The Semiotics of the Arab Hero

Even pre-Islamic Arabic poetry has been pressed into service in the war of ideas within the Arab and Islamic worlds. Specifically the ideas of what constitutes a hero feed into ideas of what kinds of Islamic rule are feasible and how heroes may go about bringing them about. The Coptic academic Amin Bonnah wrote his PhD thesis in this area in 1994.

The thesis concerns the forward-looking nature of the hero-seeking poetry, its complexity and its co-option in the poetry of Muhammad’s son-in-law, ‘Ali, but in the reverse direction. By 'Ali's time the 'ultimate' Arab hero had already been formally discovered (Muhammad). The question for the Arab world, then, was whether to adopt this Salafi backward-looking approach that asserts the perfect model is to be sought in the past or return to earlier, perhaps more imaginative models. Whether Usama Bin Laden may be a desired present or future hero or can be compared with Muhammad would therefore be for Bonnah a live issue in Arab semiotics.

Bonnah sees this area of the hero in Arabic poetry as unreasonably neglected or rejected by both Western and Arab/Islamic scholarship. He sees Arab heroes (although God-guided) as more humanistic semiotically than either Homeric heroes that are heroic by virtue of asking the Gods for assistance or Aristotelian-defined tragically flawed heroes.

Bonnah first considers the very philology of the Arab word for hero (as the tri-literal Semitic language system of Arabic is quite meaningful and can be useful for philology). The word’s three meaningful letters (ب, ط and ل – roughly b, t and l) are interestingly related in Arabic etymologically to deceit and demands. This possibly hints at an ancient ideal of the Arab hero: a strong (demanding) and tricky person (like a guerrilla fighter or Usama bin Laden).

Bonnah and others have considered whether the frankly religious epic poetry of the early Greeks such as the Iliad or Odyssey would have been useful in the more humanist Arabic context and decided no as religion was too secondary in at least the ancient Arabic context to the heroic ideal.

Bonnah uses a few examples from Arabic literature (in chronological order, I believe) to illustrate his thesis.

The first is ‘Antara Ibn Shadad who loved ‘Abla. The love was unjustly proscribed and hence the hero exhibited his heroism in the just fight for his right to love freely.

The next, ‘Amru, fought corruption and sought to know the will of some pre-Islamic god. From these two, then, we can see social, religious and political interests of heroes are all permissible and indeed commendable but fighting is their vital corollary.

The third hero considered is Zohayr, who had a preference for an abstemious form of living. This too gives a clue to the form of Spartan Puritanism favoured in the Arab hero (again, seemingly epitomised in Usama Bin Laden).

The final poet is Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, ‘Ali, as mentioned above. Naturally, Muhammad, himself, had all of the qualities of the preceding heroes and was in fact the model of a modern Arab hero, as it were, and his heroism was, for the first time (so Bonnah asserts), a fait accompli.

Bonnah suggests that the qualities of a hero cannot therefore now be legitimately revised or updated, in the Arab mind. This restriction may, in fact, be limited to at least the Arab Muslim mind and Bonnah’s sample may be quite limited in a number of ways (only one poet from the Islamic era is even considered, for example). One other potential for development, too, may be in the model of the Arab heroine (not discussed seriously by Bonnah). Nor did Bonnah consider any of the works of the female storytellers in his thesis.

Both Scientists and Artists of the Arabic Language

Again, I've mentioned in earlier posts how study of the Arabic language was important for the religious sciences (as historiography was) but I want to now consider how a religious scientific imperative led on to a kind of "secular" science and indeed in this case to the development of the art of the Arabic language.

The artistic use of Arabic for poetry did develop into a religious form but secular poetry and prose creative writing also continued. A number of works were produced in the form of fables and the classic popular serial story (complete with story arcs) was the so-called "Arabian Nights" (or, in Arabic, A Thousand Nights and a Night - alf layla wa layla). Political and other treatises were also written and I will especially consider them in posts on the political ideas and ideals of Islam.

I might as well now telegraph that I will shortly spend quite a few posts on Islamic political ideas of this period and then extending into the modern period partly because they are in a sense the one thread that in some sense has survived strongly in the Arab and Islamic world in the face of and in dialogue with modernity while other sciences (if we can consider politics a science) may have taken to mere imitation and adaptation of the Western science that, as I have suggested, came to be superior to Eastern science for reasons that aren't completely clear to me. I think part of the reason that science faltered (relatively) in the East was that traditional religious forces that saw it as a threat gained the upper hand in the society for political reasons (that I may be able to discuss in my political discussion) in a way that they ultimately didn't in the West (or at least haven't yet). I'd like to think that scientists of the East and West are now beginning to reach the stage of mutual and shared advancement, however. We shall see if the mainstream ideas of modernising Islam will be able to advance a mutual knowledge project or whether other forces (in either the East or West) will restrict it.

The sciences of the Arab language included grammar, philology, lexicography, prosody, rhetoric and literary criticism. The first reason for the blossoming of these sciences was, of course, the need, as far as Muslims were concerned, to fully understand the sources of Islam (including the Qur’an and the Hadith). Arabic also needed to become a different language quite suddenly as it quite suddenly became the language of both an Empire and learning and the changes required considerable scientific thought. The Arabs and others could also be said to have understandably taken a renewed interest in Arab culture (and therefore its language) once it appeared to have inspired so powerful a religious and political force.

With regard to Arabic grammar, its rules were established by 800 CE. The two formative grammarians were al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad (d. 791) and Sibawayh (d. 799). Three of the main early schools of grammar roughly in order of appearance were the Basra, Kufa and Baghdad Schools (all in southern or central Iraq). Grammar thus then was able to become the basis for the learning of both "secular" logic and "religious" jurisprudence. Ibn Malik (d. 1274) finally set the rules to verse in 1,000 verses and the attempt to do this type of thing was made by others also, verse presumably being the easiest thing to memorise in a time before printed books in either the Arab world or the West became common.

Early word lists were produced along with works about pre-Islamic life in Arabia which gave them a useful context. This led to further collations and finally phonological (e.g. a work by al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad, the first Arabic dictionary) and then alphabetical dictionaries from the 10^th Century (e.g. the works of Ibn Durayd (d. 933) and al-Zamakhshari (d. 1144)). Thesauruses and works on alleged common grammatical errors were also written in the early part of the Islamic Era.

The classic discoverer/founder/systematiser of Arabic poetic metre forms (so the founder of Arabic prosody) was also al-Khalil Ibn Ahmad, who found there were 16 metre types.

The poetry of Muslim Arabs was influenced by the traditional pre-Islamic poetry, which I discussed in a very early post. Oratory was also practiced especially on political and ethical themes in the new Islamic culture.

There is a development of the style of literature between the Umayyad (661 to 750) and 'Abbasid (post 750) periods. Poetry especially continued to reflect tribal allegiances and political and religious differences in the Umayyad period. Examples include the writings of the Khawarij and works by al-Akhtal (d. 710), al Farazdaq (d. 730) and Jarir (d. 730). Love poetry continued to be written then and the influence of Medina and the so-called “Hijazi School” on poetry was still strong. ‘Umar Ibn Abi Rabi’a (d. 711) of the Hijazi School and Jamil Buthayna (d. 701) of the ‘Udhri School contributed to this form of poetry. Southern Iraq and Arabia more generally also contributed Rajaz and other forms of poetry in this period.

Three ‘schools’ of poetry are distinct in the ‘Abbasid period, namely the modernist, the neo-classical and the school of philosophical poetry. The modernists included Bashshar (d. 783), Abu Nuwas (d. c. 810), Abu al-‘Atahiya (d. 825), ‘Abbas Ibn al-Ahnaf (750 – 809), Abu Tammam (d. 845) and Ibn al-Rumi (9^th Century). Al-Mutanabbi (d. 965) was a stand-out among the neo-Classical poets and al-Ma’arri (d. 1057) stands out in the writing of philosophical poetry. While this was occurring, developments were also occurring in the Muwashshah poetry of Muslim Spain under the continuation of the Umayyad dynasty there.

Works of prose of special note include Kalila wa Dimna by Ibn al-Muqaffa’ (d. 757), Kitab al-Bukhala’ and Kitab al-Hayawan by al-Jahiz (d. 869), Kitab al-Aghani by al-Isfahani (d. 967) and al-Maqamat by al-Hamadhani (d. 1009). The mystical literature included notable works by Rabi’a (717 – 801), al-Hallaj (d. 922), Ibn al-Farid (d. 1235) and Ibn al-‘Arabi (d. 1240). Finally, the 1001 Nights provides a good example of Arabic popular literature with a moral message that borrowed from and adapted stories first told in other local cultures (such as Persian and Indian cultures). Many of these kinds of work contributed to the development of the political ideas that I'll be getting into shortly.

Arabia and its Neighbourhood in Muhammad's time

This is mainly a post on the significance of politics, social forms, culture and religion in the region in the time of Muhammad for our story.

As Muhammad was being born, the fates of two Empires to the north of Arabia were being decided by wars between them. They were the Persian Empire and Byzantium or the Eastern Roman Empire. The weakening of these empires by their wars was significant for the later military success of Islam.

Arabia was largely beyond the direct ambitions of either of the powers to the north. Nevertheless, they and their African allies attempted to exercise influence on Arabia as a trading and ideological/geopolitical asset. The Nabataeans of Petra who had originated in Yemen attempted for some time to exercise their influence to their south in the northern Hijaz town of Dedan and in other direction but the Romans had defeated that civilisation much earlier in the Common Era leaving Palmyra to the north of Petra independent for a short period. The Arab kingdom centred on Edessa was proud to have produced the first king to convert to Christianity (in the 1^st century). The Arab civilisation centred on Hatra allied itself more with Persia. Hira’s Arab rulers also preferred to deal with Persia as they amassed support in the interior of Arabia. The Kindah rulers of Yemen and the Ghassanid rulers of southern Syria swayed as necessary to maintain some independence.

While both Empires preferred monotheism (the Persians Zoroastrianism from the 3^rd Century CE and Byzantium Christianity from the 4^th Century CE) and the Arab rulers aimed to please their patrons for the time being, many of the people of the Arabian kingdoms continued to practice polytheism along with the monotheistic religions of the Empires and Judaism. Deities included the sun, the moon and stars and agriculture and weather Gods and Goddesses.

Al-Lat (mentioned by Herodotus) was one of the three Goddesses worshipped widely including at Mecca, at-Taif, Hatra, Petra and Palmyra.

Marriage customs varied between regions and polygyny (along with isolated cases of polyandry) were a reasonably common feature of social life on the Peninsula. Women were generally regarded as inferior and the property of their male ‘guardian’, as were children.

The major pre-Islamic art form unique to the Arabs was predominantly a Bedouin desert art: Arabic pre-Islamic poetry. It was generally meant to be sung and accompanied by instruments. There was little writing or literacy at the time these lyrical poems were composed and so poetry was handed down orally between the generations and perhaps refined and/or embellished from generation to generation until modern times. Genealogies were passed down in a similar way and were also prized by the Bedouins. Some of the poets were women whose speciality was often elegy (praise of a dead person).

The Ka’ba in Mecca, which is now the geographical focus of all Islamic prayer, contained hangings of at least seven noted long pre-Islamic poems (called the “mu’allaqāt” or “hangings”) written in gold leaf on calf-skin parchment before the time of Muhammad. Towns like Mecca held poetry contests probably open to all the Arab tribes of which the mu’allaqāt were likely the winners and Mecca’s was a major contest on the Peninsula. Arab high school children continue to learn a few of these poems in modern times.

The poetry had many uses but it was predominantly art, expressing the feelings of the poet and each poem tended to concern several themes rather than being focused on one (themes such as love, ego, eulogy, reconciliation, social criticism, political comedy, the meaning and arbitrariness of human life and death, loss, longing, hunting, justice, the past, wine and journeys through the harsh region). These works of poetry (and the poets) were dynamic and identified with the plight of the poor and the poets often lived their ideals by acting to right poverty or reconcile tribes at war. The Arabic word for poet (sha’ir) means literally “one who has deep feelings”. Muhammad was significantly thought by some of his earliest opponents to be a mere poet rather than a prophet.

Such was the world of 7th Century central Arabia. Open to many religions, trade, discussion of questions of justice and art but dominated by global geopolitical interests and not much more than a lawless land with some settlements (often with religious significance and therefore used as a place of sanctuary from their lawless surroundings) but dominated by itinerant tribes (I may discuss this further in a later post). The generally accepted rules of religious sanctuaries thus exerted a peaceful influence and therefore became useful places for these tribes to safely negotiate, stage caravans and trade.