What was the political condition of Arab before Islam?

Answer 1

The period of Arabs before Islam is better called as 'Paganism' which means ignorance. The region of Arabs was stuffed up with all kinds of evil and ignorance and as far as progress was concerned, it was the poorest region at that time. Lawlessness and chaos prevailed among the Arabs. This necessitated the fertile ground for Rasoolullaah (saws) who after being ascended to the rank of Nabiullaah, preached Islam and the verses of Qur'an, and changed the whole scenario of Arabs. Not to forget that Rasoolullaah (saws), before the prophethood, was a shepherd and was famous in the region as 'Ameen', which means a person who used to safeguard the 'Amaanat' (lendings) of the people.

Answer 2

The leading aspect of the Arabs economy of that time from the viewpoint of production was animal husbandry and agriculture wherever it was possible. As far as trade and exchange were concerned, their main trade was with foreign lands. Both the Arabs of Yemen and Hejaz were engaged in this activity, but since foreign trade must have links with home trade in order to exchange home-made products with foreign goods, the Arabs of that age resorted to the same practice in keeping with the level of their civilization as they do in modern times. In the developed world of today one of the most significant essential and effective of economic practices is the organising of commercial and industrial fairs. The Arabs, too, at that time arranged fairs in the form of seasonal bazaars In the same way that today in each season a fair is held in a city or locality in relation to local conditions, the Arabs, too, followed the same practice at different times and in particular places. A few examples of the extensive and famous exhibitions which were held in Hejaz and Najd were as follows:

1. The 'Dumatul-Jandal Fair', held in the month of Rabial-Awwal under the auspices of two local tribes of Ghassan and Kalb near Shaam.

2. The Mashqar Fair' held in the month of Jamadi-al-'Ula in a place of the same name, under the auspices of Banu-Tim tribe.[8]

3. The 'Sahar Fair', held on the first of the month of Rajab.[9]

4. The 'Ria Fair' following their Sahar Fair' in the same month of Rajab, under the patronage of the Jalandi tribc and its ruler.[10]

5. The 'Aden Fair', held at the beginning of the month of Ramadhan, According to historians since this fair dealt exclusively with perfumes and scents, it was the great market of perfumers.[11]

6. The 'San'a Fair', held in the middle of Ramadhan

7. The 'Rabia Fair', held in the present Hadamut.

8. The 'Ukaz Fair', held in the month of Dhil-Qa'dah near Ta'if

9. The 'Dhil Majaz Fair', held when all other fairs had concluded and the merchants who had been busy making a round of these fairs during those months, finally headed to Mecca, making a pilgrimage to the Ka'aba in the month of Dhil Hajjah, and dispersed after performing the Hajj ceremonies.

These fairs and seasonal bazaars were the most valuable and cherished commercial events in Arabia of those days. The merchant class who profited from those fairs did their best not to let them become mere exhibitions. They organised colourful ceremonies and musical shows and other celebrations as well as exhibits of literary works, poetry and arts. Thus these exhibitions were show places worth a visit both for those who intended to buy new and fineries and goods, or listen to the latest and the finest pieces of verse, or fine music. Thus the poets, too, were drawn to these exhibitions to recite their poems before judges who judged their poems. In this manner the fairs served both as commercial shows and literary societies.

Answer 3

POLITICAL AND EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION DURING THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

Md. Zaheerul Islam, Guest lecturer,

Deptt. Of Arabic, Gauhati University, Assam

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. Their responsibility was to serve as a judge rather than to rule. The leader had no power of sanction. Their main responsibilities were managing the tribal meetings, representing the tribe in relations with other tribes, dealing with disagreements within the tribe, issuing declarations of war, commanding the army during war, sharing out loot, determining journeys and Immigration periods and times, helping the poorer tribe members, signing treaties, welcoming guests, rescuing prisoners of war, and paying blood money. The matters related to justice were referred to arbitrators in Bedouin social life. Anyone who did not obey the decisions of the arbitrators was expelled from the tribe. The matters of the tribes were dealt with in the Mela assemblies. These assemblies also consulted with the leaders. Punishments and rewards were only decided by the above-mentioned assembly. Although tribe members respected the opinions of the leader and the other prominent figures in the Mela, every member had a right of say.

The structure in question undoubtedly reflects the administrative traditions of Bedouin Arabs who resided in deserts and lived in tents. As for the administrative structure of the Mecca, in which people led a settled life, there was a more organized administration tradition. In this structure, a Kaaba-centered administration was formed, as the Kaaba was considered to be the reason for the existence of city. This administration determined the means of living for the population, shaped the religious understanding and cultural structure of the region, and was mainly composed of organizational services related to the Kaaba. There were dozens of such duties being carried out when Islam was introduced. These duties included service sectors, such as sidana (the administration, caretaking and protection of the Kaaba), siqaya (finding and providing water for pilgrims), rifada (providing food for poor pilgrims),uqab (carrying the banner in war), qiyada (commandership), ishnaq (establishment and payment of debts and fines), qubba (the tent where war equipment and ammunition were kept), ainna (bridling, dispatching and control of battle horses), safarat (serving as an emissary), isar (method of divining used to assist in decision-making, in particular related to important matters like journeys and battles), government (dealing with cases), mahcara (the management of money and jewelry donated to the idols of the Kaaba),imara (maintenance of peace and quiet around the Kaaba), nadwa and mashwarat (consultancy assembly). Although some of the duties that were shared out between the various branches of the Quraishi tribe were not very important, they were created to keep the Quraishi happy and to prevent competition and resentment among them. Moreover, the tribe members perhaps thought that this division of labor would contribute to creating an orderly service and would attract many pilgrims to the region.

Answer 4

Before the time of Prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon him) the majority of arabs were worshipping idols/statues,which were deemed as divinities.It went as far as each family had its own idol and there was a center with a bunh of them there and people would give donations to the idols.Almost all of the arabs rejected this tradition and in unity broke down all the idols after they accepted Islam.This was not after decades of tension between the prophet and his closest followers and the pagans.Some of the prophet's followers were even stretched out and speared and whenever they passed by a marketplace or a populated area,stones would be thrown at them.The pagans often even buried their babies alive if they were girls.But these people eventually sought the truth and when they got rid of their ignorance all of them became Muslims. It was all God's work,he made a messenger of the most perfect human to send out the message to the pagans as other prophets did before(and he was the last messenger),and that message was that there is no God but Allah(God in Arabic--Al-Ilah,The Greatest).Afterwards,with the devotion of the Arabs and the true,simple nature of this message was spread to the whole world.And here's what you don't see in your text books:for 1000 years or more,Baghdad was the center of the world,Islam was the dominant religion while Mideval Europe was tearing itself apart.In this age,the Muslims, after having defeated the Byzantine empire,converted the Persian one,converted most of Africa...became diverse,and in this center,Baghdad(and the areas surrounding it:Syria,Jordan,Saudi Arabia,Turkey) they made almost infinite discoveries in the areas of math(may I remind you-Algebra,created by Al-Jibr in...Baghdad),astronomy,and,most importantly,science.The Muslims invented things like the idea of a general hospital,soap,the astrolabe,TRUE shariah law(which kept them together and helped them flourish,the shariah you no nowadays is nothing like it and I would say more corrupt and less based on the Quran)...It would take forever to list all this stuff,but guess what,this was all a blessing from God,they went from a retarded state in little tents on sand worshipping idols to laying the foundations of present-day science and math.The number we use?0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,...were created by the Arabs and abandoned...and let me explain that too.Muslims...Arabs...as a whole flourished for about a thousand years,but then, as they became more secular and as a whole less faithful in their creator and they started ignoring the fact that God was giving them all this,their blessing started to go away,almost all of a sudden.Spain finally defeated the Moors,the Muslim empire was further divided...and then,what most people don't know,the Mongolians came in and destroyed the Middle East.The barbarians even came in and took all the knowledge that was collected over the years in the library of Baghdad and dumped it in the Euphrates river until it was black with ink.But hear we stand today,one of the most fastest growing religions in the world despite our bad reputation,2nd in the world actually.This is because many people are saying hey,how could a whole religion and its followers be blindsided because of a few corrupt individuals/orginizations?The instant someone reads the Quran,they realize its glory and most convert.In 20-30 years,Islam might be number 1 religion in the world,it already surpassed Catholocism,and eventually Christianity.The Quran has been unchanged(not even one marking over a later was changed) and remains the only Abrahamic/monotheistic religion to be in such a state.Both the Bible and the Torah were changed significantly overtime,no one can denied that.Muslims believe in the original Bible and Torah in their original state,but now that they are changed,we can only seek the Quran for guidance.I hope I informed you enough on Islamic history...and answered your question at the very beginning.

Answer 5

economic condition of Arabia was very bad there were tribe system