Arabia Before Islam - 3 (The Characteristics of the Arab People)

Islam emerged in a region known as Hijaz, inhabited by the descendants of Ismael and Banu Kinanah. These people had access only to limited resources, limited habitable area, cattle, pasture and oases. Everything was in short supply. So they could afford to lead an extremely simple life.

Due to these constraints they often waged war, sometimes to take possession of the limited reservoirs of water and pastures. Nevertheless, these Bedouins had noble human qualities. For they lived very far from the artificial world of civilization. The atmosphere of nature served as a vast school of nature for them. They never led the artificial life of the cities and their life was devoid of all formalities. This extremely simple, austere life made them realists.

All this was responsible for producing in them the qualities which the Arabs call al muruuwah, manliness, which meant to them acknowledging the truth, speaking nothing but the truth, fulfilling promises, honouring obligations, supporting the oppressed, boldness, noble character, patience, generosity and hospitality. When this high level of humanity was combined with the truth of Islam, they were enabled to perform great feats. It was this truth which has been thus expressed in a hadith:

“Those who were good people in the days of ignorance will also be good people during Islam.”

In ancient Arabia despite their battles, wars, conflicts and tensions, their vows of revenge, which went on for generation after generation, their mentality, their thinking, their aptitude for acknowledging the truth were fully preserved.

For instance, once in ancient Makkah two groups: were ready to fight. At this juncture, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb intervened and said to them: “If you waged a war so many people would be killed belonging to both the groups. So should I not tell you something better?” They agreed with him. Then Abu Sufyan said: “What has passed has passed, now you must make peace.” Both the parties accepted his advice there and then and made peace. This was in spite of the fact that there were people who used to go on fighting for as long even as 50 years to avenge a murder or an insult or any injustice done to them.

Due to the paucity of economic resources, there were people who indulged in looting. But even these people were of a noble character. Once a Bedouin wanted to robe a woman who was all alone in her tent decked with jewellery. But he did not enter the tent. He stood at the door and commanded her to take off all her jewellery and hand it over to him.

While the woman was taking off her jewellery, the man stood at the door with his back towards it, so that he did not catch sight of the woman while she was taking off her jewellery.

These Arabs had not been idol worshippers since ancient times. Idolatry was only a later introduction into their lives through foreign influence. The idols were imported into Arabia. So there was no ideology behind this idol worship. It was thus of a superficial nature, having no deep ideological or philosophical root. For instance, once an Arab wanted to take revenge for his father. So he went to an idol called Dhul Khalasa for divining arrows. But the answer that came from the idol was not in the affirmative. This enraged the Arab and, addressing the idol, he uttered these words: O Dhul Khalasa, had your father been killed you would never have uttered this falsehood that the oppressor should not be punished.”

Similarly, another Arab led his camels to his idol Sad in order to seek its blessing. It was a tall idol, and was covered in blood due to the sacrifices made to it. On seeing this sight, the camels were frightened and ran away. When the Arab saw the flight of his camels, he hit the idol with a stone, abusing him:

“May God destroy you. I had come to seek your blessings and you made my camels run away.” 

 Of these ancient Arabs there were a sizeable number who were known as Hanif. These people were truth seekers and they shunned idolatry. They lived an aloof, social life. They used to say:

“O, God, I do not know how You should be worshipped. Had I known, I would have certainly worshipped you in that manner.”

These circumstances of the ancient Arabs and their moral qualities had a close affinity with Islam. These people true in nature, were as if potential converts of Islam. Therefore when the Prophet of Islam began his preaching in 610, these Hanifs took no time in responding to his call and became his devoted companions, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Qahafa being one of those Hunafa. What distinguished the Arabs from others was that they could not afford to reject a truth when it had become clear to them. That is why in the initial stage of the Prophet’s call, due to some misunderstanding, a number of them turned against the Prophet Muhammad. But when finally they learned that what the Prophet was telling them was nothing but the truth, they took no time in entering the fold of Islam. There are a number of incidents in the books of Seerah to this effect.

Thus the sending of the Final Prophet was not without reason. It was a well-planned decision of God which He in His Own knowledge decreed. These Arabs were the living people who were selected by God to lend full support to His final Prophet, so that he might fulfill the divine mission.  

Arabia Before Islam - 1

WITH an area of 1,20,000 square miles the land of Arabia is the largest peninsula in the world. It has the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Adan to the south-east and the rivers Euphrates and Tigris and the Persian Gulf to the north-east. It thus occupies a unique position. It is situated in Asia, yet only the narrow Red Sea divides it from Africa and by just passing through the Suez Canal, one reaches the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. It is thus at the centre of three continents, yet it is apart from all of them.

Arabia being a very hot and dry country, one third of it is desert. It is strange that a land surrounded by water on three sides, and with only a narrow strip of land to the north, has practically no river of its own, except for small streams here and there, which soon dry up in the hot desert.

Rain too is scarce. The rains come in torrents in spring, but the water does not stay. It is lost in the sand as quickly as it comes. There being no dependable rainy reason, which is necessary for agriculture, this vast land, about a thousand kilometres wide and about the same in length, is neither fertile nor cultivable.

Yemen, the original home of the Semites, is the only exception, in that it is fertile and enjoys a rainy season. Besides this, the rest of the peninsula consists of barren valleys and deserts. Due to the lack of vegetation, life here can be only that of the desert. The camel, the only means of transportation is indispensable, for a desert life demands continuous movement. The desert dwellers must continually go in search of pastures, which are scarce and thin, and soon cropped bare. The pastures turn green around spring, watered by springs which form in the wake of occasional rainfalls. In such an infertile country where no agriculture has ever been possible, the only produce is dates. In the context of this civilization, Yemen has always been very developed in terms of agriculture. Showing great intelligence the Yemenis invented ways of saving rain water from running down to the sea so that artificial irrigation could be carried out. Moreover, they built the famous dam of Maarib by changing the natural course of the water. This water is gathered in a 400 meter wide valley between two mountains by constructing a dam with gates at the narrowest point in the valley.

Then this water is divided into many streams and spread over a wide area of plains. It is almost like the Nile in the dam area in Upper Egypt. In this way they have contrived to have a controlled distribution of their water. The fertility of their land has gone on increasing and the people of Yemen have become very prosperous.