Chapter 2 - Pre-Islamic Society

Arab in its absolute root refers to something that flows, something that
runs. It referred to clarity & speech. To speak clearly

Non-Arabs are called ajaam (someone who doesnt speak mute, or speaks
gibberish)
The word Arab itself is not used in the Quran in that form. Different forms
of Arab are used.

Arabiyoon, Arabi are extraction of Arab. Something thats Arab. These

terms are used in the Quran.
Orob someone whos loyal, loving, passionate in their love for someone
run like a river flows
Arabatoon a well thats overflowing
Arabat When something becomes chaotic & loses order.
When a stream runs/river runs, the waters flowing in all different directions,
not organized. Controlled chaos.
To a greater extent, all of these qualities describe these people. Theyre
articulate in speech & language, very passionate, had trouble containing
emotions/chaos, & had no established form of governance, economics, or
centralized religion
Arab race divided into 2 major categories

Ancient Arabs
Perished Arabs not a lot is known about them
Arabs who remained
Migrated Arabs epicenter was in Arabian Peninsula, but the Arabs in that
region migrated there from other regions
Migrated Arabs
Pure Arabs (modern day Yemen Yemen region)
There was a great flood in the Yemen, so some Arabs migrated to Hijaz due to
economic troubles
Arabized Arabs (musta araboon ones who became Arabs)
E.g. Ismail (as)
Someone whos not ethnically Arab became Arab
Vast majority of modern day Arabs are these kind of Arabs
Muhammad (saw) comes from the progeny of Arabized Arabs
Geography
From the northeast to mid & northwestern region, the Arabian Peninsula is
completely surrounded by water
Northern region of Arabian Peninsula borders Syria (Bilad al-Sham)
Arabian Peninsula is very internal
Only entrance to AP is thru land (Syrian desert). Hundreds/thousands of
miles of desert.
There were not a lot of foreign invasions
Have to travel thousands of miles of severe desert to get into AP, which left it

isolated from outside influences. Language, culture, & religion were not
influenced from external factors.
Hotbed for deep cultural tradition
Treasure of linguistic nuances
Arabian Peninsula also a very external region
Very exposed in terms of sea and ocean.
Served as a primary port to many key trading & traveling routes to key parts of
world
Epicenter for trade & business
Politics of Arabian Peninsula the surrounding regions of ancient Arabia
At the time of Prophets birth, Yemen (Hijaz) had been a battleground
between Christians & Jews for hundreds of years. They fought over the
kingship of Yemen.
Judaism found itself a home in Yemen
Christian kingdom in Abyssinia had backed Christians in Yemen. They came
in and took over Yemen Invasion of Elephants
Closer to the time of Prophethood, there was an uprising. A Persian influence
came into Yemen & backed some of the Jews & local Arab polytheist/idolworshipping tribes of Yemen. They were able to overthrow the Christian
Abyssinian rule of Yemen.
Because of this the Persian rule came into power. The local Arab tribes were
the ones put into power, but it was attributed back to the Persian Empire,
essentially an extension of the empire.
The last of the Persian rulers, Badhan, accepted Islam, so Yemen entered
Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet
The Prophet sent Ali bin Talib & Muadh bin Jabal to go into Yemen & teach
the people of Yemen about Islam.
Hera was another region to have an influence on ancient Arabia. Hera is the
ancient classical region (current day southern parts of Iraq)
Mostly a Persian influence, which remained during Prophets time
During the khilafa of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the local Arab tribes were able to
regain the region for themselves, but for only less than a year.
Syria classical region of Bilad al Sham toward the north
Mostly a Roman Christian influence
The northern regions of ancient Arabia were primarily Christian at the time.
This influence lasted until the khilafa of Umar ibn al-Khattab, when Islam
came into the region
The Arabian Peninsula did not have any centralized law
Lands ruled by tribal law. Lots of inner-tribal warfare
Tribal law similar to kingship
Chieftains rulings would be accepted & enforced like dictators rulings, no
questions
Tribal leadership would pass down the family lines
Because of tribal law, there was not a great preservation of your rights
If you were wealthy, influential, related to the tribal leaders, or had something
to offer to the leaders, then you were alright
If you belonged to a class of society that was out of favor, irrelevant, or not of
concern to the tribal leaders, then you did not enjoy a lot of rights & liberties

at the time
In the heart of Hijaz (Arabian Peninsula), there was no centralized law, but
they were the envy of other Arabs because no one treated them 2nd class
citizens

The Arabs of Hijaz had tribal wars but they also had complete autonomy &
were not subject to foreign invasions or rule
Rulers of al Hijaz were held in great esteem by the commoners. They were not
just seen as cultural, political, or economic leaders, but were also seen as
religious leaders
Leaders of the tribe (Banu Kinana of Quraysh) were seen as a
servant/custodian of the sacred house of the Kabah
Tribes actually fought over whod get to take care of the Kabah, give water to
the visitors
The tribal leader not only set laws & dictating rulings to people, youd also see
him walking around giving water to the hujjaz
Social life of Arabs consisted an interesting mix of different social
constructs
The Negatives

Lack of fair treatment. Slavery was prevalent. Slaves treated horribly, lesser
than animals
Women in pre-Islamic society had 2 opposite experiences

Women in pre-Islamic Arabia (X)

In certain social circles, women were treated as subhuman. They were a
commodity that would be passed on from family to family, man to man
In elite society (among families of tribal leaders), women held great esteem
They owned land & wealth (e.g. Khadijah)
They also played a critical role in politics of the region. Their opinions were
crucial to a lot of the major decisions/policies enacted (e.g. Hind bint Utba,
wife of Abu Sufyan was a key contributor to Battle of Uhud)
Money & leadership of tribes passed on through families. If youre born into
poverty, you most likely stayed there

Social statuses played a role in the moral/ethical culture

If you committed wrong to someone who was of higher social status than you,
then you would probably get killed whether your crime warranted that or not
If you committed wrong to someone who was of lower social status than you,
then you would probably get away with it
In terms of family, you had opposite extremes

In elite society, family is integral

Marriage was treated as very sacred
4 kinds of marriages existed in this society

Modern day type Muslim marriage

Marriage was not treated as sacred

There were lots of infidelity, & they were expected. Spouses would know about
each others infidelity & were cool with it
Communal fornication
No marriage. Woman would fornicate with a set group of men
After getting pregnant, the woman would designate the child to one of the
men, & the kid would be raised by that man
Straight up prostitution
Residences would be marked for attaining the services of a prostitute
Children of these women would be called walaad al zina & they had no status
in society. No one claimed them. These children lived a life of disgrace.
The Prophet said that the latter three forms of marriage have been
abolished by Islam. Only the first form of marriage is accepted and revered
The Positives

There was a deep emotional attachment to family relations, & emphasis on

being good to your kin.
The farther you went into tribal & nomad life, the more you found this
experience. Family relations were maintained as sacred.
Primary form of making a living at the time was rooted in trading &
business, especially with outside regions

There were not a lot of natural resources, so trade was essential the entire
economic structure of pre-Islamic Arabs was based on this
But because of the political instability, the economic situation would get
unstable. Bad economic situation led to political instability, & vice versa. It
was a vicious circle.
There was no middle class society of pre-Islamic Arabia.
You had the very elite, & the predominantly poor (the latter was more
common)
Hospitality was big deal, almost to a fault

There were no hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, so travelers were dependent

on hospitality of private homes
In the spirit of hospitality, people would often jeopardize their relations with
family
Negatives existed in culture of hospitality
They would even offer up their own spouses in the spirit of hospitality
They would enlist services of prostitutes for travelers
They would serve alcohol
Interesting linguistics:
Karaam to be noble, dignified. Also means grapes
Kareem a good noble host
Thus,serving grapes (wine) & being a good host went hand in hand
Sanctity of a persons word was absolute
People held their word. Since there was no law, no court, no judge, a persons
word was everything
Poverty was rampant, people phave nothing, so the only thing they have is
their honor

 Simplicity

Elites would have lot of materials, but leader found dignity & honor in
slaughtering & skinning his own animal & cooking/serving it to his people
They would sleep among their people by fire
Since theyre a passionate/chaotic people, Arabs admired serenity &
composure in people since they were hard to come by
Illiteracy was common among the pre-Islamic Arabs. Not even 20 literate
people within Makkah at the time of Prophets birth
In spite of this, there was a great premium placed on knowledge itself, which
was carried through oral tradition
When people would travel to other parts of the world & bring back any new
information astrology, economy, trade business agriculture, farming, history,
religion, the people would form circles around these individuals to get that
knowledge directly from them
At the same time, genealogy was an expertise of these Arabs
By the age of 4, a child could recite his own family tree going 20 generations
back
They would even memorize the genealogy of horses
Arabs prided themselves on their poetic & oratory skills
Battles would begin to display their eloquence
Their best poets would be sent to the middle to praise their own people &
degrade the others
Poetry would not just begin wars but would also end wars
Tribes would pride each other based on their poets
The tradition of hajj that existed in pre-Islamic era was a gathering when
they would have poetry competitions
Thered be a festival at Ukaadh, when all wars & differences would be placed
aside & the greatest poets of the land would gather outside of Makkah to hold
a grand poetry festival
This was where the king of poetry would be crowned for the year. This was a
big part of the culture of the time. Poetry was the law of the land.
The Prophet was not literate, but he was an extremely eloquent man
Whatever poetry was crowned to be the best of that competition, it would have
the honor of being hung on the Kabah or near the Kabah
These Hanging Poems were called Al-Muallaqat

One of the first things Allah commanded the Prophet (saw) to do was to
warn the people. To warn them of a danger/threat that is approaching.

Its like a person is walking & theres a ditch in their path. Its only a matter of
time before that person falls into the ditch, so you warn him to look out of

sincere honesty.
Paganism in Makkah

Ibrahim & his sons (as) followers were monotheistic (this was in Makkah).
After several generations had passed, idolatry was introduced to these people
in Makkah.
The very first person to introduce idolatry to Makkah was Amr bin Luhay, who
was a leader of his tribe & a very cultured traveler. He was from the tribe
Khuzai.
Amr bin Luhay traveled to Bilad al-Sham (Syria) & found the people there
worshipping idols. He brought back the idol Hubal (moon god) to Makkah &
said to Makkans, This is how people of that area worship. They claim to be
adherents of the previous prophets, & they claim to be good righteous people,
but they worship these idols. I think we should also worship these idols.
People look up to Amr bin Luhay, so they listen to him & start worshipping
idols. They go on to bring in different idols from different parts of the world &
start worshipping them.
A Hadith tells us that Amr bin Luhay was led by a jinn to Jeddah. The jinn
showed him where certain idols were buried. Amr uncovered 5 idols. These 5
idols were the same idols that the people of Nuh (as) used to worship.
Names of the 5 idols: Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuts, Yauq, & Nasr
1 Nuh said, My Lord, indeed they have disobeyed me and
followed him whose wealth and children will not increase
him except in loss. And they conspired an immense
conspiracy. And said, Never leave your gods and never
leave Wadd or Suwa or Yaghuth and Yauq and Nasr.
(Surat Nuh, 71:22-24)
2 Why mention these 5 idols by their names?
1 These are 5 idols that Arabs used to actively
worship
2 These 5 are mentioned among the hundreds of
thousands idols in Surat Nuh because they were
uncovered by Amr bin Luhay, & he knew of them
because of a jinn. The next surah after Surat Nuh is
Surat Al-Jinn, so theres a connection here.
Idol-worshipping (paganism) became widespread. It became the
predominant form of spirituality at the time.

Christianity & Judaism played minimal role in pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula.

Followers of those 2 religions were a minority in that region.
Christians were scattered.
1 You had neighboring regions (Bilad al Sham and
Ghassanid Empire)
2 Some Jewish tribes immigrated to A.P. but kept
themselves isolated
1 They didnt actively preach & seek converts
The pagan Arabs believed & acknowledged in the supremacy & divinity of
Allah, but still worshipped idols

Idols were intermediaries between people & Allah, to connect them back to

Allah
Different tribes had different main idols
Wadd worshipped by Banu Kalb in Murrah
Suwa worshipped by Banu Hamadan, etc.
Some idols had more significance than others. These idols would be placed in
strategic places around the Hejaz (satellite locations of the mini Kabah).
These idols had their own sanctuaries.
Al-Lat was worshipped by the people of Takhif, at Taif
Uzza was worshipped at a region called Nakhla, near Makkah
Manat was worshipped in Yathrib
Dhul Khasla was worshipped by tribe al Daus. This idol had a sanctuary called
al Kabah al Yamaniya
Falas was worshipped by the people of Taif.
Riyam was worshipped by the people of Yemen
Dul Kabat was worshipped by the people of Banu Bikr and Banu Taglib
There was an effort to replicate the same vibe that was present in terms of the
Kabah
Kabah was sacred placed where the supreme Allah was worshipped, & the
people wanted to venerate the 360+ idols there as well
People had idols within their homes, but different tribes would take main idols
& build a mini-Kabah for those idols. Would do tawaaf around the idols.
For Allah, they had Kabah. Now they need sanctuaries for 2nd tier Kabah.
They start to attach superstition, evil omens, spiritual significance, & other
practices to these idols
Allah has not appointed [such innovations as] bahirah or saibah or wasilah
or ham. But those who disbelieve invent falsehood about Allah, and most of
them do not reason. (Surat al-Maidah, 5:103)
Practices for the idols
Bahirah
Milk of she-camel solely designated as offerings for the idols. The milk of the
she-camel was off-limits for anything else.
Saibah
A she-camel that would be let loose. Cant be used for anything (food,
transportation)
This she-camel was to roam freely & was solely for the gods. No one else can
benefit from it.
Wasilah
A she-camel that was set free for idols, & would be the offspring of Sayiba
Ham
A male camel that would be used for the any work the idols needed
Would also be used to breed with Sayiba to give birth to Wasila
Hadith: Prophet (saw) tells us that the very first one to institute a lot of
these practices among these Arabs was Amr ibn Luhay. Amr ibn Luhay was
the first one to alter the deen of Ismail (as). Hes the one that came & erected
the idols to be worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs. He was the first one to
designate a she-camel for the milk of the idols. He was the first one to mark a
she-camel just for the gods. Etc.
- When they had to make major decisions, theyd gamble by launching marked

arrows. Whichever target the arrows hit or what direction the arrows flew or
where itd fall led to the basis of decision making

Sometimes would take a bird & release it for flight. The direction the bird flew
in would determine the decision
Al-maghreb root word is gharb. Gharb means to vanish, disappear

The direction of the west is called al-maghreb, because the sun

vanishes/disappears in the west
A crow in classical Arabic is called ghurab
For many societies throughout history (including pre-Islamic Arabia), the
crow has been a subject of much superstition, as an evil omen or bringer of
death because its a scavenger bird
When theyd see a crow fly, theyd believe death was coming, so theyd say
ghurab ghurab disappear, disappear. Dont want death to appear.
The pagans justification for worshipping the idols

We know we come from a tradition that tells us to worship one god, Allah.
Were okay with that. We still havent let go of Allah. We still worship &
believe in Allah.
The pagans introduced the idols as dignitaries/representatives of Allah. Each
idol was designated for different things, such as rainfall, child-bearing, crops,
etc. . Their belief was that Allah Himself put these idols in charge of different
things, thats why the idols are worthy of veneration & worship because they
channel to Allah.
But these idols eventually began to become the object of peoples sole worship,
so they ended up forgetting Allah. They ended up neglecting Allah.
Pagans also started indulging heavily into their idol-worshipping
They took some of these idols & said these are bigger idols, so they need to be
2nd-tier gods. They took those gods & designated sacred places of worship for
them, where people can go visit & do tawaf around them
Many Arabs referred to the Kabah in Makkah as Al-Kabah al Shamiya, the
Kabah in the direction of as-Sham (Syria), because there were other kabahs.
Superstition began to infiltrate into society
Kahin soothsayer. They claimed to know the will of the gods. They claimed
to have certain tricks, such as reading stars or certain incantations, or theyd
bless you on behalf of the gods.
If people wanted anything to be blessed, would go to Kahin
When Prophet first started preaching, he was looked at as a kahin
Very few people were also invested in astrology
Among the Arabs, a man named Abu Kabsha had travelled to other parts of
the world, & found people engaging in astrology. He brought back this
information to the Arabs & tried to bring in worship of the star Shiyara
1 Shiyara was worshipped based on the stars appearance,
pattern, visibility in the night sky, and whatever
constellation was visible at different times of the year,
decisions would be made, citing it as the will of the
gods.

2 Abu Kabsha was dismissed by the Arabs. Theyd not

accept this type of worship.
3 When the Prophet first brought his message, one of the
first accusations against him was Ibn Abi Kabsha. When
the Prophet told them to stop worshipping the idols, sun,
& moon and just worship one Allah alone, he was accused
of being ibn Abu Kabsha.
1 Abu Kabsha also tried to get us stop worshipping
idols & worship some star. Youre just like that guy.
Youre trying to stop us from worshipping idols &
worship your god.
Remnants of the teachings of the prophets of the past in present society
few things that the pagans were still doing correctly in terms of proper
worship

Still believe in Allah, with twisted mentality that idols went back to Allah
Kabah still seen as the supreme sacred place, the original house of Allah.
Theyd still go make pilgrimage (a distorted form of Hajj).
1 Kabah was seen as such a sacred place, that if you were not from
the Quraysh, you were seen as something filthy. If you were not
of the Quraysh & you wanted to make tawaaf, youd have to
purchase clothing from the Quraysh. For the Quraysh, it became
an opportunity for them to get rich. If pilgrims couldnt afford
the clothing, then theyd have to do hajj nude, because they
couldnt do it in their own clothing.
2 We make dhikr & dua when we do tawaaf, but the pagans would
whistle & clap as they did tawaaf.
There would be civil wars between tribes (for generations) to be caretakers
of the Kabah. Even with the good that remained with them from the original
practices have been twisted.

Because Quryash were inhabitants of Makkah & caretakers of Kabah, & gave
water to the hajja, they held special place of leadership & reverence in the eyes
of all the other tribes. Quraysh was seen as superior since they were the hosts
of the hajja (51:00)
In pre-Islamic Arabian society, religion had a symbolic sacredness, but in
reality, it was a joke/mockery of religion.

If 2 tribes were at war with each other, & the fighting approached a sacred
month(s), then they would cease their fighting for that sacred month
If war was about to be over (one tribe was about to crush the other tribe, has
the upper hand), but a sacred month was fast approaching, then theyd delay
the month & mark & observe the unholy months so that the fighting can
continue without pausing for the holy months.
1 E.g. September (regular month) would be followed by
November (regular month), while October (sacred
month) would be skipped & observed later.
2 So you can imagine that people had a hard time keeping
track of the time, switching months all the time
A man named Assayib bin Abdullah had constructed an idol. He carved it &

worshipped it along with his family & rest of his tribe.

In order to honor this idol, hed milk the she-camels that were designated for
the idols. Every day, hed bring the milk to the idol & pour the milk on the idol
as an offering to the idol.
At night, dogs would come & drink the milk & lick the idol. Theyd also urinate
on the idol.
Banu Hanifa made an idol out of hais (a type of halwa/cake/sweet)
They carved an idol out of a type of cake (made out of dates, fat of animals)
Theyd worship the idol until it rotted, insects ate it
A drought hit the region. People eventually got hungry enough to eat that idol
A poet saw the people eating the idol & said in poetry: The people of the
Hanifa ate their raab. In a time of severe starvation and drought. They were
not afraid of their lord, & how horrible of a followers were these people & how
pathetic their raab was that eating the idol didnt strike fear into their hearts