RLG351H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Banu Hashim, Jahiliyyah, Pre-Islamic Arabia
Document Summary
Most conspicuous feature of the development of moral ideas in ancient arabia is that islam proclaimed a new morality based on the absolute will of god wilst the guiding principle of pre-islamic moral life had been tribal tradition. The only form of ethical argument they used was : we do it because our forefathers did it (see quran 2:165-170) 2 features of jahiliyya that are particularly relevant: Muammad spoke of a hereafter and resurreciton. The pessimism arising from the consciousness of the essential vanity of life is common to both pre-islamic poetry and the quran. Pre-islamic poetry full of bitter cries of despair at the emptiness of human life. Jahiliyyah did not know anything beyond this world whereas muhammad"s message lay decidedly in the hereafter. Islam teaches that this world is transitory so don"t depend on it. Make the principle of other- worldiness the basis of your life. Wine, in jahiliyyah, was a gift of fortune.
