Transformation of the
Arabian Peninsula (part 1)
By Asim Ahmad
The Arabian Peninsula has been the most uninhabitable of
lands throughout the ages, passed over by all invaders and
adventurers alike who crossed its northern boundaries into
the more luxuriant regions of East and Central Asia. There
are no known cases of invasions or incursions of any kind
into the arid climate of Arabia. Deserted by non-Arabs except
for the single pre-Islamic story of Abraha (and even
that was to raze the Ka‘ba rather than to conquer the Peninsula).
Furthermore, numerous battles had been won and lost
between the military superpowers of the Byzantine and Persian
empires between 610—625 just north of the Peninsula.
The Persians defeated the Byzantine
on numerous fronts until they
reached the holy capital
of Jeru-
salem in 614. Then, the Byzantine pushed back and retook
their territories under the commanding forces of Heraclius.
Thousands of lives were lost in the taking and retaking of
these lands and in the remaking of new borders.
The territories that were lost and gained during these bloody
battles amounted to a fraction of the size of the Peninsula,
but it never occurred to either empire that they could conquer
the Peninsula with less casualties, minimal cost, and in
less time. This was in spite of the fact that the Peninsula was
open to conquest. It had no standing army, no central government,
no fortifications, no economic or colonial power,
and its only inhabitants, the Arabs, were too fragmented by
intertribal wars to stand a chance against any type of mobilized
enemy. If you recall, Abdul Muttalib and the Quraysh
withdrew to the mountains when Abraha stationed his army
six miles east of Makka and said, “We will not fight him
and will free
6 July – August 2021 | AL-MADINAH