THE ORIGIN OF JIHAD

The Legacy of Mohammed

PART 1- The Land of Mohammed

In the year A.D. 570, a child was born into a lower-income family, in a country which was three-quarters desert and sparsely populated by impoverished nomad tribesmen.

Because of what that man taught, within a century those tribesmen were destined to conquer half of Byzantine Asia, all of Persia and Egypt, most of North Africa, and be headed for their conquest of Spain.

And the explosion did not stop there, but went on and on for hundreds of years.

Who was this man, and what did he teach?

Arabia is a large, irregular triangle that is actually part of the Sahara, the sandy belt that runs from North Africa to the Gobi Desert. The word, Arab, means arid. Arabia is a vast plateau which, within 30 miles of the Red Sea, rises to 12,000 feet and, then, slopes through mountainous wastelands eastward to the Persian Gulf. In the center are some grassy oases, with their palm trees and shallow wells. Around them are hundreds of miles of sandy desert.

It is a harsh land, with nights falling to 38^o F. and days scorching hot. Sand-laden air cuts into skin that is not protected by long robes and head coverings.

Along the western shoreline, torrents of rain occasionally fall; and there we find the Hejaz district and its cities of Mecca and Medina. Farther south is the district of Yemen, with its relative abundance of water, wood, and gardens. But our story will center around Mecca and Medina.

Back then, the Arab felt no duty or loyalty to any group larger than his own tribe. Aside from the loose authority of the clan leader (the Sheik;  earlier called sheikhs), there were no rules. Anything could be done, including robbery and murder, as long as it helped the tribe.

Possibly a tenth of the population lived in towns along, or near, the coast. Some raised a few cattle and horses, but most cultivated orchards of dates, apricots, oranges, bananas, figs, peaches, lemons, and pomegranates. Others tended aromatic plants such as jasmine, lavender, thyme, and frankincense, or cupped trees to draw out myrrh (balsam) from the trunks. 

This was an intersection of continents. Harbors and markets for Red Sea commerce were here, plus great caravan routes.

More than half of the population of Arabia consisted of wandering Bedouin, the nomads of the desert who moved with their flocks from one pastureland to another. Although they loved horses, the camel was their mainstay in the desert. Even though it only traveled eight miles an hour, it could go without water for five days in the summer and twenty-five in the winter.

The camel provided everyone with milk. Its dung was burned to stave off the chilly nights. The women washed their babies in its urine, to fend off insects. When a camel died, its tender meat was a delicacy, and its valuable hair and hide were made into clothing and tents. The Bedouin could live day after day on a few dates and a little milk.

Although they did not know it, these Bedouin were perfectly fitted for the extremes of desert warfare, by which they would later conquer all of the Near East. Indeed, war was something with which they were already acquainted. When not busy with other duties, the Bedouin occupied themselves with tribal war. They called them razzias, or raids.

But, by mutual agreement, at certain periods of the year, everyone would maintain a holy truce, so they could attend religious feasts or attend to their crops and other needed activities.

The rest of the time, the Bedouin fought with one another or robbed travelers who did not pay them tribute. These were powerfully built men who loved the freedom of the desert, where they could do whatever they wished.

Next to their horses, camels, women, and date wine, the Arabs loved stories and poetry. Since nearly all of them were illiterate, in their spare time they would sit and listen as one, and then another, would tell them legends or recite poems. This quality would come in handy when a young man, soon to be born, began telling them strange things.

Before the time of Mohammed, the land of Arabia was a nameless place which the Greeks called Sarakenoi, or Saracens (apparently from the Arabic sharqiyun, which meant Easterners).

For 25 centuries, from Abraham to Mohammed, the Arabs were not a nation but only a multitude of tribes, either stationary or wandering. As far as others were concerned, they had no geography, no history, and no importance. But times were soon to change.

This is the story of a people who rose above their climate and soil, and used their religion to conquer a sizeable part of the world.

As mentioned earlier, the chief ancient Arabian cities were in Yemen (anciently called Arabia Felix, Arabia the Happy, because of its more abundant water, wood, and fruit), Mecca, and Medina farther north. Both of these cities were in the Hedjaz, close to the western coast, part of the ancient land of Arabia Petraea (Arabia the Stony).

From far into the distant past, Mecca (today known locally as Makkah) had been a place of considerable trade. It is located at the intersection of two important routes: between Syria and Arabia Felix, and between Ethiopia and southeastern Asia.

The Kaaba, the holy place in Mecca, was considered the national metropolis of the Arabic people, long before Judaism and Christianity appeared in the peninsula. Kaaba means a square structure, and is identical to our word, cube. Arabs believe it was originally built by the angels at the dawn of history. A rectangular stone edifice 40 feet long, 35 feet wide, and 50 high, it is located near the center of a large porticoed enclosure, the Masjid al-Haram, or Sacred Mosque. In the southeast corner of the Kaaba, five feet from the ground (so it can easily be kissed) is embedded the Black Stone. Made of dark red material, oval in shape and about seven inches in diameter, Westerners consider it to be a meteorite. But the worshiping Arabs believe this stone was sent down from God out of heaven before the time of Abraham. Citing Psalm 118:22-23 and Matthew 21:42-43, Arab scholars believe it symbolizes Ishmael and his offspring who were rejected by Israel. They also believed that it covered the tomb of Abraham, before it had been brought to Mecca.

Within the Kaaba (prior to Mohammeds triumphal entry into Mecca in A.D. 630) were several idols representing tribal divinities. One of them was called Allah, and was probably the tribal deity of the Quraish. Three others were Allahs daughters: al-Uzza, al-Lat, and Manah. They had been worshiped for hundreds of years; for Herodotus (c.484-425 B.C.), the Greek historian, mentioned al-il-Lat (al-Lat) as a major Arabian deity (Heroditus, iii,8). The Quraish worshiped Allah as the Lord of their soil, to whom they must pay tithes of the crops and farm animals.

The tribe of Quraish (Koreish) was in charge of the Kaaba. This made them the leaders of Mecca and the most important of all the tribes of Arabia. It was believed that Quraish was the most important of Ishmaels twelve sons (although we do not find his name listed in Genesis 25:12-16). Since they were acknowledged by the Arabs as being the direct descendants of Abraham and Ishmael, Quraish had been appointed priests and guardians of the Kaaba, and managers of all the donations brought in by the worshipers. The most aristocratic minority of this tribe controlled the entire civil government of Mecca.

 Mecca is located in a winding valley at the foot of three barren mountains. The soil consists of rocks and the water is brackish. The pastures are at some distance from the city, and good fruit cannot be obtained any nearer than the gardens of Tayif, about 70 miles away.

In marked contrast, Medina (known as Yatreb before the time of Mohammed, and today called Al- Madina by the Arabs) possessed far better natural advantages. It had water, good soil, palm and fruit trees, grasslands, cattle, sheep, and goats.

In view of this, one might wonder why it was that Mecca was the most important Arabic city in ancient times. The answer is that Mecca had the commerce. Between Yemen and other localities, and the cities of Asia and Europe, the trade routes led through Mecca. Ships regularly docked at the port city of Juddah (today called Jidda), not far from Mecca. Part of the wealth of the nations passed through the city.

Because the people of Medina were always jealous of the greater prosperity of Mecca, they gladly accepted Mohammed when he later fled from Mecca. Otherwise he might have been slain by his enemies.

In addition to Arab worshipers of the Kaaba deities, there were also Christians and Jews in the Arabia. So, when the prophet was born, the Arabian religion was a jumble of monotheism and polytheism, Judaism, Christianity, Magism, and idolatry. But Sabeism, the worship of heavenly bodies, was the primary religion.

This was the world into which Mohammed was born.

Continue- Part 2