Traditional social structure

Because of its isolated position, inland from the coast and divorced from the major modern trade routes, Hadramawt was extraordinarily protected from outside influences; the society of the wadi remained virtually unchanged from the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods until the second quarter of this century. Scholars (such as R. B. Serjeant of Cambridge) have repeatedly stated their view that, until the revolution and the creation of the modern state, it bore 'an extraordinarily close resemblance to the society into which the Prophet Muhammad was born'. Although the rate of change is now rapid, there still remain interesting traces of the traditional social structure and way of life, which illuminate the forms of the architecture and the towns.

Like the rest of Arabia,

Shibam. The full height of a typical house in a narrow street.

Wadi Hadramawt had a widespread tribal structure. Few of the tribes were nomadic; most were settled people, living in villages. Tribesmen living in an urban situation could do so for generations without losing their tribal status, provided they did not engage in demeaning work. The tribes were a sort of arms-bearing aristocracy; but they were not all equal, for there were degrees of social distinction between the tribes. Each tribesman believed that he had inherited the right to sharaf or honour, the independent dignity of a man who carried weapons to defend himself and his dependants. His faith in the possession of this quality produced some of the characteristic features of the Hadrami: his fearless individuality and his ceaseless wrangling and disputes over 'rights', leading in many periods of history to a state of almost ceaseless warfare throughout the wadi, 'brother against brother, brothers against cousin, brothers and cousins against alien tribesmen' (in the words of an old Arab proverb).

The tribesman's honour was in some ways a liability, placing him at a disadvantage in relation to those who did not have to uphold the same rigid convention of traditional sharaf He was 'disgraced' and his honour was 'broken' if, for example, he allowed anyone under his protection to be molested or if he killed a woman, or any person of inferior status to his own. The 'disgrace' could only be obliterated and the broken honour made whole again by the spilling of blood, or by payment of damages in money or kind. It was to obtain this redress, so important to the Hadrami, that the tribesmen so often engaged in fighting.

Until debts were felt to be settled, truces were of short duration, usually only one month. The sheikh or sultan of a tribe was elected from one or two of the families in which the office was hereditary.

The artisans and non-tribal cultivators of the wadi were always inferior to the tribesmen, and subject to them. Yet the growth of towns and cities was a natural outcome of the economic needs of the tribal peoples, and the townspeople were therefore protected by the tribesmen from robbery and violence. Such protection was often achieved by agreement between all the tribes in the region. In more difficult circumstances, protection might be provided by placing the town near a sacred enclave, a bawtah, or even by creating a bawtah within an existing town, thus giving it the protection of the sanctity of religion. Of course, if the tribal sheikh or sultan was strong enough, his word would guarantee the security of a market. It can be seen that towns and tribes were thus inextricably interdependent.

Some of the tribesmen still live today in the primitive way, Bedouin who engage in camel or truck transport across the desert, and dwell a good deal of the time in black camel-hair tents or other simple shelters. Other Bedouin are mountain tribesmen who live on the arid plateaux on either side of the wad 1. They are rugged and tough, like the landscape. If we move down into the remote tributary valleys, we find tribesmen with better houses of mud-brick or stone, often several stories high, and these people are generally in better circumstances. They have terraced fields and their crops of vegetables and millet are more profitable. They still live simply, their food coming mainly from their own produce (millet cakes flavored with dried herbs, and marrows, dates and honey) and from supplies (principally bunn, the traditional coffee made from the husks imported from Yemen) they purchase on their rare excursions to the towns.

In the main wadi the tribesmen were always more sophisticated, and generally better off. Some of them were landowners who lived in the large towns and cities, others lived in villages scattered throughout the length of the valley.

There is evidence that before the Saiyids arrived in Hadramawt, another group of people, the Mashayikh, acted as the principal leaders of the Islamic religious community, probably by right of descent from their position before Islam, when they may have formed part of the hierarchy from which the priests of the old religion were drawn. After the tenth (fourth) or eleventh (fifth) century the Saiyids took precedence over them, but the Mashayikh retained most of the same privileges. They have remained a very respected class, better educated than tribesmen, generally not bearing arms, and acting as arbiters in disputes.

In the principal towns of Hadramawt a religious, literary and legal society of very ancient type survives, headed by the Saiyids. Most of the latter gave up the bearing of arms centuries ago and began relying on their spiritual prestige to maintain their position in society. They formed a capitalistic class, providing loans to the tribesmen and agriculturalists, and thus they underwrote the sharecropping agriculture of the country. The wealthier among them were sometimes very public-spirited and paid from their personal fortunes for the building and improvement of roads, hospitals and schools. Other Saiyids were modest craftsmen, for example, blacksmiths or carpenters, neither of which was regarded as a demeaning profession.

The Alawi Saiyid had to follow the path of his pious ancestors, 'acting with humility, piety and lofty motives, taking the Prophet as his model'. He had ideally to retreat from the world, courting obscurity and shirking any manifestation of wealth or importance. At the same time he was expected to be scrupulous in his religious observances, and travelers remarked that they had 'seldom seen the salat performed with such devotion as among the sada in Hadramawt' (Van der Meulen and von Wissman, 1932).

The section of the population that did not bear arms was, with the exception of the noble classes (i.e. the Saiyids and the Mashayikh), termed da'if meaning the weak ones, in the sense that they were not armed fighting men. The 4a'if were regarded as protected by both the tribesmen and the noble classes; although they included merchants, artisans, craftsmen and petty traders, the majority were unskilled manual workers. Besides small shopkeepers, the merchants included an important class, the dallàls or brokers working on a commission basis, who acted as intermediaries with the tribesmen who had come in from the countryside to buy and sell. A whole section of the community was known as the 'workers in clay'; this included builders, potters and agricultural cultivators. They were regarded as inferior to the other artisans, such as weavers. Of the lowest rank was body service of any kind and unclean work, particularly the handling of human or animal soil.

Traditionally, all Arabs were agreed in the matter of kafa'ah, or eligibility in marriage. In other words, it was unthinkable for a woman to marry someone of a social standing lower than the one into which she had been born. In the case of the Saiyids it meant that marriage was possible only with other Saiyids or Sharif. One of the ways in which the tribal and clan structure was kept strong was through the principle that a young man should marry his 'uncle's daughter'-incidentally ensuring that property was retained within the family.

Divorce was almost unknown. The repudiation of a wife without very good cause was held in high contempt; if a man did so reject his wife he would be unable to obtain another wife of the same social standing. Polygamy was likewise very unusual; if a man took a second wife, the first would leave his house immediately and return to her parents.

In Hadramawt all the large towns have a quarter structure; in other words, the towns grew up as a number of distinct quarters, each of which developed as a separate organic entity, with its own elaborate system of customary laws for regulating itself and for protecting its interests. In the city of Tarim, for example, the quarters were managed by headmen who were selected, or elected by common consent, from among the leading citizens of the merchant or artisan classes (only rarely from labourers or agriculturalists). They not only acted to enforce customary law but were also in charge of organizing communal services such as firefighting and helping the poor to arrange weddings and funerals. Other leaders were elected to act as spokesmen and arbiters for each of the principal crafts or trades in the city. They were able to enforce certain rules agreed upon among the workers. (For example, a house owner could not dismiss a carpenter from his own quarter and employ one from another quarter; and only a carpenter was allowed to hang doors.) The scale of charges was also agreed upon and enforced by the headman of the craft.

The quarters were notorious for border disputes and other quarrels among themselves. These were usually settled by calling in a third party to arbitrate, generally a respected Saiyid. In many ways the members of each quarter behaved as though they belonged to a tribe, except that the men carried no arms, but a small knife and sometimes a stick.

Each quarter had its own special patron saint, and all the quarters had their own cries, often featuring the name of the saint. They turned out en masse to compete with each other in chanting, song and dance and the composition of extemporary verse on every festive occasion, such as the celebration of the New Year, the end of Ramadan, or the welcoming of returning pilgrims.

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