TOPIC 6

THE STATUS OF ARAB ISLAND DURING PRE-ISLAM ERA

THE LIFE OF PROPHET MOHAMMED, MAY ALLAHS PEACE AND PRAYERS BE UPON HIM BEFORE ISLAM

Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, you should be able to: Give the geographical situation of the Arabia land. Explain why the Arabia land is strategic throughout history. Describe the Arab peoples origin. Understand the socio-political as well as religio-economic status of the Arab in the preislamic era. Explain the story of the Prophets birth, his name and family background. Describe how the Prophet lived as a double-orphan since his childhood. Explain the circumstances of the Prophets journey for trade outside the Qurayshite land. To describe the Prophets relationship with Khadijah before and after their marriage. Realized the Prophets fidelity to Khadijah whereby he did not marry any other woman till her death. Understand that it is Islamic and encouraged that a woman proposes marriage to a man if she appreciates his piety and noble character.

1. Introduction Arab peninsula is linked to Asia, Africa, and Europe by both land and sea. In ancient times, it was surrounded by the so-called civilized world of that time namely the Egyptian civiliz ation, the Phoenician and Assyrian civilizations, the Babylonian civilization, the Persian civilization, and the Indus civilization. It remained strategically and commercially important throughout history till today to its geographical situation. Despite this strategic position, the people of Arabia were everything but civilized. Their morals were corrupted and their tribes were in constant war with one another whereby thousands of lives were lost for most the case an insignificant incident. Idol-worship was the norm and even the Kabah that was erected in order to worship Allah alone was house for about three hundred sixty idols that were worshipped instead of/or besides Allah. It was in this situation of darkness and moral decadence in the Arab peninsula and the whole world in general that Allah with His Infinite Mercy for humanity sent a prophet to call people back to pure monotheism Oneness of Allah. A man from themselves who was known for his noble lineage and good character was sent to them as a mercy for the all universe. This chapter covers the status of Arabs before Islam in its socio-geographical, politicoeconomics, and religious dimensions and the life of the prophet sent to them before he receive Divine Revelation.

2. The status of Arab Island during pre-Islam era 2.1 Arab Island The Arab Island is linked to Africa by the Sinai desert and Egypt and the other three sides are joined by waters (the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea). Its weather is very hot and also very cold depending on the seasons of the year. In Syria and some parts of Iraq the temperature went below zero in winter. In ancient times, it was surrounded by the so-called civilized world of that time namely the Egyptian civilization, the Phoenician and Assyrian civilizations, the Babylonian civilization, the Persian civilization, and the Indus civilization. It was even mentioned that Semitic emigrants from this region participated in founding some of the above-mentioned civilizations1. It was in the Arabia, especially in Mecca, that the Kabah was erected by Ibraheem and his son Ismael by the command of Allah. This Sacred House of Allah transformed the city from a sterile and desert place to a religio-commercial center and an attraction for international trade. The Arab land was demographically home for two kinds of population: the relatively civilized societies (hadhr) and the nomadic and wandering groups (Badw).

2.2 Arab Historically, Arab people belong to two large categories: the extinct Arabs (al-Arab al-Bidah) and the surviving Arabs (Al-Arab al-Baquiyyah). Al-Arab al-Baidah are Arab people who
1

Ali, Muhammad Mohar. The Bibliography of the Prophet and the Orientalists. Madianh: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1997. P. 30.

existed in antiquity and have completely gone out of existence and some of them were mentioned to us in the Holy Quran. They include people such as the Ad, and the Thamuud, the Tasm, the Jadis, the Amlaq who have no survivors. Prophet Huud (pbuh) was sent to the Ad who lived in Hadramaut region whereas Prophet Salih (pbuh) was sent to the Thamuud who lived in north Arabia (Al-Hijr region)2. The surviving Arabs had two divisions: the Indigenous Arabs (al-Arab al-Aribah) and the Naturalized Arabs (al-Arab al-Mustaribah). The indigenous Arabs descended from Qahtan and therefore were labeled Qahtanite Arabs and lived in Yaman. They were the ones who founded the Sabaean (the Sabaeans were mentioned in the Quran) and Himyarite kingdoms and their civilizations. From ancient times, the Qahtanite Arabs left Yaman and established themselves in different parts of the Arabia land. One important tribe cited by historians is the Azd which had two main branches: Banu Thalabah ibn Amr (the sons or descendants of Thalabah ibn Amr) and Banu Harithah ibn Amr (the sons or descendants of Harithah ibn Amr). The Banu Thalabah ibn Amr established themselves in Madina and they were the ancestors of the two important tribes of this noble city Aws and Khazraj who were the famous ansar the Helpers of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Banu Harithah ibn Amr lived in Hijaz where they were known as Banu Khuzaah and later on occupied Mecca dislocating Banu Jurhum who were there since the establishment of the city because they were the ones who asked Hajars permission to settle there near the water of Zamzam.

Ali, Muhammad Mohar. The Bibliography of the Prophet and the Orientalists. Madianh: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1997. P. 31.

The Naturalized Arabs (al-Arab al-Mustaribah) were the descendants of Prophet Ismael ibn Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon them). They were living in Mecca since the time of their ancestors Ismael and his mother Hajar who were brought there by Prophet Ibraheem when his first wife Sarah began getting jealous of them. So, these Naturalized Arabs were at Mecca long time before the arrival of the Qahtanites in the region. They are Semitic Arabs and are called Naturalized Arabs because their ancestors left the land for a long time before coming back.

2.3 The social and political status for Arab The Arab land was demographically home for two kinds of population: the relatively civilized societies (hadhr) and the nomadic and wandering groups (Badw). The social system for both of them was tribalism. A tribe is a large group of people with one common and distant ancestor and it is composed of clans and each clan contains a group of related families with a common ancestor. It is amazing to find that even today the Arab people are preserving their tribes origin despite the existence of a modern nation. They were able to do so because they attached special importance and emphasis on the preservation of family genealogies. The importance attached to genealogy led to the rise of a class of specialists called nussab who collected, preserved and transmitted the genealogies of tribes, clans and families3 (the first Calife Abu Bakr (r.a) was a nussab at Mecca). The tribe for them was like a state or a nation in our modern times. It guaranteed the individuals identity, rights, duties, safety, and security. Every individual should belong to a tribe
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Ali, Muhammad Mohar. The Bibliography of the Prophet and the Orientalists. Madianh: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1997. P. 44.

in order to be safe and respected and even an outsider or stranger should imperatively integrated a tribe as an ally (halif) or as a protected person (mawla). Otherwise he could easily be wronged by anyone without any problem. The Arab societies at that period of time (before Islam) were home for all kinds of social problems. Drinking, gambling, robbery against trading caravans, war for minor incident were common happenings in those days. They even used to bury their baby girls alive for fear of poverty and shame. Important conflicts and wars were called the days of glory and bravery or Ayyam al-Arab and were remembered and cherished. They practiced unlimited polygamy and even a kind of polyandry whereby a woman was used by many men, generally less ten, and if she delivered a child she just named anyone of them as the father and the case is closed. Women were inherited as possessions and we have seen earlier the Arab people of the pre-islamic era even buried their little daughters alive for fear of poverty or shame. Nobility in birth, age, wisdom personal qualities are the criteria that determined the leadership of the tribe. However, all the important decisions regarding the life of the tribe are discussed in consultation with the leaders of the clans constituting the tribe and tasks and duties are shared among the clans. One important concept for the Arab societies at that time and even toady is that of muruah which refers to many qualities such as bravery in war, excessive generosity, total fidelity, and eloquence. Poetry was greatly valued and the poets were playing the role of todays mass media and public relations practitioners. They promoted the virtues of their tribes and tried to damage the image of the tribes that were enemies to theirs. They even organized annual competitions where every poet supported by his tribe and its allies presents his masterpiece at the fair of Okhaz (the famous souk Okhaz).
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2.4 The economy status The economic life of the Arabs was closely related to their demographical divisions. The settled people (hadhr) were traders and merchants and practiced agriculture in the fertile oases whereas the nomadic tribes (badw) were constantly moving from place to place with their sheep, goat, and camels for pastures and water. Treaties were signed between the two distinct populations to guarantee the safety of the caravans and that of the nomadic peoples animals while passing by other tribes territories. The inhabitants of the Arabia were natural traders thanks to their climatic conditions and their geographical situation. Mecca, for example, was both a religious and a commercial centre its inhabitants, especially the Meccan leaders, were traveling forth and back with their caravans to Yaman, Abyssinia, Syria, and Hira-Persia. Even the Prophet Muhammad himself traveled to Syria, before he received revelation, leading Khadijas (r.a) caravan while he was about twentyfive years old only. The goods exchanged were mainly the flesh of camel, goat, sheep and their milk and indeed the dates. The Arabia land is known since antiquity for being the land of dates which are of different varieties nearly one hundred or above. Moreover, fertile places like Taif produced wheat, millet, gum-arabic, grapes, apples, melons and alike. Some rice was produced in Oman and Al-Hasa and it was even reported that the English word rice is in fact a corruption of the Arabic word ruzz4.

Ali, Muhammad Mohar. The Bibliography of the Prophet and the Orientalists. Madianh: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1997. P. 49.

The camel was the most cherished wealth of the Arab people. It was what we can call in using our contemporary language an all-in one animal: it provides them with meat and milk, leather for coverings and tents and it was the main means of transportation that carried their goods in caravans through the desert. It can live for days and weeks without drinking water. Therefore, no wonders the mans wealth was counted by the number of camels he possessed and that many exchanges were done in camels.

2.5 The religious status Surrounded by the so-called civilized people who are immersed in polytheism, the Arabs suffered from an idol-worship that seemed to surpass that found in pagan Hindu India. They worshipped everything else but Allah. It was narrated that polytheism was introduced to Mecca at the time of the occupation of Banu Khuzaah by their leader Amr ibn Luhayy. According to Ibn Hisham, Amr went to Syria and saw the people worshiping idols there. When he asked why, they answered that these make rains fall for them, grant them victory over their enemies. Very impressed, Amr asked them to give him one of their idols for him and his people to worship it back home. They gave him the idol of Hubal (a big statue in human form) which he placed near the Kabah and told his people to worship it and they obeyed him because he was their leader5. This was how idols found their way to the Kabah which was erected by the father of the Prophets and the father of pure monotheism ibraheem and his son Ismael in order to worship Allah alone without associating anything to him. Subsequently, polytheism spread among people
5

Ali, Muhammad Mohar. The Bibliography of the Prophet and the Orientalists. Madianh: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1997. P. 50.

of the Arabia land till every tribe, clan, and even family had its won private idol apart from those in the Kabah that reached three hundred sixty idols. Besides the worship of idols, some religions like Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Sabaism found their way to the Arabia land even though a very limited number of the Arab people embraced these religions which are actually falsified by their own adherents.

3. The life of the Prophet Mohammed, May Allahs peace and prayers be upon him, before Islam 3.1 His born, name, and family Mohammed (the name means highly praised) was born in Mecca in the desert of the Arabia on 12 Rabi al-Awal (2 August A. D. 570 or 20th or 22nd of April, 571 AC depending on the sources). After delivering him, his mother informed his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib who took the baby boy to the Kabah where he prayed to Allah as a sign of gratitude to Him for granting him for this gift of grandson. His grandfather gave him an uncommon name among the Arabs at that time (Mohammed) and circumcised him on the seventh of his birth as it was the practice of Quraysh people. He was nursed by a woman from Bedouin named Haleemah bint Abu Dhuayyib who took him because she did not find any another baby to take for nursing that year but Mohammed was later on a blessing for her and all her family and she even tried to keep him with her as long as she can. His full name is Mohammed ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab ibn Murrah ibn Kab ibn Luayy ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr ibn Malik ibn
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an-Nadr ibn Kinanah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Mudrikah ibn Ilyas ibn Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Maadd ibn Adnan and the lineage of Adnan goes back to the Prophet Ismael ibn Ibraheem6 (peace be upon both of them). Fihr was the tenth in the line of descent from Adnan and he was known as Quraysh and the Quraysh tribe was named after him. It was Qusayy who established the Quraysh at Mecca. The Prophet Mohammeds mother was Ameenah, daughter of Wahb the leader of the Banu Zuhrah. Abdul-Muttalib had ten sons and Abdullah was the tenth and the noblest and his father married him to the best known woman in the Quraysh at that time Ameenah because of her lineage. Abdaullah died and left his wife pregnant and she became the mother of the Messenger of Allah. It was narrated that she witnessed many signs and indications that her son would be an important figure in the years to come. Abdullah died on his way back from a trade trip to Syria at Madinah where he was buried and left a pregnant wife with a child who became orphan before his birth.

3.2 The death of his mother and the guarantee of his grandfather At the age of six, the Messenger of Allah also lost his mother. She died on their way back from Yathrib (another name Madinah) where she took her orphan to visit her relatives. Her death occurred at a place between Mecca and Madinah called Al-Abwa. The now double orphan felt very lonely and was taken by his grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib who was then about 80 years old, who took good care of him. The old man was very happy and proud of his grandson in whom he
6

Sayyed, Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi. 1993. Muhmmad, the last prophet: a model for all time. Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, p. 21.

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saw the promise of greatness and nobility and he even frequently took him and seated on his own seat in the Kabah. At the age of eight, the Messenger of Allah was again faced with another sad event. His beloved grandfather Abdul-Muttalib, who was already advanced in age, passed away. But before his death he put the double-orphan boy under the care of his uncle Abu Talib who was a full brother of Abdullah. His uncle took good care of him as his own son and the Prophet grew up with his cousins and best friends since childhood Jafar and Ali.

3.3 The guaranty of his uncle Abu Talib and the first trip to Asham Mohammed lived as a member of Abu Talibs household till the age of twenty-five. As a boy he used to rear sheep in the valleys of Mecca for its people in order to earn something and help his uncle Abu Talib who was burdened by a large family charge. This was reported by one of his famous later on companions Abu Hurayrah. At the age of twelve, the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) traveled for trade to Syria with his uncle. At Busra in Syria, a monk named Baheerah and wellversed in Christianity noticed the Qurayshite boy. He asked Abu Talib about the boy and he replied that: he is my son. The monk said: he is not your son because this boys father could not be alive. Then Abu Talib told him that Mohammed is his nephew and his father was dead. The monk Baheerah advised Abu Talib: Take your nephew back to your country and protect him

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form the Jews people because if they see him and know about him what I know, they will harm him. He is destined for a great future, therefore take him home now7. The Prophet Mohammed was protected by Allah the Almighty as he grew up and thus abstained himself from the vices of the Jahiliyyah (the pre-islamic era of darkness and disbelief in Allah). He was of noble character and the people of Mecca even gave him the name trustworthy long before he received Divine Revelation. He revered family ties and v oluntary liked to share the burdens of others. Such reputation and public recognition of his noble character were the reason of his second journey to Syria at about twenty-five years old. A rich widow Qurayshite woman named Khadijah assigned him to lead her caravan of trade to Syria. Khadijah was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad ibn Abd al-Uzza ibn Qussay ibn Kilab ibn Murrah. Their ancestries met in Qussay. She was married and her two husbands died and left with her children. Even though she was about forty years old, she was still very healthy and beautiful and above living a pure and chaste life and was even named by her people AlTahirah which means the pure lady. Moreover, she was blessed with wisdom and an understanding of men and affairs. She approached the Prophet Mohammed through his uncle Abu Talib to lead her trade caravan to Syria with double remuneration. He accepted and traveled with her servant named Maysara as an assistant. One again, another monk living at the same place as the previous Baheerah recognized the signs of future prophethood in Mohammed (pbuh) and spoke to him and even to his assistant

Ibn Kathir, Imam Abi al-Fidaa Ismail. Stories of the Prophets = Qissasul anbiya. 2001. Trans. Sayed, G, Tamir, Abu A.,& Muhammad, A. M. Al-Mansoura: Dar Al-Manarah. P. 366.

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Maysara about it. The trade journey was very successful with tremendous profits. Khadijah became more captivated by the personality of the Prophet and the successful business relationship turned out to be the foundation of a happy and successful husband and wife relationship.

3.4 His marriage to Khadijah Khadijahs assistant Maysara also informed her about the monks remark about Mohammed (pbuh) and about he himself noticed of the Prophets noble character and piety because travel with someone is one of the ways of discovering who he really is. Even though she had turned down the proposals of several rich and noble of Quraysh, she herself decided to propose marriage to the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). She sent for him and when he came she said to him: O son of my uncle*, I love you for your kinship to me, and for that you are ever in the center; and I love you for your trustworthiness and for your nobility and truthfulness8. And she proposed marriage. The Prophet (pbuh) informed his uncles Abu Talib and Hamzah about Khadijahs proposal and they went together with him to Khuwaylid, Khadijahs father, asking her hand for marriage and the marriage was celebrated. Despite the disparity of age between them (he was twenty-five and she was forty), the marriage was very fortunate and successful. They lived
This is a way addressing people in Arabic language.
8

Ibn Kathir, Imam Abi al-Fidaa Ismail. Stories of the Prophets = Qissasul anbiya. 2001. Trans. Sayed, G, Tamir, Abu A.,& Muhammad, A. M. Al-Mansoura: Dar Al-Manarah. P. 380.

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happily for another twenty five years till her death and she was the first and only woman he married till she passed away. The marriage gave him the loving heart of a woman (he missed the love and affection of women because double-orphan since he was six years old) who financially assisted and affectionately console him in his despair and time of difficulties. She was the mother of all the Prophets children except his son Ibraheem who was from Mariyyah. They were Al-Qasim, At-Tahir, At-Tayyib, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, and Fatimah. All the Prophets male children died: Al-Qasim, At-Tahir and At-Tayyib died before Islam and Ibraheem died during the Islamic era. However, all the daughters lived till the time their father received Divine Revelation, they embraced Islam, and migrated with their father to Madinah. May Allah be pleased with our mother Khadijah (the wives of our Prophet are the mothers of the believers as stated in the Holy Quran), the first human being to accept the call of Islam.

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REFERENCES Ibn Kathir, Imam Abi al-Fidaa Ismail. Stories of the Prophets = Qissasul anbiya. Trans. Muhammad Mustapha, Azhar Unversity. From: www.islambasics.com Ibn Kathir, Imam Abi al-Fidaa Ismail. Stories of the Prophets = Qissasul anbiya. 2001. Trans. Sayed, G, Tamir, Abu A.,& Muhammad, A. M. Al-Mansoura: Dar Al-Manarah. Ali, Muhammad Mohar. The Bibliography of the Prophet and the Orientalists. Madianh: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, 1997. Sayyed, Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi. 1993. Muhmmad, the last prophet: a model for all time. Leicester: UK Islamic Academy.

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