The Sealed Nectar (5 page)

"All
?
has not instituted things like
Bahira
( a she- camel whose milk was
spared for the idols and nobody was allowed to milk it) or a
Sa’iba
(a she
camel let loose for free pasture for their false gods, e.g. idols, etc., and
nothing was allowed to be carried on it), or a
Wasila
(a she- camel set free
for idols because it has given birth to a she- camel at its first delivery and
then again gives birth to a she- camel at its second delivery) or a
H
?
(a
stallion- camel freed from work for their idols, after it had finished a number
of copulations assigned for it, all these animals were liberated in honour of
idols as practised by pagan Arabs in the pre- Islamic period). But those who
disbelieve, invent lies against All
?
, and most of them have no
understanding."
[Al- Qur'an 5:103]

All? also says:

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"And they say: What is in the bellies of such and such cattle (milk or foetus)
is for our males alone, and forbidden to our females (girls and women), but
if it is born dead, then all have shares therein."
[Al- Qur'an 6:139]

It has been authentically reported that such superstitions were first invented by ‘Amr bin Luhai. [Bukhari 1/499]

The Arabs believed that such idols, or heathen gods, would bring them nearer to All? , lead them to Him, and mediate with Him for their sake, to which effect, the Qur’? goes:

"We worship them only that they may bring us near to All
?
."
[Al- Qur'an 39:3]

and

"And they worship besides All
?
things that hurt them not, nor profit them,
and they say: These are our intercessors with All
?
."
[Al- Qur'an 10:18]

Another divinatory tradition among the Arabs was casting of
Azlam
(i.e. featherless arrows which were of three kinds: one showing ‘
yes
’, another ‘
no
’ and a third was blank) which they used to do in case of serious matters like travel, marriage and the like. If the lot showed ‘
yes
’, they would do, if ‘
no
’, they would delay for the next year. Other kinds of
Azlam
were cast for water, blood- money or showed ‘
from you
’,

‘
not from you
’, or ‘
Mulsaq
’ (consociated). In cases of doubt in filiation they would resort to the idol of Hubal, with a hundred- camel gift, for the arrow caster. Only the arrows would then decide the sort of relationship. If the arrow showed (from you), then it was decided that the child belonged to the tribe; if it showed (from others), he would then be regarded as an ally, but if (consociated) appeared, the person would retain his position but with no lineage or alliance contract. [Muhadrat Tareekh Al- Umam Al- Islamiyah 1/56; Ibn Hisham 1/152,153]

This was very much like gambling and arrow- shafting whereby they used to divide the meat of the camels they slaughtered according to this tradition.

Moreover, they used to have a deep conviction in the tidings of soothsayers, diviners and astrologers. A soothsayer used to traffic in the business of foretelling future events and claim knowledge of private secrets and having jinn subordinates who would communicate the news to him. Some soothsayers claimed that they could uncover the unknown by means of a granted power, while other diviners boasted they could divulge the secrets through a cause- and- effect- inductive process that would lead to detecting a stolen commodity, location of a theft, a stray animal, and the like. The astrologer belonged to a third category who used to observe the stars and calculate their movements and orbits whereby he would foretell the future.

[Mirqat Al- Mafateeh 2/2,3] Lending credence to this news constituted a clue to their conviction that attached special significance to the movements of particular stars with regard to rainfall. [Muslim with An- Nawawi 1/59]

The belief in signs as betokening future events, was, of course common among the Arabians. Some days and months and particular animals were regarded as ominous.

They also believed that the soul of a murdered person would fly in the wilderness and would never rest at rest until revenge was taken. Superstition was rampant.

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Should a deer or bird, when released, turn right then what they embarked on would be regarded auspicious, otherwise they would get pessimistic and withhold from pursuing it. [Bukhari with footnotes of Ahmad Ali Saharanpuri 2/851,857]

People of pre- Islamic period, whilst believing in superstition, they still retained some of the Abrahamic traditions such as devotion to the Holy Sanctuary, circumambulation, observance of pilgrimage, the vigil on ‘Arafah and offering sacrifices, all of these were observed fully despite some innovations that adulterated these holy rituals. Quraish, for example, out of arrogance, feeling of superiority to other tribes and pride in their custodianship of the Sacred House, would refrain from going to ‘Arafah with the crowd, instead they would stop short at Muzdalifah. The Noble Qur’? rebuked and told them:

"Then depart from the place whence all the people depart."
[Al- Qur'an 2:199]

[Ibn Hisham 1/199; Bukhari 1/226]

Another heresy, deeply established in their social tradition, dictated that they would not eat dried yoghurt or cooked fat, nor would they enter a tent made of camel hair or seek shade unless in a house of adobe bricks, so long as they were committed to the intention of pilgrimage. They also, out of a deeply- rooted misconception, denied pilgrims, other than Makkans, access to the food they had brought when they wanted to make pilgrimage or lesser pilgrimage.

They ordered pilgrims coming from outside Makkah to circumambulate Al- Ka‘bah in Quraish uniform clothes, but if they could not afford them, men were to do so in a state of nudity, and women with only some piece of cloth to hide their groins. All?

says in this concern:

"O Children of Adam! Take your adornment (by wearing your clean clothes),
while praying [and going round (the
Tawaf
of) the Ka‘bah].
[Al- Qur'an 7:31]

If men or women were generous enough to go round Al- Ka‘bah in their clothes, they had to discard them after circumambulation for good. [Bukhari 1/226; Ibn Hisham 1/202]

When the Makkans were in a pilgrimage consecration state, they would not enter their houses through the doors but through holes they used to dig in the back walls.

They used to regard such behaviour as deeds of piety and god- fearing. This practice was prohibited by the Qur’? :

"It is not
Al- Birr
(piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from
the back but
Al- Birr
(is the quality of the one) who fears All
?
. So enter
houses through their proper doors, and fear All
?
that you may be
successful."
[Al- Qur'an 2:189]

Such was the religious life in Arabia, polytheism, idolatry, and superstition.

Judaism, Christianity, Magianism and Sabianism, however, could find their ways easily into Arabia.

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The migration of the Jews from Palestine to Arabia passed through two phases: first, as a result of the pressure to which they were exposed, the destruction of the their temple, and taking most of them as captives to Babylon, at the hand of the King Bukhtanassar. In the year B.C. 587 some Jews left Palestine for Hijaz and settled in the northern areas whereof. The second phase started with the Roman occupation of Palestine under the leadership of Roman Buts in 70 A.D. This resulted in a tidal wave of Jewish migration into Hijaz, and Yathrib, Khaibar and Taima’, in particular. Here, they made proselytes of several tribes, built forts and castles, and lived in villages.

Judaism managed to play an important role in the pre- Islam political life. When Islam dawned on that land, there had already been several famous Jewish tribes —

Khabeer, Al- Mustaliq, An- Nadeer, Quraizah and Qainuqa‘. In some versions, the Jewish tribes counted as many as twenty. [Qalb Jazeerat Al- Arab, p.151]

Judaism was introduced into Yemen by someone called As‘ad Abi Karb. He had gone to fight in Yathrib and there he embraced Judaism and then went back taking with him two rabbis from Bani Quraizah to instruct the people of Yemen in this new religion. Judaism found a fertile soil there to propagate and gain adherents. After his death, his son Yusuf Dhu Nawas rose to power, attacked the Christian community in Najran and ordered them to embrace Judaism. When they refused, he ordered that a pit of fire be dug and all the Christians indiscriminately be dropped to burn therein.

Estimates say that between 20- 40 thousand Christians were killed in that human massacre. The Qur’? related part of that story in
Al- Buruj
(zodiacal signs) Chapter.

[Tafheem- ul- Qur'an 6/297; Ibn Hisham 1/20- 36]

Christianity had first made its appearance in Arabia following the entry of the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) and Roman colonists into that country. The Abyssinian (Ethiopian) colonization forces in league with Christian missions entered Yemen as a retaliatory reaction for the iniquities of Dhu Nawas, and started vehemently to propagate their faith ardently. They even built a church and called it Yemeni Al-Ka‘bah with the aim of directing the Arab pilgrimage caravans towards Yemen, and then made an attempt to demolish the Sacred House in Makkah. All? , the Almighty, however did punish them and made an example of them – here and hereafter.

[Tafheem- ul- Qur'an 6/297; Ibn Hisham 1/20- 36]

A Christian missionary called Fimion, and known for his ascetic behaviour and working miracles, had likewise infiltrated into Najran. There he called people to Christianity, and by virtue of his honesty and truthful devotion, he managed to persuade them to respond positively to his invitation and embrace Christianity.

The principal tribes that embraced Christianity were Ghassan, Taghlib, Tai’ and some Himyarite kings as well as other tribes living on the borders of the Roman Empire.

Magianism was also popular among the Arabs living in the neighbourhood of Persia, Iraq, Bahrain, Al- Ahs?#146; and some areas on the Arabian Gulf coast. Some Yemenis are also reported to have professed Magianism during the Persian occupation.

As for Sabianism, excavations in Iraq revealed that it had been popular amongst Kaldanian folks, the Syrians and Yemenis. With the advent of Judaism and Christianity, however, Sabianism began to give way to the new religions, although it retained some followers mixed or adjacent to the Magians in Iraq and the Arabian Gulf. [Tareekh Ard Al- Qur'an 2/193- 208]

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The Religious Situation

Such was the religious life of the Arabians before the advent of Islam. The role that the religions prevalent played was so marginal, in fact it was next to nothing. The polytheists, who faked Abrahamism, were so far detached from its precepts, and totally oblivious of its immanent good manners. They plunged into disobedience and ungodliness, and developed certain peculiar religious superstitions that managed to leave a serious impact on the religious and socio- political life in the whole of Arabia.

Judaism turned into abominable hypocrisy in league with hegemony. Rabbis turned into lords to the exclusion of the Lord. They got involved in the practice of dictatorial subjection of people and calling their subordinates to account for the least word or idea. Their sole target turned into acquisition of wealth and power even if it were at the risk of losing their religion, or the emergence of atheism and disbelief.

Christianity likewise opened its doors wide to polytheism, and got too difficult to comprehend as a heavenly religion. As a religious practice, it developed a sort of peculiar medley of man and God. It exercised no bearing whatsoever on the souls of the Arabs who professed it simply because it was alien to their style of life and did not have the least relationship with their practical life.

People of other religions were similar to the polytheists with respect to their inclinations, dogmas, customs and traditions.

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Aspects of Pre-Islamic Arabian Society

After the research we have made into the religious and political life of Arabia, it is appropriate to speak briefly about the social, economic and ethical conditions prevalent therein.

Social Life of the Arabs

The Arabian Society presented a social medley, with different and heterogeneous social strata. The status of the woman among the nobility recorded an advanced degree of esteem. The woman enjoyed a considerable portion of free will, and her decision would most often be enforced. She was so highly cherished that blood would be easily shed in defence of her honour. In fact, she was the most decisive key to bloody fight or friendly peace. These privileges notwithstanding, the family system in Arabia was wholly patriarchal. The marriage contract rested completely in the hands of the woman’s legal guardian whose words with regard to her marital status could never be questioned.

On the other hand, there were other social strata where prostitution and indecency were rampant and in full operation. Abu Da’? , on the authority of ‘Aishah [R]

reported four kinds of marriage in pre- Islamic Arabia: The first was similar to present- day marriage procedures, in which case a man gives his daughter in marriage to another man after a dowry has been agreed on. In the second, the husband would send his wife – after the menstruation period – to cohabit with another man in order to conceive. After conception her husband would, if he desired, have a sexual intercourse with her. A third kind was that a group of less than ten men would have sexual intercourse with a woman. If she conceived and gave birth to a child, she would send for these men, and nobody could abstain. They would come together to her house. She would say: ‘You know what you have done. I have given birth to a child and it is your child’ (pointing to one of them). The man meant would have to accept. The fourth kind was that a lot of men would have sexual intercourse with a certain woman (a whore). She would not prevent anybody. Such women used to put a certain flag at their gates to invite in anyone who liked. If this whore got pregnant and gave birth to a child, she would collect those men, and a seeress would tell whose child it was. The appointed father would take the child and declare him/her his own. When Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] declared Islam in Arabia, he cancelled all these forms of sexual contacts except that of present Islamic marriage.