Chapter 1

The Country of Arabia A little mention of Arabia is essenti,11 ,1t the outset for the Prophet Muhammad ~ was born in the city of M,1kkah and emigrated to another famous city Al-Madinah, which also became the first Islamic capital of the first Islamic State. Arabian Peninsula is the area which converted to Islam completely during the Lifetime of the Prophet ~- This country of Arabia was the first center of the grandeur of Islam. It was in this country and in its language that Revelation was sent and the last heavenly Book was revealed, which is the source of guidance to all the countries and nations of the world till the Day of Judgement. It is from this country of Arabia that the light of Islam spread to everywhere in the world. In the city of Makkah lies the Ancient House, the Ka'bah, towards which Muslims come from all over the world and appear together on the plain of Arafat worshipping and praying to Allah, praising and glorifying His Name. We find here the wealthy and the poor side by side chanting praises of the Creator of the earth and sky. Arabia dominated the entire world and became for it the torchbearer and lamp of guidance. The History of Islam Situation and Physical Features On the map of Asia there can be seen a big rectangular peninsula. This is called the Arabian Peninsula or Arabia, which has the following four boundaries: The Arabian Peninsula is bounded on the east by the Arabian Gulf and that of Oman; on the south by Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean; on the west by the Red Sea; on the north by Jordan and Iraq. The total area of the Arabian Peninsula is 1,250,000 square miles of which 450,000 square miles is pure desert and forms part of a completely desolate area. The most famous desert is known as ArRub' Al°Khali (the Empty Quarter) which stretches over an area of 250,000 square miles and extends to the southeast from middle of the Arabia. On the north of this vast desert is Al-Ahsa or Bahrain, and Oman lies on the south and east of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali. In the Arabian Gulf, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat are most famous cities. On the south of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali, we find Hadramout and Mahra, which are situated on the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. To the south and west of Ar-Rub' AI-Khdli, is San'a' which is the famous city of Yemen, situated on. the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea. At the time of the advent of Islam it was the center for Christians in Arabia. To the west of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali, lie Asir and Najran, which are on the coast of the Red Sea. To the north of Asir, the Red Sea touches a small territory called Tihamah, which is considered as a part of Hijaz. On the north of Ar-Rub' AI-Khiili is Najd in the shape of a square, on the east of which is Bahrain, to the west is Hijaz and on the north is the desert of Iraq and Syria. The name of the northeastern part of Najd is Yamamah. Hijaz is situated at the west of Najd and east of the Red Sea, it includes the cities of Makkah and Al-Madinah and the harbors of Jeddah and Yanbu. Between Syria and the Hijaz lies a territory called Khaibar and Hijr. It is another territory bound by Syria, Hijaz and Najd. Inside Ar-Rub' Al-Khdli and between Hadramout and Yamamah is a famous desolate area called Al-Ahqaf, which was once the dwelling place of the people of Ad. A look at the above mentioned places in the map will give an idea of Arabia and its famous territories.

The Country of Arabia CDmate and Inhabitants In Arabia there is no river worth mentioning. Almost the entire country comprises of burning desert and barren land and the areas lying along the seacoast alone are in a flourishing state with population. Scarcity of water has made human inhabitation almost impossible in the middle areas. All the populated areas lie at the seacoast except Najd, which is situated to the north of Ar-Rub' AlKhali and in the middle of the country. Najd is actually a plateau, it is mostly desert and the desert range of Najd meets the vast deserts of Syria. Arabia is dotted with mountains here and there but no mountain is fresh and green. Yemen and Hijaz, situated on the coast of Red Sea, are fresher and greener than the rest of the area. The entire Arabian population is 12.5 million meaning ten people per square mile. [The figures relate to the past, at the time when the book was written.] The sun is very hot there, and sunstroke is so sharp and violent that it is generally considered poisonous. Even the camel, which is purely a desert animal, falls down dead with a stroke of this poisonous and burning wind. The camel is very useful in this country. For hundreds of miles one cannot find a trace of water. The camel is a desert ship. Long journeys are made on its back. Nothing significant grows except dates, and the population generally lives on camel's milk and dates, fish is eaten on the coastal areas. A greater part of the population of this country lives a nomadic life so there are few big flourishing cities. [After the establishment of a single union territory by King AbdulAziz bin AI Saud, and by the current development in Arabian Peninsula, the above mentioned status has been changed.] The scope of this book doesn't permit more space for writing about the geography of the Arabian Peninsula. Ancient Peoples of Arabia Since very early times the progeny of Sam (Shem), the son of Nuh (Noah) ~,, has inhabited Arabia. As regards designating eras, the historians have put the inhabitants of Arabia into three categories The History of Islam namely, Arab Ba'idah, Arab Musta'ribah and Arab 'Aribah. Some of them have held both 'A.ribah and Musta'ribah as the same and designated them in two categories only Arab Ba'idah and Arab Baqiyah. Arab Bii'idah refers to only those peoples who had inhabited Arabia from the earliest age and they have all perished without leaving any trace behind. Arab Baqiyah means those people who are still found in Arabia. They also form two categories namely, 'A.ribah and Musta'ribah. Other historians have designated the Arabs into four categories - Arab Ba'idah or Arab 'Aribah, Arab Musta'ribah, Arab Tabi'ah, and Arab Musta'jimah. Arab Ba'idah: Some of the earliest tribes were called Ad, Thamud, Abil, Amaliqah, Tasm, Jadais, Umaim, Jurhum, Hadramout, Hadur and Abd Dakhm etc. These all were the progeny of Laudh bin Sam (Shem) bin Nuh (Noah). They dominated the whole of the Arabian Peninsula and some of their kings expanded their military conquests up to Egypt. Books of history do not give any account about them and their conditions. Ruins of their buildings, archaeological finds, some pillars of stone, ornaments and sculpture have been found in Najd, Ahqaf and Hadramout, which tell us that they were the strongest civilization of their time with much grandeur and awe. Among these tribes, Ad was the most renowned. These people lived in Ahqaf. Ad bin Aus bin Iram bin Sam by whose name this tribe became famous, was the first and foremost king of Arabia. He had three sons, named Shaddad, Shadid and Iram. They ruled one after another. About the same Shaddad bin Ad, Alla.mah Zamakhshari has written that he built the city of Iram in the desert of Aden but it is now traceless. The Noble Quran has also made mention of Iram but it refers to the Iram tribe, not the city of I ram nor the garden of Iram. The Iram tribe was perhaps, another name for the Ad tribe or perhaps it was a branch of Ad tribe or the Ad tribe was itself a branch of the lram tribe, Allah the Almighty says in the Quran: "Did you not see how did your Lord treat the Ad of Iram who were of so commanding stature that no creature of such a physical strength was ever born in the cities (of the world)?" (89:6-8)

The Country of Arabia Mas'udi has written that, before Ad, his father As was also a king. A king named Jairun bin Sa'd bin Ad bin Aus of this very dynasty had rampaged Syria and built a house of marble and precious stone, and he had named it Iram. lbn Asakir has also mentioned the name of Jairun in his history of Damascus. The Prophet Hud ~\ was sent to the Ad tribe or the people who were raised from the same people. But his people disobeyed him and were sent to their doom. The Glorious Quran has detailed this event. Ad was followed by Abil, Amaliqah, Thamud, and Abd Dakhm, who ruled the country one after another until Ya'rub bin Qahtan brought about their end and set the beginning of a new era. Prophet Saleh ~ \ was sent to the Thamud tribe or the people of Thamud. Thamud lived in Hijr while Yamamah was the place where Tasm and Jadais lived; Amaliqah lived in Tihamah and Jurhum in Yemen. As mentioned above, all the tribes of Arabia were the progeny of Sam, the son of Nuh (Noah) ~\, which are shown in the genealogical table. Arab 1Aribah: This category of Arabs is the progeny of Qahtan. Prior to Qahtan from Nuh ~I none of these ancestors had Arabic as their language. The progeny of Qahtan used Arabic for the first time, which they amalgamated from the Arab Bd'idah. The Qahtan tribes are divided in two types, Yemeniah and Sabaiyah. Scholars are widely divided over the genealogical issue of Qahtan. Some of them say that he was the son of Aber bin Shalikh (Shelah) bin Arfakhshand bin Sam bin Nfih, and the brother of Qane and Yaqtan. Torah doesn't mention it, but Qane and Yaqtan are mentioned therein. According to others, Yaqtan is derived from Qahtan, in other words, what has been called Yaqtan is actually Qahtan. lbn Hisham says that Ya'rub bin Qahtan is also called Yemen and the country of Yemen was named after him. Now, if Qahtan belonged to the progeny of Ismail (Ishmael) ~1, the whole of Arabia would be descending from Ismail ~I for only two persons, Qahtan and Adnan are the remote ancestors of all the tribes of Arabia. But the most confirmed and acceptable understanding is that Qahtan and Yaqtan are the same person and the Qahtan tribe does not precede Banu Ismail.

Japhelh Genealogy of Banu Sim Noah Shem j Khaieem Laudh I __L Shelah La,,o I I -l I I ---.--~· Aml,q Tasm Fans Aber I l I ~ther I Ta~m Uma,m 'halaq I I ~ Has1m I ' Thamud Yaqtan Peleg ! Abd Dhakhm I I I Nimrod Malkan Pharaoh of Egypt Arghu I Abil I I Kosh I I Kinan Yarub Jurhurn I Hadramout Hadur Saba Shelah Sen,q I Sat I Abil I Sal1h Terah Shaddad I Hadur I Hedad I lyah Hidauw I I Abdullah I Shaddad -, Hud Haran I ! Sarah :-ti Isaac Madian Ishmael I I Kedar Jacob Esau Levi Fah1th I lmran I Moses Ham lram I Aus I Massa I Aad Nimrod I Kinan I Nimrod Luqman I Sad I Jairun Aber I Raqeem I Ad Sennacherib

The Country of Arabia .Arab 'Aribah or Qahtan tribes have produced some famous kings who had the whole of Arabia under their control. Ya'rub bin Qahtan did away with all the races and traces of the Arab Ba'idah. A short genealogical table of Banu Qahtan may be seen on the next page. Yemen is supposed to be origin and the ancient land of the Qahtan tribes. Among them, Himyari and Azdi tribes are most renowned. Azdi tribes ruled over the city of Saba and southern Arabia. They paid special attention to the progress and prosperity of the Yemenite population. Queen Bilqis was from them and she was a contemporary of Sulaiman (Solomon) ~I. The Tabi'iyah kings 'who reigned over Yemen and Hadramout also belonged to them. One of the tribes of Azdi shifted to Al-Madinah, settled and ruled there. Khuza'ah turned towards Makkah and defeated the Jurhum tribe who was then in control of the affairs there. Nasr, the son of Azd settled in Tihamah; and Imran, a son of Khuza'ah settled in Oman, and their children came to be known as Azd Oman, while another one named Ghassan settled in the frontier area of Syria and ruled over the frontier tribes. In Yemen, the rule of Qahtani sultans extended up to 7 CE. Ghassan bordered on the Roman Empire, while the Qahtani state of Hirah was near the Persian Empire. At the time of the advent of Islam, the Qahtan tribes were very strong and in a commanding position in the whole of Arabia. Arab Musta'ribah: This category of the Arabs refers to Banu Adnan or the progeny of Ismail (Ishmael) ~ \. They came to Arabia from the outside, therefore they are called Arab Musta'ribah or the mixed Arabs. Ibrahim's mother tongue was · 'Aja mi or Persian. When Ibrahim (Abraham) ~ I left Ismail (Ishmael) ~ I in Makkah along with his mother Hajira (Hagar), they learned Arabic from the Qahtani tribe Jurhum, which was already settled in Makkah, and later Arabic became the mother tongue of the progeny of Ismail ~\. lsmail's mother passed away when he was only 15 years old. After the demise of his mother, Ismail ~ I made up his mind to leave Makkah and to settle somewhere in Syria. But the people of the Jurhum tribe in unison requested him to change his mind.

Genealogy of Banu Qahtan Qahtan Jurhum Yarub I ' I Yemen Zuhd I I Saba Bajzan Manadhirah Bablion I Lakhm I I Amr Kahlan Himyar Jusham Ad-Dar I +L I I I Mudhjih Azd Tai Kindah Khaulan Malik Tubba I I I Ans I I Jadilah Salaman Wathil Qudaah I I Banu Tamim S1ksak Kalb Juhain Aus Khazraj Ghassan Khuzaah I Nasr Ghafiq Daus Mustaliq

The Country of Arabia He was then married to Amarah bint Saeed bin Usamah belonging to Amaliqah family. After a short time, Ibrahim i¥\I came and Ismail divorced his wife according to the instructions of his father, and then married Syedah bint Mudad bin Amr of the Jurhum tribe. Following these events, both Ibrahim ~I and Ismail ~1 started building the Ka'bah on the old foundations made by Adam i¥\I. Ibrahim i¥\I would lay the bricks while Ismail ~I would hand him the kneaded clay and the stones while both of them were supplicating: "Our Lord! Accept this from us. Verily, you are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower." (2:127) When the wall of the Ka'bah was raised to such an extent that the work of construction was impeded, Ibrahim ~ I stood up on a piece of stone to resume his work. This place is called the 'Station of Ibrahim'. When the Ka'bah was near completion, Ibrahim i¥\I asked Ismail ~ ' to bring a special stone to be put at the base as a cornerstone so that place could be distinguished. Ismail ~ I led by Jibril ~ I brought Hajar Aswad (the Black Stone) from Boqabis mountain and Ibrahim ~\ put it in the selected spot. This is the same stone that is kissed during the circumambulation (Tawaf) of the Ka'bah. After rebuilding the Ka'bah, Ibrahim~\ and Ismail i¥\I took their followers to Mina and Arafat, sacrificed their animals and circumambulated the Ka'bah. Ibrahim~\ later departed to Syria and continued to visit the Ka'bah every yea:, performing Hajj until the end of his life. Ismail ~\ settled in Makkah for the rest of his life. The tribe Banu Jurhum (Jurhum the second) had already settled in Makkah and the Amaliqah tribe settled in the suburbs of Makkah. (This was not the Amaliqah tribe of Arab Ba'idah.) Some people from these tribes believed in Ismail ~ I while others kept to their old faith. Ismail died, according to the Torah, at the age of 137 years. He was survived by twelve sons whose descendants multiplied so much that the land of Makkah could not contain them, and so they spread all over the Hijaz. The trusteeship of Ka'bah and the leadership of Makkah remained continuously with the descendants of I~mail ~I. Among his children was Adnan, the son of Kedar. The progeny of Adnan includes all the renowned tribes of Banu Ismail, and so the Arab Musta'ribah of Banu Ismail are called the people of Adnan.

Genealogy of B anu Adnan Adnan I Ma'd I I Rabiah I