Part 10

Other than wars that were waged for honour or revenge, some tribes made a living out of attacking other tribes; they would attack a tribe, steal its wealth, and enslave its free men. Some famous Companions 4 became enslaved in this or a similar manner; two noteworthy examples are Zaid ibn Haarithah , who was a free Arab, and Salmaan Al-Faarisee 4, who was a free Persian. Islam brought an end to such vile and violent practices, to

the extent that a man and woman could travel from San’aa to Hadramoot, without having to fear harm at the hands of any human being; during their journey, they would fear no one save Allah, as well as wolves upon their herd of sheep.

7) Arabs were at a near 100% illiteracy level

Unlike their contemporaries from the People of the Book - Jews and Christians - Arabs were an illiterate people; in short, they were ignorant, and they intransigently held on to the beliefs of their forebears, regardless of whether those beliefs were true or false. Very few people among them could read or write. They had some people among them who became skilled in the art of tracking, and some who practiced medicine, such as Al-Haarith ibn Kildah. It must be noted in their favour that the medicine they practiced was based not on superstitious beliefs, but on the experience they collectively gained through generations of practice.

Despite being illiterate and ignorant, they showed great potential for learning, being endowed with a natural intelligence. Once true knowledge came to them by way of the Messenger of Allah #8, many among them became eminent scholars and skilled jurists; they went from a near 100% illiteracy level to a near 100% literacy level.

The Manners And Morals Of Arabs

In many ways, Arabs of pre-Islamic times were loathsome in their manners and morals: They consumed great quantities of alcohol, and they gambled frequently; they would shed bled for the most inconsequential of reasons; they would usurp the wealth of orphans, steal, deal in usury, and fornicate. It must be noted, however, that it was only female slaves and fallen women who fornicated; very rarely were free women guilty of that crime. After the conquest of Makkah, when the Prophet #% was taking pledges of allegiance from women, he mentioned that they must not associate any partner with Allah 3, and that they must neither steal nor fornicate. Upon hearing this, Hind bint ‘Utbah %, wife of Abu Sufyaan #, said in surprise, “And does a free woman fornicate?”

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Not all Arabs practiced the aforementioned evils. Many among them didn’t fornicate; some didn’t drink alcohol or needlessly shed blood; some would not even contemplate the idea of dealing in usury or stealing the wealth of an orphan. And to be fair, Arabs had many good qualities as well, which made them wellprepared for the duty of carrying the banner of Islam. Here are some of those good qualities:

1) A Natural Intelligence

This natural intelligence took on different forms. First, they had very powerful memories. Consider the vastness of their language. In Arabic, there are 80 words that mean “honey”; 90, that mean “fox”; 500, that mean “lion’’; 1000, that mean “camel,” and 1000 that mean “sword.” To be sure, to be able to memorize all of these words, Arabs had to have very strong memories.

Arabs were illiterate, yet they loved poetry as much as, or more than, any other literate and civilized people. But in order to preserve poetry, and in order to pass it down to posterity, they had to rely on verbal communication and on powerful memories to retain long poems. Their love of language, and lack of distractions, such as the mind-numbing television screen, further promoted the development of powerful memories.

Once they became Muslims, Arabs used this quality for the service of Islam. One should not be surprised, therefore, to learn that many of the Prophet’s Companions 4 memorized the Qur’an, and that some individuals among them memorized hundreds, or in some cases thousands, of Hadeeth narrations and then conveyed them to the following generation of Muslims.

Asecond quality that Arabs possessed was an innocence that can be described as ignorance of falsehood. Arcane and convoluted philosophy, superstitions, legends, and complicated beliefs were far from the minds of Arabs. Their disbelief was not built upon a complicated system of false notions and premises, as was the case regarding the Romans, Greeks, and Persians. For truth to establish itself firmly in the mind of a person, falsehood must first be

eradicated. As for a Greek philosopher, for example, his falsehood was based on thousands of false premises, since his philosophy was so complicated and detailed. All of those false premises had to be destroyed in his mind before the truth could enter it. As for the average Arab, he had no complicated system of beliefs, and he even believed in Allah 3%. The few false notions he had about idol worship were easily refuted. Thus Arabs were naturally prepared to receive the truth - the message of Islam.

The quality of generosity was deeply rooted among Arabs. If an Arab owned nothing save a camel, and if a guest came to visit him, he would, without giving the matter a second thought, slaughter the camel and feed its meat to his guest. Of all Arabs, it was perhaps Al-Haatim At-Taaee who was most widely renowned for his generosity; stories of his generous acts were spoken of and lauded in gatherings all over Arabia.

Arabs would praise a man for having died on the battlefield, and would disparage and satirize a man who died peacefully on his bed. One Arab commented upon hearing about the death of his brother, “If he has been killed, his father, brother, and uncle before him have also been killed. By Allah, we do not die of natural causes.”

Nothing meant more to Arabs than individual honour and the honour of one’s clan and tribe. If anyone dared to attack their honour, they would defend it with their very lives. Although some Arabs fought for inconsequential reasons, and others fought for evil ends, many Arabs fought to uphold justice, very often not for themselves but for the weak, the old, and the helpless. They would consider it a blemish on their character if they didn’t help the oppressed or ill-treated person who came to them seeking their help and protection.

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4) Love of freedom, and hatred of subjugation and humiliation

For the most part, the major empires of the time - the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire - did not interfere in the lives of Arabs. The wide desert of the Peninsula was the home of the Arab, who loved freedom and was not under the direct control of any king or ruler. His honour meant more to him than his very life. If anyone dared to humiliate him, he wouldn’t think twice about killing him.

The following is an example, albeit an extreme one, of that love of honour and freedom in action. ‘Amr ibn Hind was the king of AlHeerah, and he once arrogantly said to his companions, “Do you know of any Arab whose mother would refuse to serve my mother?” They said, “Yes, the mother of ’Amr ibn Khulthoom, the poor poet.”

The king invited ‘Amr ibn Kulthoom to visit him, and ibn Khultoom’s mother to visit his mother. The king instructed his mother to ask the guest, upon the completion of their meal, to hand her a serving tray. The king’s mother did as she was told, and ‘Amr ibn Kulthoom’s mother answered, “Let the one who needs something get it herself!’ The king’s mother repeated her request and insisted that the guest serve her, but instead of doing as she asked, ‘Amr ibn Kulthoom’s mother yelled out, “What humiliation! O Taghlib (Taghlib was the name of her tribe).’” Her son heard her screaming. Feeling enraged at this affront to his honour and the honour of his mother, ‘Amr ibn Kulthoom took hold of a sword that was hanging nearby and killed the king with a single lethal blow to the head.

5) Truthfulness, keeping promises, and honesty

In general, Arabs avoided lying. This reality is perhaps best highlighted by a story involving Abu Sufyaan. When he was still a polytheist and a bitter foe of Islam, Abu Sufyaan traveled abroad and met Haraql, the leader of a foreign empire. Haraql

began to ask questions about the Prophet # and about the new religion in Makkah. Abu Sufyaan could have best served his purposes by lying about the Prophet #%, for to speak truthfully about him involved praising him for his good character, noble lineage, and truthful speech. And it was not politically wise to praise the Prophet #% in front of a foreign leader, who had the potential of embracing Islam and of wreaking havoc upon the Quraish. Nonetheless, Abu Sufyaan did speak truthfully about the Prophet 2; he later said, “Had it not been for (me being) shy of them ascribing a lie to me, I would have lied against him (i.e., against the Prophet #%).”"1]

Faithfulness was a quality that was deeply ingrained in the souls of Arabs; however, they often took faithfulness to an extreme, acting in an incorrect and needlessly violent manner. Islam directed their faithfulness in the right direction. No matter how faithful one of them was to his relative or friend, Islam forbade him from supporting him if he was a wrongdoer. The Prophet 2 said, “Allah curses someone who supports (shelters, helps) a Muhdith (one who perpetrates vile deeds or introduces something new into the religion).”"!

The following story, which is set in pre-Islamic times, exemplifies how, no matter what the cost, an honourable Arab would remain true to his word. Al-Haarith ibn ‘Ibaad led an army that consisted of the various subtribes of the Bakr tribe; the goal of the expedition was to attack the Taghlib tribe, but Al-Haarith had a more personal goal in mind: To find and kill the leader of the Taghlib tribe, Al-Muhalhal, who had killed his son in a previous incident. Al-Haarith came across Al-Muhalhal and took him captive, but there was only one problem: He had never before seen Muhalhal, and so he didn’t recognize him. Al-Haarith said to his prisoner, “Tell me where Muhalhal ibn Rabee’ah is, and I will free you.”’ The prisoner said, “I have your promise (to free me) if I guide you to him.” Al-Haarith said, “Yes.” The prisoner said,

{) Saheeh Bukhaaree, “The Beginning of Revelation.” Hadeeth number: 7. !) Saheeh Muslim, “The Book of Sacrifices.” Hadeeth number: 1978.