A little mention of Arabia is essential at the outset for the Prophet Muhammad was bom in the city of Makkah and emigrated to another famous city Al-Madinah, which also became the first Islamic capital of the first Islamic State. Arabian Peninsula is the area which converted to Islam completely during the lifetime of the Prophet.This country of Arabia was the first center of the grandeur of Islam. It was in this country and in its language that Revelation was sent , which is the source of guidance to all the countries and nations of the world till the Day of Judgement.It is from this country of Arabia that the light of Islam spread to everywhere in the world. In the city of Makkah lies the Ancient House, the Ka'bah, towards which Muslims come from all over the world and appear together on the plain of Arafat worshipping and praying to Allah, praising and glorifying His Name. We find here the wealthy and the poor side by side chanting praises of the Creator of the earth and sky. Arabia dominated the entire world and became for it the torchbearer and lamp of guidance.
On the map of Asia there can be seen a big rectangular peninsula.This is called the Arabian Peninsula or Arabia, which has the following four boundaries:The Arabian Peninsula is bounded on the east by the Arabian Gulf and that of Oman; on the south by Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean; on the west by the Red Sea; on the north by Jordan and Iraq. The total area of the Arabian Peninsula is 1,250,000 square miles of which 450,000 square miles is pure desert and forms part of a completely desolate area. The most famous desert is known as ArRub Al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) which stretches over an area of 250,000 square miles and extends to the southeast from middle of the Arabia. On the north of this vast desert is Al-Ahsa or Bahrain, and Oman lies on the south and east of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali. In the Arabian Gulf, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat are most famous cities. On the south of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali, we find Hadramout and Mahra, which are situated on the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. To the south and west of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali, is San'a' which is the famous city of Yemen, situated on. the coast of the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea. At the time of the advent of Islam it was the center for Christians in Arabia. To the west of Ar-Rub' Al-Khali, lie Asir and Najran, which are on the coast of the Red Sea. To the north of Asir, the Red Sea touches a small territory called Tihamah, which is considered as a part of Hijaz On the north of Ar-Rub' Al-KMli is Najd in the shape of a squareVn the east of which is Bahrain, to the west is Hijaz and on the north is the desert of Iraq and Syria. The name of the northeastern part of Najd is Yamamalu Hijaz is situated at the west of Najd and east of the Red oTlJar ^°f Makkah 3nd A1‘ Madi™h and the harbors BetWeen a"d Hijaz lies a territory and Natf another territory bound by Syria, Hijaz YamteXi, f* and tewee" Hadramout and the dwelling I famous desola,e area called Al-Ahqaf.A l00k at fhe ab mentioned territories.
In Arabia there is no river worth mentioning. Almost the entire country comprises of burning desert and barren land and the areas lying along the seacoast alone are in a flourishing state with population. Scarcity of water has made human inhabitation almost impossible in the middle areas. All the populated areas lie at the seacoast except Najd, which is situated to the north of Ar-Rub' AlfOrfli and in the middle of the country. Najd is actually a plateau, it is mostly desert and the ! desert range of Najd meets the vast deserts of Syria. Arabia is dotted with mountains here and there but no mountain is fresh and green. Yemen and Hijaz, situated on the coast of Red Sea, are fresher and greener than the rest of the area. The entire Arabian population is 12.5 million meaning ten people per square mile. [The figures relate to the past, at the time when the book was written.] The sun is very hot there, and sunstroke is so sharp and violent that it is generally considered poisonous. Even the camel, which is purely a desert animal, falls down dead with a stroke of this poisonous and burning wind. The camel is very useful in this country. For hundreds of miles one cannot find a trace of water, The camel is a desert ship. Long journeys are made on its back. Nothing significant grows except dates, and the population generally lives on camel's milk and dates, fish is eaten on the coastal areas. A greater part of the population of this country lives a nomadic life so there are few big flourishing cities.
[After the establishment of a single union territory by King AbdulAziz bin Al Saud, and by the current development in Arabian Peninsula, the above mentioned status has been changed.]
The scope of this book doesn't permit more space for writing about the geography of the Arabian Peninsula.
Since very early times the progeny of Sam (Shem), the son of Nuh (Noah) has inhabited Arabia. As regards designating eras, the historians have put the inhabitants of Arabia into three categoriesnamely, Arab Bd'idah, Arab Musta'ribah and Arab 'Aribah. Some of them have held both 'Aribah and Musta'ribah as the same and designated them in two categories only Arab Bd'idah and Arab Bdqiyah. Arab Bd'idah refers to only those peoples who had inhabited Arabia from the earliest age and they have all perished without leaving any trace behind. Arab Bdqiyah means those people who are still found in Arabia. They also form two categories namely, 'Aribah and Musta'ribah. Other historians have designated the Arabs into four categories — Arab Bd'idah or Arab 'Aribah, Arab Musta'ribah,. Arab Tdbi'ah, and Arab Musta'jimah.
Some of the earliest tribes were called Ad, Thamud, Abil, Amaliqah, Tasm, Jadais, Umaim, jurhum, Hadramout, Hadur and Abd Dakhm etc. These all were the progeny of Laudh bin Sam (Shem) bin Nuh (Noah). They dominated the whole of the Arabian Peninsula and some of their kings expanded their military conquests up to Egypt. Books of history do not give any account about them and their conditions. Ruins of their buildings, archaeological finds, some pillars of stone, ornaments and sculpture have been found in Najd, Ahqaf and Hadramout, which tell us that they were the strongest civilization of their time with much grandeur and awe. Among these tribes. Ad was the most renowned. These people lived in Ahqaf. Ad bin Aus bin Iram bin Sam by whose name this tribe became famous, was the first ,and foremost king of Arabia. He had three sons, named Shaddad, Shadid and Iram. They ruled one after another.
About the same Shaddad bin Ad, Allamah Zamakhshari has written that he built the city of Iram in the desert of Aden but it is now traceless. The Noble Qur'an has also made mention of Iram but it refers to the Iram tribe, not the city of Iram nor the garden of Iram. The Iram tribe was perhaps, another name for the Ad tribe or perhaps it was a branch of Ad tribe or the Ad tribe was itself a branch of the Iram tribe, Allah the Almighty says in the Qur'an:
"Did you not see how did your Lord treat the Ad of Iram who were of so commanding stature that no creature of such a physical strength was ever bom in the cities (of the world)?"
Mas'udi has written that, before Ad, his father As was also a king. A kine named Jairun bin Sa'd bin Ad bin Aus of this very dynasty had am aged Syria and built a house of marble and precious stone, and he had named it Iram. Ibn AsSkir has also mentioned the name of jairun in his history of Damascus. The Prophet Hud was sent to (he Ad tribe or the people who were raised from the same people. But his people disobeyed him and were sent to their doom. The Glorious Qur'Sn has detailed this event. Ad was followed by Abil, Amaliqah, Thamud, and Abd Dakhm, who ruled the country one after another until Ya'rub bin Qahtan brought about their end and set the beginning of a new era. Prophet Saleh was sent to the Thamud tribe or the people of Thamud. Thamud lived in Hijr while Yamamah was the place where Tasm and Jadais lived; Amaliqah lived in Tihamah and Jurhum in Yemen. As mentioned above, all the tribes of Arabia were the progeny of Sam, the son of Nuh (Noah) , which are shown in the genealogical table.
This category of Arabs is the progeny of Qahtan. Prior to Qahtan from Nuh none of these ancestors had Arabic as their language. The progeny of Qahtan used Arabic for the first time, which they amalgamated from the Arab Ba idak. The Qahtan tribes are divided in two types, Yemeniah and Sabaiyah. Scholars are widely divided over the genealogical issue of Qahtan. Some of them say that he was the son of Aber bin Shalikh (Shelah) bin Arfakhshand bin Sam bin Nuh, and the brother of Qane and Yaqtan. Torah doesn't mention it, but Qane and Yaqtan are mentioned therein. According to others, Yaqtan is derived from Qahtan, in other words, what has been called Yaqtan is actually Qahtan. Ibn Hisham says that Ya'rub bin Qahtan is also called Yemen and the country of Yemen was named after him. Now, if Qahtan belonged to the progeny of Ismail (Ishmael) the whole of Arabia would be descending from Ismail for only two persons, Qahtan and Adnan are the remote ancestors of all the tribes of Arabia. But the most confirmed and acceptable understanding is that Qahtdn and Yaqtan are the same person and the Qahtan tribe does not precede Banu Ismail.
Arab 'Aribah or Qahtan tribes have produced some famous kings who had the whole of Arabia under their control. Ya'rub bin Qahtan did away with all the races and traces of the Arab BA'idah. A short genealogical table of Banu Qahtan.Yemen is supposed to be origin and the ancient land of the Qahtan tribes. Among them, Himyari and Azdi tribes are most renowned. Azdi tribes ruled over the city of Saba and southern Arabia. They paid special attention to the progress and prosperity of the Yemenite population. Queen Bilqis was from them and she was a contemporary of Sulaiman (Solomon) The Tabi'iyah kings who reigned over Yemen and Hadramout also belonged to them. One of the tribes of Azdi shifted to Al-Madinah, settled and ruled there. Khuza'ah turned towards Makkah and defeated the Jurhum tribe who was then in control of the affairs there. Nasr, the son of Azd settled in Tihamah; and Imran, a son of Khuza'ah settled in Oman, and their children came to be known as Azd Oman, while another one named Ghassan settled in the frontier area of Syria and ruled over the frontier tribes. In Yemen, the rule of Qahtani sultans extended up to 7 CE. Ghassan bordered on the Roman Empire, while the Qahtani state of Hirah was near the Persian Empire. At the time of the advent of Islam, the Qahtan tribes were very strong and in a commanding position in the whole of Arabia.
This category of the Arabs refers to Banu Adnan or the progeny of Ismail (Ishmael) They came to Arabia from the outside, therefore they are called Arab Musta'ribah or the mixed Arabs. Ibrahim s mother tongue was 'Ajami or Persian. When Ibrahim (Abraham) HSB left Ismail (Ishmael) in Makkah along with his mother Hajira (Hagar), they learned Arabic from the Qahtani tribe Jurhum, which was already settled in Makkah, and later Arabic became the mother tongue of the progeny of Ismail WB. Ismail's mother passed away when he was only 15 years old. After the demise of his mother, Ismail mmade up his mind to leave Makkah and to settle somewhere m Syria. But the people of the Jurhum tribe in unison requested him to change his mind.
He was then married to AmSrah bint Saeed bin UsSmah belonging to AmSliqah family. After a short time, Ibrahim came and Ismail divorced his wife according to the instructions of his father, and then married Syedah bint MudSd bin Amr of the Jurhum tribe. Following these events, both Ibrahim and Ismail aa started building the Ka'bah on the old foundations made by Adam. Ibrahim would lay the bricks while Ismail would hand him the kneaded clay and the stones while both of them were supplicating:
"Our Lord! Accept this from us. Verily, you are the All-Hearer, the All-Knower."
When the wall of the Ka'bah was raised to such an extent that the work of construction was impeded, Ibrahim stood up on a piece of stone to resume his work. This place is called the 'Station of Ibrahim . When the Ka'bah was near completion, Ibrahim asked Ismail to bring a special stone to be put at the base as a cornerstone so that place could be distinguished. Ismail led by Jibril brought Hajar Aswad (the Black Stone) from Boqabis mountain and Ibrahim put it in the selected spot. This is the same stone that is kissed during the circumambulation ( Tawaf) of the Ka'bah. After rebuilding the Ka'bah, Ibrahim and Ismail . took their followers to Mina and Arafat, sacrificed their animals and circumambulated the Ka'bah. Ibrahim later departed to Syria and continued to visit the Ka'bah every year, performing Hajj until the end of his life.Ismail settled in Makkah for the rest of his life. The tribe Banu Jurhum (Jurhum the second) had already settled in Makkah and the An^liqah tribe settled in the suburbs of Makkah. (This was not the Amaliqah tribe of Arab Ba'idah .) Some people from these tribes believed in Ismail while others kept to their old faith. Ismail died, according to the Torah, at the age of 137 years. He was survived by twelve sons whose descendants multiplied so much that the land of Makkah could not contain them, and so they spread all over the Hijaz. The trusteeship of Ka'bah and the leadership of Makkah remained continuously with the descendants of Ismail. Among his children was Adn^n, the son of Kedar. The progeny of Adnan includes all the renowned tribes of Banu Ismail, and so the Arab Musta ‘ribah of Banu Ismail are called the people of AdnSn.
The son of AdnAn was called Ma'd and his grandson was called NizAr.NizAr had four sons from whom all the AdnAn tribes branched As a result of this all the AdnAn tribes are called Ma'di or NizAri. The genealogical table of the AdnAn tribes is given on the facing page.
Among the AdnAn tribes IyyAd, Rabi'ah and Mudar achieved fame. To the well-known tribe of Mudar, belonged the KinAnah tribe which had an eminent person named Fihr bin MAlik who was also called Quraish. The progeny of Quraish gave birth to many tribes, among them Banu Sahm, Banu Makhzum, Banu Jumh, Banu Taim, Banu Adi, Banu Abdud-Dar, Banu Zuhrah, and Banu Abd Manaf gained much fame. Abd Manaf had four sons namely Abd Shams, Naufal, AbdulMuttalib and Hashim. Among the children of Hashim was bom Muhammad £bin AbdullAh bin Abdul-Muttalib bin Hashim who is the last Prophet and to whom belongs the entire Muslim Ummah (community). The aim of this book is to clarify the state and condition of his Ummah (community) alone.
Abd Shams' son was Umayyah whose offspring are called Banu Umayyah. When the Adnan tribes, defeated by Khuza'ah left Makkah, they spread over different parts of Arabia. Banu Bakr settled in Bahrain, Banu Hanifah in Yamamah, Banu Taghlib on the banks i Euphrates, Banu Tamim in Algiers, Banu Sulaim in the suburbs of AlMadinah, Banu Thaqif in TA'if, Banu Asad in the west of Kufah and Banu KinAnah in TihAmah. Only the Quraish tribes from among the Adnan remained living in Makkah and its suburbs and they were in disarray. Qusai bin KilAb (who was in 5th century Christian Era) united them. By uniting various Quraish tribes, he brought not only Makkah but also the entire HijAz under his control. Thus, the trusteeship of the House of Ka'bah once again came to the Adnan tribe. Qusai did some repair work on the Ka'bah and constructed for himself a big palace of which a spacious hall was set aside for the P«ople to assemble for consultations and serious discussions. It was named DAr-un-Nadwah. It also served as the seat of power from where Qusai performed official business. Qusai had also advanced a proposal that during the Hajj days the pilgrims should be served food for three days and all the Qurai9h should make contributions for that In short, Qusai had achieved both religious and temporal power in Makkah and the Hijfiz. Qusai died in 480 CE and his son Abdud-DSr became his successor.
After the death of Abdud-Dar, his grandsons and the sons of his brother Abd Manaf fell out with one another. Mediation by the influential people of Makkah brought the situation back to normal by defining each group's responsibilities such as providing water, collection of contributions and taxes, and acting as host to the pilgrims. Abducl-Dar's grandsons were entrusted with the task of military arrangements providing security for the Ka'bah and looking after Dar~un-Nadwah. After a short time Abd Manaf's son Abd Shams handed over his right to rule to his younger brother Hashim.Hashim was very popular among the Makkans for his trading ability, wealth and generosity. He benefited the Quraish immensely, he persuaded the Quraish to widen the scope of their trading activities, which was very profitable for them.
Hashim married the daughter of the chieftain of Al-Madinah (Yathrib at that time). She gave birth to a son who was named Shaibah. While the boy was still a child, Hashim died. His brother Muttalib became the ruler of Makkah. Hashim's son, Shaibah was raised in Al-Madinah. When Muttalib came to know that Hashim's son had grown up, he himself went to Al-Madinah to bring his nephew back to Makkah. When Muttalib came to Makkah along with his nephew Shaibah, the Makkans mistook him as the slave of Muttalib. Although Muttalib tried his level best to remove the misunderstanding, it proved an exercise in futility and the name stayed with him and he was thereafter called Abdul-Muttalib. Abdul-Muttalib resembled his father in regard to character, honor and renown. The power and influence of AbdulMuttalib aroused competition until it became unbearable for Umayyah's son Harb. He challenged Abdul-Muttalib to combat. In accordance with the practices of the time, a judge was appointed who gave his judgment in favor of Abdul-Muttalib. This decision aggravated enmity between Barm Umayyah and Banu Hashim.
During the rime of Abdul-Muttalib, an army from Abyssinia headed bv a chieftain called Abrahah, launched an attack on Makkah; but the rmy known as the people of the Fil (Elephant), was completely destroyed by a natural calamity and heavenly intervention. The genealogical relations of the Quraish tribes are given in the table.
Of all the tribes, Abd Manaf was considered, in the whole of Arabia, as the most noble and respectable. After them their sons also excelled all the nobles of Arabia. The real name of Abd Manaf was Mughirah, who was also called Qamar and Syed. Since his brothers were named Abdud-Dar and Abdul-Uzza, he came to be called Abd Manat and finally Abd Manaf.
Arabia was, as mentioned in previous pages, the cradle of the Sam (Shem, son of Noah dynasty from the days old. Since very little is known of the Arab Ba’idah, it cannot be definitely said what was the moral condition of the Arab Ba'idah as compared to contemporary nations of the world. However, it may be conjectured that in the earlier times when human population was very sparse in the inhabited quarter of the world, by and large, there would be many similarities concerning their moral standing. Before the progress and development made by Banu Ismail, and after the Arab Ba'idah, traces are found of many realms and kingdoms from the time of the Qahtan Arab's power throughout Arabia. But in no period of their history did any one kingdom enjoy undivided power over the entirety of Arabia. There were provinces with separate rulers, some of them more renowned than others. However, inside the country, independent homeless bands wandered aimlessly with their tents loaded on their camels. Lack of pasture, water and the necessities of life always kept the Arabs wandering and passing their days in hardship and monotony. The lack of the necessities of life caused them to neglect wilding a society. Their way of life showed no distinct mark or sign of change andreform.
Life consisted of few activities and it had a uniformity of events that gave them a great deal of leisure time. A large number of vast deserts, the absence of production and indigenous things of value and the dearth of populated lands and cities never interested any foreign, power to turn towards Arabia with expansionist ideas, nor were there any means or reasons to attract tourists and traders to the peninsula. Thus the people of Arabia were generally unaware of the progress and development of other nations of the world and their society, character and way of living. No foreign nation even exercised its influence on the Arabs.
Under these circumstances and in such an environment only two traits of character easily developed in the people of Arabia. One, the development of the art of poetry for which they had a great deal of leisure time at their disposal, passing nights in the open desert and they were free of any disciplined stream of thought. Both of these states served as great stimuli. Second, the tremendous effort to survive and the subjection to a life of hardship made them extremely fond of fighting and tests of strength. Constant mutual combat led them naturally to self-praise and a growing discretion for exhibiting a sense of dignity. Pride and boasting, two typical qualities of man, led to bravery and generosity defining distinct roles which they followed with great interest. Idleness and deep indulgence in poetic composition turned them to lovemaking and drinking. But bravery and boldness had made them hospitable to a high degree and firm in fulfilling their promise as a matter of honor. Gambling, archery, assemblies for the recital of poetic verses, assertions of dignity, and competitions were some of the means of passing their tirrfe. In short, Arabia and its climate conditioned the Arab character. Hud and Saleh and several other Prophets were sent to the Arab Bd'idah. But the disrespect and disobedience shown to those Prophets resulted in their utter and total destruction. Some Prophets were also sent to another sections of the Arabs, the Qahtan Arabs, hut they paid very little attention to their call with the result that they met.their doom time and again. Moreover, they could not profit substantially from the teachings of their Prophets on account of their rebellious attitude and undisciplined thinking. Some of the people of Arabia believed in Ibrahim and Ismail In the sphere of faith and religion, their genealogical pride and egotism and the glorification of their ancestors led them to hero worship which ultimately paved the way to carving idols in their names to be worshipped. Idol worship led them to superstitions and many other irrational ideas.