A Glimpse Into Jahiliyyah: The Dark Social Landscape Of Arab Before Islam

Exploring the vices of pre-Islamic Arabian society, including infanticide, adultery, alcoholism, usury and violent retribution, and how the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) sought to abolish these injustices.

The term “Jahiliyyah” refers to the time before the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) became a Messenger of Allah. This period is often associated with the negative behaviours and lifestyle of the Arabs. This article will focus on the social aspects of life during Jahiliyyah. Some of the key vices in their society were: Burying daughters alive, Adultery, Murder, Alcoholism and gambling, Usury (charging high interest on loans), and love for worldly pleasures. These issues will be discussed below.

Burying Daughters Alive

In ancient Arabian society, the position of women was very bad. People saw women as a source of weakness, shame, and poverty. The worst form of cruelty toward women was when Arabians would bury their baby daughters alive, fearing that daughters would bring disgrace to the family if allowed to live (see ref 2& 3). Islamic scholar Fakhral-Din al-Razi, when explaining the verse from the Qur’an (Al-Isra: 31) that says, “Do not kill your children for fear of poverty, we will provide for them and you,” Pointed out that Arabians would try to keep pregnancies a secret. Once the baby was born, if it was a boy, the family celebrated. But if it was a girl, they became very sad and often made plans to kill the baby. They believed daughters would bring them shame and poverty. However, the Qur’an clearly condemns this act by saying, “Do not kill your children for fear of poverty” (Al-Isra: 31). Al-Razi explains that the Arabians during the Jahiliyyah period had several cruel ways of killing their daughters, including digging a grave and burying the baby alive, throwing the baby off a mountain, Drowning the baby in water.

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) rose against many social evils which were present in the Jahiliyyah society. One of His (PBUH) sayings is that a man who has a daughter and does not bury her alive, kills or insult her because of being a woman or treats his son more than he treats her daughter, will be rewarded Paradise by Allah (Ahmad IbnHanbal, no. 1957). This hadith highlights how common and cruel this practice was in the Jahiliyyah period and its harmful impact on their society.

Adultery (Zina)

In Arabic, Zina refers to illegal sexual relations between a man and a woman. During the Jahiliyyah period, the Pagan Arabs didn’t see Zina as something wrong or shameful. Instead, they often took pride in it. See (ref 4). They believed it was their right to have sexual relations with any woman they desired. If a woman became pregnant from Zina and had a baby, the child was considered legitimate (Jawad Ali, 1977, 5:560).

Alcoholism and Gambling

Alcoholism and gambling were two major habits in Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic) Arabian society. Drinking alcohol and gambling were so common that they became an important part of their culture and poetry. This shows that many Arabs were proud of their drinking habits. Alcohol was easy to find and was served at special events. Different types of wines, such as Aqar, al-sikkır, and al-mudmın, were well-known to the Arabs. In Makkah, taverns (places to drink alcohol) could be found everywhere, and many were owned by Jews.Due to the excess consumption of alcohol, many social ills followed. Reportedly, most cases of excess drinking have been linked to suicide. The Jahili Arabs were also very addicted to gambling.(see ref 5)

Usury (Riba)

Usury (called riba in Arabic) was very common during the Jahiliyyah period, the time before Islam. It was a well-known practice where people would lend money and demand much more in return over time. Many scholars have discussed how usury was practised during this period. According to Jawad Ali, usury involved lending dirhams (silver coins) or dinars (gold coins) for a set period. However, the lender would charge extra on top of the original amount when it was time to repay (Jawad 1977, 7:427). Al-Tabari, another scholar, explained how it worked. If the borrower couldn’t repay the loan on time, they would ask for more time. In return, the lender would increase the amount that had to be paid back (Al-Tabari 1954, vol. 3:69). Al-Razi further added that the lender would charge monthly interest without reducing the main loan amount. When the deadline came, if the borrower couldn’t pay back the full loan, the lender would increase the amount owed and give them more time to pay. This means that by the end, the borrower would have to repay much more than they originally borrowed, similar to what we now call compound interest.

Murder

During the days of Jahiliyyah (the time before Islam), the Arabs took revenge for murders in extreme ways. If someone’s relative was killed, they wouldn’t just kill the murderer, but also the murderer’s family, including their parents and children (SayyidQutb, 1982, 4:225).

The writer is pursuing an MA in Islamic Studies at the Department of Religious Studies, Central University of Kashmir

By ShafiyaRasool