This book is about Muhammad the prophet of Islam. This book starts off with the history of Arabia before Islam came into the picture. The Reason why I'm reading this book as well is because its going to help me learn more about the Background or history of Arabia and how everything had started. Also, it will help me explain somethings about the religion and be able to connect it with the stories that I am going to read soon. It talks about how women had just a few rights back back then. "Tribal customs had a nightmarish side as well. Muhammad labeled the time before the coming of Islam Jahiliyya, the days of Ignorance, and rightly so. Arab Human rights were quite backwards, even for the time. Women had precious few rights. A women became the property of a man upon marriage, and no woman could refuse a match made by her father. Spousal abuse was rampant, with no recourse to any quarter for help. Upon the death of her husband, a woman could be inherited by her son and made her son's wife. Female infanticide in which newborn baby girls were buried alive in the sand was quite common in a society that considered surplus females a burden. Women had no divorce or well-defined inheritance rights and certainly no politcal voice. A man could divorce without reason and leave a woman penniless, and there was no limit to the number of wives a man could have, nor rules for how each should be treated." (Emerick 8-9) This all changed once Islam came into the picture, except for some of the people who kept that tradition going. People tend to think that this behavior towards women is part of the religion Islam. It is not part of the religion its just mere traditions that should not be allowed at all. This really goes against what the religion is truely about.
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This also relates to other countries and how they treated women back then as well. Going back to China and how they used to throw baby girls away was also another problem because they believed that a surplus of females was a burden as well. (correct me if I wrong anyone).
This book is really teaching me new things about the coming of The religion I practice today.
Part One:Muhammads Early Life and Roots .
Chapter 1~ Arabia before Islam
I want to share somehtings that I have read in chapter one that I thought were interesting and some that I thought were funny.
"Arabia was a valuable gem, but the world's mightiest empires could only eye it greedily. Thus Arabia is a land of paradox: a desert in the midst of an ocean, a treasure house buried in the sand, a rich culture perpetually on the edge of disaster, a province no empire could hold, and a land of history whose origins are rooted in religion. In this land was born the world's second largest religion, Islam, and its principal spokesman was an illiterate orphan who grew up in a dusty trading town." (Emirick 14).
Also, something that I found humorous was, "A story told by the companions of Muhammad illustrates the nature of idolatry amomg the Arabs of the pre-Islamic age. A poor man who had no idol of his own carved a face in a date in the morning and proceeded to worship his new god. By the late afternoon, with hunger pangs coming upon him, he decided to eat his god and thus went in search of a new idol." (Emirick 9). This made me laugh in a way but that is truely what had happen back then. People were uneducated and didn't really have any religion to follow.
Also, there was one part of the the chapter that I connected with Things Fall Apart. "At the same time, a pious Christian from Byzantium by the name of Qyamiyun converted Arabs of Najran to Christianity through his virtue and persistent teaching.... The Negus of this Christian African kingdom sent an army to conquer Yemen and soon the whole southern tip of Arabia came under Christian sway." (Emirick 10). This reminds me of how the White Chritian settlers came to Okonkwos village and all of the other villages to convert the people to their religion. And how some didn't approve and fighted back, like Okonkwo for example.
Hey Farrah!
So I've read through your posts on this book and all I have to say is: I want to learn more! Your religion's history seems really interesting and I can't wait to see more of your posts. Here's a question though, and take your time answering.
In Christianity, women are seen as inferior because of original sin and Eve's mistake of eating the fruit of knowledge and giving some to her husband. What established women as the inferior sex in the Islamic religion? Does it have its own concept of original sin that is fault of a woman?
The part about female babies being buried is really sad too. It reminded me of the twins in Things Fall apart and how they were put and pots and left in the jungle.
From your reading, have you seen any strong opposition to the traditions you've mentioned (like polygamy, abuse, and the destruction of life for children) in Arabia? Back then? Now?
Your blog seems to be coming along nicely, mashallah.
I have to say, I'm not your blogger but since I was just going around the blogs, and your blog looks great, keep up the good work farah, and your topic seems to be a great topic to address especially in todays generation. Good job in your presentation and work.
Part One: Muhammads Early Life and Roots.
Chapter 2~ The child of Tragedy
In the begining of the chapter they talk about Qusayy's death.Qusayy was Meccas first kingand he would also be the last. Qusayy could not maintain a power base. He also had "too many sons who might have contended for power, potentially sapping resources of the city beyond what it could bear. Qusayy wisely opted to divide his powers among his sons, and they, in turn, began the tradition of ruling Mecca through a relatively egalitarian council of tribal elders."(emerick 15).
They then talk about one of the sons named 'Abd Manaf who passed down his legacy to his son named Hashim. Hashim was wealthy and esteemed among his peers. He then fell in love with a Syrian girl in the northern Arabian city of Yathrib. Her name was Salma bint 'Amr. (This means the daughter of Amr). They were married and lived in Mecca for several years. Then they were blessed with a son whom they named Shaybah. The Hashim died on a trade expedition in Gaza so Salma returned to her hometown. Shaybah is considered an orphan because in the Arab soceity, they considered someone with out a father having few prospects in life. But then Hashims brother Al-Muttalib came and took in Shaybah so he could have a decent chance to succeed in life. Then when they headed back to Mecca the boy was riding his horse infront of his uncle so people thought that he was Al-Muttalib's slave. So, they called him 'Abdel Muttalib which means the slave of Muttalib. Then ever since then that name has never changed for Abdel Muttalib.
Now there was a well of Zamzam which was made by Allah for Abrahams son and wife when he went on the journey. Mudad who flew Mecca angerly hidden the well somewhere. Abdel Muttalib wanted to find the well because he didn't want his family to be considered weary water carriers forever. So one night he had a dream which told him where the well was. The next day he went and gathered people to help him find the well. He found the well but not only the well, there was also treasure at the bottom that had two small gazelle staturs made of gold. Some sword, and the weapons of Mudad.
Now Abdel Muttalib asked God if he could please bless him with 10 strong sons and if God blessed him with 10 strong ones he promised that he will sacrifice one of his sons afterwards. So later on in the years Abdel Muttalib was blessed with 10 sons and it came for the day that he had to sacrifice one of his sons. Now the one who was choosen by a random pick was his son Abdullah. Everyone loved Abdullah and didn't think that Abdel Muttalib should sacrifice Abdullah. So Abdel Muttalib took his son to the woods and was about to sacrfice his son but couldn't. Instead he went to ask Shiya who was the spirit guide in Arabia. She told him to have a draw of his sons name on one paper and 10 camels on the other. And to see if his draw comes out to 10 camels or his son. So when they did the draw his sons name appeared 10 times. Then on the 11th pick the 10 camels appeared. But Muttalib was not satisfied. So he did it again instead adding four more camels and then the four camels appeared three times in a row and then he was satisfied.
Then Abudullah married Aminah but Abdullah left to Syria to join the caravan for awhile. His wife was upset but waited for him. She then two months later had a dream of her womb lighting up the mountains, the hills, and valleys all around Mecca. Her slave asked her if she had any signs of pregnancy and then they found out that she was pregnant.
Abdullah fell ill and was left behind.
Then Abrahah a man that was jelious of Mecca wanted to destroy it so he could have people worship his church. So everyone in Mecca left because they were afraid of Abrahah's strong army. Aminah on the other didn't leave because of her condition. Abdel Muttalib told her that God will portect the Kabah which is in Mecca. The when Abrahah is making his final preperations a curious sickness began to spread among his men. by the end of the day his men were dying from the disease. SO then he decided to head back to his hometown but didn't make it on time because the disease had got him as well.
Later on in the chapter Aminah has a dream that she will name her child the Praised one which stands for Muhammad.
What I thought was so interesting was on page 31 of the book.
"One day when Muhammad was about three years old, Halimah's own son came running to her crying, "mother! two men in white are holding Qurayshi brother!" Halimah and her husband ran to the open field and found Muhammad standing alone and looking pale. He told them, "two men in white came and laid me on my back. They took something from my chest and then left." A search of the area revealed nothing and the incident was soon forgotten. In later years, Muhammad would describe the two men as angels who had come to remove the taint of any sin from his heart." I thought this was interesting because imagine if two angels came and took something out of you.
Well thats all I have for now and I'm still researching your question Michelle but I will find out they are hopefully.
Farrah ;)
Hello everyone!!
Well I read this book to give you guys a good history or background of pre-Islamic society. Now I will continue to read this book to find other important facts that will go with my project. So, I am not going to be blogging on this for every chapter I read in the book.
Thank you,
Farrah ;)
Hmmm...Really interesting Farrah! But it migh thelp to focus once more. I'm reading a lot about the men and their sons and I want to read about the woman! Lol it might be worthwhile to look into how the women in each story are developed--or how they are not. Compare that to how they are shown in modern literature. Remember, your topic is about the women so the men, though important, shouldn't take up to much.
How was Aminha characterized? Or how does the lack of characterization build her up?
Well Aminha is characterized as a women who is strong and loving. In the story once Muhammad is born she sends him to live with a women in a far away village. Back then other women would take newborn children and raise them until they thought they were ready to go back to their mothers. It was considered as something like an honor. So, Aminha used all of her power and will to get Muhammad to go but the only factor is Muhammad is considered an orphan because his father had died on his way back from an illness. These women never accept orphans because back then they believed that Orphans are not going to amount to anything or succeed in life. Before the women left the village they accepted Aminha's son because she convinced them to. So, her power came to her advantage. Also, she is very strong because when the time came for her son to come back another obstacle had came in their ways, which caused her to wait another year. And she held her patience in and waited for that year to pass. If I was a mother and I didn't get to see my son for 3 years and then had to wait another year I would go insane, so I have to give her credit for having that strong patience to wait for her son to come back to her. Another scene was when the men were coming to attack Mecca. The entire town fled the city, except Aminha because she wasn't afriad and believed that God will protect the sacred Mosque.
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