The Sharqiyin of South-East Arabia : a study on the Hajari community of Wadi Ham

• Main Author: Yateem, A. A.
• Published: University of Edinburgh 1991
• Subjects: 306
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.664114

This thesis is based on twelve months (July 1987-June 1988) fieldwork carried out among the Sharqiyin tribes of South-East Arabia. It is a community study of Wadi Ham (U.A.E.), a community which constitutes part of a whole region known as al-Hajar. The Hajar is a countainous region which embraces several tribes that practise agriculture and pastoralism. The thesis is an ethnographic study of the Sharqiyin tribes of Wadi Ham with specific reference to their social organization and religious belief in general and authority and social control in particular. In practice this thesis sets itself up to examine the relationship between the secular and religious authority, and its role in the process of social control. It is also intended to illuminate the nature of the relationship that exists between the local authority of the tribal periphery and the central authority in the urban centres. Following a discussion on the nature of the problem, together with the relevant ethnography and history of the region, the ecological environment, the pattern of tribal settlements, and the administrative system are discussed. A description and analysis of the economic organization has been provided by focusing on the agricultural regime and the land tenure system. The thesis then turns to examine the principles which underlie both the tribal and social stratification systems. Additional discussion has been provided on the domestic group. Finally, direct emphasis has been placed on Hajari leadership; on the role of its secular and religious authority, of the centre and the periphery, in maintaining social control at the community level. The results of this thesis show, firstly, that in spite of the absence of saintly and holy lineages, religious authority continues to exist and plays its role in Islamic tribal society. Secondly, that, although marginal tribal societies are seen usually as in contradiction with the urban centre or central authority, this is not always the case. For the experience of the Wadi Ham reveals, firstly, that the relationship between the tribal periphery and the centre is a complementary one. Secondly, that there exists a wide field of mutual interests and co-operation between the religious and secular authorities in maintaining order and control in peripheral tribal communities.