Chapter 1: Arabia Before Islam
The land, the people and their beliefs — the world the Prophet ﷺ was born into
© 2026 Sheikh Mohamed Fawzy. All rights reserved. Version 1.7
Where in the world?
The Arabian Peninsula is a huge land of desert and mountains, with the sea on three sides. To its north were the two great empires of the time: the Romans and the Persians. Tap a place to learn about it.
Tap a place.
Makkah مَكَّةُ
A dry valley between mountains, with almost no farms. It lived from the Ka‘bah: pilgrims came every year, and its people, Quraysh, were traders. This is where the Prophet ﷺ was born.
Yathrib يَثْرِبُ
An oasis of date palms about 450 km north of Makkah. Two Arab tribes lived there, al-Aws and al-Khazraj, and with them Jewish tribes. After the Hijrah it became al-Madīnah.
Ṭā’if الطَّائِفُ
A cooler town in the mountains south-east of Makkah, with gardens and fruit. Its tribe was Thaqīf.
Yemen الْيَمَنُ
The green, rainy south of Arabia, with old kingdoms and markets. Quraysh’s winter caravan travelled here.
al-Shām الشَّامُ
The lands of today’s Syria, Jordan and Palestine, ruled then by the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Quraysh’s summer caravan travelled here.
Najrān نَجْرَانُ
A town between the Hijaz and Yemen. Many of its people were Christians.
Abyssinia الْحَبَشَةُ
A Christian kingdom across the Red Sea in Africa (in today’s Ethiopia and Eritrea). Remember it — in Chapter 10 the first Muslims will migrate there.
Point out that the Hijaz was ruled by neither empire, but the edges were: Yemen was under Abyssinia and then Persia, al-Ḥīrah’s kings served Persia, and the Ghassānids served Rome. Distances: Makkah–Madinah about 450 km; Makkah–Ṭā’if about 90 km.
Two ways of life
The people of the desert الْبَادِيَةُ
The Bedouins moved from place to place with their camels and sheep, looking for water and grass. They lived in tents, and were known for their pure Arabic and their courage.
The people of the towns الْحَاضِرَةُ
Others lived in towns like Makkah, Yathrib and Ṭā’if: traders, farmers of dates and fruit, and craftsmen.
There was no king and no government over Arabia. Each person belonged to a tribe (qabīlah), and the tribe protected its members. Your tribe was your family, your army and your law.
Think: what is good and what is bad about living by the tribe?
Good: people stood by their relatives and protected the weak among them. Bad: they also stood by them when they were wrong, and one killing could start a war between tribes that lasted for years.
Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm opens with this picture of the tribes and their leaders. Keep the reveal card for a short class discussion.
A valley with no farms — and the first House
Long before, the Prophet Ibrāhīm عليه السلام left his wife Hājar and his baby son Ismā‘īl in this empty valley, by Allah’s command, and prayed:
Allah answered his prayer: the well of Zamzam appeared, people came to live there, and hearts from all over Arabia turned towards Makkah.
Bakkah in 3:96 is another name of Makkah. The full story of Hājar and Zamzam is in Sahih al-Bukhari (3364) — you may tell it briefly.
Ibrāhīm and Ismā‘īl build the House
The religion of Ibrāhīm
Ibrāhīm and Ismā‘īl taught their children to worship Allah alone. The Arabs of the north, including Quraysh, are descended from Ismā‘īl.
Remember this
The Arabs were proud to call themselves “the people of Ibrāhīm’s religion”. But over the centuries, they changed it…
This sets up the next slide: how the religion of Ibrāhīm was corrupted.
How the idols came
Over time, people began to put idols beside Allah, and invented customs for them. The Prophet ﷺ named the man who started one of these idol customs in Arabia:
By the time the Prophet ﷺ was born, the Ka‘bah — built for the worship of Allah alone — was surrounded by idols:
Stress the contrast: the House built for tawḥīd was full of idols. Students will meet the 360 idols again in Chapter 25 (the Conquest of Makkah).
Who believed what?
Idol worshippers
Most Arabs. They believed in Allah as the Creator, but they worshipped idols beside Him, saying the idols would bring them closer to Allah.
Jews
Jewish tribes lived in Yathrib, Khaybar and other oases in the north. They were waiting for a final prophet.
Christians
In Najrān, among some northern tribes near al-Shām, and across the sea in Abyssinia.
A few seekers
A small number of people in Makkah refused to worship idols and searched for the pure religion of Ibrāhīm. They were called ḥunafā’.
Source: the chapter on the religions of the Arabs in Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm. The belief that idols “bring us closer to Allah” is quoted in the Qur’an (al-Zumar 39:3).
The tribe of the Ka‘bah
The tribe of Quraysh lived in Makkah and served the Ka‘bah and its pilgrims. Because everyone respected the House, their trade caravans could travel safely. Allah reminds them of this blessing in a whole surah:
Tap a journey to see it on the map.
The winter journey
In winter, Quraysh’s caravans went south to Yemen, where it was warm, to buy and sell.
The summer journey
In summer, the caravans went north to al-Shām, where it was cooler.
Winter south to Yemen, summer north to al-Shām — this is how the scholars of tafsīr (such as Ibn Kathīr) explain “the journey of winter and summer”.
The good they had
The Arabs were not all bad. They had fine qualities — tap each card:
Generosity
A poor man would slaughter his only camel to feed a guest.
Keeping promises
Breaking your word was a great shame.
Courage
They did not run from danger, and protected whoever asked for their protection.
Eloquence
They loved beautiful words and poetry — the language the Qur’an came down in.
Islam did not throw these away. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Complete” (li-utammima): Islam kept the good character the Arabs already had and perfected it, and removed what was wrong.
The wrongs they did
This time is called al-Jāhiliyyah — “the time of ignorance”. Some of its customs were terrible:
Worshipping idols
The greatest wrong of all: giving Allah’s right to stones and statues.
Endless wars
Tribes fought for years over small things, and revenge passed from father to son.
Oppressing the weak
Orphans, women and the poor often had no one to defend them. Wine and gambling were everywhere.
Worst of all, some of them buried their baby daughters alive. The Qur’an condemned it:
Handle the burying of daughters calmly and briefly; the point is how Islam honoured girls and women. Not every tribe did this — it was a custom among some of them.
Why here? Why then?
A free land
No emperor ruled the Hijaz, where Makkah lay, so no king could stop the message at its very start.
In the middle
Arabia lies where Asia meets Africa, close to Europe — the message could travel in every direction.
The House of Ibrāhīm
The final message returned to the place where Ibrāhīm had called people to worship Allah alone.
Most of all: Allah knows best where to place His message. The world was in darkness, and the light was about to come.
These are reflections the scholars mention, not proofs; present them as “wisdoms we can see”. The final line echoes al-An‘ām 6:124.
What we learn
Tawḥīd first
The Ka‘bah was built for the worship of Allah alone. Idols came later, through people changing the religion.
Small changes grow
One man’s new custom spread for centuries. Be careful what you start — good or bad.
Islam completes the good
Generosity, courage and keeping promises were kept and perfected; injustice was removed.
Quick quiz
Into this world, the Prophet ﷺ was born
ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam ﷺ