Aspects of Pre-Islamic Arabian Society
the economic situation ran in line with the social atmosphere. the arabian ways of living would illustrate this phenomenon quite clearly. trade was the most common means of providing their needs of life. the trade journeys could not be fulfilled unless security of caravan routes and inter-tribal peaceful co-existence were provided – two imperative exigencies unfortunately lacking in arabia except during the prohibited months within which the arabs held their assemblies of ‘ukaz, dhil-majaz, mijannah and others.
industry was alien to the arabian psychology. most of available industries of knitting and tannage in arabia were done by people coming from yemen, heerah and the borders of syria. inside arabia there was some sort of farming and stock-breeding. almost all the arabian women worked in yarn spinning but even this practice was continually threatened by wars. on the whole, poverty, hunger and insufficient clothing were the prevailing features in arabia, economically.
linguistically, the word "arab" means deserts and waste barren land well-nigh waterless and treeless. ever since the dawn of history, the arabian peninsula and its people have been called as such.
the arabian peninsula is enclosed in the west by the red sea and sinai, in the east by the arabian gulf, in the south by the arabian sea, which is an extension of the indian ocean, and in the north by old syria and part of iraq. the area is estimated between a million and a million and a quarter square miles.
thanks to its geographical position, the peninsula has always maintained great importance.. considering its internal setting, it is mostly deserts and sandy places, which has rendered it inaccessible to foreigners and invaders, and allowed its people complete liberty and independence through the ages, despite the presence of two neighbouring great empires.
its external setting, on the other hand, caused it to be the centre of the old world and provided it with sea and land links with most nations at the time. thanks to this strategic position the arabian peninsula had become the centre for trade, culture, religion and art.
arab kinfolks have been divided according to lineage into three groups:
perishing arabs: the ancient arabs, of whose history little is known, and of whom were ‘ad, thamûd, tasam, jadis, emlaq, and others.
pure arabs: who originated from the progeny of ya‘rub bin yashjub bin qahtan. they were also called qahtanian arabs.
arabized arabs: who originated from the progeny of ishmael. they were also called ‘adnanian arabs.
the pure arabs – the people of qahtan – originally lived in yemen and comprised many tribes, two of which were very famous:
himyar: the most famous of whose septs were zaid al-jamhur, quda‘a and sakasic.
kahlan: the most famous of whose septs were hamdan, anmar, tai’, mudhhij, kinda, lakhm, judham, azd, aws, khazraj and the descendants of jafna — the kings of old syria.
kahlan septs emigrated from yemen to dwell in the different parts of the arabian peninsula prior to the great flood (sail al-‘arim of ma’rib dam), due to the failure of trade under the roman pressure and domain on both sea and land trade routes following roman occupation of egypt and syria.
naturally enough, the competition between kahlan and himyar led to the evacuation of the first and the settlement of the second in yemen.
the emigrating septs of kahlan can be divided into four groups:
azd: who, under the leadership of ‘imran bin ‘amr muzaiqbâ’, wandered in yemen, sent pioneers and finally headed northwards. details of their emigration can be summed up as follows:
tha‘labah bin ‘amr left his tribe al-azd for hijaz and dwelt between tha‘labiyah and dhi qar. when he gained strength, he headed for madinah where he stayed. of his seed are aws and khazraj, sons of haritha bin tha‘labah.
haritha bin ‘amr, known as khuza‘a, wandered with his folks in hijaz until they came to mar az-zahran. later, they conquered the haram, and settled in makkah after having driven away its people, the tribe of jurhum.
‘imran bin ‘amr and his folks went to ‘oman where they established the tribe of azd whose children inhabited tihama and were known as azd-of-shanu’a.
jafna bin ‘amr and his family, headed for syria where he settled and initiated the kingdom of ghassan who was so named after a spring of water, in hijaz, where they stopped on their way to syria.
lakhm and judham: of whom was nasr bin rabi‘a, father of manadhira, kings of heerah.
banu tai’: who also emigrated northwards to settle by the so- called aja and salma mountains which were consequently named as tai’ mountains.
kinda: who dwelt in bahrain but were expelled to hadramout and najd where they instituted a powerful government but not for long , for the whole tribe soon faded away.
another tribe of himyar, known as quda‘a, also left yemen and dwelt in samawa semi-desert on the borders of iraq.
the arabized arabs go back in ancestry to their great grandfather abraham [aws] from a town called "ar" near kufa on the west bank of the euphrates in iraq. excavations brought to light great details of the town, abraham’s family, and the prevalent religions and social circumstances. [tafheem-ul-qur'an, 1/553]
it is known that abraham [aws] left ar for harran and then for palestine, which he made headquarters for his message. he wandered all over the area. when he went to egypt, the pharaoh tried to do evil to his wife sarah, but allâh saved her and the pharaoh’s wicked scheme recoiled on him. he thus came to realize her strong attachment to allâh, and, in acknowledgment of her grace, the pharaoh rendered his daughter hagar at sarah’s service, but sarah gave hagar to abraham as a wife. [bukhari 1/474]
abraham returned to palestine where hagar gave birth to ishmael. sarah became so jealous of hagar that she forced abraham to send hagar and her baby away to a plantless valley on a small hill in hijaz, by the sacred house, exposed to the wearing of floods coming right and left. he chose for them a place under a lofty tree above zamzam near the upper side of the mosque in makkah where neither people nor water was available, and went back to palestine leaving with his wife and baby a leather case with some dates and a pot of water. not before long, they ran out of both food and water, but thanks to allâh’s favour water gushed forth to sustain them for sometime. the whole story of zamzam spring is already known to everybody. [bukhari 1/475]
another yemeni tribe – jurhum the second – came and lived in makkah upon hagar’s permission, after being said to have lived in the valleys around makkah. it is mentioned in the sahih al-bukhari that this tribe came to makkah before ishmael was a young man while they had passed through that valley long before this event.
abraham used to go to makkah every now and then to see his wife and son. the number of these journeys is still unknown, but authentic historical resources spoke of four ones.
allâh, the sublime, stated in the noble qur’ân that he had abraham see, in his dream, that he slaughtered his son ishmael, and therefore abraham stood up to fulfill his order:
"then, when they had both submitted themselves (to the will of allâh), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (or on the side of his forehead for slaughtering); and we called out to him: "o abraham! you have fulfilled the dream (vision)!" verily! thus do we reward the muhsinûn (good-doers, who perform good deeds totally for allâh’s sake only, without any show off or to gain praise or fame, etc. and do them in accordance to allâh’s orders). verily, that indeed was a manifest trial — and we ransomed him with a great sacrifice (i.e. a ram)" [37:103-107]
it is mentioned in the genesis that ishmael was thirteen years older than his brother ishaq. the sequence of the story of the sacrifice of ishmael shows that it really happened before ishaq’s birth, and that allâh’s promise to give abraham another son, ishaq, came after narration of the whole story.
this story spoke of one journey – at least – before ishmael became a young man. al-bukhari, on the authority of ibn ‘abbas, reported the other three journeys; a summary of which goes as follows:
when ishmael became a young man, he learned arabic at the hand of the tribe of jurhum, who loved him with great admiration and gave him one of their women as a wife, soon after his mother died. having wanted to see his wife and son again, abraham came to makkah, after ishmael’s marriage, but he didn’t find him at home. he asked ishmael’s wife about her husband and how they were doing. she complained of poverty, so he asked her to tell ishmael to change his doorstep. ishmael understood the message, divorced his wife and got married to the daughter of mudad bin ‘amr, chief of the tribe of jurhum. [qalb jazeerat al-arab, p 230]
once more, abraham came to see his son, but again didn’t find him at home. he asked his new wife the same previous question, to which she thanked allâh. abraham asked her to tell ishmael to keep his doorstep (i.e. to keep her as wife) and went back to palestine.
a third time, abraham came to makkah to find ishmael sharpening an arrow under a lofty tree near zamzam. the meeting, after a very long journey of separation, was very touching for a father so affectionate and a so dutiful and righteous son. this time, father and son built al-ka‘bah and raised its pillars, and abraham, in compliance with allâh’s commandment, called unto people to make pilgrimage to it.
by the grace of allâh, ishmael had twelve sons from the daughter of mudad, whose names were nabet, qidar, edbael, mebsham, mishma’, duma, micha, hudud, yetma, yetour, nafis and qidman, and who ultimately formed twelve tribes inhabiting makkah and trading between yemen, geographical syria and egypt. later on, these tribes spread all over, and even outside, the peninsula. all their tidings went into oblivion except for the descendants of nabet and qidar.
the nabeteans – sons of nabet – established a flourishing civilization in the north of hijaz, they instituted a powerful government which spread out its domain over all neighbouring tribes, and made petra their capital. nobody dared challenge their authority until the romans came and managed to eliminate their kingdom. after extensive research and painstaking investigation, mr. sulaiman an-nadwi came to the conclusion that the ghassanide kings, along with the aws and khazraj were not likely to be qahtanians but rather nabeteans. [tareekh ard al-qur'an 2/78-86]
descendants of qidar, the son of ishmael, lived long in makkah increasing in number, of them issued ‘adnan and son ma‘ad, to whom ‘adnanian arabs traced back their ancestry. ‘adnan is the twenty-first grandfather in the series of the prophetic ancestry. it was said that whenever prophet muhammad [pbuh] spoke of his ancestry he would stop at ‘adnan and say: "genealogists tell lies" and did not go farther than him. a group of scholars, however, favoured the probability of going beyond ‘adnan attaching no significance to the aforementioned prophetic hadith. they went on to say that there were exactly forty fathers between ‘adnan and abraham [aws]. [rahmat-ul-lil'alameen 2/7-17]
nizar, ma‘ad’s only son , had four sons who branched out into four great tribes; eyad, anmar, rabi‘a and mudar. these last two sub-branched into several septs. rabi‘a fathered asad, ‘anazah, ‘abdul qais, and wa’il’s two sons (bakr and taghlib), hanifa and many others.
mudar tribes branched out into two great divisions: qais ‘ailan bin mudar and septs of elias bin mudar. of qais ‘ailan were the banu saleem, banu hawazin, and banu ghatafan of whom descended ‘abs, zubyan, ashja‘ and ghani bin a‘sur. of elias bin mudar were tamim bin murra, hudhail bin mudrika, banu asad bin khuzaimah and septs of kinana bin khuzaimah, of whom came quraish, the descendants of fahr bin malik bin an-nadr bin kinana.
quraish branched out into various tribes, the most famous of whom were jumah, sahm, ‘adi, makhzum, tayim, zahra and the three septs of qusai bin kilab: ‘abdud-dar bin qusai, asad bin ‘abdul ‘uzza bin qusai and ‘abd manaf bin qusai.
‘abd manaf branched out into four tribes: ‘abd shams, nawfal, muttalib and hashim. it is, however, from the family of hashim that allâh selected prophet muhammad bin ‘abdullah bin ‘abdul-muttalib bin hashim [pbuh].
prophet muhammad [pbuh] said:
"allâh selected ishmael from the sons of abraham, kinana from the sons of ishmael, quraish from the sons of kinana, hashim from the sons of quraish and he selected me from the sons of hashim." [muslim 2/245; tirmidhi 2/201]
al-‘abbas bin ‘abdul-muttalib quoted the messenger of allâh [pbuh] as saying:
"allâh created mankind and chose me from the best whereof, he chose the tribes and selected me from the best whereof; and he chose families and selected me from the best whereof. i am the very best in person and family." [tirmidhi 2/201]
having increased in number, children of ‘adnan, in pursuit of pastures and water, spread out over various parts of arabia.
the tribe of ‘abdul qais, together with some septs of bakr bin wa’il and tamim, emigrated to bahrain where they dwelt.
banu hanifa bin sa‘b bin ali bin bakr went to settle in hijr, the capital of yamama. all the tribes of bakr bin wa’il lived in an area of land which included yamama, bahrain, saif kazima, the sea shore, the outer borders of iraq, ablah and hait.
most of the tribe of taghlib lived in the euphrates area while some of them lived with bakr.
banu tamim lived in basra semi-desert.
banu saleem lived in the vicinity of madinah on the land stretching from wadi al-qura to khaibar onwards to the eastern mountains to harrah.
thaqif dwelt in ta’if and hawazin east of makkah near autas on the road from makkah to basra.
banu asad lived on the land east of taimâ’ and west of kufa, while family of tai’ lived between banu asad and taimâ’. they were five-day-walk far from kufa.
zubyan inhabited the plot of and between taimâ’ and hawran.
some septs of kinana lived in tihama, while septs of quraish dwelt in makkah and its suburbs. quraish remained completely disunited until qusai bin kilab managed to rally their ranks on honourable terms attaching major prominence to their status and importance. [muhadrat tareekh al-umam al-islamiyah 1/15-16]
beyond a shadow of doubt, the biography of prophet muhammad (pbuh) manifestedly represents an exhaustive embodiment of the sublime divine message that he communicated in order to deliver the human race from the swamp of darkness and polytheism to the paradise of light and monotheism. an image, authentic as well as comprehensive, of this message is therefore only attainable through careful study and profound analysis of both backgrounds and issues of such a biography. in view of this, a whole chapter is here introduced about the nature and development of arab tribes prior to islam as well as the circumstantial environment that enwrapped the prophet's mission.
most of the arabs had complied with the call of ishmael [aws] , and professed the religion of his father abraham [aws] . they had worshipped allâh, professed his oneness and followed his religion a long time until they forgot part of what they had been reminded of. however, they still maintained such fundamental beliefs such as monotheism as well as various other aspects of abraham’s religion, until the time when a chief of khuza‘a, namely ‘amr bin luhai, who was renowned for righteousness, charity, reverence and care for religion, and was granted unreserved love and obedience by his tribesmen, came back from a trip to syria where he saw people worship idols, a phenomenon he approved of and believed it to be righteous since syria was the locus of messengers and scriptures, he brought with him an idol (hubal) which he placed in the middle of al-ka‘bah and summoned people to worship it. readily enough, paganism spread all over makkah and, thence, to hijaz, people of makkah being custodians of not only the sacred house but the whole haram as well. a great many idols, bearing different names, were introduced into the area. [mukhtasar seerat-ar-rasool p.12]
an idol called ‘manat’, for instance, was worshipped in a place known as al-mushallal near qadid on the red sea. another, ‘al-lat’ in ta’if, a third, ‘al-‘uzza’ in the valley of nakhlah, and so on and so forth. polytheism prevailed and the number of idols increased everywhere in hijaz. it was even mentioned that ‘amr bin luhai, with the help of a jinn companion who told him that the idols of noah’s folk – wadd, suwa‘, yaguth, ya‘uk and nasr – were buried in jeddah, dug them out and took them to tihama. upon pilgrimage time, the idols were distributed among the tribes to take back home. [bukhari 1/222] every tribe, and house, had their own idols, and the sacred house was also overcrowded with them. on the prophet’s conquest of makkah, 360 idols were found around al-ka‘bah. he broke them down and had them removed and burned up. [mukhtasar seerat-ar-rasool p.13-54]
polytheism and worship of idols became the most prominent feature of the religion of pre-islam arabs despite alleged profession of abraham’s religion.
traditions and ceremonies of the worship of their idols had been mostly created by ‘amr bin luhai, and were deemed as good innovations rather than deviations from abraham’s religion. some features of their worship of idols were:
self-devotion to the idols, seeking refuge with them, acclamation of their names, calling for their help in hardship, and supplication to them for fulfillment of wishes, hopefully that the idols (i.e., heathen gods) would mediate with allâh for the fulfillment of people’s wishes.
performing pilgrimage to the idols, circumrotation round them, self-abasement and even prostrating themselves before them.
seeking favour of idols through various kinds of sacrifices and immolations, which is mentioned in the qur’ânic verses:
"and that which is sacrificed (slaughtered) on an-nusub (stone-altars)" [al-qur'an 5:3]
allâh also says:
"eat not (o believers) of that (meat) on which allâh’s name has not been pronounced (at the time of the slaughtering of the animal)." [al-qur'an 6:121]
consecration of certain portions of food, drink, cattle, and crops to idols. surprisingly enough, portions were also consecrated to allâh himself, but people often found reasons to transfer parts of allâh’s portion to idols, but never did the opposite. to this effect, the qur’ânic verses go:
"and they assign to allâh a share of the tilth and cattle which he has created, and they say: ‘this is for allâh according to their pretending, and this is for our (allâh’s so-called) partners.’ but the share of their (allâh’s so-called) ‘partners’, reaches not allâh, while the share of allâh reaches their (allâh’s so-called) ‘partners’. evil is the way they judge." [al-qur'an 6:136]
currying favours with these idols through votive offerings of crops and cattle, to which effect, the qur’ân goes:
"and according to their pretending, they say that such and such cattle and crops are forbidden, and none should eat of them except those whom we allow. and (they say) there are cattle forbidden to be used for burden or any other work, and cattle on which (at slaughtering) the name of allâh is not pronounced; lying against him (allâh)." [al-qur'an 6:138]
dedication of certain animals (such as bahira, sa’iba, wasila and hami) to idols, which meant sparing such animals from useful work for the sake of these heathen gods. bahira, as reported by the well-known historian, ibn ishaq, was daughter of sa’iba which was a female camel that gave birth to ten successive female animals, but no male ones, was set free and forbidden to yoke, burden or being sheared off its wool, or milked (but for guests to drink from); and so was done to all her female offspring which were given the name ‘bahira’, after having their ears slit. the wasila was a female sheep which had ten successive female daughters in five pregnancies. any new births from this wasila were assigned only for male people. the hami was a male camel which produced ten progressive females, and was thus similarly forbidden. in mention of this, the qur’ânic verses go:
"allâh has not instituted things like bahira ( a she-camel whose milk was spared for the idols and nobody was allowed to milk it) or a sa’iba (a she camel let loose for free pasture for their false gods, e.g. idols, etc., and nothing was allowed to be carried on it), or a wasila (a she-camel set free for idols because it has given birth to a she-camel at its first delivery and then again gives birth to a she-camel at its second delivery) or a hâm (a stallion-camel freed from work for their idols, after it had finished a number of copulations assigned for it, all these animals were liberated in honour of idols as practised by pagan arabs in the pre-islamic period). but those who disbelieve, invent lies against allâh, and most of them have no understanding." [al-qur'an 5:103]
allâh also says:
"and they say: what is in the bellies of such and such cattle (milk or foetus) is for our males alone, and forbidden to our females (girls and women), but if it is born dead, then all have shares therein." [al-qur'an 6:139]
it has been authentically reported that such superstitions were first invented by ‘amr bin luhai. [bukhari 1/499]
the arabs believed that such idols, or heathen gods, would bring them nearer to allâh, lead them to him, and mediate with him for their sake, to which effect, the qur’ân goes:
"we worship them only that they may bring us near to allâh." [al-qur'an 39:3]
and
"and they worship besides allâh things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say: these are our intercessors with allâh." [al-qur'an 10:18]
another divinatory tradition among the arabs was casting of azlam (i.e. featherless arrows which were of three kinds: one showing ‘yes’, another ‘no’ and a third was blank) which they used to do in case of serious matters like travel, marriage and the like. if the lot showed ‘yes’, they would do, if ‘no’, they would delay for the next year. other kinds of azlam were cast for water, blood-money or showed ‘from you’, ‘not from you’, or ‘mulsaq’ (consociated). in cases of doubt in filiation they would resort to the idol of hubal, with a hundred-camel gift, for the arrow caster. only the arrows would then decide the sort of relationship. if the arrow showed (from you), then it was decided that the child belonged to the tribe; if it showed (from others), he would then be regarded as an ally, but if (consociated) appeared, the person would retain his position but with no lineage or alliance contract. [muhadrat tareekh al-umam al-islamiyah 1/56; ibn hisham 1/152,153]
this was very much like gambling and arrow-shafting whereby they used to divide the meat of the camels they slaughtered according to this tradition.
moreover, they used to have a deep conviction in the tidings of soothsayers, diviners and astrologers. a soothsayer used to traffic in the business of foretelling future events and claim knowledge of private secrets and having jinn subordinates who would communicate the news to him. some soothsayers claimed that they could uncover the unknown by means of a granted power, while other diviners boasted they could divulge the secrets through a cause-and-effect-inductive process that would lead to detecting a stolen commodity, location of a theft, a stray animal, and the like. the astrologer belonged to a third category who used to observe the stars and calculate their movements and orbits whereby he would foretell the future. [mirqat al-mafateeh 2/2,3] lending credence to this news constituted a clue to their conviction that attached special significance to the movements of particular stars with regard to rainfall. [muslim with an-nawawi 1/59]
the belief in signs as betokening future events, was, of course common among the arabians. some days and months and particular animals were regarded as ominous. they also believed that the soul of a murdered person would fly in the wilderness and would never rest at rest until revenge was taken. superstition was rampant. should a deer or bird, when released, turn right then what they embarked on would be regarded auspicious, otherwise they would get pessimistic and withhold from pursuing it. [bukhari with footnotes of ahmad ali saharanpuri 2/851,857]
people of pre-islamic period, whilst believing in superstition, they still retained some of the abrahamic traditions such as devotion to the holy sanctuary, circumambulation, observance of pilgrimage, the vigil on ‘arafah and offering sacrifices, all of these were observed fully despite some innovations that adulterated these holy rituals. quraish, for example, out of arrogance, feeling of superiority to other tribes and pride in their custodianship of the sacred house, would refrain from going to ‘arafah with the crowd, instead they would stop short at muzdalifah. the noble qur’ân rebuked and told them:
"then depart from the place whence all the people depart." [al-qur'an 2:199] [ibn hisham 1/199; bukhari 1/226]
another heresy, deeply established in their social tradition, dictated that they would not eat dried yoghurt or cooked fat, nor would they enter a tent made of camel hair or seek shade unless in a house of adobe bricks, so long as they were committed to the intention of pilgrimage. they also, out of a deeply-rooted misconception, denied pilgrims, other than makkans, access to the food they had brought when they wanted to make pilgrimage or lesser pilgrimage.
they ordered pilgrims coming from outside makkah to circumambulate al-ka‘bah in quraish uniform clothes, but if they could not afford them, men were to do so in a state of nudity, and women with only some piece of cloth to hide their groins. allâh says in this concern:
"o children of adam! take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes), while praying [and going round (the tawaf of) the ka‘bah]. [al-qur'an 7:31]
if men or women were generous enough to go round al-ka‘bah in their clothes, they had to discard them after circumambulation for good. [bukhari 1/226; ibn hisham 1/202]
when the makkans were in a pilgrimage consecration state, they would not enter their houses through the doors but through holes they used to dig in the back walls. they used to regard such behaviour as deeds of piety and god-fearing. this practice was prohibited by the qur’ân:
"it is not al-birr (piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from the back but al-birr (is the quality of the one) who fears allâh. so enter houses through their proper doors, and fear allâh that you may be successful." [al-qur'an 2:189]
such was the religious life in arabia, polytheism, idolatry, and superstition.
judaism, christianity, magianism and sabianism, however, could find their ways easily into arabia.
the migration of the jews from palestine to arabia passed through two phases: first, as a result of the pressure to which they were exposed, the destruction of the their temple, and taking most of them as captives to babylon, at the hand of the king bukhtanassar. in the year b.c. 587 some jews left palestine for hijaz and settled in the northern areas whereof. the second phase started with the roman occupation of palestine under the leadership of roman buts in 70 a.d. this resulted in a tidal wave of jewish migration into hijaz, and yathrib, khaibar and taima’, in particular. here, they made proselytes of several tribes, built forts and castles, and lived in villages. judaism managed to play an important role in the pre-islam political life. when islam dawned on that land, there had already been several famous jewish tribes — khabeer, al-mustaliq, an-nadeer, quraizah and qainuqa‘. in some versions, the jewish tribes counted as many as twenty. [qalb jazeerat al-arab, p.151]
judaism was introduced into yemen by someone called as‘ad abi karb. he had gone to fight in yathrib and there he embraced judaism and then went back taking with him two rabbis from bani quraizah to instruct the people of yemen in this new religion. judaism found a fertile soil there to propagate and gain adherents. after his death, his son yusuf dhu nawas rose to power, attacked the christian community in najran and ordered them to embrace judaism. when they refused, he ordered that a pit of fire be dug and all the christians indiscriminately be dropped to burn therein. estimates say that between 20-40 thousand christians were killed in that human massacre. the qur’ân related part of that story in al-buruj (zodiacal signs) chapter. [tafheem-ul-qur'an 6/297; ibn hisham 1/20-36]
christianity had first made its appearance in arabia following the entry of the abyssinian (ethiopian) and roman colonists into that country. the abyssinian (ethiopian) colonization forces in league with christian missions entered yemen as a retaliatory reaction for the iniquities of dhu nawas, and started vehemently to propagate their faith ardently. they even built a church and called it yemeni al-ka‘bah with the aim of directing the arab pilgrimage caravans towards yemen, and then made an attempt to demolish the sacred house in makkah. allâh, the almighty, however did punish them and made an example of them – here and hereafter. [tafheem-ul-qur'an 6/297; ibn hisham 1/20-36]
a christian missionary called fimion, and known for his ascetic behaviour and working miracles, had likewise infiltrated into najran. there he called people to christianity, and by virtue of his honesty and truthful devotion, he managed to persuade them to respond positively to his invitation and embrace christianity.
the principal tribes that embraced christianity were ghassan, taghlib, tai’ and some himyarite kings as well as other tribes living on the borders of the roman empire.
magianism was also popular among the arabs living in the neighbourhood of persia, iraq, bahrain, al-ahsâ’ and some areas on the arabian gulf coast. some yemenis are also reported to have professed magianism during the persian occupation.
as for sabianism, excavations in iraq revealed that it had been popular amongst kaldanian folks, the syrians and yemenis. with the advent of judaism and christianity, however, sabianism began to give way to the new religions, although it retained some followers mixed or adjacent to the magians in iraq and the arabian gulf. [tareekh ard al-qur'an 2/193-208]
we cannot deny that the pre-islam arabs had such a large bulk of evils. admittedly, vices and evils, utterly rejected by reason, were rampant amongst the pre-islam arabs, but this could never screen off the surprise-provoking existence of highly praiseworthy virtues, of which we could adduce the following:
hospitality: they used to emulate one another at hospitality and take utmost pride in it. almost half of their poetry heritage was dedicated to the merits and nobility attached to entertaining one’s guest. they were generous and hospitable on the point of fault. they would sacrifice their private sustenance to a cold or hungry guest. they would not hesitate to incur heavy blood-money and relevant burdens just to stop blood-shed, and consequently merit praise and eulogy.
in the context of hospitality, there springs up their common habits of drinking wine which was regarded as a channel branching out of generosity and showing hospitality. wine drinking was a genuine source of pride for the arabs of the pre-islamic period. the great poets of that era never forgot to include their suspending odes the most ornate lines pregnant with boasting and praise of drinking orgies. even the word ‘grapes’ in arabic is identical to generosity in both pronunciation and spelling. gambling was also another practice of theirs closely associated with generosity since the proceeds would always go to charity. even the noble qur’ân does not play down the benefits that derive from wine drinking and gambling, but also says,
"and the sin of them is greater than their benefit." [al-qur'an 2:219]
keeping a covenant: for the arab, to make a promise was to run into debt. he would never grudge the death of his children or destruction of his household just to uphold the deep-rooted tradition of covenant-keeping. the literature of that period is rich in stories highlighting this merit.
sense of honour and repudiation of injustice: this attribute stemmed mainly from excess courage, keen sense of self-esteem and impetuosity. the arab was always in revolt against the least allusion to humiliation or slackness. he would never hesitate to sacrifice himself to maintain his ever alert sense of self-respect.
firm will and determination: an arab would never desist an avenue conducive to an object of pride or a standing of honour, even if it were at the expense of his life.
forbearance, perseverance and mildness: the arab regarded these traits with great admiration, no wonder, his impetuosity and courage-based life was sadly wanting in them.
pure and simple bedouin life, still untarnished with accessories of deceptive urban appearances, was a driving reason to his nature of truthfulness and honesty, and detachment from intrigue and treachery.
such priceless ethics coupled with a favourable geographical position of arabia were in fact the factors that lay behind selecting the arabs to undertake the burden of communicating the message (of islam) and leading mankind down a new course of life.
in this regard, these ethics per se, though detrimental in some areas, and in need of rectification in certain aspects, were greatly invaluable to the ultimate welfare of the human community and islam has did it completely.
the most priceless ethics, next to covenant-keeping, were no doubt their sense of self-esteem and strong determination, two human traits indispensable in combatting evil and eliminating moral corruption on the one hand, and establishing a good and justice-orientated society, on the other.
actually, the life of the arabs in the pre-islamic period was rich in other countless virtues we do not need to enumerate for the time being.
the arabian society presented a social medley, with different and heterogeneous social strata. the status of the woman among the nobility recorded an advanced degree of esteem. the woman enjoyed a considerable portion of free will, and her decision would most often be enforced. she was so highly cherished that blood would be easily shed in defence of her honour. in fact, she was the most decisive key to bloody fight or friendly peace. these privileges notwithstanding, the family system in arabia was wholly patriarchal. the marriage contract rested completely in the hands of the woman’s legal guardian whose words with regard to her marital status could never be questioned.
on the other hand, there were other social strata where prostitution and indecency were rampant and in full operation. abu da’ûd, on the authority of ‘aishah [r] reported four kinds of marriage in pre-islamic arabia: the first was similar to present-day marriage procedures, in which case a man gives his daughter in marriage to another man after a dowry has been agreed on. in the second, the husband would send his wife – after the menstruation period – to cohabit with another man in order to conceive. after conception her husband would, if he desired, have a sexual intercourse with her. a third kind was that a group of less than ten men would have sexual intercourse with a woman. if she conceived and gave birth to a child, she would send for these men, and nobody could abstain. they would come together to her house. she would say: ‘you know what you have done. i have given birth to a child and it is your child’ (pointing to one of them). the man meant would have to accept. the fourth kind was that a lot of men would have sexual intercourse with a certain woman (a whore). she would not prevent anybody. such women used to put a certain flag at their gates to invite in anyone who liked. if this whore got pregnant and gave birth to a child, she would collect those men, and a seeress would tell whose child it was. the appointed father would take the child and declare him/her his own. when prophet muhammad [pbuh] declared islam in arabia, he cancelled all these forms of sexual contacts except that of present islamic marriage. [abu da'ud - the book of marriage]
women always accompanied men in their wars. the winners would freely have sexual intercourse with such women, but disgrace would follow the children conceived in this way all their lives.
pre-islam arabs had no limited number of wives. they could marry two sisters at the same time, or even the wives of their fathers if divorced or widowed. divorce was to a very great extent in the power of the husband. [abu da'ud - the book of marriage]
the obscenity of adultery prevailed almost among all social classes except few men and women whose self-dignity prevented them from committing such an act. free women were in much better conditions than the female slaves who constituted the greatest calamity. it seemed that the greatest majority of pre-islam arabs did not feel ashamed of committing this obscenity. abu da’ûd reported: a man stood up in front of prophet muhammad [pbuh] and said: "o prophet of allâh! that boy is my son. i had sexual intercourse with his mother in the pre-islamic period." the prophet [pbuh] said:
"no claim in islam for pre-islamic affairs. the child is to be attributed to the one on whose bed it was born, and stoning is the lot of a fornicator." [abu da'ud - chapter "the child is to the one on whose bed it was born]
with respect to the pre-islam arab’s relation with his offspring, we see that life in arabia was paradoxical and presented a gloomy picture of contrasts. whilst some arabs held children dear to their hearts and cherished them greatly, others buried their female children alive because an illusory fear of poverty and shame weighed heavily on them. the practice of infanticide cannot, however, be seen as irrevocably rampant because of their dire need for male children to guard themselves against their enemies.
another aspect of the arabs’ life which deserves mention is the bedouin’s deep-seated emotional attachment to his clan. family, or perhaps tribal-pride, was one of the strongest passions with him. the doctrine of unity of blood as the principle that bound the arabs into a social unity was formed and supported by tribal-pride. their undisputed motto was: "support your brother whether he is an oppressor or oppressed" in its literal meaning; they disregarded the islamic amendment which states that supporting an oppressor brother implies deterring him from transgression.
avarice for leadership, and keen sense of emulation often resulted in bitter tribal warfare despite descendency from one common ancestor. in this regard, the continued bloody conflicts of aws and khazraj, ‘abs and dhubyan, bakr and taghlib, etc. are striking examples.
inter-tribal relationships were fragile and weak due to continual inter-tribal wars of attrition. deep devotion to religious superstitions and some customs held in veneration, however, used to curb their impetuous tendency to quench their thirst for blood. in other cases, there were the motives of, and respect for, alliance, loyalty and dependency which could successfully bring about a spirit of rapport, and abort groundless bases of dispute. a time-honoured custom of suspending hostilities during the prohibited months (muharram, rajab, dhul-qa‘dah, and dhul-hijjah) functioned favourably and provided an opportunity for them to earn their living and coexist in peace.
we may sum up the social situation in arabia by saying that the arabs of the pre-islamic period were groping about in the dark and ignorance, entangled in a mesh of superstitions paralyzing their mind and driving them to lead an animal-like life. the woman was a marketable commodity and regarded as a piece of inanimate property. inter-tribal relationships were fragile. avarice for wealth and involvement in futile wars were the main objectives that governed their chiefs’ self-centred policies.
