Months
of Peace
They fixed one or several months of
the year when they considered fighting as unlawful. During this span of peace
and order all fighting was suspended. And during those specific days they would
visit the Ka'bah and perform the Hajj. It was during these days that large
commercial fairs were held with poetic recitals and they offered great
opportunities for making new trading contacts. Some other traits of the Arabs
are also worthy of notice.
Faith
and Religion
Before the appearance of Islam, the
Arabs were passing through a state where some of their tribes acknowledged
neither the Creator nor reward and punishment, while others were convinced of
the existence of the Creator but not of reward and punishment and the Day of
Judgment. Mostly they worshipped idols and stars; some of them worshipped fire
also.
They had transformed the Ka'bah into
a center of idolatry and kept 360 idols inside the Ka'bah. Jews had also come
from Syria to settle in Al-Madinah (Yathrib at that time) and in its suburbs.
They began to arrive there from a short time after the death of Musa (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ). Among those Jews,
Banu Quraizah, Banu Nadir, and Banu Qanuqâ' were the most renown. Some
Christians also settled in the Ghassân and Najrân area and some people of
Quzâ'ah tribe had also converted to Christianity.
Idolatry:
Idolatry was openly practiced all
over Arabia. Four hundred years before the advent of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) in era of King
Shâpur of Persia, Amr bin Luhai bin Hârithah bin Imrâ'-ul-Qais bin Tha'labah
bin Mazin bin Azd bin Kahlân bin Bablion bin Saba, the King of Hijâz was the
first to install the idol named Hubal at the top of the Ka'bah and placed two
idols Isâf and Nâilah at the well of Zamzam and persuaded the people to worship
them. This Amr bin Luhai had totally rejected the concept of the Day of Judgment.
Yaguth, Ya'uq, Nasr, Wadd and Suwâ'
were adopted by different tribes for each of them had its separate idol. Wadd
was carved in the shape of man while Nâilah and Suwâ' were in the form of a
woman. Yaguth had the shape of a lion, Ya'uq of horse, and Nasr of vulture.
Some tribes shared idols, Tasm and Jadais had a common idol. The Kalb tribe
worshipped Wadd whose center was Dumat-ul-Jandal. Banu Tamim adored Taim. Suwâ'
was worshipped by the Hudhai, Mudhij and the Yemenite tribes worshipped Yaguth.
Dhil-Kalâ' worshipped Nasr at Himyar, the Hamdân worshipped Ya'uq, Banu Mughith
of Banu Thaqif tribe served as the guards of Lât at Tâ'if, the Quraish and Banu
Kinânah worshipped Uzza while Banu Shaibah were the caretakers of Uzza. Manât
was adored by the Aus and Khazraj tribes, Jehar by Banu Hawâzin, Awâl by the
Bakr and Taghlib, Muharraq by Banu Bakr bin Wâil, Saad by Banu Malkân, Sa'eer
by Banu Antarah, Amyanas by Banu Khaulân, Raza by Banu Tai, and Dhul-Kaffain by
the Daus. Besides the idols mentioned, many idols like Jarish, Shâriq, A'im,
Madân, Auf, and Manâf were very famous and every one of them was the deity of
one tribe or another. Whenever any congregation of idolaters was organized, and
if an Arab was not able to attend it during the fixed days, he would fix a
stone called Duwwâr and go around it like the Ka'bah to compensate for missing
the congregation.
In Arabia, there were other centers
of idolatry besides the Ka'bah. Ghatfân had constructed a house similar to the
Ka'bah and called it Qalis and they even performed Hajj there. Banu Khath'am
had also built a house calling it Dhul-Khalasah to perform Hajj there. Dhul-Ka'bât
was the center for worship of the Rabi'ah. There was a tribal temple in Najrân
also which was built with three hundred skins and was called the Ka'bah of
Najrân. The idolaters of Arabia would visit it as they did with the Ka'bah.
Moreover, they had also built a Haram (sanctuary) around it where even a
murderer or assassin was safe. On the top of the Ka'bah there was another idol called
Shams. Pictures of Ibrahim, Ismail, Isa (Jesus) and Maryam (Mary) (عَلَيْهِم السَّلَامُ) were also worshipped
in the Ka'bah.
Sacrifice:
The idolaters, when coming to
perform Hajj, brought camels for sacrificing and offering to their idols. They
had a practice to suspend shoes from the necks of the camels and marked them to
signify them as sacrificial animals. Nobody would then get in the way of the
animals. Moreover, the calves of the camels and sheep and other animals were
sacrificed to the idols. Some of the tribes even sacrificed humans to the
idols. According to some historians, the idolaters of Arabia believed in the
Oneness of God and acknowledged Him as One. They worshipped idols because they
believed that they will intercede with Allâh for them. Some of the tribes
entertained the belief that the person on whose grave a she-camel was
sacrificed, will on the Day of Judgment, rise from his grave mounted on his
she-camel. This belief indicates that they believed in Day of Resurrection and
some form of Judgment.
Star-Worshipping:
When the Arabs were still in
ignorance, worshipping stars was very common. Historians have no substantial
proof if Arabia, Egypt, Greece or Persia were the first to institute the
worship of stars or if they came to it separately. However, it is hard to
imagine that worshipping stars came to Arabia from outside. The sun was
worshipped by Himyar tribe, the moon by the Kinânah, Dahrân by Tamim, Jupiter
by the Lakhm and Judhâm, Suhail by the Tai, Shera by the Qais and Mercury by
the Asad. Most of the tribal idols were named with the names of stars. Stone
idols and noted stars were worshipped commonly by different tribes. They often
based their important affairs on the rising and setting of certain stars.
It is not surprising that the people
passing their days and nights in open fields and deserts had their attention
focused on the stars and planets and acknowledging some of them as their
deities. From Sûrat Nuh of the Quran it comes to light that even during the era
of Nuh (عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ), Iraqi Arabs
worshipped Yaguth, Ya'uq, Wadd, Nasr, and Suwâ', which are all named after
stars. It makes it very clear that star worship in Arabia was a very old
affair. The moon was worshipped more than any other object.
Soothsaying:
Soothsayers were found in large
number in Arabia. A Kâhin was one who claimed to have information about the
unseen events of the past while, those giving information of the future were
called Arrâf. Both men and women claimed knowledge of the unseen. Among the
soothsayers of Arabia Af'a, Jadhimah, Abrash, Shaq and Satih were well-known.
Another kind of soothsayer was known as Nâzir, they could tell about the unseen
by focusing their eyes on a mirror or on a tray of water. They included casters
of pebbles and the pits of fruit. They all belonged to the same category but
they were ranked below the soothsayers, while those making amulets were
considered the lowest.
Omens:
The Arabs also believed in good and
bad omens. They held crows to be very inauspicious and something that causes
separation. Since the crow is called Ghurâb in Arabic, they called travelling
as Ghurbat, and the traveler as Gharib, as according to them, the influence of
a crow causes separation and causes man to suffer the hardships of travelling.
And owl was also very unlucky to them for its hooting cries, they believed caused
death and destruction. Sneezing also carried an ill omen to them. Some of them
were sorcerers and they dealt in sorcery and performed heavy exercises to
befriend Satan.
Fighting:
Fighting would break out over petty
matters and insignificant incidents. Once hostilities began they could linger
on for several generations and even centuries. Most of their fighting started
without any substantial reason. There were more than one hundred feuds during
the Days of Ignorance in Arabia that were famous, for instance, Bu'âth, Kilab,
Fatrat, Nakhhklah, Qarn, Subân and Hâtib were the names of well-known feuds.
No tribe ever benefited from these
feuds; they only suffered destruction and the loss of life and property. They
had an old practice of putting to death the women and children of the defeated
enemy after taking them prisoner. However, if a person had eaten from their
food or had received hospitality from them previously, they were safe from
being killed. They would shave the heads of those whom they released.
Most disputes would be settled by a
challenge to single combat. They took special care of their horses and weapons.
The battle array of armies was not in practice. Anyone achieving perfection in
swordsmanship, archery, cavalry, or fighting with lances was held in high
esteem and his name and reputation would quickly spread far and wide. Some
particular tribes gained distinction in the use of some particular weapon. They
had special names for weapons, swords, bows and horses, which were famous
throughout the land. For instance, the name of the sword of Harth bin Abu Shimr
Ghassâni was Khudhum, while the sword of Abdul-Muttalib bin Hâshim was called
Atshân and that of Mâlik bin Zubair was Dhun-Nun. These evidences let us know
that the people of Arabia had a great zest for fighting and killing. This is
the reason behind thousands of names given to horses and swords in Arabic.
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