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CHAPTER 3
5. ARABIA, HIJAZ AND QURAISH
5.1 Arabia
Arabia is derived from Arabah, a distinct enclave in the south-east province of Tihamah, named after that of Ya’rab bin Qahtan. It was the same place where Prophet Ismail, (one son of Prophet Abraham) had settled, along with his mother -- Hajirah. Prophet Ismail, having migrated from Arabah to Hijaz, the present-day Arab ancestral bases are routed to; 1) Qahtan bin Ibr’ and 2) Adnan – the progeny of Prophet Ismail. Prophet Ismail’s descendants had mingled with the Qahtani Arabs through inter- marriage. The offspring of Qahtan ruled over the Arabs for a number of centuries. Ya’rab bin Qahtan established his kingdom, south in Yemen, while Jorham bin Qahtan repeated this in the north, Hijaz. The progeny of Ya’rab, later called Himyarites, ruled until the conquests of Alexander. [18]
5.2 The descendants of Qahtan
In a short time, at the time of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad , Arabia was populated by two distinct racial entities namely: those who claimed to be descendants of Qahtan as opposed to those who were the offspring of Prophet Ismail, where the former belonged to Yemen and the latter lived in Hijaz. During the reign of Himyari kings, the capital Saba was inhabited by the tribe of Banu-Azd (descendent from Qahtan). In the second Christian century, the Banu-Azd migrated north, a section settling at Batan-e-Maar near Mecca, and later they became the Bani- Khuza’ah. A second offshoot settled in Yathrib (now Medina) where two tribes the 1) Aws and 2) Khazraj attained their familiarity. The residue of the Himyarite tribes of Yemen populated the areas in Syria and Iraq. The Syrian clan was called Banu- Ghassan and their Iraqi counterparts called Banu Kulb. Some also settled in Hamadan, Oman, and along the coast of the Persian Gulf.
5.3 The descendants of Prophet Ismail
The progeny of Prophet Ismail is the source of the dignity and fame of Arabia as the Prophet himself, physically built the Holy Ka' ba (House of God), in Mecca. The tribes of the family of Ismail (Banu Ma’d or Banu-Mudar) named after Mudar – the grandson of Ma’d bin ‘Adnan. Their offshoots of the same were Quraish, Banu- Qais, Banu-Bakr, Banu – Taghlab, Banu-Tamim et al. The Quraish selected Mecca as their permanent abode, whilst other tribes settled (except in Medina) at various places throughout Hijaz and central Arabia. The mutual animosity between the Himyari and Mudari tribes developed over centuries, with shortfalls in dialect, culture and education. The Himyaris literate, civilized and agriculturalist while the Mudari’s mere Bedouin, living on their cattle as a pastoral people. During the time of Qusa, Mudari Arabs began cultural and social development, the Quraish as their harbingers.
Most of the Mudhari’s were tributaries of Himyari kings [19]. Banu Mudar settled in Palestine and southern Syria, while Himyaris settled in northern Arabia and northern Syria. In the western Islamic provinces of Egypt and North Africa, both the Himyari and Mudari Arab tribes settled equally. [20]
5.3.1 Ghassan, Hira and Hijaz
The famous Himyari king, ‘Abdul-Shams became known as ‘Saba, by founding a city in Yemen, later referred to as ‘Marat. This city was destroyed by floods in 340 BC and the surviving tribes subsequently settled in the northwest and established kingdoms with the names of Ghassan and Hira (in the north-east). Founded by the ‘Adad tribe in the region of Syria, a testament to a spring next to it with the same name, the kingdom existed for the next six centuries until it was conquered by Caliph Umar, with whom God be pleased. The kingdom of Hira, founded by a Yemenite tribe, named Lakham, in Chaldea (Iraq), lasted for 620 years when it was vanquished by Hadrat Khalid bin Waleed, during the caliphate of Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq, with whom God be pleased. The Kingdom of Hijaz, founded by Jorham bin Qahtan, lasted until the Prophethood of Ismail, whom having married the daughter of a Jorhami king, Mudar; Prophet Ismail was blessed with a dozen male offspring and Kidar (one of them) inherited, from his maternal uncle, the kingdom of Hijaz. The descendants of Kidar, later, ousted the tribe of Jorham from Hijaz, who then settled in Johina.
5.4 Pre-Islamic Arabia
The reign of the Himyarites over Yemen endured for two millennia. Before the advent of Islam in Arabia, there were various faiths and beliefs of spirituality, faith, and God. Some Arabs were polytheists, others believed in an unseen God or atheists, and Sabeans, Jews, and Christians. Numerous astrologers and soothsayers were present in Mecca and inside the Holy Ka’ba, sculptures and pictures of Prophet’s Abraham, Ismail, Jesus, and Virgin Mary were kept as fixtures. [21] The Himyari tribes worshipped the sun and the inhabitants of Mecca worshipped Jupiter. The Thaqeef tribe worshipped an idol called Laat and the Ghatfan’s Al’Uzza while the Khuza’ah’s ‘Manat’ and the Quraish had- Hibt and Taghoot – for worship.
The introduction of Judaism in Arabia in fifth century BC, and Christianity in the third Christian era did not attain widespread acceptance amongst the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. During the third Christian century, the Jacobite community took refuge in Arabia, fleeing from the Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire whom therefore sought asylum in Egypt, Arabia and Mesopotamia. The well known tribes amongst them were; Banu Harith of Najran, Banu Hanifah of Timamah, and Banu – Tay of Taimah. In pre-Islamic Arabia, a general congregation of Arab tribes’ annual literary and poetic galas at ‘Akkaz near Mecca drew seven Arabic poetic masterpieces, hung at the doors of the Holy Ka’ba, due to their esteem, known as al-Mu’alaqat. [22]
5.5 Abyssinian rule in Yemen
The northern and central Arabian regions did not succumb to foreign political control but for Yemen, for sometime under the suzerainty of Abyssinia. The king, Yusuf Dhunnawas, a descendant of Abu-Karb Asad, the institutor of Judaism seven centuries before the advent of Islam into the Himyarite tribes of Yemen, reigned seventy years before the birth of the Prophet of Islam . The bigoted king, Dhunnawas, ruled over Yemen while he dabbled in the murder of many Christian tribesmen. As a result, the Abyssinian army invaded and Dhunnawas was killed in the ensuing battle. Yemen was thus ruled by four consecutive rulers from Abyssinia. In 537 CE, Abraha having killed Harith became the governor of Yemen. Abraha had in 570 CE, during the lifetime of Abdul Mutallib [23], invaded Hijaz and Mecca with a cavalry of elephants (the incident became known as Aam al- Feel) but this invading force was halted from annexing the land.[24] The Abyssinian hegemony over this territory ended in 573 CE by a Himyarite Arab Chief, Ma’di Karb bin Saif bin Dhulayazan in concert with the Iranian monarch Khusrau Nausherwan; but Ma’di Karb himself was killed in the battle. From then, proceeding fifty to sixty years ahead, Yemen was governed by an Iranian viceroy (Murzban). The same year, some months following the Aam’ al Feel incident, the great Prophet of Islam, Rasool was born in Mecca of the family of Bani-Hashim, in the noble tribe of Quraish.
5.6 The Tribe of Quraish
The most noble tribes in the greater Arabian peninsula was that of Quraish, a descendant of Fihr, alternatively known as Quraish (meaning merchant or trader) In the third Christian century and through Ma’d bin Adnan, Fihr claimed descent from Prophet Ismail.
5.6.1 Qusa
In the fifth century, from the progeny of Fihr, was Qusa who led Mecca’s development into a flourishing town whilst organizing structured governmental institutions in Hijaz. As the accepted leader, he invited all tribes to make their homes permanently in Mecca. When the settlers began to build homes around the Ka’ba, Qusa set forth five major articles associated with it:
1. Siqayah and Rifadah: the honour of providing water and food to the pilgrims of the Holy Ka’ba.
2. Liwa: for example the right to standard-bearing
3. Hijab: the duty of keeping guard
4. Qiyadah: the office of leading the Arab contingents in the war
5. Darum – Nadwah: the position of the president of community council
The five articles were characteristics of Qusa, as he was king and religious head of the people.
5.6.2 Bani - Hashim
After his death in 480 CE, his son Abd al-Daar reigned for a time, when, upon his end, disputes amongst his grandsons and the sons of his brother, Abd-i-Munaf accumulated. When an agreement was effected the duties apportioned to the Holy Ka’ba of Siqayah and Rifadah were given to Abdal Shams bin Abd-i-Munaf, the other four apportioned for the grandsons of Abd al-Daar. However, Abdal Shams transferred his duties to his brother, Hashim, for whom God had provided in wealth, fame and generosity among the Quraish. After Hashim’s death, (510 CE) his brother Mutallib, inherited the functions, Siqayah and Rifadah, and passed them to Shaibah (better known as Abd al-Mutallib), his nephew. [25]
5.6.3 Abdal Mutallib bin Hashim
Meanwhile the grandsons of Abd al-Daar continued strengthening their position in wealth and influence. They nursed in their hearts deep set enmity against Bani-Hashim, and sought to rule over Mecca alone. Even so, Abdal Mutallib bin Hashim, who lived 110 years fathering 13 sons and 6 daughters, ruled for 59 years by the instructions of the elders of Quraish; notwithstanding Umayyah bin Abd al-Shams whom also joined the opposition to Bani Hashim. Five of his sons remain in the gaze of today’s Islamic history, namely; Abd-i-Munaf (Abu-Talib), Hadrat Abbas, Hadrat Hamzah, Hadrat Abdullah (the prophet’s father) and certainly, Abu Lahab; whose name is recited perhaps by millions 5 times a day all over the world, as he earned notoriety for his avowed enmity towards Islam and the Prophet. [26]
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