جاهلیت

The term “Jahiliah” (Ignorance) is the most important and obvious term used to describe the social structure and behavioral, moral and religious characteristics of the people of the Hijaz region during the years before the advent of Islam. A review of Shia hadith sources declares that the infallibles (pbuh) have also used this term in their statements on many issues and in various instances. In the following article, firstly, the typology and then the quantitative and comparative analysis of the classified news are mentioned, and its results are used in order to achieve the general framework of the thought of the innocents (PBUT) about the age of “Jahiliah” (Ignorance), rereading the instances and how of remembering the period of “Jahiliah” (Ignorance). The results of the research show that the views of the Innocents (PBUT) about the Age of “Jahiliah” (Ignorance) are aligned with each other; the difference is that this term was used by each of the innocents in accordance with different purposes, and the fact that it was used in a few or many cases in different periods, as well as the delay in the variety of topics and examples, can provide new insights about the perspective of the innocents (PBUT) towards the concept of ignorance.

Ibn al-Kalbī in the Mathālib al-'Arab reports the emergence of Zindīq among Qurayshs while introducing the religions existing among Arab tribes and states that the Christians of al-Hirah taught the Zindīq to the Qurayshs’ merchants. He also mentioned the names of the Zindīqs of Quraysh. According to the historical evidence of using Zindīq in the meaning of Mazdakism, the question of this article is whether the Zindīq that Ibn al-Kalbī talked about its prevalence among Quraysh can mean Mazdakism or not? Therefore, with a historical approach and a library method has tried to discover the evidence of the presence of Mazdakism in Saudi Arabia. The accuracy of al-Kalbī's report and the analysis of the library evidence indicate that the mentioned Zindīq does not mean Mazdakism and to understand the meaning of the Zindīq reported by Ibn al-Kalbī other possibilities should be considered.

“Al-Jāhiliyya” evokes vivid images of idol worship, tribalist antagonisms, and violence commonly assumed to be emblematic of the Muslim representation of pre-Islamic Arabia as a “barbaric” anarchical society. Such associations, however, overlook manifold complexities of the era’s portrayal in classical Arabic literature, and this paper calls for a more nuanced reading of classical narratives of al-Jāhiliyya. Exploration of the word’s semantic shifts evidenced in Arabic lexicography and Qurʾānic exegesis between the third/ninth and seventh/ thirteenth centuries reveals that only after the fourth/tenth century did the now common Jāhiliyya stereotypes become virtually synonymous with pre-Islam. Via a survey of third/ninth century Arabic writings, this paper also explores how and why certain discourses articulated rather positive memories of pre-Islamic times.

The poems contemporary with appearance of Islam (in Ignorance period), is one of the sources of knowing the society of that time. As one of the most famous poets of that period, Khansa has paid attention to some features of that society in her poems. This study seeks to express the social and religious characteristics of contemporary Arabs with the appearance of Islam in Khansa poems. For this, they are used the old sources and new researches and descriptive-analytical method. The findings of this study show that Khansa in her poems have expressed some important social characteristics such as: courage and warfare, flag-bearing, revenge, looting, chivalry, generosity, hospitality, oratory and chastity. Belief in issues such as the existence of God, determinism and the existence of jinn as the beliefs of the Arabs contemporary with the rise of Islam, has also been considered in Khansa poems.

Understanding the pre-Islamic Arab epistemological system plays an important role in understanding the mission of Islam. One of the components of this system is the extraordinary affairs in the ignorant Arab thought, which by knowing this field of thought, one can gain a clearer understanding in the nature and function of the miracle of the Prophet. This study, using library resources and in a descriptive-analytical manner, has explained a part of the intellectual-cultural situation of the pre-Islamic Arab society; That part which provides a comprehensive understanding of how the pre-Islamic Arabs interacted with amazing events and habits consequently, miracles. According to the findings of this study, the most important people who claimed to have extraordinary powers in the pre-Islamic period were the religious leaders of temples, priests, Christian monks and sorcerers. Thus, the origin of supernatural affairs in the eyes of the pre-Islamic Arabs was not necessarily a divine origin, but the claim of prophecy and having a special relationship with God (or gods) was largely proven in this way. In such circumstances, the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) had to perform a miracle to prove his prophethood and to overcome his other religious rivals. But since most of the possessors of these powers were considered sorcerers or priests, the main miracle of the Prophet of Islam appeared in a unique way in the form of a book and he refused to accept repeated requests in sensual miracles.

The use of lineage and its emphasis on the clash of the views of the two Iranian and Arab societies in the first two centuries AH caused the emergence of challenges in the Islamic world and the emergence of problems in Islamic unity. This led to the production of ethnic hatred in some areas of the caliphate and in some areas to two separate mental ideas. The question of this research is based on the question that what effect did the use of lineage have on creating a crisis in the desired unity of the Islamic society? In this descriptive-analytical method of research, the importance and influence of genealogy in the thinking of Arabs, ancient Iranians and the impact of these thoughts on the early governments of Islamic Iran, which somehow followed both ideas, is discussed. The result of this study showed that one of the most important factors of dispersion and division in the Islamic world was the attention and application of lineage in the political and social structure of the fledgling Islamic society in the first two centuries AH. If the Umayyad caliphate tried with all its might to suppress and control various crises, but their tribal performance prevented the stabilization of the situation on the eve of the division and disintegration of the relatively large territory of their caliphate. Numerous military uprisings were severely suppressed during this period, but the ideological foundations of secession continued to grow at every stage. The rejection of the superiority of the Arabs by the Iranians and the non-Arabs and the insistence of the Arabs on racial prejudices, gradually promoted a spirit of pride to ancient and past ancestors. The settlement-seeking people, Tasviyya Khah, Shu'ubiyya, and the anti-Umayyad currents each engaged in a kind of theoretical confrontation with the Umayyad prejudice, which was also considered a precondition for a practical defiance of the Umayyad caliphate. Genealogy, or lineage, was considered the legitimizing factor of the government, and if there was a disturbance in it, the obedience of the people in the whole territory of the Islamic world would be in crisis. The pride and bigotry of the Arabs in boasting about their lineage, which they considered to be the highest lineage in the world, caused some settlement-seeking Muslims, to protest and because of this bigotry and stubbornness led to racial oppression in the Umayyad period, Shu'ubiyya mocked the Arab lineage and boasted of the ancient Iranian ancestors. And they did their best to show the adverse attitudes of the Arab race. The result emerged two important trends that were based on past lineages. Arabs who boasted of their racial superiority and ignorant epics and days of conquest in order to dominate non-Arabs, and so on; Non-Arabs or Arabs who, outside of this thinking, cared about a settlement point of view, increased their activities after observing the racial prejudices of the Umayyads and denied any superiority of the Arab race. This ideological schism, which was the result of distancing oneself from religious and Islamic teachings, gradually grew into a number of branches, ranging from a simple settlement to radical anti-Arab views. In the first two centuries AH, in the custom of society, the purity of blood and lineage took on a high value. Of course, the influence of the prevalence of Umayyad tribal prejudices in the entire structure of government and society, as well as the Shu'ubiyya intellectual movement, cannot be ignored in highlighting these ideas. At first, it was assumed that the Arabs had no doubt about their superior race, which in their view was full of honor, freedom and greatness, and boasted that in their ignorant period's epics they had traits such as eloquence, poetry, love, heroism and chivalry, as well as this quality that they had many struggles in the spread of Islam. Thus, they considered themselves more valuable than other Muslims and as God's chosen ones to guide other people. They saw themselves as divine agents and insisted on enduring much suffering and martyrdom in the spread of Islam, and from this perspective they considered themselves worthy of superiority, assuming it was their right to rule over others. On the other hand, exactly the opposite of this view was the discourse of "Settlement People" or Ahl al-Taswiyah, who took this kind of pride of the Arabs opposite to the original beliefs of Islam, based on the Book of God. This view had many supporters, the most important of whom, Shu'ubiyya, were after proving the superiority of the Persian race over the Arabs, making great efforts to glorify the kings of pre-Islamic Iran and narrating many accounts of justice and greatness of these kings. This cultural movement ended up rising poets and writers to power with an extreme sense of nationalism. Books they wrote began with "Kiomars" and ended with the time of its author. The poems written during this period highlighted the sense of patriotism and prejudice towards the ancient race in the minds of the people. The function of these two relatively contradictory discourses in the fate of the Islamic world caused division and distance from the unity that was the cause of power among Muslims.

Prior to Islam, interfaith relations were in the form of "helf" and "wala".The Prophet (peace be upon him) substituted allegiance in Islam as a divine covenant between the ruler and the condemned, and the people bound by the obligation, albeit without material gain or breach, of a treaty and deserve punishment.The present study seeks to ask: What is the place of piety in Imam Alichr('39')s discourse? Regarding the evolution of devotion during the period of ignorance, the time of the Prophet and the era of the Rashid Caliphs, it can be said in response that Imam Ali (AS) recognized the concepts and instances of allegiance and revived its status as a prophet.The findings of the study indicate that worship in Islam is a political and sovereign category in solidarity with the Divine Covenant, and with pre-Islamic examples it is merely a literal one in common and has no legitimizing role. Therefore, with the change of allegiance in the era of the Rasheedin Caliphs, Imam Ali (AS) refused to accept popular allegiance and then adopted the terms of divine leadership for the government and revived its prophetic tradition

The Ignorance Time culture was shadowing everywhere in the pre-Islamic period. Without mentioning any place, time, and folk, the Holy Quran has pointed to the components and characteristics of ignorance, but in order to clarify more for the primary audience of the Quran, the ignorant Arabs; it enumerates examples of the culture of ignorance in the Arabian Peninsula. In this regard, one should not limit ignorance just in the Arabian Peninsula. On the eve of the advent of Islam, Iran, as one of the significant and civilized geographic areas, was an example of the culture of ignorance. Analyzing the culture of the Ignorance Time in one of the important sectors of society, i.e. the women and family system in contemporary Iran with the advent of Islam is the purpose of this paper. The general topics under discussion include: the status of women in the view of Iranians coincided with the advent of Islam, the types of marriage, behavior with women and children, and analyzing the backgrounds and factors of this situation.

The recognition of Ignorance and its sociological attachments regarding its close proximity to Early Islamic Community is very important. Moreover the essence and the features of Ignorance indicate not only be considered to the pre-Islamic period but also on the contrary to Islam and any fundamental transition, one of the initial steps studying the ratio of a society to the Ignorance is, the perception of its meanings, concepts and subjects. Among the existing in this arena, beside the Holy Qur’an and The Hadiths of Prophet (PBUH), the sermons of Ali (PBUH) is of considerable importance. Applying descriptive approach by using the grounded theory method, through the constancy between the inductive reasoning (creating concepts, subjects and the relations in between) and deductive reasoning (examining the concepts, subjects and the relations in between). This research intends to find the dominant criteria in evaluating the ratio of society to Ignorance in Nahdj al-Balagha and renders the term “irrational-faith” as the major concept in this arena.

Thar tradition in the tribal value system ofJahiliyyahera was one of the cultural foundations of tribalism, whose social detrimental repercussions prickedthe clear conscience of someJahiliyyahpoets and sages and made themcriticize itprogressively. The function and implication of Thar has rarely been investigated within its tribal conception. In this vein, we attempted toexplore the continuity and transformationof Thar in the tribal context via deploying Durkheim's concept of crime and punishment. It is concluded that the reaction of intellectuals to this tradition set the mental groundsfor gradual and potential transformation of attitudes toward Thar,inthe long run. Consideration and approval of Hakamiyyahin place ofThar(restorative justice instead of violence)was one of the circumstances prior to this transformation.

Before the rise of Islam, a tradition was governing known by the Holy Quran as “the primary jahiliyya”. For some commentators, the word “primary” conveys existence of two types of jahiliyya including primary and secondary. To illustrate the mentioned viewpoint, by applying a content analysis method, present paper provides a response to the principal question on the factors of Jahiliyya`s Culture and its representations in the present era? The results of this study imply that there are some factors in jahiliyya`s culture such as false ideas about god, ignorantly-made judgments, prejudice and adornment. Since these factors are not limited to a specific geography or time, they can create jahiliyya`s culture in every place and time. Among its examples in contemporary societies, one can refer to racial discrimination, secularism, unfair judicial decrees and regulations, self-glorification and showing off adornment in public etc.

Delivering khuṭba to which a considerable attention was paid by Arabs in the Days of Jāhiliyya, after Islam, influenced by the Qurān and teachings of the Prophet, departed from Jāhilī thoughts and paganish implications, colored by monotheistic ideas, and became the most efficient device for propagating new religion and its instructions and revealed doctrines. According to historical sources, in the Islamic invitation environment, khuṭba -especially the Prophet Muhammad's khuṭbas- in addition to the excellence of the subject and content, found a supreme goal. Moreover, it took a definite and fixed form and structure. Above all, since khuṭbas placed in the context of the Friday and the Eids Prayers and became a religious duty, found a thorough Sanctity. These features, obtained through Prophet Muhammad's Propercy, transmigrated khuṭba from being a device for Braggings (mufākhira) and downplayings (munāfira) (in the Days of Jāhiliyya) to the divine level of recitation of God (dhikr-Allāh) (in Islam), which in turn represented the evolution of Arabic literature.

Abstract: Boasting and self-glorification is an inseparable part of Arab culture before emergence of Islam. Besides of tribal zealotry, Honor of ancestry was a main basis of cultural system of Djahiliyya. These boastings were performed in different forms and some of them had some outcomes which last for many years. Monafara is one of the main forms of boasting with its significant features. The existence of this tradition isn’t surprising in the pre-Islamic society of Arabs. In this respect, continuation and development of Djahiliyd features in Islamic culture in a new shape, demonstrates many facts about influence of older costumes on Muslim behaviours. Hashimids, as the most famous Qurayshid family, were remained at a center Monafara before and after Islamic era. Because of special role in events of this family, inquiries on Monafara are impossible without them. This article studies the Monafara and demonstrates how this tradition would appear again by benefiting from differences among the Muslims which changed in form, but remain consistent in content.

Investigating the status of women during the Age of Ignorance has been a subject of concern to researchers. However, a brief look at this question reveals that researchers have not made a thorough study of the personal and familial issues during the Age of Ignorance. The discussions on the status of women in Age of Ignorance are mainly related to female infanticide and kinds of marriage and divorce of that period, while the other aspects of women's life, particularly their role as mothers, were neglected. Therefore, the present paper illustrates this point by answering some questions relating to the mother's status in the Age of Ignorance and early Islam which are as follows: what was the mother's status during the Age of Ignorance? Was the position they occupied as wives and daughters lowly or was it high? Has Islam challenged all the mores and manners of Age of Ignorance or did it approve those which were compatible with moral standards? The present paper studies such issues like attributing descent to mothers, the role of the mother in training and naming the child, comparing the status of mothers during the Age of Ignorance and that in Islam.

Genealogy has been counted a subdivision of the science of history and a section of unlettered Arab`s historiography. Some causes like compiling divan, widespread victories and A`rab`s settlement in captured lands, spreading of competitions and prejudices, this inheritance of the unlettered Arab`s age grew rapidly and thereof genealogists and some sources appeared. As the field was in close relation with Imamate and the household of the Prophet, Shi`ite Imamyyeh and Ali`s descendents has played a considerable part in its progression. In yhe paper, an outlook of the field has been presented and the role of Imamyyeh has been described.

The investigation of women’s position in the age of ignorance is the center of attention of researchers. Through a glance, it makes clear that the researchers’ investigation related to individual and family issues has not been complete and they ignored to mention the other dimensions of women’s life in Arabian Peninsula, especially their social presence. Therefore, in this research, it has been tried to identify the women’s issues in the political and social area. The issues of this discussion include the political, military and economic presence of women in the age of ignorance. The investigations done in this regard clearly reveal the social and political cooperation of women of that society in different areas like economic occupations, the presence in the religious ceremony and military and political areas.

One of the wrong customs and rules of the culture of the pre- Islamic era was the etiquette of divorce, against which Islam fought. The decadent position of woman and dominance of patriarchy in society in the pre-Islamic era were behind the cruel attitude shown towards women in divorce system. Divine law of Islam reformed and modified most of the divorce rules of that period, giving special attention to woman's genuine identity and humanity. Practically, Islam denounced some types of divorces common in the period of paganism, confirmed some other types and recommended that women's rights be observed and it promulgated some other types. The present research, discussing and explaining the different types of divorces of pre-Islamic era, and pointing out the effects of the doctrines ofIslam on the evolution of divorce system in that era, seeks to prove that the change in the divorce system of the pre-Islamic era is attributed to the advent of Islam.