ABSTRACT
Tribal lore on the conquests Contrary to a retrospective image of the young Islamic umma as a united body already operating as such during the early conquests, Muslim armies are organized in tribe-based formations. A tribe's performance - real or imagined - becomes an important matter. The divisions are to a large extent along tribal affiliation is further stated on different occasions. In the chapter and elsewhere in the book, author confine to a limited number of examples. To begin with, warriors must have reported, about their own experiences and prowess and their reports are then transmitted until warriors reached their final destination at the historian's desk. That a great deal of invention, if not total fabrication, is a part and parcel of creating one tribe's lore is a possibility that may not be excluded.
