Abul hasan ‘Ali Nadwi
Religious Life
The religious practices and beliefs of the Arabs were, beyond doubt, even
more despicable, particularly, by reason of the influence they exerted on the
social and moral life of the people. Having lost all but little touch with the
salubrious teachings of the prophets of old, they had been completely submerged
in the crude and materialistic form of fetishism like that prevailing in the
countries surrounding them. So fond had they become of idol Worship that no less
than three hundred and sixty deities adorned, or defiled, the holy sanctuary.
The greatest amongst these gods was Hubal whom Abu Sufyan had extolled at the
battle of Uhad when he had cried out: "Glory be to Hubal". The idol occupied a
central place in the Kaba, by the side of a well in which the offerings were
stored. Sculptured in the shape of a man, it was made of a huge cornelian rock.
As its right hand was missing when the Quraish had discovered it, they had
replaced it by a hand made of solid gold. Two idols had been placed in front of
the Kaba, one was called Isaf and the other as Naila; the former had been
installed close to the Kaba and the latter by the place of Zamzam. After
sometime the Quraish had shifted the first one near the other, where they
offered up sacrifices besides them. On the mounts of Safa and Marwah, there were
two more idols called Nahlk Mujawid al Rih and Mutim at Tayr.
Every household in Mecca had an idol which was worshipped by the inmates of the
house. Al Uzza had been installed near Arafat within a temple constructed for
it. Quraish venerated al Uzza as the chief or the noblest of all deities. The
Arabs used to cast lots with the help of divining arrows placed before these
idols for taking a decision to commence any affair. There were also other idols,
one of which named as al Khalsa, had been set up in the depression of Meccas
valley. The idol was garlanded, presented an offering of barley and wheat and
bathed with milk. The Arabs used to make sacrifices and hang the eggs of ostrich
over it. Being a popular deity its replicas were sold by vendors to the
villagers and pilgrims visiting Mecca.
The Arabs possessed the virtues of courage, loyalty and generosity, but during
the long night of superstition and ignorance, worship of images and idols had
stolen into their hearts, perhaps, more firmly than any other nation; and they
had wandered far away from the simple faith of their ancestors Ibrahim and
Ismat1 which had once taught them the true meaning of religious piety, purity
of morals and seemliness of conduct.
So, this was the city of Mecca, The by the middle of the sixth century of
Christian era, before the birth of the Prophet, whence we see Islam rising on a
horizon shrouded in obscure darkness.
In very truth the Lord has said:
The Moral Life
A moral ideal was what the Meccans lacked most of all, or one can say, except
for the binding force of some stale customs and traditional sentiments of Arab
chivalry, they had no code of ethics to guide their conduct. Gambling was a
favourite pastime in which they took pride, unrestrained drunkenness sent them
into rapturous delight and immoderate dissipation satisfied their perverted
sense of honour., Their gatherings were the scenes of drinking bouts and wanton
debauchery. Without any idea of sin or crime, they never took any aversion to
wickedness, iniquity, callousness and brigandage.
The moral atmosphere of Arabia in general, and of Mecca in particular, was
faithfully depicted by Jafar b. Abu Talib, a prominent member of the Quraish,
in the court of Negus.when he said to him; "O King we were an unenlightened
people plunged in ignorance: we worshipped idols, we ate dead animals, and we
committed abominations; we broke natural ties, we ill-treated our neighbors and
our strong devoured the weak.1
Footnotes:
- Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 336
Mecca, the heart of Arabia
By virtue of it’s being the seat of the national shrine and the most flourishing commercial center whose inhabitants were culturally and intellectually in Arabia. It was considered a rival of Sanaa in Yemen, but with the Abyssinians and Iranians gaining control over Sanaa, one after another, and the decline of the earlier glamour of Hiram and Ghassan, Mecca had attained a place of undisputed supremacy in Arabia.
Military Prowess
The Quraish were by nature or nurture, a peace loving people, amiable in
disposition; for, unlike all other peoples inside and outside the Peninsula,
their prosperity depended on t the development of free trade, continual movement
of caravans, improvement of marketing facilities in their own city and
maintenance of conditions peaceful enough to encourage merchants and pilgrims to
bend their steps to Mecca. They were sufficiently farsighted to recognise that
their merchantile business was their life: trade was the source of their
livelihood as well as the means to increase their prestige as servants of the
sanctuary. The Quran has also referred to the fact in the Surah Quraish: "So
let them worship the Lord of this House, who hath fed them against hunger hath
made safe from fear." (Qur’an 106:3-5) In other words, they were inclined to
avoid a scramble unless their tribal or religious honour was in peril. They were
thus committed to the principle of peaceful coexistence; nevertheless, they
possessed considerable military prowess. Their courage and intrepidity was as
axiomatic throughout Arabia as was their skill in horsemanship. "Al Ghadbata al
Mudriyah" or anger of the Mudar, which can be described as a tormenting thirst
quenched by nothing save blood, was a well known adage of Arabic language
frequently used by the poets and orators of pre Islamic Arabia.
The military prowess of Quraish was not restricted to their own tribal reserves
alone. They utilised the services of ahabish or the desert Arabs living around
Mecca, some of which traced their descent to Kinana and Khuzayma b. Mudrika the
distant relation of Quraish. The Khuzaa were also confederates of the Quraish.
In addition, Mecca had always had slaves in considerable numbers who were ever
willing to fight for their masters. They could thus draft, at any time, several
thousand warriors under their banner. The strongest force numbering 10,000
combatants, ever mustered in the pre lslamic era, was enlisted by the Quraish in
the battle of Ahzab.
Culture and Arts
Industrial arts and crafts were looked down Quraish; they considered it
beneath their dignity to have their hands in a handiwork. Manual occupations
were regarded as occupation meant exclusively for the slaves or non Arabs. Yet,
notwithstanding this proclivity of the Quraish, certain crafts were a dire
necessity and were practiced by some of them. Khabhab b. al Aratt is reported to
have been engaged in manufacturing swords. Constructional activities were also
indispensable but Iranian and Byzantine workmen were employed to do the job for
the Quraish.
A few men in Mecca knew the art of reading and writing but the Arabs, as whole,
were ignorant of the way by which learning is imparted. The Qur’an also calls
them Ummi1 or an unlettered people: “He it is Who hath sent among the unlettered
ones messenger of their own.”2
The people of Mecca were however, not ignorant of the arts of civilisation:
their refined taste, polish and culture excelled them in the whole of Arabia in
the same was as the townsmen of any metropolis occupy a distinctive place in
their country.
The language spoken at Mecca was regard as a model of unapproachable excellence:
the Meccan dialect set the standard which the desert Bedouins as well as the
Arabs of outlying areas strived to imitate. By virtue of their elegant
expression and eloquence, the inhabitants of Mecca were considered to possess
the finest tongue, uncorrupted by the grossness of the languages of non Arabs.
In their physical features, shapeliness and good looks, the people of Mecca were
considered to be the best representatives of the Arabian race. They were also
endowed with the virtues of courage and magnanimity of heart, acclaimed by the
Arabs as Al Futuh and al Murauwah, which were the two oft repeated themes of
Arabian poetry. These traits of their character admirably describe their
recklessness which savoured troth of a devil and a saint.
The matters that attracted their attention most were genealogy, legends of
Arabia, poetry, astrology and planetary mansions, ominous flight of the birds
and a little of medication. As expert horsemen, they possessed an intimate
knowledge of the horse and preserved the memory of the purest breed; and as
dwellers of the desert they were well versed in the delicate art of physiognomy.
Their therapy based partly on their own experience and partly on the traditional
methods handed down to them from their forefathers, consisted of branding,
phlebotomy, removal of diseased limbs and use of certah1 herbs.
Footnotes:
- Lit. “The Unlettered”, also a title of the Prophet. For a detailed discussion of the subject see article ‘Was Muhammad Literate?’ by Mohaiddun Ahmad in the Islam and the Modern Age, Vol. VIII, No. 2 (May 1977).
- Baladuri gives the name of 17 individuals who alone knew how to read and wrote in Mecca. (Futuh al-Buldan, Leydan, pp. 471-2).
Prosperous Families of Quraish
Bani Umayya and Banl Makhzum were the two prominent families of the Quraish
favoured by the stroke of luck. Walid b. al Mughira, Abdul Uzza (Abu Lahab),
Abu Uhaylla b. Saeed b. al As b. Umayya (who had a share of 30,000 di,nars in
the caravan of Abu Sufyan) and Abd b. Abl Rabia al. Makhzuml had made good
fortunes. Ahdullah b. Jadan of Banl Taym was also one of the wealthiest
persons of Mecca who used to drink water in a cup of gold and maintained a
public kitchen for providing food to every poor and beggar. Abbes. Abdul
Muttalib was another man abounding in riches who spent lavishly on the indigent
and the needy and lent money at interest in Mecca. During his farewell
Pilgrimage when the Apostle abolished usurious transactions, he declared: "The
first usury I abolish today is that of Abbes b. Abdul Muttalib".
Mecca had also men rolling in riches whose well furnished drawing rooms were the
rendezvous of the elite of the Quash who rejoiced in the pleasures of wine, love
and romance.
The chiefs of the Quraish usually had their sittings in front of the Kaha in
which prominent poets of pre Islamic days, such as, Labid, recited their poems.
It was here that Abdul Muttalib used to have his gatherings and, as they say,
his sons dared not take their seats around him until their father had arrived.
Economic Conditions, Weights and Measures
Mecca was thus thc chief centre of husiness in Arahia and its citizens were
prosperous and wealthy. The caravan of the Quraish, involved in the battle of
Badr while returning from Syria, consisted of a thousand camels and carried
merchandise worth 50,000 dinaars.1
Both Byzantine and Sasanian currencies, known as dirham and dinar, were in
general use in Mecca and other parts of the Peninsula. Dirham was of two kinds:
one of it was an Iranian coin known to the Arabs bagliyah and sauda’-I-damiyah,
and the other was a Byzantine coin (Greek drachme) which was called tabriyah and
bazantiniyah. These were silver coins and therefore instead of using them as
units of coinage, the Arabs reckoned their values according to their weights.
Thc standard weight of dirham, according to the doctors of lslamic shartah, is
equal to fifty five grains of barley and ten dirhams are equivalent in weight to
seven mithqals of gold. One mithqal of pure gold is, however, according to Ibn
Khaldun, equal to the weight of seventy two grains of barley. Doctors of la\v
unanimously agree with the weight given by Ibn Khaldun.
The coins in current use during the time of the Prophet were generally silver
coins. Ate states that the coins in general use during the period were not
gold but silver coins. (Ibn Abi Shai’ba, Vol. 3, p. 222)
Dinar was a gold coin familiar to the Arabs as the Roman (Byzantine) coin in
circulation in Syria and Hijaz during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic period.
It was minted in Byzantium with the image and name of the Emperor impressed on
it as stated by Ibn Abd ul Bar in the Al Tamhid. Old Arabic manuscripts mention
the latin denarius aureus as the Byzantine coin (synonymous with the post
Constantine solidus) which is stated to be the name of a coin still a unit of
currency in Yugoslavia. New Testament, too, mentions denarius at several places.
Dinar was considered to have the average weight of one mithqal, which, as stated
above, was equivalent to seventy two grains of barley. It is generally believed
that the weight standard of the dinar was maintained from the pre Islamic days
down to the 4th century of the Hijra. Dairatul Maarif Islamiyah says that the
Byzantine denarius weighed 425 grams and hence, according to the Orientalist
Zambawar, the mithqal of Mecca was also of 425 grams.2 The ratio of weight
between dirham and dinar was 7:lO end the former weighed seven tenth of a
mithqal.
The par value of the dinar, deduced from the hadith, fiqah3 and historical
literature, was equivalent to ten dirhams. Amr b. Shuyeb, as quoted in the
Sunan Abu Dawud, relates: "The blood-money during the time of the Prophet was
800 dinars or 8,000 dirhams, which was followed by the companions of the
Prophet, until the entire Muslim community unanimously agreed to retain it. "
The authentic ahadith fix the nisab or the amount of property upon which zakat
is due, in terms of dirham, at 20 dinars. This rule upheld by a consensus of the
doctors of law goes to show that during the earlier period of Islamic era and
even before it, a dinar was deemed to have a par value of ten dirhams or other
coins equivalent to them.
Imam Malik says in the Muwatta that the accepted rule, without any difference
of opinion, is that zakat4 is due on 20 dinars or 200 dirhams.5
The weights and measures in general use in those days were Sa, mudd, ratal,
auqiyah and mithqal to which a few more were added latter on. The Arabs also
possessed knowledge of arithmatic, for, it is evident, that the Quran had
relied on their ability to compute the shares of the legatees in promulgating
the Islamic law of inheritance.
Footnotes:
- Strabo once saw an Arabia caravan arriving at Petra and compared it with an army. (Arabia before Muhammad, p. 185).
- Vol. IX, p. 270, art. Dinar
- Dogmatic theology or the science of law covering devotional rituals, private conduct and dealing as well as civil and criminal law of Islam.
- Lit. “Purification”, hence a specified portion of property one is obliged to give more either privately or to the state as Alms, for sanctification of the remainder.
- Bulugh-ul-Adab fi a’rafata Ahwal-ul-‘Arab by Alusi, Altarbi ud-Dariyah by Abdul Ha’I Al-Katani, Fiqah-uz-Zakat by Yusuf al-Qurzawi and Tafsir Majidi by Abdul Amjid Daryabadi.
Commercial Operations
The Quraish of Mecca used to fit out two commercial caravans, one to Syria
during the summer and the other to Yemen during the winter season. The four
months of Haj, that is, Rajab, Dhl Qada, Dhil Hijj and Muharram, were deemed
sacred when it was not lawful to engage in hostilities. During these months the
precincts of the holy temple and the open place besides it were utilised as a
trade centre to which people from distant places came for transacting business.
All the necessaries required by the Arabs were easily available in this market
of Mecca. Thc stores for the sale of various commodities, located in different
lanes and byways, mentioned by thc historians, tend to show the economic and
cultural growth of Mecca. The vendors of attars had their stall$ in a separate
bylane and so were the shops of fruit sellers, barbers, grocers, fresh dates and
other wares and trades located in different alleys. A number of these markets
were spacious enough, as, for example, the market set apart for foodgrailts was
well stocked with wheat, ghee (clarified butter), honey and similar other
commodities. All these articles were brought by trading caravans. To cite an
instance, wheat was brought to Mecca from Yamama.1 Similarly cloth and shoe
stores had separate quarters allocated to them in the market.
Mecca had also a few meeting places where carefree youngmen used to come
together for diversion and pastime. Those who were prosperous and accustomed to
live high, spent the winter in Mecca and the summer in Taif. There were even
some smart youngmen known for their costly and trim dresses costing several
hundred dirhams.
Mecca was the centre of a lucrative trade transacting business on a large scale.
Its merchants convoyed caravans to different countries in Asia and Africa and
imported almost everything of necessity and costly wares marketable in Arabia.
They usually brought resin, ivory, gold and ebony from Africa; hide, incense
frankincense, spices, sandal wood and saffron from Yemen; different oils and
foodgrains, armour, silk and wines fiom Egypt and Syria; cloth from Iraq: and
gold, tin, preciollc stones and ivory from India. The wealthy merchants of Mecca
sometimes presented the products of their city, of which thl rmost valued were
leather products, to the kings and nobles of other countries. When the Quraish
sent Abdullah b. Abu Rabla and Amr b. al As to Abyssinia to bring back the
Muslim fugitives, they sent with them leather goods of Mecca as gifts to Negus
and his generals.
Women also took part in commercial undertakings and fitted out their own
caravans bound for Syria and other countries. Khadlja bint Khuwaylid and
Hanzaliya, mother of Abu Jahl, were two merchant women of dignity and wealth.
The following verse of the Quran attests the freedom of women to ply a trade.
"Unto men a fortune from that which they have earned, and unto women a fortune
from that which they have earned.” (Qur’an 4:32).
Like other advanced nations of the then world, the commercially minded citizens
of Mecca had based their economy on commerce for which they sent out caravans in
different directions, organised stock markets and created favourable conditions
in the home market for the visiting tourists and traders. This helped to
increase fame and dignity of Mecca as a religious centre and contributed in no
mean measure to the prosperity of the city. Everything required by the people of
Mecca, whether a necessity or a luxury, reached their hands because of the
citys commercial importance. This fact finds a reference in these verses of the
Quran:
"3. So let them worship the Lord of this House; "4. Who hath fed them against
hunger;
"5. And hath made them safe from fear." (Qur’an 106:3-5)
Footnotes:
- When Thumama b. Athal (the Chief of Banu Hanifa) embraced Islam, he put a ban on the export of wheat to Mecca. This was found so irk-some by the Quraysh that they had to make a request to the Prophet, on whose intervention, Thumama lifted the ban.
The City State
Qusayy b. Kilab and his family had assumed a commanding position over the
city and its inhabitants. They were the janitors of the Kaba, had the privilege
of Saqayah1 or watering the pilgrims and arranging the annual feast, presided
over the meetings of the House of Assembly (Dar al Nadwa) and handed out war
banners.
Qusayy b. Kilab had built the House of Assembly close to the Kaba with one of
its doors leading to the sanctuary. It was used both as a living quarter by
Qusayy and the rendezvous for discussing all matters of common weal by the
Quraish. No man or woman got married, no discussion on any important matter was
held, no declaration of war was made and no sheet of cloth was cast on the head2
of any girl reaching marriageable age except in this house. Qusayys authority
during his life and after his death was deemed sacrosanct like religious
injunctions which could not be violated by anybody. The meetings of the House of
Assembly could be attended only by the Quraish and their confederate tribesmen,
that is, those helonging to Hashim, Umayya, Makhzum, Jomah, Sahm, Taym, Adiy,
Asad, Naufal and Zuhra, whatever be their age, while people of other tribes not
below the age of forty years were allowed to participate in its meetings.
After the death of Qusayy, the offices held by him were divided between
different families. Bam Hashim were given the right of watering the pilgrims;
the standard of Quraish called Aqab (Lit. Eagle) went to Banl Umayya; Bani
Naufal were allocated Rifada3; Bam Abdul Dar were assigned priesthood,
wardenship of the Kaba and the standard of war; and Ban1 Asad held the charge
of the House of Assembly. These families of the Quraish used to entrust these
responsibilities to the notable persons helonging to their families. Thus, Abu
Bakr, who came from Banl Taym, was responsible for realising bloodmoney, fines
and gratuity; Khalid of Ban1 Makhzum held charge of the apparatus of war kept in
a tent during the peace time and on the horse back during battles; Umar b. al
Khattab was sent as the envon of Quraish to other tribes with whom they intended
to measure swords or where a tribe bragging of its superiority wanted the issue
to be decided by a duel; Safwan b. IJmayys of Bani Jomcih played at the dice4
which was deemed essential before undertaking any important task; and, Harith b.
Qays was liable to perform all administrative business besides being the
custodian of offerings to the idols kept in the Kaba. The duties allocated to
these persons were hereditary offices held earlier by their forefathers.
Footnotes:
- Water supplied to the pilgrim was stored in tanks especially constructed for the purpose and the water was sweetened by mixing dates and raisins.
- A large piece of cloth with an opening cut through it, in which the girl could put through her head, was placed over her head to signify her betrothal
- A tax paid by the Quraysh from their property at the tie of Hajj for providing food to pilgrim Al-Hadrai, p. 36.
- Dices marked ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ on either side were thrown to decided whether any important task was to be undertaken or not. It was known as Aysar-o-Azlam.
Reconstruction of Mecca
Qusayy b. Kilab had played a leading role in the reconstruction and expansion of Mecca. The Quraish who had been dispersed over a wide area, were brought together by him in the valley of Mecca. He allocated areas for settlement of different families and encouraged them to construct their houses in the specified localities. The successors of Qusayy continued to consolidate the living quarters and to allocate spare lands to new families coming into Mecca. The process continued peacefully for a long time with the result that the habitations of the Quraish and their confederate clans grew up making Mecca a Rollrishillg city.
The Metropolis
Those not conversant with the conditions in Mecca at the time of the
Prophets birth nor familiar with the social life, history, legends, literature
and poetry of Arabia during the preIslamic times picture Mecca in their minds
eye as a hamlet with a few tents of goats hair scattered hither and thither,
surrounded by sheep, horses and camels and half clad women and children, within
a narrow valley flanked by sharp, jagged hill tops. They view the people as
ignoble and beggarly, passing through a stage of cultural and intellectual
infancy, having no aesthetic sense, polish and refinement; a people who took
stale bread and half baked mutton and wore clothes made of camels hair.
Such a poor and miserable picturisa ion of Mecca is inconsistent with the
unmistaken landscape of the city emerging from historical records, collections
of pre Islamic poetry, habits and customs, norms and traditions of the Arabians.
The people of Mecca had already been drawn into the stream of urban culture from
the earlier rural, nomadic existence.
To tell the truth, such a vile and mean view of Mecca is not in keeping with the
Quranic description of the city which gives it the name of the Mother of
towns.
"And thus we have inspired in thee a Lecture in Arabic, that thou mayest warn
the mother town and those around it, and mayest warn of a day of assembling
whereof there is no doubt. A host will be in the Garden and a host of them in
the Flame. (Qur’an 42:7)
At another place Mecca is designated as the land made safe.
"By the fig and the olive, by Mount Sinai, and by this land made safe." (Qur’an
95:1-3)
And, the Quran also calls it a city.
"Nay I swear by this city (Makkah).
"And thou art an inhabitant of this City.”
(Qur’an 90:1-2)
Mecca had, as a matter of fact, already passed from nomadic ballJarism to thf
stage of urban civilisation by the middle of the fifth century. The city was
ruled by a confederacy based on nnutual cooperation, unity of purpose and a
general consensus on the division of administrative and civil functions between
self governing clans, and this system had already been brought into existence by
Qusayy b. Kilab. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) being fifth in the line of
succession1 to Qusayy b. Tiilah, the latter can be placed in the middle of the
fifth century.
Mecca, thinly populated in the heginning, was locatecl between the two hills
called Jabl Abu Qubays (adjacent to Mount Safa) and Jabl Ahmar, known as Araf
during the prelslamic days, opposite the valley of Quaqlqan. The population of
the town increased gradually owing partly to the reverence paid to the Kaha and
the regardful position of its priests and attendants, and partly because of the
peace prevailing in the vicinity of the sanctuary. The tents and shacks had
given place to houses made of mud and stones and the habitation had spread over
the hillocks and low lying valleys around the Kaba. At the outset the people
living in Mecca abstained from constructing even their houcetops in a
rectangular shape like the Kaba since they considered it to be a sign of
disrespect to the House of God, but gradually the ideas changed; still, they
kept the height of their houses lower than that of tht Kaba. As related by
certain persons, the houses were initially made in a circular shape as a mark of
respect to the Kaba. The first rectangular house, reported to have been built
hv Hmllald h. Zuhair, was looked with disfavour by thi Quraish.
The chiefs and other well-to-do the Quraish usually built their houses of stones
and had many rooms in them, with two doors on the opposite sides, so that the
womenfolk did not feel inconvenience in the presence of guests.
Footnotes:
- Akhbar Makkah by ‘Abi al-Walid al-Azraqi (d. 223. A.H.) has given all the necessary details about the matter.
