Deserts, prayers and oil

The large Arabian peninsula, the homeland of Muhammad, the origin of Islam, is a country of inordinate geographical dimensions. It has an area of ​​2,250,000 km2. The 1,800 kilometers that separate its constituted by huge expanses of arid rocky and sandy land, without rivers or forests.

The territory is a succession of desolate and dry desert landscapes. In summer the temperature of the air can exceed 50 degrees and the soil gets so hot at noon that you could boil the water in the open air of the rocks exposed to the sun.

There are places in Arabia such as Rub'al Khali, with 600,000 km2, where pluviometers installed more than 50 years ago, have never registered a rain and the humidity of the air drops to less than 10%. But the Rub'al Khali is not the only sand desert, to the north is the Great Nafud, in the center of the peninsula, the Dahna, and to the east the dune fields of the Jafurah.

The rest of the country is also arid but its soils are stony or saline.

There is a mountainous area to the west that reaches more than 2,000 meters and is a little more humid (300 to 400 mm per year). It is a relief sloping gently to the east and abruptly steep to the west. From there come the great wadis that infiltrate or evaporate on the way to the east, and short and steep water courses to the west. Below the great escarpment is the tihama, a very hot and arid coastal plain. There are several important cities such as the port of Jeda and the religious city of Mecca. The region is called Hejaz.

In the wavy reliefs that descend to the east (Najd) the climate becomes more arid, desert areas interrupted by several oases. In one of them is the city of Riyadh, capital of the kingdom.

To the east, on the Gulf coast, are the largest hydrocarbon deposits in the world. There are also several important cities, Damman, Hofuf, the ports of Jubayl and Ras Tanura, among others.

Adaptation to aridity conditions

Human beings have a great capacity to adapt to the most inhospitable environments, even in conditions of extreme dryness and excessive heat.

From this point of view, the people who inhabit the Arabian desert or Bedouin are an admirable example. They have managed to use the groundwater, developed crops that tolerate dryness, salinity and extreme heat, and selected domestic animals perfectly adapted to the difficult conditions of the desert.

The Bedouins have managed to survive, and even lead a prosperous and pleasant life, in a place that at first sight seems hostile and unwelcoming. Its existence takes place between the houses of the oasis villages, under the shade of date palms, where they plant some crops using irrigation, and the transhumant grazing of camels and goats that allow them to obtain milk and meat for their food. Life in the desert is inspiring. The hot sun and the midday heat force you to carry out work tasks early in the morning, or in the evening. The starry nights are clear and clear, allowing to decipher the stellar configurations even in their smallest details.

When the moon rises the desert lights up and conditions for social and religious life are given. The new moon indicates the beginning of a new month and the fourth the next termination. For this reason the lunar phases are so important in the calendar of the Arab peoples, and the image of the crescent moon as a symbol of Islam has been imposed. The crescent moon appears on national flags and shields, and even the "Red Cross" itself has adapted to become "the Red Crescent Moon" in all Muslim nations.