Bedouinism, known as a 'nomadic life in a desert environment' in terms of its characteristic lifestyle, is condemned in the Holy Quran as a general qualification and expressed with concepts such as ignorance, thoughtlessness, and rudeness. Sometimes, it appears as the purity of human nature and an extremely noble stance. In this respect, Bedouins are representatives of values such as courage, generosity, and resilience. Furthermore, after being honored with Islam, the Bedouin Arabs played major roles in the armies that conquered new lands.
In this study titled "Bedouins and Their Socio-Cultural Life in the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah)," the lives of the Jahiliyyah-era Bedouin Arabs, who lived as nomads on the Arabian Peninsula in the pre-Islamic period, are examined from a social and cultural perspective. In addition, to become familiar with the cultural tradition of Bedouinism in the Jahiliyyah era, phenomena such as sedentary life, the desert, nomadism, Semitic tribes, the Arabic language, slavery, concubinage, the concepts of women and family, the burying of baby girls alive, blood feud traditions, tribalism, and moral values are explained. This work, which provides a comprehensive perspective to grasp the life adventures of the Jahiliyyah Arabs—the first addressees of the Islamization process that occurred with the arrival of the final revelation—includes mind-opening descriptions supported by examples presented from Jahiliyyah poetry.
In short; this work in your hands, prepared as a doctoral thesis at Istanbul University Faculty of Theology, Department of Islamic History between 2018-2023, provides a valuable contribution to understanding the lives of the Jahiliyyah Arabs, who constituted the majority of the pre-prophetic era and formed an important period in Islamic history, from a social and cultural perspective.