Reflection On The Values Of Islam

Reflection of Islam & its Sixth Century Origins

The beliefs of Islam & hadith or teachings of Muhammad were not a total foreign concept to the people of 6th century Arabia. In fact, pre-Islamic Arabia provided fundamental ideas & values that would later be used in the Muslim tradition. Factors that reflect contemporary ideals and beliefs of Islam lay in the early customs of tribal society, importance of religion in the political arena and the political and economic organization of 6th century Arabia. There are a multitude of practices and values found in the tribes of late antiquity that manifested once again in the practice of Islam. Values like generosity and kinship remained every present after the Islamic

Early tribes also shared the idea of common kinship and the obligations that it entailed such as sacrificing one’s self interest for the interest of the group (i.e Muslim martyrdom was rewarded with a passage to heaven as individuals placed themselves in danger for the collective cause.) Furthermore, the Qabila or tribes considered the family of three generations the basic social and political unit via paternal lineage. This was adopted in the Muslim tradition in part to determine inheritance and establishing legal heirs (such as how female heirs share ½ of what a male heir were to receive) as stated in the Qu’ran. When observing the aspects of Arabia in late antiquity, it can not be overlooked that religion was present in the society and government since before the Muslim conquest in the 7th century. The Byzantine empire was ruled by the Christian emperor Justinian from 527 to 565 who deemed himself the representation of God on Earth and enacted absolute rule, granting him the ability to persecute believers of other faiths such as the Jews and Samaritans in 532. The Sasanian empire was that of Zoroastrian and Magian faith; it had a hierarchy of