ECONOMIC SITUATION IN ARABIA PENINSULA BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF ISLAM

ECONOMIC SITUATION IN ARABIA PENINSULA BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF ISLAM

            Pre Islamic Arabia also known as the Jahiliyyah period lasted for approximately six centuries from the elevation of the prophet Isa till the spreading of Islam by the last prophet Muhammad. During the time, the Arabs were divided into the city and the desert dwellers. The following will elaborate on the economy of the Arabs at that time.

            During that period, the economy was divided into different aspects like agriculture, industries, markets, trade and different ways of funds.

AGRICULTURE

The land of Mecca was not fertile and only dates were able to be cultivated. The produce was so beneficial that they were used both locally and for export. It is worth noted that that the people were experts in transplanting. Without much vegetation in Arabia, it was sheep and camels that made for the livelihood of both desert and city dwellers. Tribes would go from place to place with their herds, looking for pastureland.

INDUSTRY AND MANUFACTURING

The city of Ta’if was known as the industrial city where skins of dead animals like Oxen, sheep, goats, camels, and many others were transported there for treatment in various tanneries, and then in industries for the production of bags, shoes, belts, luxuries and fantasies. They were thus sent to the different parts of the country and to different other countries as exported goods.[1]

            It is true that, without farming and manufacturing, the Arabs were, compared to other people, at an economic disadvantage; but they did compensate in another regard:

INTERNATIONAL TRADE ROUTE

Formerly trade between India and China on the one hand and Europe on the other passed through the old “silk route” from Asia through Persia and Syria. The Byzantine-Persian wars blocked this route and forced it to divert to the Indian Ocean. Goods were carried by ship as far Yemen (the Red Sea was hard to navigate because of shallowness and lack of wind), then unloaded and sent by camel caravan up the Arabian Peninsula and to across Egypt and beyond. This diversion put Mecca right on the path of an international trade route, and its merchants became wealthy independent middlemen in this trade. More nomads were attracted to settle in the cities, and thus, aggravating the social problems. These include: the lack of an authority to control feuding clans who were now living in close quarters instead of the vast expanse of the desert, and a privatization of life, so that rich people exploited or did not take care of the poor of their clan, particularly in the case of orphans.[2]

MARKET STRUCTURE

There were three kinds of market in the main city of Hijaz. The “common” market was used by each and every one. All Arabs had access therein and there was no discrimination. The “slave” market was meant for the buying and selling of slaves and was occupied by the middle class and rich people. Access to such market was possible only if one was able to buy or sell slaves. The poor people were excluded. The “aristocrat” was meant only for the rich where only luxuries were sold. Goods and services of high qualities were sold and offered there. All these markets were owned by the rich people of Mecca, but their employees and workers were from the middle or low class. They would work hard for only a little share of the profit.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONSHIP

The rich Arabs would engage in business with different countries. They would trade with China for luxuries, Africa for crafts, Syria for carpets, and India for spices. In return they would sell their dates, leather products, agricultural products and slaves to these countries. They would either engage in barter and monetary systems. The Bedouins would follow the same track if ever they had the means to do so. All these business trades would take place in caravans.

The Arabs would also engage in the business of idols. They knew that during the month of Dhul Hijjah, there would be many pilgrims who would come for the pilgrimage. They would carve different models of the 360 idols present in and around the sanctuary of the Ka’bah. They would deal in such business.

WAYS OF FUNDS

There were different ways the Arabs would fund their business and become richer and richer. Levies were imposed on anyone such as travelers, foreigners and caravans for entering, staying and leaving the city of Mecca. Another levy would be paid for catering for their animals and belongings. Bribes were common among them for “progress”. Any desire for favoritism would lead to bribes. High rate of interest was imposed on the borrowers. The lenders were mainly the chiefs of Mecca or the Jews. Each year it would increase by one hundred percent and at the end of the third year, beginning the fourth year, the properties of the borrower would become the properties of the lender, including wife and children.[3]

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[1]  Cf. mercyprophet.org/mul/node/494.

[2]  Joe Kenny O.P., Early Islam, (Ibadan: Pat-Mag Ltd., 1997), p. 9.

[3] Islamimanihsan.com/Economic-Conditions-Of-Pre-Islamic-Arabia.pdf.