Arabia before the Prophet Muhammad –I

The Arabian Peninsula is enclosedin 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 1 and 1.25
million square miles.
Arab Tribes:
Arabs have been divided according to lineage into three groups:
- Perishing Arabs: The ancient Arabs whose history is little known,
and of whom were 'Ad, Thamûd, Tasam, Jadis, Emlaq andothers.
- Pure Arabs: Who originated from the progeny of Ya'rub bin Yashjub
bin Qahtaan. They were also called Qahtaanian Arabs.
- Arabized Arabs: Who originated from the progeny of Ismaa'eel . They
were also called 'Adnanian Arabs.
When talking about the Arabs before Islam, we deem it necessary to
draw a mini-picture of the history of rulership, princeship,
sectarianism, political, economic and social situations as well as the
religiousdominations of the Arabs, so as to facilitate the
understanding of emergent circumstances when Islam appeared.
Rulership and Princeship among the Arabs
When the sun of Islam rose, rulers of Arabia were of two kinds:
crowned kings, who were in fact not independent but were subservient
to Persians or Romans; and heads of tribes and clans, who enjoyed the
same authorities and privileges possessed by crowned kings and were
mostly independent, though some of them may have shown some kind of
submission to a crowned king. The crowned kings were only those of
Yemen, Heerah and Ghassaan, all other rulers of Arabia were not
crowned.
The tribes dwelling near Heerah were subordinate to the Arabian king
of Heerah, while those dwelling in the Syrian semi-desert were under
the domain of the Arabian Ghassanide king, a dependency that was in
reality formal, rather than actual. However, those livingin the hinder
deserts enjoyed full autonomy.
In fact, these heads of these tribes were chosen by the whole tribe,
which was a demi-government based on tribalsolidarity and collective
interests in defense of land and property.
Heads of tribes enjoyed dictatorial privileges similar to those of
kings, and were rendered full obedience and subordination in both war
and peace. However, rivalry among cousins for rulership often drove
them to outdo one another in entertaining guests, affecting
generosity, wisdom and chivalry for the sole purpose of outranking
their rivals and gaining fame among people -- especially poets, who
were the official spokesmen at the time.
Heads of tribes and masters had special claims to spoils of war such
as a quarter of the spoils, whatever he chose for himself, that which
he found on his way back or even the remaining undivided spoils.
Religions of the Arabs
Most of the Arabs had complied with the message of Ismaa'eel and
professed the religion ofhis father Ibraaheem . They had worshipped
Allaah, professed His Oneness and followed His religion for a long
time, until a time came when they forgot part of what they hadbeen
reminded of. However, they still maintained fundamental beliefs like
monotheism as well as various other aspects of Ibraaheem's religion
until the time when a chief of Khuza'a,namely 'Amr bin Luhai
introducedthem to idol-worship. 'Amr bin Luhai was renowned for his
righteousness, charity and reverence for religion, and was granted
unreserved love and obedience by his tribesmen. Once, on his return
from a trip to Syria where he saw people worshipping idols (a
phenomenon he approved of andbelieved to be righteous since Syria was
the locus of Messengersand Scriptures), he brought with him an idol
(Hubal), which he placed in the middle of Al-Ka'bah (the Sacred House)
and summoned people to worship it. Readily enough, paganism spreadall
over Makkah and then to Hijaz (the region of western Saudi Arabia
bordering the Red Sea). A great many idols, bearing different names,
were introducedinto the area.
Polytheism and worship of idols became the most prominent feature of
the religion of pre-Islamic Arabs, despite the alleged profession of
Ibraaheem's religion .
Traditions and idol-worship ceremonies had been mostly introduced by
'Amr bin Luhai, andwere deemed as 'good innovations' rather than
deviations from Ibraaheem's religion. Some features of their
idol-worship were:
· Devoting themselves completely to the idols, seeking refuge
with them, acclaiming their names, beseeching their help in hardship
and supplicationto them for fulfillment of wishes, hoping that the
idols (i.e. pagan gods) would mediate with Allaah for the fulfillment
of their wishes.
· Performing pilgrimage to the idols, circumambulating around
them, self-abasement and even prostrating themselves before them.
· Seeking the favor of idols through various kinds of
sacrifices and immolations.
· Consecration of certain portions of food, drink, cattle
andcrops to idols. Surprisingly enough, portions were also consecrated
to Allaah Himself, but the misguided people often found reasons to
transfer parts of Allaah's portion to idols, but never did the
opposite.
It has been authentically reported that such superstitions were first
invented by 'Amr bin Luhai.
The Arabs believed that such idols or heathen gods would bring them
nearer to Allaah, lead them to Him and mediate with Him for their
sake, to which effect, the Quran says (what means): "And they worship
other than Allaah things that hurt themnot, nor profit them, and they
say: 'These are our intercessors with Allaah.'" [Quran 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 usedto cast while
deciding about serious matters like travel, marriage and the like. If
the lot showed 'yes', they would go ahead, if 'no', they would delay
the matter for the next year. Moreover, they used to have a deep
conviction in the tidings of soothsayers, diviners and astrologers.
Such was the religious life in Arabia: an ignominious saga of
polytheism, idolatry and superstition.
However, Judaism, Christianity, Magianism and Sabianism found their
ways easily into Arabia.
The migration of the Jews from Palestine to Arabia passed through two
phases: First, as a result of the persecution to which they were
exposed at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed their
temple and took most of them as captives to Babylon. In the year B.C.
587 some Jews left Palestine for Hijaz and settled in the northern
areas.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, Yathrib (Madeenah), Khaybar and
Tayma',in particular. When Islam dawnedon that land, there already
existed several famous Jewish tribes — Khaybar, Al-Mustaliq,
An-Nadeer, Quraizah and Qainuqa'. According to some historical
versions, the Jewish tribes were as many as twenty.
Christianity first made its appearance in Arabia following the entry
of the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) and Roman colonists into the country.
The Abyssinian (Ethiopian) colonization forces in league with
Christian missions entered Yemen as a retaliatory reaction for the
iniquities of Dhu Nawwaas, and started to propagate their faith
ardently. They even built a church and called it the "Yemeni Ka'bah"
with the aim of directing the Arab pilgrimage caravans towards Yemen,
and then made afailed attempt to demolish the Sacred House in Makkah.
The principal tribes that embraced Christianity were Ghassaan,
Taghlib, Tai' and some Himyarite kings as well as other tribes living
on the borders of theRoman Empire.
Such was the religious life of the Arabs before the advent of Islam.
The role that the prevalent religions played was marginal.
To Be Concluded…