Jahiliyyah - Part 6

[Guest guest]

('Jahiliyyah' - traditionally translated " Time of Ignorance " , and used to apply

to the pre-Islamic period in Arabia, but in the Muslim sources its primary

meaning is violent and explosive irascibility, arrogance, tribal chauvinism.

[Muhammad Prophet For Our Time Glossary pg. 217].)

 

 

Jahiliyyah - Part 6

 

(p.78) Muhammad had now given up hope of converting the Meccan establishment and

realized that he must concentrate on the disaffected poorer people, who were

eager for his message. This was an important turning point, which is recorded

poignantly in the Qur'an. Muhammad had been so absorbed in a discussion with

some of the Meccan grandees that he impatiently " frowned and turned away " when a

blind man approached him with a question. [51] God reproved Muhammad severely: a

prophet must approach 'all' members of the community with the same respect. He

must move beyond the aristocratic ethos of muruwah [bedouin chivalric code]: the

Qur'an was for rich and poor alike. In brushing the blind man aside as though he

did not matter, Muhammad had behaved like a 'kafir'.

 

The word 'kafir' (*) is often translated " unbeliever, " but this is extremely

misleading. [52] Muhammad had no quarrel with the beliefs of Abu l-Hakam and Abu

Sufyan. In fact, much of their theology was quite correct. They believed without

question, for example, that Allah was the creator of the world and the lord of

the Kabah (**). [53] The trouble was that they did not translate their beliefs

into action. They were impervious to the true meaning of the signs of God's

benevolence in his creation, which required human beings to imitate him in all

their dealings. Instead of despising and oppressing vulnerable people, they

should behave like Allah and " spread over them the wings of tenderness. " [54]

 

(*) kafir--(Plural: 'kafirun') Traditionally translated " unbeliever. " More

accurately it refers to somebody who ungratefully and aggressively rejects Allah

and refuses to acknowledge his dependence on the Creator. (Glossary, p.217).

 

(**) Kabah--Literally, cube. The granite shrine in the Haram, dedicated to

Allah. (Glossary, p. 217).

 

Kafir derives from the root KFR ( " ingratitude " ), which implies a discourteous

refusal of something that is offered with great kindness and generosity. When

God had revealed himself to the people of Mecca, some of them had, as it were,

spat contemptuously in his face. (p.79) The Qur'an does not berate the kafirun

for their lack of religious conviction, but for their arrogance. [55] They are

haughty and supercilious; they imagine that they are superior to the poorer,

humbler people of Mecca, whom they consider second-class citizens and therefore

worthy of contempt. Instead of realizing their utter dependence upon God, they

still regard themselves as istighna'--self-reliant(***)--and refuse to bow to

Allah or anybody else. The kafirun are bursting with self-importance; they strut

around haughtily, addressing others in an offensive, braying manner, and fly

into a violent rage if they think that their honor has been impugned. They are

so convinced that their way of life is better than anybody else's that they are

particularly incensed by any criticism of their traditional lifestyle. [56] They

sneer at Allah's revelation, perversely distorting the sense of the Qur'an

simply to display their cleverness. [57] They were unable even to consider

anything new: their hearts were " veiled, " " rusted over, " " sealed " and " locked. "

[58]

 

(***) istighna'--Haughty self-reliance, aggressive independence and

self-sufficiency. (Glossary, p.217).

 

The chief vice of the kafirun was 'jahiliyyah'. Muslims have traditionally used

this term to refer to the pre-Islamic period in Arabia and so it is usually

translated " the Time of Ignorance. " But although the root JHL has some

connotations of " ignorance, " its primary meaning is " irascibility " : an acute

sensitivity to honor and prestige; arrogance, excess, and above all, a chronic

tendency to violence and retaliation. [59] Jahili people were too proud to make

the surrender of Islam; why 'should' a karim [bedouin ideal] moderate his

behavior and act like a slave ('abd), praying with his nose on the ground and

treating the base-born like equals? The Muslims called Abu l-Hakam, their chief

enemy, " Abu Jahl " (*) not because he was ignorant of Islam--he understood it all

too well--but because he fought Islam arrogantly, with blind, fierce, and

reckless passion. But the tribal ethos was so engrained that, as we shall see,

Muslims continued to exhibit jahili symptoms long after they had converted to

Islam. Jahiliyyah could not be eradicated overnight, and it remained a latent

menace, ready to flare up destructively at any moment.

 

(+) Abu l-Hakam ibn Hisham--also called Abu Jahl, " Father of Insolence, " the

nickname given by the Muslims to Abu l-Hakam; the most virulent of Muhammad's

early opponents. (Glossary, p.222).

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 2, 'Jahiliyyah', p. 78-80

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

ISBN-13 978-0-00-723248-2

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[51] Qur'an 80:1-10.

 

[52] Izutsu, 'Ethico-Religious Concepts', 66; Cantwell Smith, 'Faith and

Belief', 39-40.

 

[53] Qur'an 29:61-63, 2:89, 27:14.

 

[54] Qur'an 17:23-24, 46:15. Asad translation.

 

[55] Izutsu, 'Ethico-Religious Concepts', 127-57.

 

[56] Qur'an 7:75-76, 39:59, 31:17-18, 23:45-47, 38:71-75.

 

[57] Qur'an 15:94-96, 21:36, 18:106, 40:4-5, 68:56, 22:8-9.

 

[58] Qur'an 41:3-5, 83:14, 2:6-7.

 

[59] Izutsu, 'Ethico-Religious Concepts', 28-45.