Pre Islamic Arabia

Pre-Islamic Arabia was a ........

melting pot of different cultures and religions

Social background

- Lawlessness: No organised system of governance, only Tribal chiefs.

- Only source of protection against enemies are other members of your tribe.

- No status for women other than sexual objects for men

- Female infant buried alive

- Nomads: uneducated rural people, stole and sabotaged tribes

Economic background

- Makkah: merchants, caravan traders in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain. Trading in spice, metal

Large disparity between the rich and the poor.

- Yathrib: Arabs farming and agriculture, Jewish industry

- Usury- money lending (100% interest rate) that suppressed freedom

- Male and female slaves treated as commodities (lowest social class)

Religious background

- Many religions worshipping many different Gods.

Polytheists: corruption of the prophet Ibrahim's teachings, idolatry (360 idols)

- Zoroastrians- two gods representing light and dark, in eternal combat

- Jews: expelled from Judea, living in Arabia

- Christian: converted Arabian tribes, Ethiopian invaders, spreading the movement (particularly in Yemen)

- Monotheists: followed the teachers of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)

What did muslims call the time before Islam and why?

period of ignorance, called Jāhiliyyah.

what are the Bedouin (tribes)

nomadic tribes as well as settled communities in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam

what are the Quraysh (tribes)

the tribe Muhammad was born into in the town of Mecca

who is Khadija

first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, the first person to convert to Islam, and is revered as the "Mother of Believers

what is Mecca

The town that Muhammad was born in

what is the Ka'ba

is Mecca's most sacred religious site. It is believed by Muslims to have been built much earlier by the prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael (centuries before Muhammad) and renovated from time to time

who is Jibril

Jibril (Gabriel) is considered the highest-ranking archangel in Islam, serving as the trusted intermediary between Allah and His prophets. He brought the Qur'an to Muhammed.

al-Hijra

the 622 CE migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution, marking the start of the Islamic calendar

Medina

A city in Saudi Arabia

umma

the collective community of Muslim people

Treaty of Hudaybiya

A pivotal 10-year peace agreement in 628 AD between Prophet Muhammad, representing Medina, and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca