THE ARABIC PENINSULA BEFORE THE ADVENT OF ISLAM

ARABIA BEFORE ISLAM

 

When we think at the Arabian peninsula, we immediately associate it with Islam; Arabia is the cradle of Islam, and this is not only a Religion but a culture as well. Arabic culture and Islam are strictly associated, and it’s difficult to think at one without the other. Nonetheless, there was an Arabia before the advent of Islam, very different from what we know nowadays; it is so far in time that it is practically lost. However, historians can help us to rebuild that world, and, as a matter of fact, there were many religious traditions; among them, one can mention, above all, Christianity and Paganism. Judaism, Zoroastrism, and Manicheism were there as well, but played a secondary role; thus, while we acknowledge their existence, from an historic point of view, we have to focus on the two main groups that played a major role.

 

Christianity

 

The importance of Christianity, as a social and religious phenomenon, mainly relies upon its relevance in shaping the late antiquity; as a matter of fact, it was the rise of Christianity and the fall of Paganism that set the dividing line between the ancient world and the beginning of a new era. This does not mean, of course, that Pagans disappeared suddenly; at the contrary, they survived for many centuries and at the onset of Christianity they still played an important role. However, the sharp rise of the new religion was a real game changer; after a difficult beginning, it was recognized by the Roman Emperor and eventually became the State religion of the Empire. This is a very well known history, as the problems linked to the famous or infamous donation of Constantine. I don’t want to enter here in this arena, as my intent is just to remind what happened very briefly; after this fact, the Christians took revenge on their former persecutors and began to chase them.

On this regard, it is highly enlightening the religious policy of the Emperor, which reflects the debate which was going on inside the Christian world; as we know, the Christian community was very far from being united. At the contrary, a fierce debate arose immediately on the nature of the Christ, the so-called ‘christological debate’; in a previous post, we talked about the Arian controversy. Here we can add some elements, and to do this we can refer to the situation in Egypt; though this Country is not located in the Arabian peninsula, it is very near, and the events taking place there must had exerted some influence.

By the end of the II century CE, historians tells us that the new religion was gaining popularity; this apparent success was due the alleged parallels between the Paganism and Christianity. As a matter of fact, there was a clear tendency to stress the importance of redemption and mysteries, that were of a ‘sacramental’ nature, coupled with the recurring thought of immortality. Two centuries later, in Egypt Christianity had a good organization, and it could count on a network of cult places even in the villages. Another element, then, was a growing corpus of religious literature, whose language was Coptic, or that was translated in the native idiom, as in the country there were Latin and Greek speaking communities as well.

The significant penetration of Christianity in Egypt, in fact, is witnessed by the monastic movement; many Christians chose to live in the desert and abandon the cities. On this regard, history tells us of names such as Antony the Ermit or Pachomius; these figures are somewhat legendary, as many elements and events attributed to them are not credible. Nonetheless, the legends on them are the reflection of the favor of the new religion, which was replacing the ancient cults; moreover, the ascetic movement which began in the Egyptian desert had a lasting and deep impact on the whole Christianity. In fact, the monastic movement spread in every Christian land, and shaped its civilizations, as the cases of Europe and Russia, where the monasteries had a significant, and sometimes, primary role.

And in Arabia? Before the advent of Islam, there was one area where Christians were present, in the South-West, corresponding roughly to Yemen. Here, the society comprised mainly farmers of a sedentary nature, speaking the South Arabian, which is somewhat different from the Arabic language. The most important cities were Najran and Zafar; so it seems that Christians were there, but their influence has never been significant.

 

Paganism

 

Before the advent of Islam, Arabia was mainly Pagan, and this element is witnessed in many sources, not only Islamic; this feature can be better understood when we refer to Medina, which is one of the holy cities for Islam and Muslims. At the time of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, however, the city looked like very different; in fact, it was full of places especially devoted to the cults, and, thus, secluded from the others. These areas were thought as sacred, and examples can be found in the region of Hijaz, like the temple erected at Rawaffa, near Tabuk, which was there at the times of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. At the beginning of the VII century CE, however, the precise function of those place is not clear at all.

The shrine is probably the most ancient structure where the gods were worshiped, and it could come in many variants, like a temple; in general, it is a structure built by men, and examples of them can be found in any religious tradition and in every city and village. Besides the shrines, we can find the ‘holy city’, which is of regional relevance, as the cities of Makkah and Medina in Islam. These are the two extremes of the spectrum, and in between lie many other sacred places; at any rate, in Madina, some  historians recognized the ‘hawta’. This is a kind of sacred space for the tribe, whose boundaries were clearly set; typically, they coincide with places where people tend to gather, as is the case with markets. When the person who founded the hawta died, his role was assumed by a member of his family; inside this place, a code forbids many actions. However, the very name ‘hawta’ was never used to denote these places, and there are no certain examples in pre-islamic Arabia; in fact, the knowledge of the time preceding the Islamic period is still scarse, and the studies in their infancy.

What is sure is that the pre-Islamic Arabia was Pagan, but the precise forms and structures it took are still somewhat obscure; nevertheless, it is doubtless that these were the these beliefs which shaped the environment of pre-Islamic Arabia.