population resides. It is the home of the House of Saud , from which it pursued unification with Hejaz since the time of the Emirate of Diriyah . Historic Najd was divided into three modern administrative regions still in use today. The Riyadh region features Wadi Hanifa and
280-690: A Byzantine vassal, the Ghassanids participated in the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars , fighting against the Sasanian -allied Lakhmids , who were also an Arabian tribe, but adhered to the non-Chalcedonian Church of the East . The lands of the Ghassanids also acted as a buffer zone protecting lands that had been annexed by the Romans against raids by Bedouins . After just over 400 years of existence,
420-569: A branch of the Azd tribe of South Arabia / Yemen . In this genealogical scheme, their ancestor was Jafnah , a son of Amr Muzayqiya ibn Amir ibn Haritha ibn Imru’ al Qais ibn Tha’labah ibn Mazin ibn Azd , through whom the Ghassanids were purportedly linked with the Ansar (the Aws and Khazraj tribes of Medina ), who were the descendants of Jafna's brother Tha'laba. According to the historian Brian Ulrich ,
560-559: A buffer zone against the Lakhmids . In addition, as kings of their own people, they were also phylarchs , native rulers of client frontier states. The capital was at Jabiyah in the Golan Heights . Geographically, it occupied much of the eastern Levant , and its authority extended via tribal alliances with other Azdi tribes all the way to the northern Hijaz as far south as Yathrib ( Medina ). The Ghassanids fought alongside
700-704: A chosen successor amid the Second Muslim Civil War in 684, Umayyad rule was on the verge of collapse in Syria, having already collapsed throughout the caliphate, where the supporters of a rival caliph, the Mecca -based Ibn al-Zubayr , took charge. The Ghassan, along with their tribal allies in Syria, especially the Kalb, supported continued Umayyad rule to secure their interests under the dynasty, and nominated Mu'awiya's distant cousin, Marwan I , as caliph during
840-575: A collection of related dialects that constitute the precursor of Arabic, first emerged during the Iron Age . Previously, the earliest attestation of Old Arabic was thought to be a single 1st century CE inscription in Sabaic script at Qaryat al-Faw , in southern present-day Saudi Arabia. However, this inscription does not participate in several of the key innovations of the Arabic language group, such as
980-421: A combined area of 554,000 km (214,000 sq mi). Najd towns are: 'Afif , Ranyah , Dawadmi , Mahd adh Dhahab , Al-Khurmah , Al-Gway'iyyah , As Sulayyil , and Wadi Ad-Dawasir , Najd has few towns and urban areas due to its Nomadic population. Before the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed, the native population in that area was largely made up of tribal Arabs : some of them were part of
1120-435: A corpus of poetic texts, in addition to Qur'an usage and Bedouin informants whom he considered to be reliable speakers of the ʿarabiyya . Arabic spread with the spread of Islam . Following the early Muslim conquests , Arabic gained vocabulary from Middle Persian and Turkish . In the early Abbasid period , many Classical Greek terms entered Arabic through translations carried out at Baghdad's House of Wisdom . By
1260-1081: A dialect of Arabic and written in the Latin alphabet . The Balkan languages, including Albanian, Greek , Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian , have also acquired many words of Arabic origin, mainly through direct contact with Ottoman Turkish . Arabic has influenced languages across the globe throughout its history, especially languages where Islam is the predominant religion and in countries that were conquered by Muslims. The most markedly influenced languages are Persian , Turkish , Hindustani ( Hindi and Urdu ), Kashmiri , Kurdish , Bosnian , Kazakh , Bengali , Malay ( Indonesian and Malaysian ), Maldivian , Pashto , Punjabi , Albanian , Armenian , Azerbaijani , Sicilian, Spanish, Greek, Bulgarian, Tagalog , Sindhi , Odia , Hebrew and African languages such as Hausa , Amharic , Tigrinya , Somali , Tamazight , and Swahili . Conversely, Arabic has borrowed some words (mostly nouns) from other languages, including its sister-language Aramaic, Persian, Greek, and Latin and to
1400-507: A great amount of time debating the exact boundaries between Hejaz and Najd in particular, but generally set the western boundaries of Najd to be wherever the western mountain ranges and lava beds began to slope eastwards, and set the eastern boundaries of Najd at the narrow strip of red sand dunes known as the Ad-Dahna Desert , some 100 km (62 mi) east of modern-day Riyadh . The southern border of Najd has always been set at
1540-487: A lesser extent and more recently from Turkish, English, French, and Italian. Arabic is spoken by as many as 380 million speakers, both native and non-native, in the Arab world, making it the fifth most spoken language in the world, and the fourth most used language on the internet in terms of users. It also serves as the liturgical language of more than 2 billion Muslims . In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Arabic
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#17327579842401680-565: A major threat to the trade line between Yemen and Syria . The Ḥimyarites of Sheba decided to establish a vassal state that controlled Central and North Arabia. The Kindites, mentioned in Greek sources as the Chinedakolpitai ( Greek : Χινεδακολπιται ), gained strength and numbers to play that role and in AD 425 the Ḥimyarite king Ḥasan ibn 'Amr ibn Tubba’ made Ḥujr 'Akīl al-Murār ibn 'Amr
1820-703: A millennium before the modern period . Early lexicographers ( لُغَوِيُّون lughawiyyūn ) sought to explain words in the Quran that were unfamiliar or had a particular contextual meaning, and to identify words of non-Arabic origin that appear in the Quran. They gathered shawāhid ( شَوَاهِد 'instances of attested usage') from poetry and the speech of the Arabs—particularly the Bedouin ʾaʿrāb [ ar ] {{main other| ( أَعْراب ) who were perceived to speak
1960-567: A poem attributed to him, Marwan lauds the Ghassan, as well as the Kalb, Kinda , and Tanukh of Syria, for supporting him. The above tribes thereafter formed the Yaman faction, in opposition to the Qays tribes which backed Dahhak and Ibn al-Zubayr. The Qays–Yaman rivalry contributed to the downfall of Umayyad rule, with each faction supporting different Umayyad dynasts and governors in what became
2100-828: A raid on Medina, so he dispatched a force of 150 men under the leadership of Abu Salama 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Asad to make a sudden attack on this tribe. After Prophet Muhammad's death, previously dormant tensions between the Meccan immigrants , the Muhajirun , and the Medinan converts, the Ansar , threatened to split the Ummah . Other Arabian tribes also wished to revert from Islam to local leadership and split from Medina's control; in some places, people such as Al-Aswad Al-Ansi and Musaylima claimed prophethood and started to establish leaderships in opposition to Medina. The Ansar ,
2240-594: A result, many European languages have borrowed words from it. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary, is seen in European languages (mainly Spanish and to a lesser extent Portuguese , Catalan , and Sicilian ) owing to the proximity of Europe and the long-lasting Arabic cultural and linguistic presence, mainly in Southern Iberia, during the Al-Andalus era. Maltese is a Semitic language developed from
2380-462: A script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic . On the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B , Thamudic D, Safaitic , and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic . Linguists generally believe that "Old Arabic",
2520-470: A single language, despite mutual incomprehensibility among differing spoken versions. From a linguistic standpoint, it is often said that the various spoken varieties of Arabic differ among each other collectively about as much as the Romance languages . This is an apt comparison in a number of ways. The period of divergence from a single spoken form is similar—perhaps 1500 years for Arabic, 2000 years for
2660-571: A small number of African, Eastern European and South-Eastern European slaves and freedmen. Most of the Najdi tribes are of Qaysi Adnanite origin; their members emigrated to Najd from Tihamah and Hejaz in ancient times. The most famous Najdi tribes in the pre-Islamic era were: Hawazin , with its branches, Amir and Jusham . and Its neighbor from the north, the tribe of Ghatafan , with its branches Abs and Dhubyan . Many other smaller tribes existed such as Ghani , Bahila and Muharib . During
2800-399: A squadron leader, arrested the family of Malik, claiming they did not answer the call to prayer. Malik avoided direct contact with Khalid's army and ordered his followers to scatter, and he and his family apparently moved away across the desert. He refused to give zakat , hence differentiating between prayer and zakat. Nevertheless, Malik was accused of rebellion against the state of Medina. He
2940-671: A summit of the Syrian tribes in the old Ghassanid capital of Jabiyah . Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri , the governor of Damascus, meanwhile, threw his backing behind Ibn al-Zubayr. During the Battle of Marj Rahit , which pitted Marwan against Dahhak in a meadow north of Damascus, the scion of the Ghassanid family in Damascus, Yazid ibn Abi al-Nims, led a revolt there and secured control of the city for Marwan, who routed Dahhak and assumed office. In
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#17327579842403080-507: A type of Arabic. Cypriot Arabic is recognized as a minority language in Cyprus. The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the linguistic phenomenon of diglossia , which is the normal use of two separate varieties of the same language, usually in different social situations. Tawleed is the process of giving a new shade of meaning to an old classical word. For example, al-hatif lexicographically means
3220-507: A variety of regional vernacular Arabic dialects , which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. Classical Arabic is the language found in the Quran , used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate . Classical Arabic is prescriptive, according to the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh ) and the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as
3360-476: A wider audience." In the wake of the industrial revolution and European hegemony and colonialism , pioneering Arabic presses, such as the Amiri Press established by Muhammad Ali (1819), dramatically changed the diffusion and consumption of Arabic literature and publications. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi proposed the establishment of Madrasat al-Alsun in 1836 and led a translation campaign that highlighted
3500-737: Is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world . The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic , including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic , which is derived from Classical Arabic . This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā ( اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ "the eloquent Arabic") or simply al-fuṣḥā ( اَلْفُصْحَىٰ ). Arabic
3640-590: Is a minimum level of comprehension between all Arabic dialects, this level can increase or decrease based on geographic proximity: for example, Levantine and Gulf speakers understand each other much better than they do speakers from the Maghreb. The issue of diglossia between spoken and written language is a complicating factor: A single written form, differing sharply from any of the spoken varieties learned natively, unites several sometimes divergent spoken forms. For political reasons, Arabs mostly assert that they all speak
3780-559: Is a sister language rather than their direct ancestor. Arabia had a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. The term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula , as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece . In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g. Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It
3920-478: Is believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hejaz , Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in
4060-408: Is credited with establishing the rules of Arabic prosody . Al-Jahiz (776–868) proposed to Al-Akhfash al-Akbar an overhaul of the grammar of Arabic, but it would not come to pass for two centuries. The standardization of Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century. The first comprehensive description of the ʿarabiyya "Arabic", Sībawayhi's al - Kitāb , is based first of all upon
4200-472: Is credited with standardizing Arabic grammar , or an-naḥw ( النَّحو "the way" ), and pioneering a system of diacritics to differentiate consonants ( نقط الإعجام nuqaṭu‿l-i'jām "pointing for non-Arabs") and indicate vocalization ( التشكيل at-tashkīl ). Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (718–786) compiled the first Arabic dictionary, Kitāb al-'Ayn ( كتاب العين "The Book of the Letter ع "), and
4340-574: Is not present in the spoken varieties, but deletes Classical words that sound obsolete in MSA. In addition, MSA has borrowed or coined many terms for concepts that did not exist in Quranic times, and MSA continues to evolve. Some words have been borrowed from other languages—notice that transliteration mainly indicates spelling and not real pronunciation (e.g., فِلْم film 'film' or ديمقراطية dīmuqrāṭiyyah 'democracy'). The current preference
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4480-855: Is official in Mali and recognized as a minority language in Morocco, while the Senegalese government adopted the Latin script to write it. Maltese is official in (predominantly Catholic ) Malta and written with the Latin script . Linguists agree that it is a variety of spoken Arabic, descended from Siculo-Arabic , though it has experienced extensive changes as a result of sustained and intensive contact with Italo-Romance varieties, and more recently also with English. Due to "a mix of social, cultural, historical, political, and indeed linguistic factors", many Maltese people today consider their language Semitic but not
4620-509: Is possibly one of the first cultures in the world where widespread agriculture and the domestication of animals occurred, particularly that of the horse, during the Neolithic period, before climate changes in the region resulted in desertification . Radiocarbon dating of several objects discovered at Al-Magar indicate an age of about 9,000 years. In November 2017 hunting scenes showing images of what appear to be domesticated dogs resembling
4760-464: Is that the Dhat Ar-Riqa' campaign took place after the fall of Khaibar (and not as part of the invasion of Nejd). This is supported by the fact that Abu Hurairah and Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari witnessed the battle. Abu Hurairah embraced Islam only some days before Khaibar, and Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari came back from Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia ), and joined Muhammad at Khaibar . The rules relating to
4900-572: Is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of the United Nations , and the liturgical language of Islam . Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages , Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As
5040-590: Is the variety used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by some of the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" ( فُصْحَى fuṣḥá ) are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic. Some of the differences between Classical Arabic (CA) and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) are as follows: MSA uses much Classical vocabulary (e.g., dhahaba 'to go') that
5180-413: Is to avoid direct borrowings, preferring to either use loan translations (e.g., فرع farʻ 'branch', also used for the branch of a company or organization; جناح janāḥ 'wing', is also used for the wing of an airplane, building, air force, etc.), or to coin new words using forms within existing roots ( استماتة istimātah ' apoptosis ', using the root موت m/w/t 'death' put into
5320-524: Is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the industrial and post-industrial era , especially in modern times. Due to its grounding in Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic is removed over a millennium from everyday speech, which is construed as a multitude of dialects of this language. These dialects and Modern Standard Arabic are described by some scholars as not mutually comprehensible. The former are usually acquired in families, while
5460-445: The Lisān al-ʻArab ). Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) largely follows the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties and has adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary
5600-567: The Aksumites invaded Ḥimyar, and this had a knock-on effect with the Kindites, who lost the support of the Ḥimyarites. Within three years the Kindite kingdom had split into four groups: Asad, Taghlib, Qays and Kinānah, each led by a prince of Kindah. These small principalities were then overthrown in the 530s and 540s in a series of uprisings of the ‘Adnānī tribes of Najd and Ḥijāz . In 540,
5740-668: The Al-Qassim Province in the north, and Wadi ad-Dawasir at the southernmost tip of Najd on the border with Najran. Most Najdi villages and settlements are located along these wadis, due to ability of these wadis to preserve precious rainwater in the arid desert climate, while others are located near oases . Historically, Najd itself has been divided into small provinces made up of constellations of small towns, villages and settlements, with each one usually centered on one "capital". These subdivisions are still recognized by Najdis today, as each province retains its own variation of
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5880-546: The Caliph after Khalid's decisive victories. Moving south from Buzakha, Khalid reached Naqra in October, with an army now 6000 strong, and defeated the rebel tribe of Banu Saleem in the Battle of Naqra . In the third week of October, Khalid defeated a tribal chieftess, Salma, in the battle of Zafar . Afterwards, he moved to Najd against the rebel tribe of Banu Tamim and their Sheikh Malik ibn Nuwayrah . At Najd, getting
6020-678: The Canaan dog and wearing leashes were discovered in Shuwaymis, an area about 370 km southwest of the city of Ha'il. Dated at 8,000 years before the present, these are thought of as the earliest known depictions of dogs in the world. In ancient times , Najd was settled by numerous tribes such as the Kindites , Tayy , and many others. Led by Usma bin Luai ( Arabic : عصمة بن لؤي ), the Tayy sacked
6160-604: The Iberian Peninsula in the west to modern day Pakistan in the east in a matter of decades. The bulk of the tribes that helped the Caliphate 's expansion into Persia and the Levant were composed of Najdi tribes such as Banu Tamim . The Caliphate 's use of these once-rebellious tribes allowed Abu Bakr and Umar to quickly deploy battle hardened men and experienced generals such as Al-Qa'qa' ibn Amr al-Tamimi into
6300-654: The Jafnids , were an Arabian tribe . Originally from South Arabia , they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian kingdom under the aegis of the Byzantine Empire , as their society merged with local Chalcedonian Christianity and was largely Hellenized . However, some of the Ghassanids may have already adhered to Christianity before they emigrated from South Arabia to escape religious persecution. As
6440-681: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . The Arabic word najd literally means "upland" and was once applied to a variety of regions within the Arabian Peninsula. However, the most famous of these in recent times was the central region of the Peninsula roughly bounded on the west by the mountains of the Hejaz and Yemen and to the east by the historical region of Eastern Arabia and the north by Iraq and Syria . Medieval Muslim geographers spent
6580-677: The Lakhmids destroyed all the Kindite settlements in Nejd , forcing the majority of them to move to Yemen . The Kindites and most of the Arab tribes switched their alliances to the Lakhmids . Muhammad carried out military expeditions in the area. The first was the Nejd Caravan Raid against the Quraysh , which took place in 624. The Meccans led by Safwan ibn Umayyah , who lived on trade, left in summer for Syria for their seasonal trade business. After Muhammad received intelligence about
6720-789: The Third Muslim Civil War . The Ghassanid Shabib ibn Abi Malik was a leader of the Yaman in Damascus and conspired to assassinate the pro-Qaysi Caliph al-Walid II ( r. 743–744 ). After the latter was killed, the Ghassan marched on Damascus to help install his successor, the Yamani-backed Yazid III ( r. 744–744 ). The toppling of the Umayyads and the advent of the Iraq-based Abbasid Caliphate in 750 "was disastrous for
6860-667: The Tuwaiq escarpment, which houses easterly Yamama with the Saudi capital, Riyadh since 1824 , and the Sudairi region, which has its capital in Majmaah . The second administrative unit, Al-Qassim , houses the fertile oases and date palm orchards spread out in the region's highlands along Wadi Rummah in central Najd with its capital in Buraidah , the second largest Najdi city, with
7000-467: The Xth form , or جامعة jāmiʻah 'university', based on جمع jamaʻa 'to gather, unite'; جمهورية jumhūriyyah 'republic', based on جمهور jumhūr 'multitude'). An earlier tendency was to redefine an older word although this has fallen into disuse (e.g., هاتف hātif 'telephone' < 'invisible caller (in Sufism)'; جريدة jarīdah 'newspaper' < 'palm-leaf stalk'). Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to
7140-494: The northern Hejaz . These features are evidence of common descent from a hypothetical ancestor , Proto-Arabic . The following features of Proto-Arabic can be reconstructed with confidence: On the other hand, several Arabic varieties are closer to other Semitic languages and maintain features not found in Classical Arabic, indicating that these varieties cannot have developed from Classical Arabic. Thus, Arabic vernaculars do not descend from Classical Arabic: Classical Arabic
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#17327579842407280-493: The "Scattering of Azd" story, the Ghassanids eventually settled within the Roman limes . The tradition of Ghassanid migration finds support in the Geography of Ptolemy , which locates a tribe called the Kassanitai south of the Kinaidokolpitai and the river Baitios (probably the wadi Baysh ). These are probably the people called Casani in Pliny the Elder , Gasandoi in Diodorus Siculus and Kasandreis in Photios I of Constantinople (relying on older sources). The date of
7420-625: The "Walls of Khosrau ", constructed by the Sassanid Empire as a barrier between Arabia and Iraq immediately prior to the advent of Islam. The modern usage of the term encompasses the region of Al-Yamama , which was not always considered part of Najd historically, and became incorporated into the larger definition of Najd in the past centuries. Najd is a plateau ranging from 762 to 1,525 m (2,500 to 5,003 ft) in height and sloping downwards from west to east. The eastern sections (historically better known as Al-Yamama) are marked by oasis settlements with much farming and trading activities, while
7560-419: The "learned" tradition (Classical Arabic). This variety and both its classicizing and "lay" iterations have been termed Middle Arabic in the past, but they are thought to continue an Old Higazi register. It is clear that the orthography of the Quran was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; rather, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to record an archaic form of Old Higazi. In
7700-735: The "purest," most eloquent form of Arabic—initiating a process of jamʿu‿l-luɣah ( جمع اللغة 'compiling the language') which took place over the 8th and early 9th centuries. Kitāb al-'Ayn ( c. 8th century ), attributed to Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi , is considered the first lexicon to include all Arabic roots ; it sought to exhaust all possible root permutations —later called taqālīb ( تقاليب ) — calling those that are actually used mustaʿmal ( مستعمَل ) and those that are not used muhmal ( مُهمَل ). Lisān al-ʿArab (1290) by Ibn Manzur gives 9,273 roots, while Tāj al-ʿArūs (1774) by Murtada az-Zabidi gives 11,978 roots. Ghassanids The Ghassanids , also known as
7840-454: The 11th and 12th centuries in al-Andalus , the zajal and muwashah poetry forms developed in the dialectical Arabic of Cordoba and the Maghreb. The Nahda was a cultural and especially literary renaissance of the 19th century in which writers sought "to fuse Arabic and European forms of expression." According to James L. Gelvin , " Nahda writers attempted to simplify the Arabic language and script so that it might be accessible to
7980-400: The 15th through the 18th centuries, there was a considerable tribal influx from the west, increasing both the nomadic and settled population of the area and providing a fertile social environment for the Wahhabi movement . By the 20th century, many of the ancient tribes had morphed into new confederations or had emigrated from other areas of the Middle East, and many tribes from other regions of
8120-437: The 18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today. The first "Saudi state" established in 1744 in the area around Riyadh rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt , Mohammed Ali Pasha . A much smaller second "Saudi state", located mainly in Nejd,
8260-462: The 4th to the 6th centuries, the Nabataean script evolved into the Arabic script recognizable from the early Islamic era. There are inscriptions in an undotted, 17-letter Arabic script dating to the 6th century CE, found at four locations in Syria ( Zabad , Jebel Usays , Harran , Umm el-Jimal ). The oldest surviving papyrus in Arabic dates to 643 CE, and it uses dots to produce the modern 28-letter Arabic alphabet. The language of that papyrus and of
8400-464: The 5th and 6th centuries AD, the Kindites made the first real concerted effort to unite all the tribes of Central Arabia through alliances, and focused on wars with the Lakhmids . Al-Ḥārith ibn 'Amr, the most famous of their kings, finally succeeded in capturing the Lakhmid capital of al-Ḥirah in southern modern-day Iraq. Later however in about 529, al-Mundhir recaptured the city and put King Ḥārith and about fifty members of his family to death. In 525,
8540-616: The 8th century, knowledge of Classical Arabic had become an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world, both for Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, Maimonides , the Andalusi Jewish philosopher, authored works in Judeo-Arabic —Arabic written in Hebrew script . Ibn Jinni of Mosul , a pioneer in phonology , wrote prolifically in the 10th century on Arabic morphology and phonology in works such as Kitāb Al-Munṣif , Kitāb Al-Muḥtasab , and Kitāb Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ [ ar ] {{main other|. Ibn Mada' of Cordoba (1116–1196) realized
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#17327579842408680-408: The Abbasid dynasts, an Umayyad, Abu al-Umaytir al-Sufyani , took power in Syria in 811, in a bid to reestablish the Umayyad Caliphate. Abu Mushir, whose grandfather was killed by the Abbasids in 750, disdained the Iraqis represented by the Abbasids and supported the restoration of Umayyad rule. He served as Abu al-Umaytir's qadi (chief jurist), but was imprisoned by the Abbasids in the years following
8820-437: The Arabs on the eastern fringes of Syria, as evidenced by a spread of urbanization and the sponsorship of several churches, monasteries and other buildings. The surviving descriptions of the Ghassanid courts impart an image of luxury and an active cultural life, with patronage of the arts, music and especially Arab-language poetry. In the words of Ball, "the Ghassanid courts were the most important centres for Arabic poetry before
8960-419: The Byzantine Empire against the Persian Sasanians and Arab Lakhmids. The lands of the Ghassanids also continually acted as a buffer zone, protecting Byzantine lands against raids by Bedouin tribes. Among their Arab allies were the Banu Judham and Banu Amilah . The Byzantines were focused more on the East and a long war with the Sasanians was always their main concern. The Ghassanids maintained their rule as
9100-436: The Byzantines, especially against their enemies the Lakhmids, and secured Byzantium's southern flank and its political and commercial interests in Arabia proper. On the other hand, the Ghassanids remained fervently dedicated to Miaphysitism , which brought about their break with Byzantium and Mundhir's own downfall and exile, which was followed after 586 by the dissolution of the Ghassanid federation. The Ghassanids' patronage of
9240-533: The Caravan's route, he ordered Zayd ibn Haritha to go after the Caravan, and they successfully raided it and captured 100,000 dirhams worth of booty. The Invasion of Nejd happened in Rabi‘ Ath-Thani or Jumada al-Awwal , 4 AH (October, 625 AD). Muhammad led his fighters to Nejd to scare off some tribes whose intentions were suspicious. Some scholars say the expedition of Dhat al-Riqa took place in Nejd as part of this invasion. The most authentic opinion according to " Saifur Rahman al Mubararakpuri ", however,
9380-405: The Damascene elite into the mid-9th century. Abu Mushir's grandfather, Abd al-A'la, was a hadith scholar and Abu Mushir studied under the famous Syrian scholar Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Tanukhi. He became a prominent hadith scholar in Damascus, with special interest in the administrative history of Syria, its local elite's genealogies and local scholars. During the Fourth Muslim Civil War between
9520-451: The Ghassan of Syria. The last phylarch of the Ghassan, Jabala ibn al-Ayham , stories of whom are shrouded in legend, led his tribesmen and those of Byzantium's other allied Arab tribes in the Byzantine army that was routed by the Muslims at the Battle of Yarmouk in c. 636 . After supposedly embracing Islam, Jabala left the faith and ultimately withdrew with his tribesmen from Syria to Byzantine-held Anatolia in 639, by which time
9660-409: The Ghassanid kingdom fell to the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant . A few of the tribe's members then converted to Islam , while most dispersed themselves amongst Melkites and Syriacs in what is now Jordan , Israel , Syria , Palestine , and Lebanon . In the Arab genealogical tradition which developed during the early Islamic period, the Ghassanids were considered
9800-424: The Islamic empire in general. Significant remnants of the Ghassan remained in Syria, residing in Damascus and the city's Ghouta countryside. At least nominally and probably gradually, many of these Ghassanids embraced Islam, especially under Mu'awiya's rule. According to the historian Nancy Khalek, they consequently became an "indispensable" group of Muslim society in early Islamic Syria. Mu'awiya actively sought
9940-465: The Lakhmids of al-Hirah in Lower Mesopotamia , prospered economically and engaged in much religious and public building; they also patronized the arts and at one time entertained the Arab poets al-Nabighah and Hassan ibn Thabit at their courts. The nascent Muslim state in Medina , first under the Islamic prophet Muhammad (d. 632) and lastly under the second caliph , Umar ( r. 634–644 ), made abortive attempts to contact or win over
10080-492: The Miaphysite Syrian Church was crucial for its survival and revival, and even its spread, through missionary activities, south into Arabia. According to the historian Warwick Ball , the Ghassanids' promotion of a simpler and more rigidly monotheistic form of Christianity in a specifically Arab context can be said to have anticipated Islam . Ghassanid rule also brought a period of considerable prosperity for
10220-412: The Middle East and North Africa have become a badge of sophistication and modernity and ... feigning, or asserting, weakness or lack of facility in Arabic is sometimes paraded as a sign of status, class, and perversely, even education through a mélange of code-switching practises." Arabic has been taught worldwide in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools. Universities around
10360-647: The Muslims had conquered most of Byzantine Syria. Unable to make headway with the Ghassan, the Muslim administration in Syria under its governor Mu'awiya succeeded in allying with the Ghassan's old-established Syrian allies, the Banu Kalb . The latter became the cornerstone of Mu'awiya's military power in Syria, and later, when he became head of the Syria-based Umayyad Caliphate in 661, of
10500-457: The Najdi dialect and Najdi customs. The most prominent among these provinces are Al-'Aridh, which includes Riyadh and the historical Saudi capital of Diriyah ; Al-Qassim, with its capital in Buraidah ; Sudair , centered on Al Majma'ah ; Al-Washm, centered on Shaqra ; and Jebel Shammar , with its capital, Ha'il. Under modern-day Saudi Arabia , however, Najd is divided into three administrative regions: Ha'il , Al-Qassim, and Riyadh , comprising
10640-418: The Peninsula had moved into Najd. However, the largest proportion of native Najdis today still belong to these ancient Najdi tribes or to their newer incarnations. Many of the Najdi tribes, even in ancient times, were not nomadic or bedouin, but long-settled farmers and merchants. The royal family of Saudi Arabia, Al Saud , for example, trace their lineage to Banu Hanifa. On the eve of Saudi Arabia’s formation,
10780-639: The Qur'an is referred to by linguists as "Quranic Arabic", as distinct from its codification soon thereafter into " Classical Arabic ". In late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged in the Hejaz , which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra , most strongly in Judeo-Christian texts, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from
10920-576: The Romance languages. Also, while it is comprehensible to people from the Maghreb , a linguistically innovative variety such as Moroccan Arabic is essentially incomprehensible to Arabs from the Mashriq , much as French is incomprehensible to Spanish or Italian speakers but relatively easily learned by them. This suggests that the spoken varieties may linguistically be considered separate languages. With
11060-843: The aid of the Ikhwan, Ibn Saud captured al-Ahsa from the Ottomans in 1913. In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting the Ottomans in World War I ), the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali , led a pan-Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state. Although this revolt failed in its objective, the Allied victory in World War I resulted in
11200-660: The apostate tribes of north-central Arabia without interference from Yamamah. Meanwhile, Abu Bakr sent Shurhabil 's corps to reinforce Ikrama at Yamamah. However, Ikrimah attacked Musaylima's forces in early September 632 and was defeated. He wrote the details of his actions to Abu Bakr, who, both pained and angered by the rashness of Ikrimah and his disobedience, ordered him to proceed with his force to Oman to assist Hudaifa ; once Hudaifa had completed his task, to march to Mahra to help Arfaja , and thereafter go to Yemen to help Muhajir. Meanwhile, Abu Bakr sent orders to Khalid to march against Musaylima. Shurhabil's corps, that
11340-803: The centuries back and forth from Nejd to Iraq and the Levant, with many Najdi tribes reaching Khorosan and the Maghreb. In the 16th century, the Ottomans added the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coast (the Hejaz , Asir and al-Ahsa ) to the Empire and claimed suzerainty over the interior. One reason was to thwart Portuguese attempts to attack the Red Sea (hence the Hejaz) and the Indian Ocean . [REDACTED] Ottoman control over these lands varied over
11480-574: The conversion of Semitic mimation to nunation in the singular. It is best reassessed as a separate language on the Central Semitic dialect continuum. It was also thought that Old Arabic coexisted alongside—and then gradually displaced— epigraphic Ancient North Arabian (ANA), which was theorized to have been the regional tongue for many centuries. ANA, despite its name, was considered a very distinct language, and mutually unintelligible, from "Arabic". Scholars named its variant dialects after
11620-416: The corps commanders, was instructed to make contact with Musaylima at Yamamah , but not to engage in fighting until Khalid joined him. Abu Bakr's intention in giving Ikrimah this mission was to tie Musaylima down at Yamamah. With Ikrimah on the horizon, Musaylima would remain in expectation of a Muslim attack, and thus not be able to leave his base. With Musaylima so committed, Khalid would be free to deal with
11760-613: The early part of the 20th century as part of a country-wide policy undertaken by King Abdul-Aziz to put an end to the nomadic way of life. Nomads still exist in the Kingdom, however, in very small numbers – a far cry from the days when they made up the majority in the Arabian Peninsula. Arabic language Arabic (endonym: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ , romanized : al-ʿarabiyyah , pronounced [al ʕaraˈbijːa] , or عَرَبِيّ , ʿarabīy , pronounced [ˈʕarabiː] or [ʕaraˈbij] )
11900-587: The emergence of Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include: There are several features which Classical Arabic, the modern Arabic varieties, as well as the Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions share which are unattested in any other Central Semitic language variety, including the Dadanitic and Taymanitic languages of
12040-649: The end of Ottoman suzerainty and control in Arabia. Ibn Saud avoided involvement in the Arab Revolt and instead continued his struggle with the Al Rashid. Following the latter's final defeat, he took the title Sultan of Najd in 1921. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25 and on 10 January 1926, Ibn Saud declared himself King of the Hejaz . A year later, he added the title of King of Nejd. For
12180-728: The eve of the conquests: Northern and Central (Al-Jallad 2009). The modern dialects emerged from a new contact situation produced following the conquests. Instead of the emergence of a single or multiple koines, the dialects contain several sedimentary layers of borrowed and areal features, which they absorbed at different points in their linguistic histories. According to Veersteegh and Bickerton, colloquial Arabic dialects arose from pidginized Arabic formed from contact between Arabs and conquered peoples. Pidginization and subsequent creolization among Arabs and arabized peoples could explain relative morphological and phonological simplicity of vernacular Arabic compared to Classical and MSA. In around
12320-607: The fact that they participate in the innovations common to all forms of Arabic. The earliest attestation of continuous Arabic text in an ancestor of the modern Arabic script are three lines of poetry by a man named Garm(')allāhe found in En Avdat, Israel , and dated to around 125 CE. This is followed by the Namara inscription , an epitaph of the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays bar 'Amro, dating to 328 CE, found at Namaraa, Syria. From
12460-538: The first caliph . Apostasy and rebellion in central Arabia were led by Musaylima in the fertile region of Yamamah . He was mainly supported by the powerful tribe of Banu Hanifa . At Buzakha in north central Arabia, another claimed prophet, Tulayha , a tribal chief of Banu Asad , led the rebellion against Medina, aided by the allied tribes of Banu Ghatafan , the Hawazin , and the Tayy . At Najd, Malik ibn Nuweira led
12600-508: The first King ( Ḥujr ) of Kindah. They established the Kingdom of Kinda in Najd in central Arabia unlike the organized states of Yemen ; its kings exercised an influence over a number of associated tribes more by personal prestige than by coercive settled authority. Their first capital was Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil, today known as Qaryat al-Fāw . The Ghassānids , Lakhmids and Kindites were all Kahlānī and Qaḥṭānī kingdoms which thrived in Najd. In
12740-510: The fourth most useful language for business, after English, Mandarin Chinese , and French. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet , an abjad script that is written from right to left . Arabic is usually classified as a Central Semitic language . Linguists still differ as to the best classification of Semitic language sub-groups. The Semitic languages changed between Proto-Semitic and
12880-556: The front-lines against the Persians and Byzantines . Najd soon became a politically peripheral region of the Muslim world as the focus shifted to the outside of the peninsula . Many of members of the conquering tribes of Najd soon shifted into the Levant, Persia and North Africa, playing a role in future conflicts in the caliphate, becoming governors and even birthing emirates such as the Aghlabids . Migrations continued throughout
13020-523: The guardian of trade routes, policed Lakhmid tribes and was a source of troops for the imperial army. The Ghassanid king al-Harith ibn Jabalah (reigned 529–569) supported the Byzantines against the Sasanians and was given in 529 by the emperor Justinian I , the highest imperial title that was ever bestowed upon a foreign ruler; also the status of patricians. In addition to that, al-Harith ibn Jabalah
13160-597: The inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts. In 1997, a bureau of Arabization standardization was added to the Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization of the Arab League . These academies and organizations have worked toward the Arabization of the sciences, creating terms in Arabic to describe new concepts, toward
13300-613: The language. Software and books with tapes are an important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education; most teach Modern Standard Arabic, but some teach regional varieties from numerous countries. The tradition of Arabic lexicography extended for about
13440-570: The large sea of sand dunes known today as Rub' al Khali (the Empty Quarter), while the southwestern boundaries are marked by the valleys of Wadi Ranyah, Wadi Bisha, and Wadi Tathlith. The northern boundaries of Najd have fluctuated greatly over time and received far less attention from the medieval geographers. In the early Islamic centuries, Najd was considered to extend as far north as the River Euphrates , or more specifically,
13580-604: The late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koine" distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd , probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra . During the first Islamic century, the majority of Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax. Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali ( c. 603 –689)
13720-420: The latter is taught in formal education settings. However, there have been studies reporting some degree of comprehension of stories told in the standard variety among preschool-aged children. The relation between Modern Standard Arabic and these dialects is sometimes compared to that of Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin vernaculars (which became Romance languages ) in medieval and early modern Europe. MSA
13860-525: The leaders of the tribes of Medina, met in a hall or house called saqifah , to discuss whom they would support as their new leader. When Abu Bakr was informed of the meeting, he, Umar , Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and a few others rushed to prevent the Ansar from making a premature decision. During the meeting Umar declared that Abu Bakr should be the new leader, and declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr, followed by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, and thus Abu Bakr became
14000-473: The links between Ghassan, the Ansar, and the wider Azd are historically tenuous, as these groups are almost always counted separately from each other in sources other than post-8th-century genealogical works and the story of the 'Scattering of Azd'. In the latter story, the Azd migrate northward from Yemen and different groups of the tribe split off in different directions, with the Ghassan being one such group. Per
14140-588: The major nomadic tribes of Najd included 'Utaybah , Mutayr , Dawasir , Shammar (historically known as Tayy) Subay' , Suhool , Harb , and the Qahtanites in southern Najd. Many members of the sedentary population belonged to tribes such as Anizzah , Banu Tamim , Banu Hanifa , Banu Khalid , Banu Zayd , Banu Lam , Dawasir , Subay' , Shammar , and Bahila . Most of the minority nomadic tribes are now settled either in cities such as Riyadh, or in special settlements, known as hijras, that were established in
14280-501: The majority class of sedentary farmers and merchants who lived in villages and towns dotted around central Arabia; others (a minority of inhabitants) were nomads ( bedouins ) who roamed between the towns and villages of Najd, much like Hejaz. The rest of the population consisted mainly of Arabs who were unaffiliated with any tribes; most of these lived in the towns and villages of Najd and worked in various trades such as carpentry, or as Sonnaa' ( craftsmen ). The population also included
14420-883: The many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many regional variants; geographically distant varieties usually differ enough to be mutually unintelligible , and some linguists consider them distinct languages. However, research indicates a high degree of mutual intelligibility between closely related Arabic variants for native speakers listening to words, sentences, and texts; and between more distantly related dialects in interactional situations. The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows , as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media such as poetry and printed advertising. Hassaniya Arabic , Maltese , and Cypriot Arabic are only varieties of modern Arabic to have acquired official recognition. Hassaniya
14560-439: The migration to the Levant is unclear, but they are believed to have first arrived in the region of Syria between 250 and 300, with later waves of migration circa 400. Their earliest appearance in records is dated to 473, when their chief, Amorkesos, signed a treaty with the Byzantine Empire acknowledging their status as foederati controlling parts of Palestine . He apparently became a Chalcedonian Christian at this time. By
14700-517: The militarily and administratively experienced Syrian Christians, including the Ghassanids, and members of the tribe served him and later Umayyad caliphs as governors, commanders of the shurta (select troops), scribes, and chamberlains. Several descendants of the tribe's Tha'laba and Imru al-Qays branches are listed in the sources as Umayyad court poets, jurists, and officials in the eastern provinces of Khurasan , Adharbayjan and Armenia . When Mu'awiya's grandson, Caliph Mu'awiya II , died without
14840-496: The mountains of Aja and Samra from Banu Tamim in northern Arabia in their exodus from Yemen circa CE 115. These mountains are now known as the Shammar Mountains . The Tayy Shammaris became pastoral nomadic camel herders and horse breeders in northern Najd for centuries with a sedentary faction ruling the tribal league from within their capital city of Ha’il. In the 5th century AD, the tribes of North Arabia became
14980-795: The need for a lexical injection in Arabic, to suit concepts of the industrial and post-industrial age (such as sayyārah سَيَّارَة 'automobile' or bākhirah باخِرة 'steamship'). In response, a number of Arabic academies modeled after the Académie française were established with the aim of developing standardized additions to the Arabic lexicon to suit these transformations, first in Damascus (1919), then in Cairo (1932), Baghdad (1948), Rabat (1960), Amman (1977), Khartum [ ar ] {{main other| (1993), and Tunis (1993). They review language development, monitor new words and approve
15120-573: The news of Khalid's decisive victories against apostates in Buzakha, many clans of Banu Tamim hastened to visit Khalid , but the Banu Yarbu' , a branch of Banu Tamim, under their chief, Malik ibn Nuwayrah , hung back. Malik was a chief of some distinction: a warrior, noted for his generosity, and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity, and poetry were the three qualities most admired among the Arabs. At
15260-511: The next five years, he administered the two parts of his dual kingdom as separate units. After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leadership turned to expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan , Iraq and Kuwait, and began raiding those territories. This met with Ibn Saud's opposition, as he recognized the danger of a direct conflict with the British. At
15400-658: The next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority. The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the Al Saud , began in Najd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud , founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab , founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam. This alliance formed in
15540-424: The one whose sound is heard but whose person remains unseen. Now the term al-hatif is used for a telephone. Therefore, the process of tawleed can express the needs of modern civilization in a manner that would appear to be originally Arabic. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any nationality can be assumed to speak both their school-taught Standard Arabic as well as their native dialects, which depending on
15680-604: The overhaul of Arabic grammar first proposed by Al-Jahiz 200 years prior. The Maghrebi lexicographer Ibn Manzur compiled Lisān al-ʿArab ( لسان العرب , "Tongue of Arabs"), a major reference dictionary of Arabic, in 1290. Charles Ferguson 's koine theory claims that the modern Arabic dialects collectively descend from a single military koine that sprang up during the Islamic conquests; this view has been challenged in recent times. Ahmad al-Jallad proposes that there were at least two considerably distinct types of Arabic on
15820-619: The peninsula. Subject to this suzerainty, Arabia was ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers, with the Sharif of Mecca having pre-eminence and ruling the Hejaz . In 1902, Abdul Rahman 's son, AbdulAziz—later to be known to the west as Ibn Saud —recaptured control of Riyadh, bringing the Al Saud back to Najd. Ibn Saud gained the support of the Ikhwan , a tribal army inspired by Wahhabism, and which had grown quickly after its foundation in 1912. With
15960-437: The plain of Aqraba to subdue the region around Yamamah and to kill or capture all who resisted. Thereafter all of central Arabia submitted to Medina. What remained of the apostasy in the less vital areas of Arabia was rooted out by the Muslims in a series of well-planned campaigns within five months. Muhammad's followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge swathes of territory from
16100-692: The power, wealth and status of the Arab tribes in Syria", including the Ghassan, according to the historian Hugh N. Kennedy . By the 9th century, the tribe had adopted a settled life, being recorded by the geographer al-Ya'qubi (d. 890) to be living in the Ghouta gardens region of Damascus and in Gharandal in Transjordan . Two Damascene Ghassanid families in particular achieved prominence in early Islamic Syria, those of Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani (d. 750s) and Abu Mushir al-Ghassani (d. 833). The former
16240-704: The prayer of fear, which Muhammad observed at the Dhat Ar-Riqa' campaign, were revealed at the Asfan invasion and, these scholars say, took place after Al-Khandaq . The Expedition of Qatan also took place in Nejd. The Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah tribe (not to be confused with the Banu Asad tribe) was a powerful tribe connected with the Quraysh. They resided near the hill of Katan , in the vicinity of Fayd , in Nejd . Muhammad received intelligence reports that they were planning
16380-479: The rebellion's suppression in 813. His great-grandsons Abd al-Rabb ibn Muhammad and Amr ibn Abd al-A'la also attained fame as Damascene scholars. Medieval Arabic authors used the term Jafnids for the Ghassanids, a term modern scholars prefer at least for the ruling stratum of Ghassanid society. Earlier kings are traditional, actual dates highly uncertain. The Ghassanids reached their peak under al-Harith V and al-Mundhir III. Both were militarily successful allies of
16520-468: The region historically contested by the House of Rashid to its north and the House of Saud to its east and south. The third administrative unit is northerly Ḥaʼil , which features the mountains of Jabal Shammar housing the Tayy capital of Ḥaʼil . The Najd region is home to Al-Magar , which was an advanced prehistoric culture of the Neolithic whose center lay in modern-day southwestern Najd. Al-Magar
16660-410: The region may be mutually unintelligible. Some of these dialects can be considered to constitute separate languages which may have "sub-dialects" of their own. When educated Arabs of different dialects engage in conversation (for example, a Moroccan speaking with a Lebanese), many speakers code-switch back and forth between the dialectal and standard varieties of the language, sometimes even within
16800-421: The rest has traditionally been sparsely occupied by nomadic Bedouins. The main topographical features include the twin mountains of Aja and Salma in the north near Ha'il, the high land of Jabal Shammar and the Tuwaiq mountain range running through its center from north to south. Also important are the various dry river-beds ( wadis ) such as Wadi Hanifa near Riyadh, Wadi Na'am in the south, Wadi Al-Rumah in
16940-589: The rise of the Caliphal courts under Islam", and their court culture, including their penchant for desert palaces like Qasr ibn Wardan , provided the model for the Umayyad caliphs and their court. After the fall of the first kingdom in the 7th century, several dynasties, both Christian and Muslim, ruled claiming to be a continuation of the House of Ghassan. Besides the claim of the Phocid or Nikephorian Dynasty of
17080-458: The same sentence. The issue of whether Arabic is one language or many languages is politically charged, in the same way it is for the varieties of Chinese , Hindi and Urdu , Serbian and Croatian , Scots and English, etc. In contrast to speakers of Hindi and Urdu who claim they cannot understand each other even when they can, speakers of the varieties of Arabic will claim they can all understand each other even when they cannot. While there
17220-412: The same time, the Ikhwan became disenchanted with Ibn Saud's domestic policies, which appeared to favor modernization and the increase in the number of non-Muslim foreigners in the country. As a result, they turned against Ibn Saud and, after a two-year struggle, were defeated in 1930 at the Battle of Sabilla , where their leaders were massacred. In 1932 the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as
17360-458: The sole example of Medieval linguist Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati – who, while a scholar of the Arabic language, was not ethnically Arab – Medieval scholars of the Arabic language made no efforts at studying comparative linguistics, considering all other languages inferior. In modern times, the educated upper classes in the Arab world have taken a nearly opposite view. Yasir Suleiman wrote in 2011 that "studying and knowing English or French in most of
17500-563: The standardization of these new terms throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and toward the development of Arabic as a world language . This gave rise to what Western scholars call Modern Standard Arabic. From the 1950s, Arabization became a postcolonial nationalist policy in countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan. Arabic usually refers to Standard Arabic, which Western linguists divide into Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. It could also refer to any of
17640-514: The state of Madinah . His riders were stopped by Khalid's army at the town of Buttah . Khalid asked them about the signing of pact with Sajjah ; they said it was just because they wanted revenge against their terrible enemies. When Khalid reached Najd he found no opposing army. He sent his cavalry to nearby villages and ordered them to call the Athaan to each party they meet. Zirrar bin Azwar ,
17780-441: The time of Muhammad, he had been appointed as a tax collector for the tribe of Banu Tamim. As soon as Malik heard of the death of Muhammad he gave back all the tax to his tribespeople, saying "Now you are the owner of your wealth." Moreover, he was to be charged because he signed a pact with the anti-Islamic prophet Sajjah . This agreement stated that first, they would deal with local enemy tribes together, and then they would confront
17920-501: The towns where the inscriptions were discovered (Dadanitic, Taymanitic, Hismaic, Safaitic). However, most arguments for a single ANA language or language family were based on the shape of the definite article, a prefixed h-. It has been argued that the h- is an archaism and not a shared innovation, and thus unsuitable for language classification, rendering the hypothesis of an ANA language family untenable. Safaitic and Hismaic, previously considered ANA, should be considered Old Arabic due to
18060-604: The transmissions from Muhammad's Damascus-based companion, Abu Darda . Among some traditions sourced to Yahya ibn Yahya by later Muslim scholars are those regarding the discovery of John the Baptist 's head in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and others which praise the mosque's splendor and the Umayyad dynasty in general. Yahya ibn Yahya's sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons continued their ancestor's interests in hadith scholarship and remained part of
18200-447: The tribe to submit without bloodshed. Bani Jadila submitted, and their 1000 warriors joined Khalid's army. Khalid, now much stronger than when he had left Zhu Qissa, marched for Buzakha . There, in mid-September 632, he defeated Tulayha in the Battle of Buzakha . The remaining army of Tulayha retreated to Ghamra , 20 miles from Buzakha, and was defeated in the Battle of Ghamra in the third week of September. Several tribes submitted to
18340-554: The tribes of Banu Asad and Banu Ghatafan , which stood solidly behind Tulayha, but the Tayy were not so staunch in their support of Tulayha, and their chief, Adi ibn Hatim , was a devout Muslim. Adi was appointed by Abu Bakr to negotiate with the tribal elders to withdraw their contingent from Tulayha's army. The negotiations were a success, and Adi brought with him 500 horsemen of his tribe to reinforce Khalid's army. Khalid next marched against another apostate tribe, Jadila . Here again, Adi ibn Hatim offered his services to persuade
18480-444: The tribes of Banu Tamim against the authority of Medina. On receiving intelligence of the Muslims' preparations, Tulayha too prepared for a battle, and was further reinforced by the contingents of the allied tribes. Before launching Khalid ibn Al-Walid against Tulayha, Abu Bakr sought ways and means of reducing the latter's strength, so that the battle could be fought with the maximum prospects of victory. Nothing could be done about
18620-451: The world have classes that teach Arabic as part of their foreign languages , Middle Eastern studies , and religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students to learn Arabic outside the academic world. There are many Arabic language schools in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study
18760-401: The year 510, the Ghassanids were no longer Miaphysites , but Chalcedonian. The "Assanite Saracen" chief Podosaces that fought alongside the Sasanians during Julian's Persian expedition in 363 might have been a Ghassanid. After originally settling in the Levant, the Ghassanids became a client state to the Byzantine Empire . The Romans found a powerful ally in the Ghassanids who acted as
18900-490: Was also to be charged for his entering in an anti-Caliphate alliance with the anti-Islamic prophetess Sajjah. Malik was arrested along with his clansmen. Malik was asked by Khalid about his crimes. Malik's response was "your master said this, your master said that", referring to Abu Bakr. Khalid declared Malik a rebel apostate and ordered his execution. Khalid bin Walid killed Malik ibn Nuwayra . Ikrimah ibn Abi-Jahl , one of
19040-455: Was defeated too. Khalid joined with the corps of Shurhabil early in December 632. The combined force of Muslims, now 13,000 strong, defeated Musaylima's army in the Battle of Yamamah , which was fought in the third week of December. The fortified city of Yamamah surrendered peacefully later that week. Khalid established his headquarters at Yamamah, from where he despatched columns to all over
19180-598: Was established in 1824 by Turki bn Abdullah . Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the Al Rashid . By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile in Kuwait . At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to control or have suzerainty over most of
19320-595: Was given the rule over all the Arab allies of the Byzantine Empire. Al-Harith was a Miaphysite Christian; he helped to revive the Syrian Miaphysite (Jacobite) Church and supported Miaphysite development despite Orthodox Byzantium regarding it as heretical . Later Byzantine mistrust and persecution of such religious unorthodoxy brought down his successors, Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith (reigned 569–582). The Ghassanids, who had successfully opposed
19460-491: Was stationed at Yamamah, was to reinforce Khalid's corps. In addition to this Abu Bakr assembled a fresh army of Ansar and Muhajireen in Medina that joined Khalid's corps at Butah . From Butah Khalid marched to Yamamah to join with Shurhabil's corps. Though Abu Bakr had instructed Shurhabil not to engage Musaylima's forces until the arrival of Khalid, shortly before the arrival of Khalid, Shurhabil engaged Musaylima's forces and
19600-495: Was the son of Caliph Marwan's head of the shurta , Yahya ibn Qays. Upon returning to Damascus after his stint as a governor of Mosul for the Umayyad caliph Umar II ( r. 717–720 ), Yahya ibn Yahya took up scholarship and became known as the sayyid ahl Dimashq (leader of the people of Damascus), transmitting purported hadiths (traditions and utterances) of Muhammad, which he derived from his uncle Sulayman, who received
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