"Ancient Arabia did not have
a centralized government of any form. That is, there
was no national governing body, or no one man, such as a king
ruling the people. The Arabs were organized into tribes, with each tribe having its own chief,
who was responsible for his own tribe in both war and
peace. The members of a tribe were
friendly with each other, and if one was in need of something the others tried
to help him as much as they could.
As the
Arabs were divided into different tribes, so were they divided by religion.
Some Arabs were Christian, others were Jews, but the
majority were idol worshipers-Pagans. These pagans prayed to the sun, the moon and the stars, but most of them prayed to idols fashioned by their own hands, whether out of stones, wood and any other material they could gather together. They even had special temples in which they offered sacrifices to these idols.
The Ka'ba, which was built by the Prophet Ibrahim (als) and his son Isma’il (als), as a place in which to worship 'One God' was taken over by these 'pagans', and it became the main temple
for their idols. The Ka'ba held over 360 idols, and nearly every family had its own idol, its own
'home made' God. During certain months of the year,
people from all parts of
Arabia would come to visit these idols and to enjoy the sacrifices and the fairs (bazaars) which lasted for weeks. At these fairs, people made new friends and cleared up any misunderstandings among
themselves. Poets sang their songs and orators read their rhetorical speeches. Poems and speeches
the audiences liked were memorized and repeated by these people when they returned to their homes. In
addition, the best speeches and poems were written
in golden letters on scrolls that were hung on the door
of the Ka'ba until the following year, giving the people ample opportunity to memorize them.
These fairs also
served as an important source of income for the Meccan merchants. Members of the Qurayish tribe who were the merchants of the city
sold their wares at very high prices. As I said before, most of the Arabs prayed to
idols, they prayed to these gods which they could touch and see, because they thought they could give them help. In reality
they were not very religious because the most important thing in life for them was to make money.
The city dwellers, especially,
desired money and sought their own pleasures no matter what the consequences. Wine was drunk in the streets like
water. People had no pity for their enemies, torturing
and even burning them at the stake with no mercy. Those considered weak and those traveling the country were robbed. Married men had many wives, and women were treated very badly and were considered as part of her husband's property. As
such, boys could inherit their father's wives along with the rest of their holdings. The
people were also very sad when a girl was born, and
some even buried a newborn female infant alive.
On the other hand, the Arabs were brave and very generous. If a stranger went to their home or tent he was greeted and made to feel at home. He was
given the best to eat and drink, and was protected, if need be by his enemies. They were and are very hospitable people. In the midst of these
people, and these customs (both good and bad) our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born and raised ....”
The above Khutbah gives some background information on the
character and conditions of the pre-Islamic Arabs and the first house of worship for mankind-the
Ka'ba. Although most Arabs trace their lineage and religious traditions to Ibrahim (Abraham), in both religious beliefs and social
norms, the Arabs particularly the Qurayish, (in the time of our Prophet) strayed
from the ways of the great Patriarch. Over the course of time, idolatry replaced monotheism just as
oppression and materialism replaced justice and benevolence among the children of Ismail (alhs). Yet, despite their flaws, as one
scholar explains, “... their virtues and natural potentialities were much more in comparison. They held in themselves
possibilities of rising into a power that could change the course of history ... They had not been corrupted by the traditional traits of culture and intellectualism; that is why Banu Isma’il were called Ummi ~
that is unaffected by external cultural influences. The simplicity, the natural facilities,
and the social traditions of the Arabs were the basic factors that invited the Mercy of Allah to choose them as the first
people where a worldwide revolution could be launched.
This thesis has been aptly
elaborated by Shah Waliyullah in the first part of his 'Hujjat-Allah-al-Baligahah as
well as by Khudri in his ‘History of Jurisprudence’ (Evolution
of Social Institutions in Islam by Dr. Sayyid Matlub Husayn pgs.30-31)
The late Shaykh also mentioned in the khutbah the pre-Islamic
fairs held in Mecca and their showcasing Arab poetry and rhetorical speech. This is due in
part to the Arabs' love of the spoken word, for scholars tell us that the Arabic spoken by the Arabs of the seventh century "...was
also the most archaic of all the Semitic languages, closer to the mother-Semitic than the rest." (Islamic Thought and Culture,
(Compilation of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi pgs. 20-23) Simply put, the type of speech among
the people of this time contained much of the older/earlier characteristics of the Semitic
languages amounting to pure, almost uncorrupted dialects. This
phenomenon is also related to Ibrahim and the Ka'ba as the Arabs" ... could
not have preserved intact their archaic language over the centuries while
forgetting their attachment to the Ka'ba. The memory of the
Arabs which served them as the repository of their oral literature and tribal histories, was not about to forget such decisive figures
as Abraham and Ishmael, who play cyclical
roles in the existence of the Arab nomads. If
this is so then the Ka'ba is the most ancient sanctuary still
in use at the present day, and the Pilgrimage to Mecca is the most ancient
ritual still in operation. The Qur'an says, "LO! THE FIRST
SANCTUARY APPOINTED FOR MANKIND WAS THAT AT MECCA, A
BLESSED PLACE, A GUIDANCE TO THE PEOPLES; WHEREIN ARE PLAIN MEMORIALS (OF ALLAH'S GUIDANCE); THE
PLACE WHERE ABRAHAM STOOD UP TO PRAY; AND WHOSOEVER ENTERETH IT IS SAFE."
AND PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOUSE IS A DUTY UNTO ALLAH FOR MANKIND, FOR HIM WHO CAN
A WAY THITHER."
(3:96-97) (Islamic Thought and Culture, (Compilation
of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi pgs. 20-23)
"The Islamic tradition
would have it that the prototype Ka'ba is not earthly but celestial in
nature. As a matter of fact, there are a number of otherworldly Ka'bas’, each one the center of its place of existence, just as the Ka'ba at Mecca is the center of the earth." "The sacred nature of the Ka'ba is clearly
indicated by the attitudes prescribed by the Law towards the Black Stone
embedded in the eastern corner of the edifice. While making his
circumambulation around the Ancient House, the
pilgrim should kiss or at least touch the Black Stone. This would have no meaning if the stone were
devoid of symbolism. Traditionally it is looked on as the right hand of
Allah in the world”’ so that
the Pilgrim, in kissing or touching the stone, renews his pact with the Lord of
the Ka'ba more or less in the same fashion as a man renews his pact with
his fellowman through a handclasps.' Some scholars believe touching or kissing
the Black Stone is to renew one's allegiance to Allah in person (by visiting
His Sacred precincts) as one renews his pact with his king or commander in
person after swearing loyalty to and serving him for many years prior.
With regard to the Hajj and its history, "the
actual institution of the Pilgrimage goes back to Abraham's time, the only things introduced by the pre-Islamic Arab pagans being the
idols, which were to be found in the Ka'ba itself. Apart from destroying the idols—all 360
of them—and prohibiting the circumbulation of the Ka'ba naked, the Prophet merely purified the Pilgrimage of their
paganistic veneer and restored them to their Abrahamic state. There is no adequate reason why anyone would
doubt the antiquity of the rituals connected with the Pilgrimage nor their relations to Abraham and
Ishmael". (Islamic
Thought and Culture, (Compilation of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi
pgs. 20-23)
"The Pilgrimage to Mecca celebrates in its multiple
rituals a whole series of events connected with the mission of Abraham his wife Hagar (Hajra) and their offspring Ishmael (lsmai’l).
If we stop to examine the different elements in the Pilgrimage that have to do with Abraham and his
family, we realize more and more, that the claim of lslam to be a
reaffirmation of the Abrahamic way not only on the sacred words of the Qur'an, which count for much already, but
also on an ancient, sacred oral tradition that the memories of the nomadic Arabs kept alive in pre-Islamic times along with their
observance of the rituals surrounding the Ka'ba and the Pilgrimage to that ancient sanctuary. Let us remember, in
passing, that Judaism and Christianity are connected to Abraham through Issac, while Islam is
connected to him through Ishmael.” (Islamic Thought and
Culture, (Compilation of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi pgs. 20-23). Indeed, the northern Arabs consider him their progenitor, and the
Prophet, like the other Arabs in his day had an ancestral line that took him back to Ishmael. That linage was accompanied with a mass of traditions and stories surrounding the Ka'ba and the
pre-Islamic Arabs, the so-called pagan Arabs, transmitted
as part of their historical and religious connections to that ancient edifice.” (Islamic Thought and Culture, (Compilation
of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi pgs. 20-23)
"The rituals of the Pilgrimage proper last for only some
five days, beginning on the eighth day of the month of Dhu-al-Hijjah and ending on the 13th, though some pilgrims leave
before then. The main rituals have to do with the circumambulation of the Ka'ba, the running two and fro
between Safa' and Marwah, the standing on the plain of 'Ararat, the lapidation of the emblems of Satan, the sacrifice of animals at 'Arafat—all of this taking place between Makkah and 'Ararat, with the
intervening places of Muzdalifah and Mina having their own importance also." (Islamic Thought and Culture, (Compilation
of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi pgs. 20-23)
"In the symbolism of the Pilgrimage, there is a type of meeting with the Divinity that is in anticipation of the Day of Judgment, and the fact that pilgrims tend to go on the Pilgrimage toward the end of their lives and even consider dying in Makkah as a benediction—all this points to a kind of judgmental nature to this pillar of Islam. The unsewn pilgrim's dress, consisting of two plain pieces of white cloth, and the ascetical restrictions imposed upon all those who enter the sacred precincts indicated a state of confrontation with the Divine Presence that obliterates all the social hierarchies of the profane world; external distinctions disappear, the equality of all the immortal souls face-to-face with their Creator is what now appears. And since in that Divine Presence, the taking of lives, through hunting or uprooting of plants that have also a life of their own, and engaging in sensual pleasures would be out of the question, the Law prohibits all of that by way of keeping the believers within a framework of receptivity towards celestial graces.” (Islamic Thought and Culture, (Compilation of papers) Edited by Ismai’l R. Al-Faruqi pgs. 20-23).
(alhs) Aly-he-salaam
