دراسات في تاريخ عمان

portant of which are Awal، Hawarin، Shafar and Tarut.

At the advent of Islam، Awal was one of the most inhabited islands in Bahrain، because its water was abundant and sweet، depending as it did on subterranean water. There was a number of towns، the largest of which was Awal، in which there was a mosque. This island was famous for agri- culture، palm trees and fishing. As for the island of Hawarin، it was at a three-days' walking distance from the coast. It was conquered by Ziyad b. Amr b. al-Mundhir، and that is why he was connected with it. In the is- land there was a town of the same name." The island of Tarut was located east of al-Qatif، and between them there was shallow water; it seems too that there was a small town with the same name of Tarut. Our sources re- 5 fer to a large number of springs and wells، but as time passed they ceased to be useable due to negligence and to the many disturbances which the province of Bahrain witnessed.

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Bahrain was، at the advent of Islam، well inhabited، on account of the availability of water، the fertile soil and the closeness of the sea. This ac- counts، for the many towns and villages which are mentioned in historical accounts، the most important of which being:

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(1) Juwatha. This was the first important base of the Muslims in Bahrain; it had a minbar، and the first Friday prayer was performed in the mosque of Abd al-Qays. There was also a fortress called Hisn Juwatha. It was in Juwatha that the people of the Ridda-the so-called apostates---surrounded the Muslims in 11 A.H.، but al-Ala' b. al-H adrami، several months later، was able to defeat al-Hatim b. Dubay a al-Rabi، the apostates' leader، who together with his followers retreated، leaving their arms and belongings behind them. Perhaps the most important reason for the large population

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