. I

Anmar AsL l ,1 -,-I--,-' --,-- lyyad h uJaim Nimr L I I ahazim Dab1ah Aja I Daus Nirr I llyas I I Qaislla I Jadilah j Abdul Oais Wail / _L_ Br [ I A1al I ~ I Tanjah M~Lh ;I, I Hud~ail Tagrlhlib ~k, ~r; J-~ Ayah aim Thaur Sh . Harnfah Thalabah a1ban Khuzaimah I I Kinanah Nasr Amir Abdu Manat I Malik Firas I I Fihr or Quraish Taghlib ,-- Sula1m , - , K . Udwan 1ab Dhubyan I Thaqif . , Banu Bakr I Banu Sad I Jusham Fazara 1Namir Rabiah I Asad Bakr Hawaz1 I I Sasaa AL I Hilal The Country of Arabia The son of Adnan was called Ma' d and his grandson was called Nizar. Nizar had four sons from whom all the Adnan tribes branched out. As a result of this all the Adnan tribes are called Ma'di or Nizari.

The genealogical table of the Adnan tribes is given on the facing page. Adnan Tribes: Among the Adil.in tribes Iyyad, Rabi'ah and Mudar achieved fame. To the well-known tribe of Mudar, belonged the Kinanah tribe which had an eminent person named Fihr bin Malik who was also called Quraish. The progeny of Quraish gave birth to many tribes, among them Banu Sahm, Banu Makhzum, Banu Jumh, Banu Taim, Banu Adi, Banu Abdud-Dar, Banu Zuhrah, and Banu Abd Mana£ gained much fame. Abd Manaf had four sons namely Abd Shams, Naufal, AbdulMuttalib and Hashim.

Among the children of Hashim was born Muhammad ~ bin Abdullah bin Abdul-Muttalib bin Hashim who is the last Prophet and to whom belongs the entire Muslim Ummah (community). The aim of this book is to clarify the state and condition of his Ummah (community) alone. Abd Shams' son was Umayyah whose offspring are called Banu Umayyah. When the Adnan tribes, defeated by Khuza'ah left Makkah, they spread over different parts of Arabia. Banu Bakr settled in Bahrain, Banu Hanifah in Yamamah, Banu Taghlib on the banks :· Euphrates, Banu Tamim in Algiers, Banu Sulaim in the suburbs of AlMadinah, Banu Thaqif in Ta'if, Banu Asad in the west of Kufah and Banu Kinanah in Tihamah.

Only the Quraish tribes from among the Adnan remained living in Makkah and its suburbs and they were in disarray. Qusai bin Kilab (who was in 5th century Christian Era) united them. By uniting various Quraish tribes, he brought not only Makkah but also the entire Hijaz under his control. Thus, the trusteeship of the House of Ka'bah once again came to the Adnan tribe. Qusai did some repair work on the Ka'bah and constructed for himself a big palace of which a spacious hall was set aside for the people to assemble for consultations and serious discussions.

It was named Dar-un-Nadwah. It also served as the seat of power from where Qusai performed official business. Qusai had also advanced a proposal that during the Hajj days the pilgrims should be served food The History of Islam for three days and all the Quraish should make contributions for that. In short, Qusai had achieved both religious and temporal power in Makkah and the Hijaz. Qusai died in 480 CE and his son Abdud-Dar became his successor.

After the death of Abdud-Dar, his grandsons and the sons of his brother Abd Manaf fell out with one another. Mediation by the influential people of Makkah brought the situation back to normal by defining each group's responsibilities such as providing water, collection of contributions and taxes, and acting as host to the pilgrims. Abdud-Dar's grandsons were entrusted with the task of military arrangements providing security for the Ka'bah and looking after Dar-un-Nadwah. After a short time Abd Mana.f's son Abd Shams . handed over his right to rule to his younger brother Hashim. Hashim was very popular among the Makkans for his trading ability, wealth and generosity.

He benefited the Quraish immensely, he persuaded the Quraish to widen the scope of their trading activities, which was very profitable for them. How Abdul-Muttalib was named: Hashim married the daughter of the chieftain of Al-Madinah (Yathrib at that time). She gave birth to a son who was named Shaibah. While the boy was still a child, Hashim died. His brother Muttalib became the ruler of Makkah.

Hashim's son, Shaibah was raised in Al-Madinah. When Muttalib came to know that Hashim's son had grown up, he himself went to Al-Madinah to bring his nephew back to Makkah. When Muttalib came to Makkah along with his nephew Shaibah, the Makkans mistook him as the slave of Muttalib. Although Muttalib tried his level best to remove the misunderstanding, it proved an exercise in futility and the name stayed with him and he was thereafter called ·Abdul-Muttalib. Abdul-Muttalib resembled his father in regard to character, honor and renown.

The power and influence of AbdulMuttalib aroused competition until it became unbearable for Umayyah's son Harb. He challenged Abdul-Muttalib to combat. In accordance with the practices of the time, a judge was appointed who gave his judgment in favor of Abdul-Muttalib. This decision aggravated enmity between Banu Umayyah and Banu Hashim. The Country of Arabia During the time of Abdul-Muttalib, an army from Abyssinia headed by a chieftain called Abrahah, launched an attack on Makkah; but the army, known as the people of the Fil (Elephant), was completely destroyed by a natural calamity and heavenly intervention.

The genealogical relations of the Quraish tribes are given in the table on the facing page. Family of Abd Manaf: Of all the tribes, Abd Manaf was considered, in the whole of Arabia, as the most noble and respectable. After them their sons also excelled all the nobles of Arabia. The real name of Abd Manaf was Mughirah, who was also called Qamar and Syed. Since his brothers were named Abdud-Dar and Abdul-Uzza, he came to be called Abd Manat and finally Abd Manaf.

Moral Condition of Arabia Arabia was, as mentioned in previous pages, the cradle of the Sam (Shem, son of Noah ~ 1.) dynasty from the days old. Since very little is known of the Arab Ba'idah, it cannot be definitely said what was the moral condition of the Arab Ba' idah as compared to contemporary nations of the world. However, it may be conjectured that in the earlier times when human population was very sparse in the inhabited quarter of the world, by and large, there would be many similarities concerning their moral standing. Before the progress and development made by Banu Ismail, and after the Arab Ba' idah, traces are found of many realms and kingdoms from the time of the Qahtan Arab's power throughout Arabia. But in no period of their history did any one kingdom enjoy undivided power over the entirety of Arabia.

There were provinces with separate rulers, some of them more renowned than others. However, inside the country, independent homeless bands wandered aimlessly with their tents loaded on their camels. Lack of pasture, water and the necessities of life always kept the Arabs wandering and passing their days in hardship and monotony. The lack of the necessities of life caused them to neglect building a society. Their way of life showed no distinct mark or sign of change and reform.

Fihr bin Malik (Quralsh) Amir Ghalib I Lui I (clan of Amr Suhal) Hashim Amr Sahm (clan of Amr b. Al-As) Adi (clan of Umar) Kilab Jumah (clan of Uthman b. Maz un) Abdud-Dar (clan of Musab) ' Qusai I Abd Mana! AI-Harith (clan of Abu Ubaidah) Kab I I Murrah I I Taim Yaqazah (clan of Abu Bakr and T'llhah) I Zuhrah Makhzum (clan of Abu Sala and Khalid b. Wai (clan of the Prophet's mother Aminah, his cousin Sad. and Abd ar-Rahman b.

Awf) Abd Abdul-Uzza I Asad (clan of Khadijah, Waraq and Zubair b. Awwam Abd Shams Hashim I Muttalib Nawfal (clan of Uthman b. Affan and Abu Sufyan b. Harb) I Umayyah I Harb Harith Aqil Abd AI-Muttalib I Zubair I Jafar Hasan I Abu Lahab Abu Talib i Ali I Husain (clan of Mutim) Abbas 6 daughters Abdullah L Hamzah ~ AI-Fadl Abdul! The Country of Arabia Life consisted of few activities and it had a uniformity of events that gave them a great deal of leisure time.

A large number of vast deserts, the absence of production and indigenous things of value and the dearth of populated lands and cities never interested any foreign power to turn towards Arabia with expansionist ideas, nor were there any means or reasons to attract tourists and traders to the peninsula. Thus the people of Arabia were generally unaware of the progress / and development of other nations of the world and their society, character and way of living. No foreign nation even exercised its influence on the Arabs. Assertions of Dignity Under these circumstances and in such an environment only two traits of character easily developed in the people of Arabia. One, the development of the art of poetry for which they had a great deal of leisure time at their disposal, passing nights in the open desert and they were free of any disciplined stream of thought.

Both of these states served as great stimuli. Second, the tremendous effort to survive and the subjection to a life of hardship made them extremely fond of fighting and tests of strength. Constant mutual combat led them naturally to self-praise and a growing discretion for exhibiting a sense of dignity. Pride and boasting, two typical qualities of man, led to bravery and generosity defining distinct roles which they followed with great interest. Idleness and deep indulgence in poetic composition turned them to lovemaking and drinking.

But bravery and boldness had made them hospitable to a high degree and firm in fulfilling their promise as a matter of honor. Gambling, archery, assemblies for the recital of poetic verses, assertions of dignity, and competitions were some of the means of passing their time. In short, Arabia and its climate conditioned the Arab character. Hud ~ \ and Saleh ~ \ and several other Prophets were sent to the Arab Bd' idah. But the disrespect and disobedience shown to these Prophets resulted in their utter and total destruction.

Some Prophets were also sent to another sections of the Arabs, the Qahtan Arabs, but they paid very little attention to their call with the result that they met The History of Islam their doom time and again. Moreover, they could not profit substantially from the teachings of their Prophets on account of their rebellious attitude and undisciplined thinking. Some of the people of Arabia believed in Ibrahim ~1 and Ismail ~1. In the sphere of faith and religion, their genealogical pride and egotism and the glorification of their ancestors led them to hero worship which ultimately paved the way to carving idols in their names to be worshipped. Idol worship led them to superstitions and many other irrational ideas.

When the Qahtan tribes were on the decline and Banu Ismail (the Adnan tribes) had gained ground, the invasion of Makkah by the Khuza'ah tribe resulted in the defeat of the Jurhum tribe. The integrity of the Adnan tribes was violated by this defeat and it injured the power and dignity of the emerging Banu Ismail in the Hijaz. It resulted in a fierce rivalry between the Adnan and Qahtan tribes, which gave birth to small clans which were unable to transform themselves into a united rule of significant importance. The larger domains were not much better than anarchy, no Arabian king and his system of rule over his subjects was as remarkable for law and order as that of the ordiinary feudal system used in Persia. This anarchy and unbridled freedom gave rise to untold immorality, misbehavior and disrespectful rudeness which permeated the whole social life of the Arabs and this human depravity continued until the light of Islam rose from the dark horizon of this country.

Most of the Arabs were nomads, and very few had settled permanently in townships and populated areas. The Arabs were very fond of keeping an exact genealogy of their ancestors preserved by memory. They would mention the names and deeds of their forefathers with pride and thus animate zeal and the valor of their people during fighting. Perhaps it was the impact of the climatic conditions of the country or their fondness for genealogy that caused the Arabs to have a very strong memory. It was something simple for them to keep in memory accurately odes of tribute that were several hundred verses long, after hearing them only once.

Their art of poetry and command of language The Country of Arabia led them to such a state of development that they named all the nonArabs as 'Ajam (literally: mute). If an individual of one clan was killed by that of another, the clan belonging to the dead person would not rest until they took revenge. To be at rest without an act of retaliation was a matter of utter shame and disgrace for them. Reverence for the Ka'bah and performing Hajj was a sign of power for all the Arabs through all their generations. Helping the helpless and the oppressed and keeping firm against the oppressors were qualities appreciated by one and all.

Timidity and miserliness were taken as the greatest defects and the worst flaw of character. Months of Peace They fixed one or several months of the year when they considered fighting as unlawful. During this span of peace and order all fighting was suspended. And during those specific days they would visit the Ka'bah and perform the Hajj. It was during these days that large commercial fairs were held with poetic recitals and they offered great opportunities for making new trading contacts.

Some other traits of the Arabs are also worthy of notice. Faith and Religion Before the appearance of Islam, the Arabs were passing through a state where some of their tribes acknowledged neither the Creator nor reward and punishment, while others were convinced of the existence of the Creator but not of reward and punishment and the Day of Judgment. Mostly they worshipped idols and stars; some of them worshipped fire also. They had transformed the Ka'bah into a center of idolatry and kept 360 idols inside the Ka'bah. Jews had also come from Syria to settle in Al-Madinah (Yathrib at that time) and in its suburbs.

They began to arrive there from a short time after the death of Musa~\. Among those Jews, Banu Quraizah, Banu Nadir, and Banu Qanuqa' were the most renown. Some Christians also settled in the Ghassan and Najran area and some people of Quza'ah tribe had also converted to Christianity. The History of Islam Idolatry: Idolatry was openly practiced all over Arabia. Four hundred years before the advent of Muhammad * in era of King Shapur of Persia, Amr bin Luhai bin Harithah bin Imra'-ul-Qais bin Tha'labah bin Mazin bin Azd bin Kahlan bin Bablion bin Saba, the King of Hijaz was the first to install the idol named Hubal at the top of the Ka'bah and placed two idols Isaf and Nailah at the well of Zamzam and persuaded the people to worship them.

This Amr bin Luhai had totally rejected the concept of the Day of Judgment. Yaguth, Ya'uq, Nasr, Wadd and Suwa' were adopted by different tribes for each of them had its separate idol. Wadd was carved in the shape of man while Nailah and Suwa' were in the form of a woman. Yaguth had the shape of a lion, Ya'uq of horse, and Nasr of vulture. Some tribes shared idols, Tasm and Jadais had a common idol.

The Kalb tribe worshipped Wadd whose center was Dumat-ul-Jandal. Banu Tamim adored Taim. Suwa' was worshipped by the Hudhail, Mudhij and the Yemenite tribes worshipped Yaguth. Dhil-Kala' worshipped Nasr at Himyar, the Hamdan worshipped Ya'uq, Banu Mughith of Banu Thaqif tribe served as the guards of Lat at Ta'if, the Quraish and Banu Kinanah worshipped Uzza while Banu Shaibah were the caretakers of Uzza. Manat was adored by the Aus and Khazraj tribes, Jehar by Banu Hawazin, Awai by the Bakr and Taghlib, Muharraq by Banu Bakr bin Wail, Sa'd by Banu Malkan, Sa'eer by Banu Antarah, Amyanas by Banu Khaulan, Raza by Banu Tai, and Dhul-Kaffain by the Daus.

Besides the idols mentioned, many idols like Jarish, Shariq, A'im, Madan, Auf, and Manaf were very famous and every one of them was the deity of one tribe or another. Whenever any congregation of idolaters was organized, and if an Arab was not able to attend it during the fixed days, he would fix a stone called Duwwar and go around it like the Ka'bah to compensate for missing the congregation. In Arabia, there were other centers of idolatry besides the Ka'bah. Ghatfan had constructed a house similar to the Ka 'bah and called it Qalis and they even performed Hajj there. Banu Khath'am had also built a house calling it Dhul-Khalasah to perform Hnjj there.

DhulThe Country of Arabia Ka'bat was the center for worship of the Rabi'ah. There was a tribal temple in Najran also which was built with three hundred skins and was called the Ka'bah of Najran. The idolaters of Arabia would visit it as they did with the Ka'bah. Moreover, they had also built a Haram (sanctuary) around it where even a murderer or assassin was safe. On the top of the Ka'bah there was another idol called Shams.

Pictures of Ibrahim, Ismail, Isa (Jesus) and Maryam (Mary) r')L..)1 ~ were also worshipped in the Ka'bah. Sacrifice: The idolaters, when coming to perform Hajj, brought camels for sacrificing and offering to their idols. They had a practice ti;, suspend shoes from the necks of the camels and marked them to signify them as sacrificial animals. Nobody would then get in the way of the animals. Moreover, the calves of the camels and sheep and other animals were sacrificed to the idols.

Some of the tribes even sacrificed humans to the idols. According to some historians, the idolaters of Arabia believed in the Oneness of God and acknowledged Him as One. They worshipped idols because they believed that they will intercede with Allah for them. Some of the tribes entertained the belief that the person on whose grave a she-camel was sacrificed, will on the Day of Judgment, rise from his grave mounted on his she-camel. This belief indicates that they believed in Day of Resurrection and some form of Judgment.

Star-Worshipping: When the Arabs were still in ignorance, worshipping stars was very common. Historians have no substantial proof if Arabia, Egypt, Greece or Persia were the first to institute the worship of stars or if they came to it separately. However, it is hard to imagine that worshipping stars came to Arabia from outside. The sun was worshipped by Himyar tribe, the moon by the Kinanah, Dahran by Tamim, Jupiter by the Lakhm and Judharn, Suhail by the Tai, Shera by the Qais and Mercury by the Asad. Most of the tribal idols were named with the names of stars.

Stone idols and noted stars were worshipped commonly by different tribes. They often based their important affairs on the rising and setting of certain stars. The History of Islam It is not surprising that the people passing their days and nights in open fields and deserts had their attention focused on the stars and planets and acknowledging some of them as their deities. From Surat Nuh of the Quran it comes to light that even during the era of Nuh :%!JI, Iraqi Arabs worshipped Yaguth, Ya'uq, Wadd, Nasr, and Suwa', which are all named after stars. It makes it very clear that star worship in Arabia was a very old affair.

The moon was worshipped more than any other object. Soothsaying: Soothsayers were found in large number in Arabia. A Kdhin was one who claimed to have information about the unseen events of the past while, those giving information of the future were called Arra[. Both men and women claimed knowledge of the unseen. Among the soothsayers of Arabia Af'a, Jadhimah, Abrash, Shaq and Satih were well-known.

Another kind of soothsayer was known as Nazir, they could tell about the unseen by focusing their eyes on a mirror or on a tray of water. They included casters of pebbles and the pits of fruit. They all belonged to the same category but they were ranked below the soothsayers, while those making amulets were considered the lowest. Omens: The Arabs also believed in good and bad omens. They held crows to be very inauspicious and something that causes separation.

Since the crow is called Ghurab in Arabic, they called travelling as Ghurbat, and the traveler as Gharib, as according to them, the influence of a crow causes separation and causes man to suffer the hardships of travelling. And owl was also very unlucky to them for its hooting cries, they believed caused death and destruction. Sneezing also carried an ill omen to them. Some of them were sorcerers and they dealt in sorcery and performed heavy exercises to befriend Satan. Fighting Fighting would break out over petty matters and insignificant incidents.

Once hostilities began they could linger on for several generations and even centuries. Most of their fighting started without The Country of Arabia any substantial reason. There were more than one hundred feuds during the Days of Ignorance in Arabia that were famous, for instance, Bu'ath, Kilab, Fatrat, Nakhklah, Qarn, Suban and Hatib were the names of well-known feuds. No tribe ever benefited from these feuds; they only suffered destruction and the loss of life and property. They had an old practice of putting to death the women and children of the defeated enemy after taking them prisoner.

However, if a person had eaten from their food or had received hospitality from them previously, they were safe from being killed. They would shave the heads of those whom they released. Most disputes would be settled by a challenge to single combat. They took special care of their horses and weapons. The battle array of armies was not in practice.

Anyone achieving perfection in swordmanship, archery, cavalry, or fighting with lances was held in high esteem and his name and reputation would quickly spread far and wide. Some particular tribes gained distinction in the use of some particular weapon. They had special names for weapons, swords, bows and horses, which were famous throughout the land. For instance, the name of the sword of Harth bin Abu Shimr Ghassani was Khudhum, while the sword of Abdul-Muttalib bin Hashim was called Atshan and that of Malik bin Zubair was Dhun-Nun. These evidences let us know that the people of Arabia had a great zest for fighting and killing.

This is the reason behind thousands of names given to horses and swords in Arabic. Illicit Sex Arabs in the Age of Ignorance had no custom of observing Hijab (covering of women) and their women would come freely before strange men. The lack of the necessities of life and other timeconsuming affairs, an irresponsible sense of freedom, over indulgence in poetic composition, their assertion of pride and superiority, and the hot climate of the country was enough to instigate this tendency. Anyone who never fell in love with a strange woman was disrespected. Some tribes were renowned for their love making.

Banu Adhrah' s love gained so much celebrity and renown that it became proverbial: The History of Islam o;~ I.S'! ~ J-!,i That is, so-and-so is a lover greater than Banu Adhrah. Someone asked a bedouin which tribe did he belong to? He replied that he was from a tribe that when they fall in love they pass away. A girl heard it and remarked: "By the Lord of Ka'bah, you are from Banu Adhrah." Poetry During the Age of Ignorance in Arabia everyone participated in the art of poetry. Men, women, children, old and young, all were poets of higher or lower degree.

They were born with poetry and eloquence. Their poetic exercises generally were impromptu. They needed no thinking or reflecting and never needed to search for topics. They were so proud of their eloquence and command of language that they considered all the non-Arabs as unable to speak. But the Quran shattered the arrogance of their eloquence and rhetoric into pieces and they had to bow down before the glory of the Book of Allah.

The one whose ode of tribute was acknowledged as the best in a poetic congregation on the occasion of fairs, special functions and Hajj, was immediately accepted as the best among them in position and stature. To them poets were equal to brave commanders and kings or even greater than them in status. In fact, it was an easy job for the poets to cause tribes to fight against one another, to make tribes extraordinarily brave, to keep the fighting going or to put an end to it. The best odes of tribute were hung over the walls of the Ka'bah. Thus seven such odes of tribute known as the Seven Golden Odes, which were written by Imra' -ul Qais bin Hijr Kindi, Zuhair bin Abu Salma Muzani, Labid bin Rabi'ah, Amr bin Kulthum and Antarah Absi.

Passion for Hunting During the Age of Ignorance, the Arabs had a great enthusiasm for hunting and so there are a great number ,of terms in Arabic for hunting activities. The game which moves from right to left was called Siineft, while the one going from left to right was called Bi1reh. The game coming from the front was called Niiteh and the one from behind was Qa'eed. The hunter's ambush was named Qarrah. Zabiah was the The Country of Arabia name given to the ditch dug for hunting a lion.

They gave the name Talabbud to the state of the hunter when he crawled on his stomach sticking close to the earth, and the state of going out to hunt and coming back without hunting was called Ikhfflq. On hunting an animal they ate its meat without any sense of its being permitted or prohibited. Islam brought about the limitation of lawful and unlawful and imposed certain restrictions on hunting. Food and Clothes Arabia produces neither silk nor cotton. Some regions produce them in such a meager quantity that is quite insufficient for the needs of the people.

Yemen has been noted for its cloth from ancient times. The Arabs generally had very simple clothes to wear. Wearing coarse clothes with leather patches was customary. Some people would make a sheet by joining small leather patches held together by pins, and such a sheet or mantle served the purpose of wrapping and spreading. Garments were also woven from camel and sheep hair, and those pieces of cloth were also used for making tents and for bedding and carpeting.

Loose low hanging colorless shirts, waist sheets and turbans or scarves on the head were standard dress. They knew about aloeswood, ambergris, and incense. Their food was also very simple and unceremonious. They could be content with unpalatable food with a bad taste. Meat and flesh happened to be very tasty and valuable things to them.

Milk and meat were most common. Cheese, battered barley grain, dates, olive oil, and Harirah were their common items. Sieving of flour was not a common practice; they rather baked bread with unsieved flour. They had no proper etiquette of dining. This can be assessed from the dos and don'ts prescribed by the Prophet ~I for eating and drinking in Ahadith which forbid many kinds of misbehavior like gluttony, shamelessness, unclean habits and nonsensical talk while eating.

Plunder As mentioned previously, Arabia had two types of people, one settled in cities and settlements and another living a nomadic life, the latter were larger in number. Although the citizens carried some qualities The History of Islam like rights of neighbors, trusteeship and honesty, but the defects of deceit, cheating and conniving in trade and business were plentiful. They were expert in raiding and highway robbery of the nomadic type Almost all were addicted to looting the travelers and snatching away goods by force. On finding someone making a journey alone, they covered and hid the wells which were on the way with grass and other things so that the traveler would die of thirst and they would take his goods. Some of them were proverbially expert in committing theft.

These thieves were called Dhubiin-ul-Arab (wolves of Arabia). Conceit Conceit had touched its peak during Arabian Ignorance. Jadhimah Abrash was so haughty that he never appointed ~ny one as an adviser to consult with. He would say that Farqadain (the two brilliant stars near the Polestar) were his companions. Many other tribes were well known for these base qualities and none of the tribes were free from this conceit.

As a result of this, they never listened to the good counsel and preaching of the Prophets and religious guides for obedience was a trait shameful to them. Unending Malice In case they failed to take revenge on their enemy or assassin during his lifetime, they made his sons and grandsons the target of their revenge and they passed their days in discontentment until they took out their vengeance on their enemies. They would take revenge even if the reason behind it had been forgotten. They would be intent to kill someone out of enmity without even telling anyone what was the cause of the hostility. Mourning the Dead Upon the death of someone, his relatives would tear at their faces and hair and cry in pain.

Women would follow the funeral with their hair untied and head dusted. Like the Hindus in India shaving their head and beard out of sorrow for the dead, in Arabia during the Days of Ignorance, The Country of Arabia women would shave their heads. Women were also called for lamenting which they did at the top of their voices; after the burial, these women were served food. Superstition and Credulity They believed in the existence of jinns, demons and fairies. They also believed that fairies could fall in love with human males, and jinn could form physical contacts with human females.

Although they considered jinn as invisible creature, they believed that the union of the material and immaterial could bear babies. The Arabs believed that Jurhum was born as a result of union between a human and an angel. This was their belief also about the Queen Bilqis of Saba (Queen of Sheba). About Umar bin Yarbu they thought that he was born with the union of a human and a fairy. The she-camel bearing five calves and the fifth being a male, was called Bahirah and they left it free by piercing its ears.

She was at liberty to go and graze anywhere and nobody objected to it. In case any sheep bore a male, it was offered to the idols; and if it happened to be female, they kept it for themselves. In case of a male and female, they held back from sacrificing them and called them Wasilah. The male camel that had fathered ten calves was held in great honor. They neither loaded it nor made it a mount and left it free like a bull.

It was called Ham. They used to keep three arrows before the idols or at the threshold of the temples. They wrote La (no) on one arrow and Na'm (yes) on another. The third would be blank. In case of any problem they would take out one arrow from the quiver.

If the arrow with La written on it came out, they dropped the plan of doing what they wanted, and if the arrow showing Na'm was picked, they thought themselves permitted to do whatever they had planned. If the blank arrow came out, they continued the exercise until the arrow with either La or Na'm came out. While setting out on a journey they would tie a knot on a thin branch of a certain type of tree called Ratm. On coming back they would notice whether the knot was intact or untied. If they found the knot untied, they believed that their wives must have committed adultery while they were away.

At the death of a person, his sheThe History of Islam camel was fastened to his grave with her eyes closed until she died there or the head of the she-camel was pulled towards her breast and tied to it, and they would left her until she died. It was done in accordance with the belief that the dead person, when raised from his grave, would find the she-camel and have it as his mount. They believed that if a person went to a settlement and was afraid of an epidemic there, he would be saved if he cried loudly like an ass standing at the gate of the settlement. When the number of camels in one's possession would reach more than one thousand, he would take out both the eyes of the bull among them to save all the other camels from calamity. When a camel would develop mange, the healthy one, instead of the sick, was branded with the belief that the sick one would restore its health.

The famous poet Nabighah says in his couplet: "You left the stranger and loaded his burden upon me, as they leave the camel suffering from mange and brand the healthy camel grazing peacefully instead." Similarly, they would beat the ox if a cow refused to drink water. They believed that the ox was possessed by a jinn who would stop the cows from drinking water. They believed that if the killer of someone went unpunished, a bird named Hamah would come out of the skull of the dead person and would go on crying: "Give me water, give me water," until the crime was avenged. They believed that some person had a snake in his stomach and when it was hungry it would tear and eat away the flesh from the ribs of the person. They had a belief that if the children of a woman kept dying, they could be saved from dying if the woman concerned trampled the dead body of a noble and wealthy person with her feet.

They also believed that the jinn feared rabbits and so they suspended rabbit bones from the neck of their children to keep them safe from the ill effect of the jinn. Killing of Daughters The custom of killing their daughters was rampant among the Banu Tamim and the Quraish. They took pride in killing their daughters and it was for them a status symbol. This heartlessness reached such a height in some tribes that when the daughter became five or six years The Country of Arabia old and start uttering sweet words, the stone-hearted father would take her in beautiful garments to a place outside his settlement where he had already dug a deep ditch. He would then make his daughter stand beside the ditch and then push her into the ditch stoning her to death while she called for her father's help.

No screaming and crying could melt his heart and he would return after filling the ditch. They took pride in burying their daughters alive. Qais bin Asim, a man from Banu Tamim, buried his ten daughters alive in this manner. Although no tribe of Arabia was free from this inhuman custom, some tribes did it more than others. Gambling The Arabs were very fond of gambling too.

They gambled with arrows which had no feathers. They were ten in number, and their names in order were: (1) Ghadh, (2)Tawam, (3) Raqib, (4) Nf:ifis, (5) Hals, (6) Mahal, (7) Mualla, (8) Fasih, (9) Manih and (10) Waghd. Each of them had its own share, for instance, Ghadh had one, Tawf:im had two, and Raqib had three, and it kept increasing in this way till Mualla had seven shares, while the last three arrows had no share. Ten wealthy persons would buy fat goats and divide them into twenty-eight shares. The arrows would be handed to a designated person who would take out and give each person an arrow one by one, and each person got his share according to his arrow's share.

They played such games of chance before Hubal at the Ka'bah. Another form of gambling was that they collected some sand and hid something in it. Then after dividing the sand into two heaps they asked the players to tell in which heap was the hidden object. The one who guessed it correctly was declared the winner and those guessing incorrectly were declared as the losers. Arabian Ignorance and Other Countries What has been described in the previous sections refers to the condition of Arabia and its people before the appearance of Islam and the advent of the Prophet j/§;.

What has been stated regarding character, habits, living, religion, and beliefs reflects the conditions from one century before the era of the last Prophet ~ and remained The History of Islam unchanged until he was declared a Prophet. The reader can ponder over what kind of environment the Prophet~ was sent to and how depraved were the people when Islam came to them. The following pages will give a picture of the magnificent revolution brought about by the teachings of the Prophet ~ and the impact of Islam as a force. This assessment may be correctly made when we cast a glance at the overall situation prevailing in the world and to see how Islam brought about change in the existing situation. It is appropriate at this time after assessing the situation in Arabia to take a look at what condition the world contemporary to that time was experiencing.

Persia {Iran) Persia was reckoned among the most renowned, ancient and venerable civilizations. During the ancient times the people worshipped the moon, and a large number of religious guides came on the scene one after another to reform the situation. Before the end of this period Zoroaster gave currency to the fire worship. [The religion of Zoroaster was free from fire worship and proclaimed oneness of God but fire worship took over this religion later on.] He offered himself as a true guide and very soon it became the state religion and that of its subjects. The Persians, possibly surpassed all other countries in terms of progress and development. During the height of its greatness and glory, Persian rule had stretched from Egypt to Mongolia and from the Himalayan range and Persian Gulf to the Altai Mountains.

Persian society ruled over the whole of the Asian continent and their culture, civilization and ethical standards were considered worth following in every Asian country. At the time of the appearance of Islam, they had become so low and depraved that they had lost most of their good qualities after falling into the dark quagmire of polytheism. They had given Zoroaster divine attributes and enlisted him among their false deities. The creators of good and evil were worshipped in the name of Yazdan (Ahura Mazda-god of goodness) and Ahriman (Angra Mainyu-god of evil and darkness). They worshipped fire and light openly and fervently.

The worship of the moon, the sun, the stars and the planets was also in vogue. Theft and highway robbery were The Country of Arabia rampant. Adultery was so much in force that the wicked Mazdak asked for a liaison with the Princess of Kisra (Chosroes) openly in the court and the ruler of Persia did not think it necessary to oppose this most unreasonable and immodest demand. Mutual dissension and bestiality, malice and enmity, cheating and deceit, treating the weak by the strong more disgracefully than even the animals were some of the defects that had sent Persia to the lowest level of depravity and degradation. Persia was bereft of all ethical and human qualities, and the country that was once the center of culture and civilization was groping in the dark.

Not only that worship of stars, fire and heroes was their custom, the kings, ministers, commanders and nobles also made the people worship them. The Persian subject rose to freedom from this torment and the darkness was dispelled only when the Muslims marched into the Persian territories and brought it under their control. Greece and Rome Another great power and rival of Persia was the Roman Empire. Greek and Roman civilizations were also very ancient and magnificent and their arts and sciences and grandeur and glory had been universally known. No country of the world could surpass Greece in the spheres of medicine, mathematics, astronomy, logic, and philosophy.

This country had produced Socrates, Hippocrates, Luqman, Plato, and Aristotle. It was in this country that a conqueror and king like Alexander was born. The Roman Caesar whose capital was Constantinople, was not only an emperor but considered also a religious guide. But, despite all these material and scientific developments, both Greece and Rome had, during the sixth and seventh centuries, become steeped in such degradation and depravity that the darkness prevailing in Persia was in no way deeper than in Greece and Rome. As every indebted person in Persia would sell himself like a slave, Greece too had several kinds of slaves.

One kind of slave could not be sold outside Greece, but all other kinds of slaves were sold in foreign lands like horses, oxen, camels, and goats. Any master had the right to kill his slave as anybody has the right to slaughter his animal. Parents would sell their children and make them slave of others. In Greece and Rome, slaves had no right to marry and there was no legal relation between the slaves and their children. .... 3 ~ (I) - 0 > ~ - :.-· , • ii·. ""-c- ,,. •..

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