Jahiliyyah

Jahiliyyah

1. Religious Situation

   • Judaism
     • Arrived in Arabia in 590CE
     • Reasons for arrival
       • Fled Israel after its capture by the Babylonians
       • In the second century CE the Romans banned them from Palestine
         • Jewish groups in the Hijaz converted Arabs to Judaism
     • There were Jews present in Medina
   • Hanifs
     • Given up on the idea Bedouin polytheism
     • Couldn't accept Judaism or Christianity
     • Spent time in the desert praying and looking for a more Arab form of monotheism
     • Refused to eat meat offered to idols
     • A hanif, Zayd ibn Am'r knew Muhammad and shared some of their beliefs,
   • Christianity
     • Orthodox
       • Believed in the Trinty
       • Jesus was God and man at the same time
       • Main belief in the Byzantine Empire and in Western Europe
     • Monophysites
       • Jesus was God and that he appeared to become man
       • Mainly found in Egypt, Syria and the tribes of South and North Arabia
     • Nestorians
       • Jesus only became divine after the resurrection
       • Arab tribes of the Hira and the Sassanian Empire were Nestorian
       • Jesus was only a man who became Son of God after what he did on Earth
       • Based their belief on Luke 3v22 "Thou art my beloved Son, today I have begotten thee"
   • Bedouin Polytheism
     • Beliefs
       • Al'Uzza: all powerful goddess of love
       • Animistic
       • Allat: Allah's wife
       • Al'Manat: goddess of fate
       • Allah is immaterial
       • Believe in jinn: good/bad spirits that approach lone travellers in the desert
       • Many Gods
       • They often took a pilgrimage to places where spirits were
     • Facts
       • No moral code
       • Very little organised worship
       • Centred on Mecca, Ka'ba main centre of pilgrimage
       • 300 statues of Gods and Goddesses in the Ka'ba
       • No holy book
       • May be based on the more advanced polytheism of the ancient southern empire of Arabia
       • Main religion in Arabia at this time
       • No belief in after life
     • Actions done
       • Sometimes pray and go on pilgrimage
       • Meat is slaughtered before idols, as a sacrifice
       • Touch places where spirits are, in hope holiness is rubbed off

2. Social Situation

   • The main way to make a living in Jahiliyyah was through trade
   • Mecca was on an important trade route
   • Muhammad's grandfather created the anthums
     • This was a trading system where people from different tribes agreed no to fight in Mecca
   • There was a lot of money in Mecca but the money wasn't shared. The rich kept the money so the poor lived in extreme poverty
   • Certain tribes were very rich but most people were very poor
   • The Arabs were tribal (lived in small groups with a common ancestor)
   • Each tribe was divided into clans
     • Clans and tribes were meant to look after each other
     • Each clan had a council of elders who elected a shaykh
       • The shaykh would rule over disputes
         • He based his decisions on the rulings of previous shaykhs
     • Disputes between clans or tribes were usually solved by a vendetta, 'you killed one of us, we will kill one of you'
   • Jahiliyyah was full of violence
   • Women were of lower status and female children were often killed at birth
   • This entire system is based on surviving, making sure that you and your clan survived

3. Explaining Mecca's Importance

   • The Ka'ba was in Mecca
     • People went to worship, making it the centre of worship
     • Brings people and money to Mecca
     • Mixture of cultures
   • A place of pilgrimage
     • Thousands of people went bringing money
     • One of the five pillars
     • Mixture of cultures, able to spread the word
   • Centre for trade
     • Many people go to make money
       • If it's distributed better people may live better
     • Alhums wouldn't fight, guaranteed safety
   • Mixture of people/cultures
     • Muhammad starts preaching, the word of Islam will spread
   • On a major trade route
     • Thousands pass through spending money, maybe listening to Muhammad getting the word of Islam spread
   • Focal point for religion and trade
     • Muhammad doesn't have to establish Mecca as it's already important
   • Muhammad belonged to the strongest tribe (the Quraysh)
     • Respect and support from others
   • Situated between two empires who were at war (Sassanian and Byzantine Empire)
     • Not bothered about Mecca, so Muhammad can build an army
   • Historian Tom Holland questions the importance of Mecca. He says that it wasn't on a trade route and the importance had to be emphasised as Muhammad was born there, s he needs to be born in a place of importance

4. Known as Jahillyyah

   • Means 'days of ignorance
     • Not everyone was a Muslim
     • Didn't live life according to the Qur'an
     • People committed adultery, gambled and drank
     • Muslims believe the people in Arabia at this time were uneducated and uncivilised
     • Arabs were ignorant to the truth of Islam
   • Does is continue today?
     • Yes
       • not everyone is a Muslim
       • The type of behaviour seen before the Qur'an continues today (gambling, adultery and drinking)
       • Extremist groups perform acts in the word of Islam
       • Other religions exist
       • Rich aren't giving to the poor
       • Some Muslims fight each other
       • Some unaware of Islam (tribes in the Amazon)
     • No
       • Now have the Qur'an
       • Islam is the biggest expanding religion
       • Meccans left leaving jahiliyyah behind
       • Polytheism reduced
       • Women have more rights in islam (female children are no longer murdered)

5. Muhammad's message wasn't new

   • Agree
     • On the night journey he saw Prophets in the same prayer position, showing they're Muslim
     • Pilgrimage to Mecca already existed
     • Tawhid existed in some religions
     • Part of a long line of prophets
     • People messed up the same religion previously, creating different religions
     • Some people worshipped Allah in Bedouin Polytheist
   • Disagree
     • Qur'an was introduced
     • Islam had an order
     • Idea of monotheism was new to many
     • At first people didn't accept his message
     • Moral code was new to many
     • Christians and Jews regarded the message as being new
     • Akirah was new to many

6. Muhammad was only successful because he was born in Mecca

   • Agree
     • Got protection from the Quraysh
       • Allowed him to preach until 619 CE with no threat to his life
     • Able to preach to the visitors
     • Learned many faiths due to the mix of cultures
   • Disagree
     • Many Meccans opposed him
     • Islamic community only started to grow in Medina
     • Succeeded because he was a prophet, not because of where he was born

7. Message brought by Muhammad challenged the beliefs and way of life for people in Mecca

   • Monotheism rejected the polytheism
   • Corrected false ideas about Allah, not having daughters
   • Taught about life after death
   • Charity
   • Condemned of social evils, taught to respect women
   • Threat to the livelihood of the city through the threat of pilgrimage
   • Challenge to the authority of Meccan leaders

8. Muhammad totally rejected the beliefs and values of his day

   • Agree
     • Rejection of idol worship
     • Rejection of associating partners with God
     • Rejection of individualistic values
   • Disagree
     • Followed tradition of Hanifs, believing in one God
     • Carried on with religious practices (pilgrimage)