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Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam: Difference between revisions
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Pre-Islamic Arab Religion in Islam (view source)
Revision as of 02:15, 21 December 2024
, Yesterday at 02:15→Religious language: Added a small section on the hajj shaving hair ritual - found in what is believed to be authentic pre-Islamic poetry by Peter Webb
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(→Veneration of the Black-stone: Added a section on Hajj and made main headings to do with this sub-headings) |
(→Religious language: Added a small section on the hajj shaving hair ritual - found in what is believed to be authentic pre-Islamic poetry by Peter Webb) |
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=== Religious language === | === Religious language === | ||
Islamic scholar Peter Webb (2023) notes that Qur'anic religious language is found in pre-Islamic poetry such as ''muʿtamir'', formed from the same root as the Muslim ''ʿumrah'', to describe a pilgrim, and several pre-Islamic poets invoke the word ''ḥijaj'' (lit. ‘pilgrimages’, a plural of ''ḥijjah'') to express the concept of ‘years’, especially ‘years gone by’.''ʿUmrah/muʿtamir'', to Webb's knowledge, do not appear as terms for reckoning time in poetry, whereas that metaphorical aspect attaches to ''ḥijaj'' alone, suggesting that ''ḥajj'' likely did connote an annually-occurring pilgrimage (while ''ʿumrah'' did not), and that a regular pattern of annual pilgrimages known as hajjes was sufficiently well-established to enable the term ‘pilgrimage’ to serve as a metaphor for the passage of time itself.<ref>Webb, Peter. "''The Hajj Before Muhammad: The Early Evidence in Poetry and Hadith"'' Millennium, vol. 20, no. 1, 2023, pp. 33-63. https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2023-0004. ''pp. 37 - 38''</ref> Several pre-Islamic poets refer to the Hajj sacrifice animals in precisely the same term as the Qur’an’s ''hady'', which suggests more continuity than change.<ref>Ibid. pp. 47</ref> | Islamic scholar Peter Webb (2023) notes that Qur'anic religious language is found in pre-Islamic poetry such as ''muʿtamir'', formed from the same root as the Muslim ''ʿumrah'', to describe a pilgrim, and several pre-Islamic poets invoke the word ''ḥijaj'' (lit. ‘pilgrimages’, a plural of ''ḥijjah'') to express the concept of ‘years’, especially ‘years gone by’.''ʿUmrah/muʿtamir'', to Webb's knowledge, do not appear as terms for reckoning time in poetry, whereas that metaphorical aspect attaches to ''ḥijaj'' alone, suggesting that ''ḥajj'' likely did connote an annually-occurring pilgrimage (while ''ʿumrah'' did not), and that a regular pattern of annual pilgrimages known as hajjes was sufficiently well-established to enable the term ‘pilgrimage’ to serve as a metaphor for the passage of time itself.<ref>Webb, Peter. "''The Hajj Before Muhammad: The Early Evidence in Poetry and Hadith"'' Millennium, vol. 20, no. 1, 2023, pp. 33-63. https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2023-0004. ''pp. 37 - 38''</ref> Several pre-Islamic poets refer to the Hajj sacrifice animals in precisely the same term as the Qur’an’s ''hady'', which suggests more continuity than change.<ref>Ibid. pp. 47</ref> | ||
=== Shaving hair === | |||
The shaving hair ritual during Ḥajj, found in hadith such as:{{Quote|{{Bukhari|2|26|704}}|Ibn `Umar intended to perform Hajj in the year when Al-Hajjaj attacked Ibn Az-Zubair. Somebody said to Ibn `Umar, "There is a danger of an impending war between them." Ibn `Umar said, "Verily, in Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) you have a good example. (And if it happened as you say) then I would do the same as Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had done. I make you witness that I have decided to perform `Umra." Then he set out and when he reached Al-Baida', he said, "The ceremonies of both Hajj and `Umra are similar. I make you witness that I have made Hajj compulsory for me along with `Umra." He drove (to Mecca) a Hadi which he had bought from (a place called) Qudaid and did not do more than that. He did not slaughter the Hadi or finish his Ihram, or shave or cut short his hair till the day of slaughtering the sacrifices (10th Dhul-Hijja). Then he slaughtered his Hadi and shaved his head and considered the first Tawaf (of Safa and Marwa) as sufficient for Hajj and `Umra. Ibn `Umar said, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did the same."}}And for example {{Bukhari|2|26|786}}, {{Muslim|7|2992}} and {{Ibn Majah|2=4|3=25|4=3044}}, has been found in pre-Islamic poetry as part of the pilgrimage, where Webb (2023) notes:{{Quote|Webb, Peter. 2023. [https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2023-0004 The Hajj Before Muhammad: The Early Evidence in Poetry and Hadith] pp. 41|However, the reference to the sacred House and the circumambulation by its resident tribes, Jurhum and Quraysh, is reported consistently in the poem’s recensions and stands as a pre-Islamic indicator that the Quraysh were known before Muhammad as custodians of a sacred House, and, as in the case of al-Nābighah’s poem above, the ritual was worthy of being the subject of an oath. In the second poem, Zuhayr makes another oath:<sup>27</sup> | |||
<i>I swore solemnly by the campsites of Minā, | |||
and by the shaven forelocks and lice-laden hair.</i> | |||
Minā is the Hajj pilgrims’ campground, and shaving hair remains one of the mandatory Hajj rituals for men; Zuhayr’s poem provides pre-Islamic testimony for both, as well as their reputed sanctity in pre-Islam, inasmuch as he employs both in an oath.}}As well in the Abū Dhuʾyab al-Hudhalī (a roughly contemporary of Muhammad) corpus.<ref>Ibid. pp. 45</ref> | |||
=== Tawaf between Safa and Marwa === | === Tawaf between Safa and Marwa === | ||