Medina and Taif
The Arabic word madinah simply means
"city". Before the advent of Islam, the city was known as Yathrib( برث ييي ) but was personally renamed by Prophet Muhammad.
Into the older Arab town of Yathrib, Jews arrived in the 2nd century AD. There
were three prominent Jewish tribes that inhabited the city into the 7th century AD: the Banu Qaynuqa, the Banu
Qurayza, and Banu Nadir.
The situation changed after the arrival from Yemen of two new Arab tribes
named Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj.
At first, these tribes were allied with Jewish rulers, but later they revolted and became independent. Toward the end of the 5th century, the Jewish
rulers lost control of the city to Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj.
Qur’an: Yathrib, 33/13; Medina, 9/120.
Ta'if (فئئاطلئئا aṭ-Ṭā’if)
In the 6th century the city of Tā'if was dominated by the Banu
Thaqif tribe.
The town is about 120 km
southeast of Mecca.
ARABIAN SOCIETY IN THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD
the settled people (hadari) who resided in the oases and the
Bedouin nomads who resided in
rural areas.
The pre-Islamic period in Arabia is commonly called Jahiliyyah,
which means “the days of
ignorance.” The Qur'an chastises the Arab people who, prior to
Islam, were “the worst in unbelief
and hypocrisy, and most fitted to
be in ignorance of the command
which God has sent down to His
messenger.” (Qur'an 9:97).
The tribal bond was very strong and it reinforced the blood relations that were
formed between tribes. These blood relations was formed in ways called hilf, djar and wala, and in these ways, new people joined the
tribes. Hilf and djar meant a person who had left their tribe or had been expelled from
their tribe came under the protection (djar) of a member of another tribe or became an ally (halif) of this member. Wala was the release of a slave who was captured as a result of a battle or attack, or bought from someone.
The only administrative body in Mecca was an assembly known as the Mela, composed of the leaders and
prominent figures of various tribes.
This assembly had no executive power.
In the Mela, decisions were taken unanimously after discussing the matters and those decisions were
regarded as effective. Apart from this,
every tribe was given the right to act
independently.
In this structure, which had a simple political organization, the authority was represented by the tribe leader,
who was referred to with titles of sheik, reis emir, rab, or sayyid. Tribal leaders were chosen from among the elders of each tribe; the person chosen would be someone with status due to their
wealth or honor. Each leader had equal
rights in the tribal gatherings.
Tribal solidarity.
Blood revenge.
Eyyamu’l-Arab (The battle- days of Arabs).
The forbidden months/Sacred Months/ مرُحلئئارئهئشئأ (Rajab, Dhū al-Qiʿda, Dhū al-Ḥijja, and
Muḥarram.
The Qur’an links the four forbidden months with Nasīʾ, a word that literally means
"postponement”. (Nasīʾ (Arabic: ءيسنلئئا ; lit.
"postponement. According to Muslim tradition, the decision of postponement was administered by the tribe of Kinanah, by a man known as the al-Qalammas of Kinanah.
Religion and belief in pre-Islamic Arabia:
Fatalism: 45:24: “There is only our present life, we die and we live, and only Time destroys us.”
Paganism:
Belief in Allah as a “high god”
Judaism and Christianity.
Sabians
Hanifs: The term is from the Arabic root h-n-f meaning "to incline, to decline"
Uthman b. Huveyris(christian), Ubeydullah b.
Cahsh(first muslim than christian), Waraka b.
Naufal(christian), Zayd b. Amr(critic of the pagan religion)
