Arabs History and Society before Islam.

 Introduction of Arabs, Nations and Arabs society before Islam

Meaning of Arab

There are two opinions about the meaning of Arab

• 1st Arab meaning is knowing the language and fluency

They didn’t think other nations were like them because they used to think that they were superiors because of their language... they used to say to other nations “ Ajam" ( people who cannot speak).

• The 2nd meaning is from the Arabic word “Aarba”. It means “desert”. Most areas of “Arabia” consist of desert, so it was called Arab.

Map of Arab 

In the southern west of Asia there is a big region like an island called “Arabia”. In the west there is the Red Sea, the Sea Firth of  Swaiza and the Roman ocean .In the east , the Gulf and gulf of Uman and in the south there is the Indian sea. The boundaries of the north are different. Arabia has a sea on its three sides, so it is called, “ Jazeerat ul Arab”.

 In the north besides the mountains there is “Hijaz,”( famous city of Saudi Arabia) and  there are located two sacred cities of islamic world Makka and Madina. The total area of Arabia is 12 lakh square meters, which is more than Germany and France, but the exact measurement is not done. All the area is surrounded by mountains. Every area has its own climate but is mostly hot and dry.

There is no big river because of lack of rain.

Qualities of Arabic people before Islam

Arabic people had some good qualities. Some are here.

• They liked freedom. They could lay down their lives for the sake of their nation and tribe. They liked war. They were brave. They knew the Art of War. They were hospitable and were expert at fulfilling their promise.

 

• They were gritty. They had ironic nerves and undefended power.

 

• They were unique in conciseness, elegance and elocutionist. The Arabic language was their asset. They used to call non-Arabic people “Ajam” who didn’t speak English. They were proud of themselves to be Arabians.

 

• They were impregnability.

 

• They liked poetry. Old people, younger poets, even children were poets and liked poetry.

 

• God had blessed them with intelligence.

 

• Their family system resembled rural and village life. The elderly of the family; the mother, father and children are the backbone of the family. The father was  guardian of the family , the husband and wife were respectable to the rest of the members of the family. His husband used to respect her, share her matters with her and praise her in his poetry.

 

• Members of a family and tribe had solid bonding and interaction between them. There was a famous quotation,  “ Help your brother, whether he is cruel or  victim.

 

Demerits of Arab people before Islam

Demerits from all over the world were resisted in Arabs.  Some are here.

• They liked murder and killing of human beings. Adultery was a common deed. Unlawful sexual relations were common and  they declared it to all.
• Drinking was common. Every home had its separate drinking place. There was no  limit to wives and after the death of a father, wives were divided into sons.
• One person could marry two sisters at once.
• Gambling was a decent and worthy deed. In gambling, they put at risk their wealth, homes, even wives.
•  Usury was common. When someone couldn't  pay the amount on time, it became double. 
• Absurdity was common. Even one who liked some young girl used to mention his features in his poetry.
• They used to disgrace respected women. To avoid that disrespect, they used to bury their daughters alive.   
•  Arabs were cruel. They practised shooting by tying alive animals to trees.
• They punished their prisoners cruelly.  They cut their organs.  They chewed their enemies' liver.
• They had forgotten respect for animals and human lives. They had forgotten the difference between  permissible and forbidden. They cut off any part of life and ate.
• Obscenity and modesty were common. They used to circumambulation  naked.

They take showers naked in open places. In short, every evil was in Arabian society.

Religious life of Arabs before Islam

The biggest religion of Arabs was the worship of idols. They worshiped idols and stones. The Holy Kahba was a temple. There were 360 idols in the Holy Khabba before Islam. The idols were different. Instead of small idols, there were four big and important idols.  Those names are here.

• Al- Lat ( this was a banu Thaqif idol and it was in Taif)
• Al-Manat ( this was Aws and khazraj’ idol. This was between Makka and Madina)
• Al-Uzza (  this was banu ghatafan’s)
• Hubal ( this was fixed on Holy Kahba)

They called  Al Lat, Al Manat and Al Uzza daughters of God.

Allama  Ibn e Khuldon said,

“ There were arrows of istikhara in his hands. They were called, “Izlaam”. The emblem was hazrat Ismail and was fixed in Holy Kahba.

Emblems of Hazrat Isa  and hazrat Mariam were fixed. Yaghoos and Yaooq were people of dark ages. Their pictures were painted on stones and put in Kahba as remembrance. Then, after some period, they used to worship them. ( History of Tibri, History of Ibn e khuldun)

 

Social life of Arabians before Islam

Arabs were unknown from the rules of civilization. They didn’t know social discipline and management. We can divide Arabs into three grades.

1.  Civilized (urban people)
2. Uncivilised (rural people)
3. Slaves (mostly those people who were prisoners)

1.Civilized

 Arabs were those people who lived in cities. They were merchants, most people's income source was trading. They were fewer in number. They lived in Hijaz and Yemen.

2.Uncivilized

Most of the population of Arabia consists of rural tribes. They lived in deserts. They depend on animals financially. They used their milk and meat as food and their skin as clothes. They  depredated trading caravans. They felt proud of their robbery.

3.Slaves

In Arabia, slaves were looked down upon. They lived as servants. They belonged to Arabs and non- Arabs. Prisoners in battle were slaves. They were sold and purchased. They were treated ill mannered. They were punished for little mistakes. They were tyrannized by their owners. Slavery was transferred to the next race. The son of a slave was a slave also. Even female slaves were beaten badly by their owners. They raped their maids.