دراسات في تاريخ عمان

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tween al-Bahrayn and the Hijaz had already existed before Islam. The apostasy wars were، in fact، not as Caetani tries to describe them since the Muslim forces under the command of Al-Ala' b. Hadrami crushed the ap- ostates before they gained any significant ground in al-Bahrayn.

As for the Prophet's letters to al-Bahrayn، our early sources، whether chronicles 16 or local historians، agree neither on the number of letters nor on the names of those who received them. There are about eight letters، some of them to individuals، others to Arab tribes or Magians of Hajar and others to the 'people of al-Bahrayn' or 'people of Hajar' in general. Histori- cal accounts also differ on the date these letters were sent، especially as there is no date on the letters themselves. It seems، however، that most of them were sent after the conquest of Mecca in 8 A.H./630 A.D.، since by that time the new Islamic state was stronger and better established in the Hijaz. By examining these letters it can be seen that they can be divided into two groups: the first group were only instructions and information on Islam given to the delegations which visited Medina، whilst the second group contains a call upon the people of al-Bahrayn to join Islam and a promise of help.

On the other hand، these letters reflect the fact that Islam faced some resis- tance from tribal factions in al-Bahrayn. Another important phenomenon which is reflected by these letters is that the people of al-Bahrayn were di- vided into many sections before the advent of Islam. These tribal and re- gional groups، which valued their freedom، did not pay much attention to any central authority، and this accounts for the large number of letters sent by the Prophet to each section of the population.

It is worth citing an example of one of these letters from the Prophet to al- Bahrayn:

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