Pre-Islamic Arabia: An Introduction
In the vast annals of history, the Arabian Peninsula witnessed a remarkable epoch known as Pre-Islamic Arabia. This era extended from the 6th century CE to the 7th century CE. It holds great significance in understanding the cultural, social, and religious landscape that ultimately set the stage for the advent of Islam. In this post, we embark on a journey to explore the intriguing aspects of Pre-Islamic Arabia, shedding light on its civilizations, tribes, religious beliefs, trade routes, and contributions to the world
The Arabian Peninsula: Geographical Overview
Early Inhabitants and Tribes
Pre-Islamic Arabia was home to diverse communities, including ancient Semitic tribes such as the Qedarites, Nabateans, and Lihyanites. These tribes engaged in agriculture, herding, and trade, establishing important caravan routes that connected different regions.
The Bedouin Lifestyle and Tribal System
Religious Beliefs and Practices
Poetry and Oral Tradition
The rich tradition of poetry and oral storytelling was highly regarded in Pre-Islamic Arabia. Poets held esteemed positions. They served as chroniclers of history, entertainers, and influencers of public opinion. Their eloquent verses captured the essence of tribal life, love, valor, and lamentation.
Contributions to Science and Knowledge
Arts and Architecture
The Status of Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia
The women in Pre-Islamic Arabia held varying degrees of social and economic independence. Some enjoyed prominent roles as businesswomen and poets. While others faced societal restrictions. But the arrival of Islam would later bring significant reforms to the status and rights of women.
Decline and Transformation
The decline of Pre-Islamic Arabia can be attributed to various factors, including political conflicts, external invasions, and social unrest. The emergence of Islam in the 7th century CE marked a transformative period, ultimately shaping the course of Arabian history and leaving an indelible impact on the world.
Social Conditions in Pre-Islamic Arabia
Types of Marriages
Safiur Rehman Mubarakpuri, a great scholar of the contemporary period, describes the narration on the authority of Ayesha (R.A) that stated, in pre-Islamic Arabia, there were four types of marriages:
First Type Marriage
Second Type Marriage
The second type of marriage was that in which the husband would send his wife to cohabit with another man to become pregnant.
Third Type Marriage
Fourth Type Marriage
In the fourth type of marriage, many men would have sexual intercourse with a woman (a whore). These women used to put a certain flag at their doors to invite the men for cohabitation. After giving birth to a child, she called and collected all those men. And finally, the decision took place by a female soothsayer. She told the name of the child’s father among them who took the responsibility of the child as a father.
But, after the emergence of Islam, all these types of marriage were canceled except the first one; i.e. marriage of a man to a woman. Likewise, there was no limitation on the number of wives in pre-Islamic Arabia. They could marry two sisters at the same time, or the wives of their fathers if divorced or widowed. Moreover, adultery was very common among all the social classes except some noble and dignified men and women. The freed women lived a better life than female slaves.
Condition of offspring
There was a lot of variance in the society regarding the offspring too. On one side, some Arabs loved children very much and kept them dear to their hearts and paid full concentration on their nurturing. On the other hand, some others buried their female infants alive due to embarrassment and expenditure. Besides the female infants, male children were also killed due to the fear of poverty and hardship, but it was not common all over Arabia. Along with that, blood relationships and tribal pride were the backbones of the administration of Arabian society. They have used a proverb in this regard, i.e. “support your brother whether he is an oppressor or opposed.” As well, inter-tribal connections were very week, and mostly a war-like situation had continued among them.
Source to Get Water in Pre-Islamic Arabia
In Mecca, the source to get water for the sustenance of life was through the digging of wells. Ibn Hisham demonstrated that the Quraish had already dug several wells before the digging of Zamzam through Abdul Muttalib in Mecca, like, Abd Shams bin Abd Manaf had dug the well “al-Tawiyyi” (الطَّويّ), Hashim bin Abd Manaf dug the well “Badhdhar” (بَذَّر), Umayyah bin Abd Shams dug the well “al-Hafr” (الحَفْر), Banu Asad bin Abdul Uzza dug the well “Suqiyyah” (سُقيَّة), Banu Abdul Dar dug the well “Umm Ahrad” (أُمَّ أحْراد), Banu Jumaḥ dug the well “al-Sumbulah” (السُّنْبلة), etc.
There were some other wells that had been dug outside Mecca which were very old. From the period of Murrah bin K‘ab and Kilāb bin Murrah, and the early people of Quraish used to draw water from these wells. These were: the well “Rumm” (رُمّ) of Murrah bin K‘ab and the well “Khumm” (خُمّ) of Kilāb bin Murrah. But after digging the well of Zamzam, it took superiority above all the earlier wells. The pilgrims used its water to drink. Moreover, the people paid attention to it because it had its connection with Ismail bin Ibrahim (PBUH).
Economic Condition in Pre-Islamic Arabia
Trading and Commerce in Pre-Islamic Arabia
Trade played a pivotal role in Pre-Islamic Arabia, facilitated by the strategic position of the Arabian Peninsula. The cities of Mecca, Medina, and Ta’if emerged as crucial commercial centers, bustling with trade caravans and merchants from far-reaching lands.
Generally, the people engaged themselves in the occupation of trade in Pre-Islamic Arabia for their basic needs and to survive life. But, trade could not be easy if there were no security of caravan routes and inter-tribal peaceful co-existence. Then again, the Arabians were always in a state of war except during the sacred months during which they held their assemblies of ‘Ukāẓ, Dhul Majāz, Majannah, etc. At that time, Arabians were not familiar with industry except the people of Yemen, Hira, and the borders of Syria where the most common industries were knitting and tanning. However, within the peninsula, to some extent, there was a culture of farming and livestock industry. All the Arabian women were engaged in spinning. But the goods and assets were always vulnerable to war. The plight of poverty, hunger, and nudity was common in society.
However, trade played a central role in their `economic condition. In Mecca, the people who had high status in the society were mostly merchants, traders, and money-lenders, as Ibn Hisham stated that the people of Quraish were merchants. In fact, before the emergence of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself went on a commercial journey to Syria with his uncle Abū Ṭālib. He was also the trading partner of Khadījah (R.A). Besides that, the reason for the War of Fijār (حرب الفجار) as being the protection of a caravan carrying musk and brocade belonging to N‘umān bin al-Mundhir. Moreover, Abū Bakr Ṣiddīque (R.A) who was a noble and reputable person among the Quraish was also a merchant.
Slavery
Slavery was also an important part of the Arabian economy. Both male and female slaves were sold and bought in the markets. They did not have any right or value in society. They spent their lives for the sake of their owners and did whatever their masters wanted. Ibn Isḥāq discussed the incident of embracing Islam by Salmān Fārisī (R.A), that, he was the son of a Persian who was the mayor of his village. However, he ran away from his house for the sake of true religion. Meanwhile, in his quest for true religion, he met various Christian bishops. Then, unfortunately, he became the slave of a Jew who purchased him from a group of Arab merchants. After that, he made himself free from his owner on the compensation of three hundred date palm trees and forty ounces.
Similarly, Zaid ibn Ḥarithah was also a slave who was bought by Ḥakim ibn Ḥizam ibn Khuwailid from Syria. After that, he gifted him to his aunt Khadījah (R.A). Then, she presented him to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) after her marriage with him. Finally, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) freed and adopted him. Moreover, Bilāl (R.A) was the slave of Umayyah bin Khalaf. Later, he was freed by Abū Bakr Ṣiddīque (R.A). Along with him, Abū Bakr (R.A) emancipated six other slaves before the migration to Medina. But, after the advent of Islam, all these tyrannies and oppressions had been finished on the slaves, rather they had been emancipated by the believers for the sake of Allah.