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THE
DARK PERIOD OF JAHILIYYA
Every
period of human history during which people associate partners
with God in any way - whether by worshipping idols and ascribing
to them some divine functions or by deifying some persons or
attributing creativity to nature and material causes - is wholly
dark. This is so because when belief in the Unity of God is
removed from the heart, the mind and soul ‘darken’, all
standards change and things and the world are judged from false
points of view. This moral, spiritual, social and even economic
and scientific state of a community is defined by the Qur’an
as jahiliya, and described as follows:
Or
like darkness on a deep sea obscure, covered by a wave,
above which is a wave, above which is a cloud. Layers of
darkness one upon the other. When he holds out his hand,
well-nigh he cannot see it. And he for whom God has
assigned no light, for him there is no light. (al-Nur,
24:40)
I
do not like describing falsehood. Besides, it is wrong for me to
describe falsehood where the truth may be described. In the
words of God, What is there, after truth, but misguidance? (Yunus,
10:32). However, in order to clarify the subject, I feel it
necessary to say a few words concerning the pre-Islamic era,
that is, the age of jahiliya.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, appeared at a
time when people had no knowledge of the true religion and
therefore worshipped a great number of idols. As stated in the
Qur’an:
They
were serving, apart from God, what hurts them not, neither
profits them, and they say: These are our intercessors
with God. (Yunus, 10:18)
They
shaped idols of stones, earth, bread, even cheese, and then
said: ‘These are our intercessors with God.’ They were so
degraded in thoughts and morals that, as reported by Abu Dharr
al-Ghifari, they would sit at meal-time, cut their idols into
pieces and eat them. The only excuse offered was that they were
following in the steps of their forefathers.
When
it is said to them, ‘Follow what God has sent down’,
they say, ‘No; but we follow that wherein we found our
fathers.’ (al-Baqara, 2.170)
They
buried their daughters alive. In the words of the holy Qur’an:
When
any of them is given the good tidings of a girl, his face
is darkened and he chokes inwardly, as he hides himself
from the people because of the evil of the good tidings
that have been given to him, whether he shall preserve her
in humiliation, or trample her into the dust. (al-Nahl,
16.58-9)
Women
were despised, not only in pre-Islamic Arabia but also in the
Roman and Sassanid lands. The Qur’an openly declares that they
will be questioned concerning this:
When
the female (infant) buried alive is questioned - for what
crime was she killed? (al-Takwir, 81.8-9)
One
day, after Muhammad’s declaration of his Prophethood, one of
his Companions came to him and narrated what he had done with
his little daughter:
O
Messenger of God, I had a daughter. One day I told her
mother to dress her as I was taking her to her uncle - the
poor mother knew what this meant, but she could do nothing
but obey and weep. My wife dressed the infant, who was
rejoicing at the news of going to the uncle. I took her
near a well, and told her to look down into the well.
While she was looking into the well, I kicked her into it.
While she was rolling down, she was shouting ‘Dad, Dad!’
As
he was recounting this, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, sobbed as if he had lost one of his nearest
kinsfolk.1
Hearts
had become hard. Every day a pit was dug in the corner of the
desert for an innocent girl to be buried. Human beings were
more brutal and cruel than hyenas. The powerful crushed the
weak. It was a time when brutality was taken for humanity,
cruelty received approval, the bloodthirsty were exalted,
bloodshed considered a virtue, adultery and fornication were
more common than legal marriages. Family structure had been
destroyed.
This
dark period would be followed by Islam, and, besides
eradicating all other evils, God would also declare in the Qur’an
concerning infanticide:
Do
not slay your children because of the fear of poverty: We
provide you and them. (al-An‘am, 6.151)
1.
Darimi, Sunan, Muqaddima, 7-8)
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