HUMA 1825 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Major Prophet, Hira, Main Source
Document Summary
Oasis, zum zum well was there but did not have enough water for agriculture. Only thing it was good for was trade. By the 6th century, abyssinia (christian empire) conquered yemen as well. Mecca was a shrine and stop over for traders. Qusay, formed the tribe of quraysh and when they walked over the area, the told her followers to build houses around the kaaba. The clan of the prophet, banohasim was very well expected. Hijaz, mecca and the ka"ba before islam: contributed to importance of mecca, it is a sacred area around every shrine it is an area where no violence can take place, no weapons allowed. Ka"ba: the quraysh not only encouraged the visitation, the also encouraged clans and tries to bring their idols and sacred objects to the ka"ba with them. Mecca was the centre of worshipping and international/arabia trade. there were two monotheistic religions before islam. One of the kings of yemen converted to judaism.
