Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction 13

Chapter Two: Was Mu’awiya seeking Qisas for the death of Uthman? 14

Note 14

Mawla Ali (as) did not deem Uthman to have been killed innocently 14

Who Killed Uthman? 14

The Opinion of Mawla Ali (as) upon Uthman and Mu’awiya 14

Mu’awiya’s refusal to help Uthman during the Seige 15

Mu’awiya and his supporters 18

Mu’awiya exploited people’s ignorance and greed to attain support 19

Mu’awiya falsely claimed that Ali (as) killed Uthman so as to garner the support of the Syrians 20

Abu Sulaiman’s attempts to misinterpret the words of Imam Ali (as) as a means of defending Mu’awiya 21

Imam Ali (as) questions Mu’awiya’s motives 21

The Imam can only implement Qisas 22

Fatwa of Shah Abdul Aziz – one that fights Ali (as) is a kaafir 22

Mu’awiya’s actual motive was power 23

The agreement between Mu’awiya and Amr bin Aas is clear proof that the motive was power not avenging Uthman’s murder 24

Mu’awiya’s testimony further proves his real motive was power not vengeance for the slain Uthman 25

Mu’awiya Thaneeh’s condemnation of his grandfather eludes the fact that he fought Imam ‘Ali (as) for power 26

Abu Sulaiman questions the justice of Imam Ali (as) 26

Mu’awiya did not apply Qisas against Amr bin Aas 27

Misuse of a Shia tradition by the Nawasib to support Uthman 28

Reply One: The authenticity of the tradtion 28

“This tradition is Muzamir and Musquf” 28

Reply Two: The actual ‘Uthman’ mentioned in the tradition and the Nasibi distortion 28

Reply Three: The actual attributes of the followers of Uthman bin Affan recoded in Sunni texts 29

Chapter Three: Mu’awiya’s appointment of Yazeed as his successor 31

Did Mu’awiya want to make Yazeed just a Crown Prince or Khalifa? 31

Mu’awiya made Yazeed his Khalifa during his lifetime 32

Mu’awiya forced people to give bayya to Yazeed 33

Please see our article: Yazeed (L’aeen) 33

Mu’awiya bribed people to give bayya to Yazeed 35

Mu’awiya killed all those who posed a hurdle for him making Yazeed Khalifah 35

Why did Imam Hussain (as) refuse to give bay’a to Yazeed? 35

Mu’awiya’s development of lineal succession 37

Yazeed the ‘protector of afflictions’ 37

Appraisal of ‘pious’ Yazeed by the Nasibi author 38

Ibn Kathir’s comments on Yazeed the drunkard 39

Al Bidayah Wal Nihayah (Urdu), Vol 8 Page 1169, Nafees Academy Karachi 39

Mu’awiya also knew that Yazeed drank alcohol 42

Ibn Hajar Asqalani’s views regarding those that praise Yazeed 42

Imam Ahmad issued Takfeer against drunkard Yazeed 43

Allamah Mahmood Alusi’s takfeer against Yazeed 43

Qadhi Thanaullah Paani Patti’s takfeer against Yazeed 44

Various other Sunni Ulema did takfeer against Yazeed and have deemed it permissible to curse him 44

An appeal to our Sunni brethren 46

Chapter Four: The callous killing of the Sahaba including Hujr bin Adi (ra) and of other innocent Shias 48

Comment 48

Wasn’t Hujr (ra) a Sahabi? 49

Reply 49

Allah (swt)’s displeasure at those who killed Hujr (ra) 50

Was Hujr (ra) a troublemaker? 52

Reply One – Dishonesty committed by the author in order to absolve Muawiyah bin Hind 52

Reply Two – Imam Hasan Basri’s testimones that Hujr was a great man and his maglining Muawiyah for the murder of Hujr (ra) 53

Reply Three- Imam Muhammad bin Sirin testified to Hujr (as) being virtuous 54

Reply Four– Imam Dhahabi, Imam Ibn Habban and Ibn Asakir’s testimonies that Hujr (ra) was an honorable, pious and worshiper 54

Reply Five – The families of Abu Bakr and Umar condemning Mu’awiya for killing Hujr proves that he was not a trouble maker in their eyes 55

Comment 56

Reply Six – The Sahaba deemed the killer of Hujr (ra) to be worthy of being cursed 56

“If it is asked: Why the Sahaba object on him? 56

Reply Seven – Even the hardline Nasibi companion of Muawiyah was on saddened at the murder of Hujr (ra) 57

Reply Eight – The Sunni Ulema’s recognition that Hujr was Shaheed (a martyr) proves that he was not a baghi (rebel) 57

Reply Nine – Prophet’s prediction proves that Hujr bin Adbar (rh) and Malik bin Ashatar (rh) are amongst the Momineen 58

Abu Sulaiman defends the method of killing 59

Mu’awiya killed Malik bin Ashthar (ra) 60

Mu’awiya killed the sahabi Amr bin al-Hamiq 62

Muawiya kept Shia women as prisoners in dungeons 63

Mu’awiya killed the two children of Ubaydullah ibn Abbas 63

Abdurehman bin Hasaan was buried alive by Muawiyah 64

Mu’awiya gave an order to slaughter the Shi’a 65

During Mu’awiya’s brutal reign, Shia Muslim women were made slaves and were sold in the market place 65

The punishment for killing a Momin from the Qur’an 67

Chapter Five: The peace treaty with Imam Hasan (as) 68

Reply One 68

Reply Two – The Prophet (s) saw the Banu Umayya climbing his Pulpit and this saddened him 69

Reply Three – Imam Hasan deemed Mu’awiya an unjust thief 69

Reply Four – Imam Hasan (as) deemed the Khilafath to be his own right 70

A Nasibi excuse and its reply 70

Reply Five – By making peace Imam Hasan (as) was able to show the Ummah that Mu’awiya was a hypocrite 71

Reply Six – The peace treaty in the eyes of the Sunni Ulema 71

Reply Seven – Mu’awiya was not well intentioned when he made peace with Imam Hasan (as) 72

Reply Eight – Imam Hasan (as) made peace on account of pressure 73

Reply Nine – If you see Mu’awiya on my pulpit kill him (hadeeth) 74

Reply Ten – Banu Zarqa cannot be Khalifas 75

Reply Eleven – Imam Hasan (as) made peace to protect Muslim lives, property and honour, and thus provided an example for those people faced with difficult choices 75

Reply Twelve – According to Sunnies it is permissible to make peace with unjust people 77

Reply Thirteen – The Tulqa cannot be khalifas 77

Reply Fourteen – Mu’awiya took the Caliphate by force 78

Reply Fifteen– Imam Hasan (as) said he had the right to kill Mu’awiya 79

Reply Sixteen – Textual evidence from Quran 79

Reply Seventeen – Infallible ones under pressure from common men 80

The bay’a given to Mu’awiya 81

Reply One – The meaning of bayya 81

Reply Two – Nawasib have stupidly assumed that peace means bayya 81

Mu’awiya’s poisoning of Imam Hasan (as) 82

Who was Ja’da bint Asha’ath bin Qays? 86

Now, how did Asha’ath bin Qais repay this favor? 87

Reasons behind the poisoning of Imam Hasan (as) 87

Mu’awiya’s pleasure upon hearing about the death of Imam Hasan (as) 89

Nasibi conjecture about Imam Hasan (as) receiving stipends from Muawiya’s government 93

Reply one 93

Reply Two 94

Reply Three 94

Reply Four 94

Reply Five 94

Nasibi accusation on Aqeel bin Abi Talib 95

Reply One – We have already provided an array of replies about accepting stipends from a tyrant 95

Reply Two – Aqeel always held Ali (as) to be on the right path as compared to his views on Muawiya 95

Reply Three – The Bani Umaya fabricated texts to cast aspersions over Aqeel’s relationship with Ali (as) 96

Reply Four – Aqeel didn’t participate in battles alongside Ali bin Abi Talib (as) due to illness 96

Refuting the Nawasib claim that there existed a reciprocal warmth, respect and affection between Imam Hussain (as) and Muawiya 97

Muawiya’s will for his son Yazeed 98

Muawiya threatened to kill Imam Hussain (as) 100

Concluding this chapter 101

Chapter Six: Mu’awiya the baghi (rebel) 103

Ali (as) was the Imam and rightful caliph of the time 103

Muawiya faught Ali (as), the Imam and rightful caliph of the time 104

It was incumbent to fight alongside Imam Ali (as) 104

Abdullah bin Umar’s regret he didn’t fight the baghi Mu’awiya 105

The early Sahaba fought alongside Imam Ali (as) 106

Abu Sulaiman’s refusal to describe Mu’awiya as a baghi 107

Defining baghi (rebell) 108

The Sunni scholars deemed Muawiyah as a baghi, Khariji and tyrant 108

Mu’awiya’s rebellion was in violation of the Qur’an 111

Mu’awiya’s rebellion was in violation to the Sunnah of Rasulullah (s) 111

Mu’awiya was from amongst Qasateen (those refrained from giving bayya to Imam e Haqq) 112

Mu’awiya was amongst the Fajireen (perpetrators of debauchery) 113

Abu Sulaiman’s plea that both parties were believers 113

To rebel against the Imam is tantamount to Zina in a Mosque 114

If a Baghi dies in war don’t perform his funeral prayers 114

One who rebels is from the Party of Satan 114

One who fights Imam Ali is Zaalim and Faasiq 114

Testimony of the Sahabi Amar Yasir (ra) that Mu’awiya and his cohorts were misguided ones 115

By fighting Maula ‘Ali, Mu’awiya fought against the truth, the Qur’an and Rasulullah (s) 115

Muawiya’s opposition was motivated by his hatred of Imam ‘Ali (as) 116

Answering Abu Sulaiman’s criticism that Imam ‘Ali (as) should have left Mu’awiya alone 117

Answering Abu Sulaiman’s criticism that Imam ‘Ali (as) started the battle, contradicting the Qur’an (astaghfirullah) 117

Imam ‘Ali (as) fought for interpretation of the Qur’an in the same way Rasulullah (s) fought for the revelation of the Qur’an 118

The martyrdom of Ammar bin Yasir was comprehensive proof that Mu’awiya was a baghi 119

Ammar deemed those that fought Imam ‘Ali (as) to be the same munafiqs that tried to assassinate Rasulullah (s) 121

Abu Sulaiman’s defence of ijtihad 122

Reply One 124

Reply Two – A Mujtahid has to be a pious / just man 125

Reply Three – Mu’awiya was not a mujtahid 125

Reply Four – Imam Ali (as)’s verdict that Mu’awiya should be killed as he has no grounds to oppose him 126

Reply Five – Maula Ali’s expose on Mu’awiya’s character destroys the defence of ijtihad 126

Reply Six – Abdullah bin Umro’s regret that he fought alongside Mu’awiya at Sifeen 126

Rasulullah’s condemnation of Mu’awiya and Amr bin Aas refutes the defence of ijtihaad 127

Abu Sulaiman’s verdict that both parties were on truth and cannot be criticised 127

It is narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud that 128

Imam Taymeeya al Nasibi’s Fatwa that killers of Amar lead people to Hell 129

Chapter Seven: Mu’awiya instituted the bid’ah of cursing Imam Ali (as) 131

Mu’awiya asks Sa’d to curse Ali (as) 131

Al-Nawawi offered lame excuses to defend Mu’awiya 132

1st critique – Nawawi’s misguided innovation in Islamic Sharia to defend the Sahaba 133

Incidents of Sahaba Cursing/Abusing each other 133

2nd critique – Al-Nawawi applied this insane logic, so as to defend Mu’awiya (i.e. no textual proofs) 133

1st Hadith that Al-Nawawi & Co. Concealed 134

2nd Hadith that Al-Nawawi & Co. Concealed 135

Al Bidayah wa al Nahayah, Volume 7 page 341, Chapter: The virtues of Ali 135

3rd Hadith that Al-Nawawi & Co. Concealed 135

4th tradition that Al-Nawawi & Co. concealed 136

5th tradition that Al-Nawawi & Co. concealed 136

6th tradition that Al-Nawawi & Co. concealed 137

7th Tradition, that Al-Nawawi & Co. concealed 137

8th Tradition that Al-Nawawi & Co. concealed – Imam Hasan (as) asking Muawiya not to curse Ali (as) from the pulpits 138

Al-Abar fi Khabar min Ghabar, Volume 1, page 18 Chapter: Year 37 the battle of Sifin 138

Comments 142

Sunni scholars rejected Al-Nawawi’s conjecture pertaining to Sahih Muslim’s episode 142

Shaykh Wajihuddin Umar bin Abdulmuhsin 142

Imam Muhammad bin Shahab al-Zuhri 142

Shaykh Musa Shahin Lashin 142

Allamah Muhammad bin Abdulhadi al-Sindi (d. 1138 H) 143

Sharh Sunnan ibn Majah, Kitab al-Muqadma, Chapter: Merits of Ali bin Abi Talib (ra) 143

Muhammad al-Amin al-Hurarri 143

Ibn Tamiyah 143

The Governors of Mu’awiya started cursing Mawla Ali (as) upon the instructions of Mu’awiya 144

Muawiya’s Governor Marwan bin Hakam cursed Imam Ali (as) 144

Mu’awiya’s Governor Mughira bin Shu’ba (la) cursed Imam Ali (as) 146

Sunan Nasai al-Kabeer, Kitab al-Manaqib, Volume 7 Hadith 8148, Merits of Abdurehman bin Auf 148

Mu’awiya’s Governor Busr Bin Artat cursed Maula Ali 148

Muawiya’s Governors Ziyad and Kathir ibn Shahab cursed Imam Ali (as) 149

Mu’awiya would curse Ali after the Friday Sermon and this bid’a became a tradition during the Banu Umayya reign 150

Mu’awiya refused to follow the peoples’ demands that he abolish the practice of cursing Ali (as) 150

Mu’awiya changed the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) to ensure that the people heard the cursing of ‘Ali (as) 151

Faiz al Bari Sharah Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1 page 722 No. 954, Kitab al-Eidayn 152

Testimonies of prominent Sunni scholars that Ali bin Abi Talib (as) used to be cursed from pulpits 153

Learned Scholar Ahmad Zaki Safwat’s comments on the Governors of Mu’awiya 153

Imam of Ahle Sunnah Awzai also reviled Ali (as) as a means of acquiring gifts from the Umayad rulers 153

The admission by al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi that Mu’awiya cursed Ali (as) 154

The admission by leading Deobandi Ulema that Mu’awiya introduced the bid`ah of cursing Ali (as) 154

Learned Sunni Scholar Abu Zahra 156

Taha Hussain 156

Shaykh Hassan Saqqaf 156

Imam of Ahl’ul Sunnah Muhammad Abdul Hai Lucknawi 157

Qadhi Thanaullah Paani Patti al-Uthmani 157

Imam Ibn Hazm Andlasi 157

Jawami al Seerah 157

Imam Muhammad Zahed al-Kawthari 157

Maula Ali (as) was cursed for ninety years 158

Summary of references 158

Conclusions 158

Rasulullah (s) cursed those who commit bidah 158

Allamah Abdul Qadir Gilani’s Fatwa against Ahl’ul bidah 158

Allamah Sa’duddeen Taftazani’s fatwa that Ahl’ul bidah should be cursed 158

Cursing Ali (as) is tantamount to cursing Allah (swt) 159

Fatwa of al Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz – those that curse Ali are kaafir 159

Fatwa of Muhaddith Shah Abdul Aziz – whoever disrespects Ahl’ul bayt (as) is a murtad 159

An appeal to justice 159

Chapter Eight: The phantom merits of Mu’awiya 160

Was Mu’awiya the writer of the revelation? 160

Reply One – Prominent Ulema of Ahl’ul Sunnah have not counted Mu’awiya as writer of the revelation 160

Reply Two- Mu’awiya wrote letters not the revelation 161

Reply Three- A writer of the revelation became a kaafir 162

Was Mu’awiya a Hadi? 162

A Hadi is one who guides his followers in accordance with the Qur’an and Sunnah 163

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ declared Ziyad, the bastard son of Abu Sufiyan as his real brother contradicting the Sharia 164

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ made decisions that contradicted the Shar’ia on inheritance 165

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ contradicted the Shar’ia on Blood money 165

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ contradicted the Shar’ia on the distribution of war booty 166

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ drank a prohibited substance 167

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ used to smuggle alcohol 168

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ used to sell idols to polythiests helping them to worship the idols 169

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ undresses and inspects the body of a naked woman 170

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ tells the people to consume haraam items and kill each other 171

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ took interest 172

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ made changes to the Eid Salat 173

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ reduced the number of Takbeers from daily prayers 174

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ reduced Iqamah from daily prayers 175

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ issued a Fatwa deeming it permissible for a man to marry two sisters at any one given time 175

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ abandoned to apply the mandatory punishment for theft in Islam 176

If a right hand parts from its left? 177

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ and his Nasibi adherents abandoned the Sunnah due to their hatred of Ali (as) 177

Sharah Sunan Nasai 178

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ and his fellow Nasibi rulers of Bani Ummayah abandoned to recite ‘Bismillah’ loudly due to their hate towards Ali (as) 178

Comments 178

Mu’awiya ‘the Hadi’ wore prohibited items despite the fact that he was aware that Rasulullah (s) deemed them haraam 179

An appeal to justice 179

Rasulullah (s) criticised those that praise Ahl’ul Bidah 180

Rasulullah (s) made three Dua’s, one that was rejected 180

Rasulullah (s) even prayed for Abu Jahil to be guided 181

Not all of Rasulullah’s prayers were accepted 181

Allah (swt) never guides a wrongdoer 181

The narrator of this ‘Hadi’ hadith is not a reliable authority 182

Not a single hadith in praise of Mu’awiya is Sahih 182

Rasulullah’s advice for Mu’awiya is also a fabrication 185

Reply One – This verse merely states Allah (swt) emboldened the believers on that day 185

Reply Two – The verse only benefits believers in the true sense of the word not those that stood in the ranks of the Muslims but were pagans and hypocrites 185

Chapter Nine: Abu Sulaiman’s plea of clemency for Mu’awiya 187

Chapter Ten: Was Mu’awiya a Momin or Munafiq? 189

The sign of a Munafiq is hatred of ‘Ali (as) 189

Fada’il al-Sahaba, Volume 2 page 549 (Published in Makkah Mukkarmah, Saudi Arabia) 189

It is not permissible to refer to a Munafiq as Sayyidina 190

‘Ali (as)’s testimony – Mu’awiya is my enemy 191

An enemy of Ali (as) is an enemy of Allah (swt) 191

One who fails to accept ‘Ali as his Maula is not a Momin 191

Chapter Eleven: The ‘true’ merits of Mu’awiya bin Hind 193

The meaning of Mu’awiya 193

Love and hatred of Ali is the difference between one being legitimate and illegitimate 193

Ayesha’s testimony about methods of Nikah during the time of Jahiliyya 193

Mu’awiya bin Hind was the product of a combined Nikah 194

Ayesha’s testimony that Hinda committed Zina 195

The ‘virtues’ possessed by one born illegitimately 195

One born illegitimately can not be a Khalifa 195

One who fights the rightful Imam is a Fasiq 196

One who turns his back on the right path is a Zaalim and Fasiq 196

Mu’awiya’s Conquests 196

Mu’awiya’s declaration that Ziyad was the son of ‘Abu Sufyan is proof that he was a fasiq 196

It is a religious duty to expose the deeds of a fasiq 198

A Zaalim Ruler 198

Praising a fasiq leads to incurring the wrath of Allah (swt) 198

Muawiya was wicked and is cursed 199

Mu’awiya was a Nasibi 199

Fatwa of Imam of Ahl’ul Sunnah, Shah Abdul Aziz that Nawasib are equal to dogs and pigs 200

Appraisals of Mu’awiya 200

Appraisal of Mu’awiya by Rasulullah (s) 200

First appraisal – Rasulullah (s) cursed Mu’awiya’s stomach 200

Nasibi excuses for the Prophet’s curse on Muawiya’s stomach 200

Reply One 201

Reply Two 202

Reply Three 202

Reply Four 202

Reply Five 203

Reply Six 204

Second appraisal – Rasulullah (s) cursed Mu’awiya, his brother father and Amr bin Aas 204

Third appraisal – Rasulullah (s) cursed Mu’awiya and Amr bin Aas 204

Fourth appraisal – Rasulullah (s) cursed Mu’awiya, his father Abu Sufyan and his son Yazeed 205

Ffith appraisal – Mu’awiya shall die a kaafir 205

Sixth appraisal – Mu’awiya shall be raised with a different Ummah on the day of Judgment 206

Seventh appraisal – Mu’awiya shall be in the deepest part of Hell Fire 206

Eighth appraisal – Mu’awiya and Amr bin al-Aas can never gather for a good cause 206

Ninth appraisal – Mu’awiya is Kafir 207

Tenth appraisal – Mu’awiya shall be killed if tried to sit on Prophet’s pulpit 207

Umar’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 208

First appraisal 208

Second appraisal 208

Maula Ali (as) appraisal of Mu’awiya 208

First appraisal 208

Second appraisal 208

Third appraisal 209

Fourth Appraisal 209

Fifth Appraisal 209

Ayesha’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 209

First appraisal – Mu’awiya’s Government compared by Ayesha to Firawn (Pharoah) and other Kaafirs (Pagans) 209

Second Appraisal – Ayesha cursed Mu’awiya and Amr bin Aas 210

Saad ibn Waqqas’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 210

Mu’awiya the second’s appraisal of his grandfather Mu’awiya 210

Qays bin Sa’d bin Ibada’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 211

These words suffice to destroy the Nasibi appraisals of Mu’awiya. Or should we question by the truthfulness of the Sahaba? 211

Abu Hurrayra’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 211

Muhammad bin Abi Bakar’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 211

Samra bin Jandab’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 211

Miswan, appraisal of her husband Mu’awiya 211

Mamun Abbasi’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 212

The people of Madina’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 212

Ibn Katheer’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 212

Imam Shafiyee’s appraisal of Mu’awiya that his testimony is unacceptable 212

Imam of Ahle Sunnah al-Atiqi al-Baghdadi’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 212

Imam of Ahle Sunnah Ali bin Ja’ad’s appraisal of Mu’awiya 213

Mu’awiya – According to the Imams of Ahlulbayt (as) 213

A German scholar’s recognition of the contribution made by Mu’awiya 214

Situation of the Heading Tribes of the Quraish

The Quraish tribe had many sub-tribes, however the leading ones were: The Hashemis, Umavis, Nufelis, Abduddaris, Asadis, Timis, Makhzumis, 'Adavis, Jamhis and the Sahmis.

There were the prominent sub-tribes' branches, but there were also others, less significant clans. At that time there existed only two or three positions in connection with the Ka'aba. To make these clans to co-operate with one another, Qussi bin Kalab created a number of new positions, giving each of the clans a position to be content with,

and so abstain from internecine fighting. Thus it would appeal that the creation of designations had a long precedent! Concurrent with the birth of the Prophet of Islam there existed about 15 positions in Mecca, each of which pertained to one of the prominent clans of the Quraish as follows:

Position of the Keeper and custodian of the Ka'aba was the top most in first-rate precedence

Position of the provider of water to the pilgrims. During the pre-Islamic pilgrimage those who visited Mecca were not familiar with the water wells, and as they all needed water, the task of bringing water from the neighbouring wells and offering it to pilgrims was assigned to a branch of the Quraish to act as wardens over water Georgie Zeydan narrates that they devised open tanks of hides and filled them with water for the pilgrims to take.

Position of reception and hospitality. To attract more visitors to Mecca and make their market brisk, as well as to preserve the Arab custom of acting as lordly hosts, they laid out feasts for the pilgrims as their guests, and this task was assigned to a particular branch of the Quraish tribe For this purpose they collected contributions to provide free meals to the pilgrims.

Position of flag-bearer. Mecca had a flag called the Eagle banner which was used in the time of war. This flag was kept in the family whose chief would bring it out in the event of war. In the time of the Prophet this banner was in the hands of the Bani Umayya.

Position of Dar-un-Nadwa or Dar-u-Showra. One of Qussi's initiatives was to build a house near the Ka'aba, called Dar-en-Nadwa.[16] Dar-ul-Nadwa means a meeting place or assembly for consultation. Whenever an issue of importance rose for the Quraish in general, their chiefs and elders who were truly the people's representative assembled in that place, discussed the matter and came to a decision about it and whatever the majority's decision carried it out.

What is noteworthy however is that according to the laws of elections of Qussi bin kalab, one of the pre-conditions was that the tribes and clans representatives should not be less than forty years of age. Today young people could well protest against such a law on the plea that it meant favouring the old people as they accepted only over forty years old.

In those days, however, they wished to have well tried and experienced peoples' representatives, though at the same time we read in the biography of the holy Prophet of Islam that Abdul-Mutallib took Muhammad (a s.) as a child along with him to Dar-un-Nadwa, even though the admission of a person below the age of forty was forbidden.

The first time Muhammad (a.s.) was taken there, they were displeased, but after that they agreed that he could enter - but that is another story.

The charge and leadership of trade caravans was held by the Bani-Umayya.

The institution for the payment of blood-money and compensation. Sometimes when a member of a tribe was killed by someone from another tribe, in the first place was a demand for compensation and indemnity or a fight would ensue. Thus the fine had to be collected, and one of these families was responsible for this task of determining the share, collecting them, and handing them over to the claimants. This was in fact a kind of office for public funds related of course to blood-money and reparations.

Administration of the arsenal. This was a large tent where arms and weapons were collected in the event of war and distributed judicially among the soldiers.

Management of army stables: a task given to a branch of Quraish tribe to take care of the remounts such as horses and camels necessary far the war effort.

Assigning of envoys or ambassadors: Sometimes it became necessary to dispatch envoys abroad. As we shall see later, envoys were required to travel to Abyssinia to pursue the question of Muslim emigrants to that country.

Position of administering justice was given to a special committee of Arabs.

Position of the Key Bearer of the Ka'aba, as distinct from the position of the custodian. As you may be aware, pilgrims to the holy shrines often made offerings of gold coins in the holy shrines. The pilgrims who visited the Ka'aba often brought vowed offering for dropping them within the sacred grille. Once a year or every six months the custodian would open the door of the Ka'aba, collect whatever had been offered and then divide that amongst the various clans.

Position of the repairs and maintenance of the holy Ka'aba and other buildings of Mecca which were entrusted to one particular clan Position of "Ansab and Azlam", which could be called the office of lottery.

There was a custom among the Arabs called "Isar" (from "Yusr" meaning ease and plenty) incidentally the Arabic word is also related to 'gambling and lottery' At present, too, in winter there comes a time when a villager has consumed whatever he has in store, is left with nothing, and is in dire need Such conditions often occurred in Arabia during winters particularly when rainfall was scanty in spring and summer Such a custom also exists in remote parts of Iran near the annual spring festival.

So to provide relief the Arabs resorted to a measure by which a part of the wealth of the rich would be contributed to help the needy. Such practices are common among people who have not developed a secure economic system and are faced with straitened circumstances.

The Arabs invented a lottery as a game of chance This game of luck was played as follows: They took ten wooden shafts, on seven of which they wrote a number of shares from one to seven serially and the remaining three were left blank. These shafts were then handed over to a trustworthy man. Then a camel was bought, and the price of it was paid by drawing lots with these wooden beams which determined the share of the money to be paid by the participants. With this money the camel was bought and slaughtered, and the meat was distributed on the basis of lottery members again.

These wooden shafts were called 'Ansab' which in from 'Naseeb' meaning destiny. They also had another form of lottery called 'Azlam' which served for divining whether a step should be taken in a matter or not.

Here they prepared seven small wooden shafts on each of which either a positive load as 'do it', or negative indication such as 'don't do it' or 'to your advantage' or 'to the advantage of the other side' etc. were written and one of them was left blank. Whenever a person was undecided about what he should do in a matter, he would go to a diviner who employed these shafts for fortune-telling, and drew a lot from under a cloth, and that shaft indicated to him what he should do.

The above systems of 'Ansab' and 'Azlam' were entrusted to another clan of the Quraish tribe. Thus the allocation of the said positions was intended to prevent disputes and war, but clashes nonetheless occurred from time to time. However, sometimes disputes would rise and through the application of this organisation, albeit defective, they managed to prevent wars.

After Qussi bin-kalab no armed clashes occurred between the branches of the Quraish tribe, except an old one and that too a minor one. The period following Qussi in Mecca was a period of transition between the tribal and control government's establishment. For, as you can see, in this period discussions regarding types of organisation, positions, division of responsibilities and political order were taking place in Mecca. That was the situation as it prevailed in Mecca.

Ta'if, on the other hand, was more or less under the influence of a single tribe named Bani Thaqif It was a small but a flourishing city controlled by that tribe. However Medina offered an interesting perspective. As already stated, it has been predicted at the beginning of the second century A.D. that the Mareb Dam would collapse, consequently a large number of the Qahtani Arabs of Yemen migrated to the north and north-east. Two of these clans namely the Aus and Khazraj having reached Yathrib, found it to be a suitable place and decided to settle down there.

But before the arrival of the Arabs, the Jews had chosen it to be their home, and thus they were its original residents. The new-comers, namely the Aus and the Khazraj were delighted at the beginning to pay tribute to the Jews because they were weak, alien and emigre guests. Meanwhile the Jews, too, were politically astute and for a long time coexisted with the newcomers.

After a time the Jews found a rather powerful and despotic ruler who encroached upon the Aus and Khazraj, giving rise to continued fighting between the Jews and the Aus and Khazraj tribes. The latter, owing to their relations with the neighbouring Arabs who had a common race and spoke the same language, grow in numbers and enhanced their influence, as well as received assistance from their Arab allies in their conflicts with the Jews. Gradually therefore the power of the Arabs went on the increase while that of the Jews diminished in Medina.

So long as the Aus and Khazraj remained united, everything was in their favour. But an incident occurred that caused a rift between them resulting in a war. The sly Jews made the utmost use of this difference, and did their best to intensify this dispute.

Close to the time of the Prophet's ordainment, this dispute between the Khazraj who were the larger tribe and the Aus who were the smaller, carried on. The Khmazraj who were sub-divided into several clans, decided to choose a king for themselves. As you are aware, Mecca was then passing through a transition phase between the tribal and centralised governmental systems, and Medina, too, was passing through a similar process trying to pass from the tribal phase to a governmental stage.

Thus for the first time in the history of the Arabs in Medina, this became the common topic and ground was prepared that all should swear allegiance to Abdullah bin Abi, a respected man among the Khazraj tribe, and make him the king and make ready a throne and crown for him This matter had a lasting effect from various aspects on the future history of Islam.

This subject which might appear small and trifling, was really quite consequential and will be discussed further. It was under such socio-economic and political conditions and the state of religious beliefs that the Prophet of Islam declared his mission in Mecca inviting people to the new faith.

This was the brief situation in Arabia concurrent with the rise of Islam with reference to its historical background which bears relation with our subsequent discussions.

Iran Before Islam

The starting point for our discussions has been chosen from an aspect which in fact marks the origins of Islam, and from another viewpoint, is inseparably linked to the study of ideological, social and practical problems. This approach is also more compatible with the natural course for pursuing these studies.

In order to study Islam in its correct, historical perspective, for obtaining a clearer understanding, it was appropriate to have begun with a familiarisation with the region of its birth, namely the Arabian peninsula incorporating Saudi Arabia (Hejaz and Najd), Yemen, the sheikhdoms along the Persian Gulf littoral and the Sea of Oman. We also generally commented on the geographic, social, racial, lingual, religious and economic conditions of that region.

Henceforth our discussion will be related to those civilised regions which bounded the Arabian peninsula of the time.

These civilised regions could basically be divided into two parts: in one part consisting of small free status , linked with the Arabian peninsula and possessing small local governments, which should however be regarded Arab settlements though most of them were installed by great powers. One of these which had parts of Iraq under its influence was the government of Hira (or the Nu'manis and Munadherah) under the hegemony of Iran. Another was Yemen which, being within the Arabian peninsula, had an independent government.

For about 150 or 200 years this government had been installed either by Iran or Abyssinia till about the time of the rise of Islam. In the other part were the states in the western part which included the present day Jordan and Israel. This was the Ghassani government which was under the hegemony of Rome.

We will have a short and brief discussion about these three small governments in their proper place, since these three states happened to have a significant role in the contemporary history of the rise of Islam which merits particular attention.

A) Ancient Iran

The Arabian peninsula of that time was bounded by four powerful, strong and civilised nations with rather well established governments. Of these four countries, two could be rated as first class and the other two as second class powers. One of the first group was Iran which extended on one side as far as the Tigris and Euphrates and Shatt-al-Arab, namely upto the middle of the present day Iraq and included the Caucasus and the present Iran itself; and on another flank included Turkestan, Afghanistan, a part of Pakistan as far as the Hindus (Sind) River valley.

In these regions there lived a people with a long and civilised past which had undergone many tribulations and change, and were regarded as the great neighbours of the Arabian peninsula.

The fact is that if we wish to speak on the basis of common usage, Arabian peninsula was just a stretch of desert to which no one paid any attention, and the use of the word 'neighbour' could hardly apply to Iran with its immense size and grandeur as compared with Arabia. But here the discussion is not about great or small but only to become familiar with the geographic neighbours of Arabia.

The second great neighbour was Rome which also neighboured Iran. It was a great power including northern Iraq, present day Turkey and the Balkans, and was known as Eastern Rome. When we mention Rome in this discussion it implies the Eastern Roman empire, since western Rome with its seat in Italy neither remained a great power at that time, nor had any relation with Islam. Of course western Rome of that time included Italy, a portion of Yugoslavia, Albania, some part of Spain and even a part of France, thus Europe of that time was only one country under Rome.

Other peoples living beyond its limits were called Berbers.[17] Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire possessed such greatness at that time that it was far above comparison with the other Rome. Western Rome rose to greatness after the Muslims had overthrown Eastern Rome, and the caliphs, namely the Ottoman rulers and kings, had captured the city of Islambol or Constantinople.

It was then that in the 15th century A.D. learned men of Eastern Rome fled to Western Rome and became instrumental in causing the Renaissance and provided the base for the present civilisation of Europe and the western world, because during the period which we are discussing, Western Rome was hardly great and indeed was regarded as a second rate power.

These were the great neighbours of the Arabian peninsula. The other two second-rate neighbours were, firstly, Egypt which included the present day Egypt, Libya, Tunis and some part of Sudan. Although this country held some importance from Islam's viewpoint, yet it was not considered a great power such as Iran and Rome.

The next neighbouring country was Abyssinia which included the present day Abyssinia and some part of the Sudan, In this region, too, there was no powerful government, though in Islam's times it was an empire with a considerable past having a civilisation and characterised by noteworthy social and religious freedom.[18]

As is evident while surveying these countries, only two other regions remained in the entire civilised world, namely China and India, and beyond these two we do not find any other place in the world which could be termed civilised, This detail has been mentioned here because certain people, especially among the educated class whether in Iran or here in Germany raise the question whether the prophet brought Islam as a universal religion, and if so, how much did he know about the world outside the Arabian peninsula?

The answer is: firstly, that we do not call a person 'prophet' on account of his having been formally educated or having studied books and maps etc. A prophet to us is a person who acquires all the necessary knowledge through divine revelation, and this is without bounds or limits. Secondly, the Prophet (a.s.) in his own time, had sent communications to the rulers of these regions and hence the question whether the Prophet was aware of the other non Arab nations and their basic needs would seem to be a childish question.

History has recorded that the Prophet (a.s.), in the third year of his ordainment, was commanded by God to make his call to Islam public and declare it to all his neighbours, relatives and the Quraish. For this purpose he issued an open invitation inviting all to his house, and declared that they would soon have a religious code which would open the gates of the palaces of (Khusrow, the Emperor of Iran) and of caesar and other rulers. Also in the sixth year of his ordainment,

he sent letters to the rulers of the three small regions of Hira, Ghassan and Yemen; first to Bazan king of Yemen, then to Khusrow Parviz emperor of Iran, then to the emperor of Eastern Rome, then to the ruler of Egypt (Maquqass), and next to Najashi (Negus) king of Abyssinia. All these letters have been recorded in history, and there is no doubt or question about them.

What remains to be said is whether the Prophet of Islam knew of such places as India and China or not. Anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with Arab's history would know that one of the principal occupations of life for Arab merchants was the transportation of goods. There they carried from China and India via the Sea of Oman and Hejaz to Europe, i.e. Rome.

Thus, not only the prophet but Arab traders as well were familiar with India and China and even their products such as spices, perfumes, handicrafts and China ware which were the industrial and agricultural products of India and China at that time.

Trade in such commodities was a part of the commercial pre-occupation of the Arabs of that time. Therefore in discussions should someone raise the question whether the Prophet of Islam was aware of human civilisations existing in the world or not,

becomes quite irrelevant. It is likely someone may ask Prophet knew of the inhabited regions of the earth, though we could not possibly answer this question, since we do not believe that he know everything but rather that whatever he needed to know was provided to him through revelation. I really cannot imagine if the Prophet (a.s.) needed to know about all these places in those times.

Geographical Situation

The reason we brought up Iran for discussion is firstly, there are certain pertinent points about the Sassanid period such as the rise of the Mazdaki code of life that needs be studied and emphasised.

It is an interesting discussion which will be pursued for a comparative analysis subsequently. From the point of view of natural environments, if we were to compare Iran with Arabia, it could be said that Arabia as the birthplace of Islam was a poverty stricken, dry and deprived region whereas Iran or at least some parts of Iran were populated, flourishing and affluent.

Incidentally, the areas of the great Iranian plateau which were contiguous to Arabia were all green and included the western slopes of the Zagross mountain range and parts of Lorestan, Bakhtaran, Hamadan and present Kurdestan, as well as part of Mesopotamia along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates,

all of which are green and full of palm groves, so that in those times the Arabs called these lands the Black Land's. This was so because as of the dry, sandy deserts came to this part, they would notice a dark horizon which in fact was the palm groves and other trees, whereas in their own dwelling places there were only old trees in the rarely found oases.

During one journey which I happened to have undertaken I noticed how poverty stricken the region was. Concerning the region along the east coast of the Red Sea, one comes to realise how unprivileged it is since despite its proximity to the Red Sea, no habitation or even a tree could be seen from Jordan right down to Jedda. The seashore, too, totally barren, has nothing more to offer than sand and ground.

I don't know whether it is the soil that is bad or the wind which blows in the direction of Africa and carries the vapours of the Red Sea towards Africa because if there were no winds, some of this vapour might have remained to produce rain fall. However, all the vapour is carried towards the opposite side of the sea, namely to Somalia and Abyssinia which derive full benefit.

In any case if we were to make a relative study of the area, it will be seen that the region which is adjacent to Arabia in the east is the best part of Iran from the viewpoint of natural environment next of course to the Caspian Sea littoral shores which is a thriving and populous region. It is interesting to know that the average population density in the regions of Gilan and Mazandaran is 100 persons per square kilometer,

whereas for the whole of Iran the average is 16. The approximate area of these two provinces is 30,000 square kilometers, and they are so flourishing and populous that about three million people live.[19]

Aside from this prosperous region which was not contiguous to Arabia, the western regions of Iran and eastern part of Iraq which neighboured Arabia, were comparatively prosperous and utilizable from the aspects of climate, vegetation and other environmental factors.

From the viewpoint of area, the border of Iran reached the Sind River valley including the greater part of Afghanistan as far as the Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers and above the Araxes River which included the present Caucasia upto and including the Shatt-al-Arab. There were the boundaries of Iran then and hence Arabia stands no comparison with Iran.

At the time of the rise of Islam and even before that, the eastern regions of Iran were called Khorassan in general, a name which is derived from 'Khor-Assa' meaning the region of sun rise, owing to its being situated in the east of Iran. Thus the eastern part of Iran of those days included Khorassan, soutlhern Turkestan, Afghanistan, Baluchestan and Sistan, all ofthem together bearing the name Khorassan.

Civilisation

The Iranian civilisation is considered to be an Aryan civilisation, having a precedent of eleven and even twelve centuries prior to the rise of Islam, after having evolved from a nomadic and tribal society to a central authority, whereas Hejaz had not till then reached the stage of a central government. The first government established in Hejaz was under Islam, whereas the government of media (Ecbatan) had been set up twelve centuries before that of Islam, in Hejaz.

It will be an interesting example to quote from an inscription by Darius at a public works project. This inscription is naturally composed in a royal and a pompous style usual in that imperial age, however the content of it is rather interesting. Darius ruled in the years 550 to 529 B.C. The first Iranian inscription dates back to his reign, that is to say prior to him there were no such inscriptions.

After a short period of chaos and disorder, Darius was able to establish a vast empire in Iran extending as far as Egypt including the entire region of Shaam, Syria and Egypt, and had thus become a neighbour of Greece. At that time the Eastern Roman had not risen, but there was the Roman Empire in the west which had not till then gained any importance.

In the time of Darius the two countries of importance were Greece and Egypt. When Iran conquered Egypt, it also brought Greece under pressure. In the wars of that time, Darius frequently waged against the Greeks, he had to employ the sea route since the Greek territory consisted of a number of islands and land campaign would not have been feasible.

As the Iranian ships had no access to the Mediterranean, Darius decided to open a sea way for the Iranian warships to reach the Greek shores. Thus he ordered a canal dug which was the precursor of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean Sea via the Nile River to the Red Sea. Darius describes the history of this canal in an inscription as follows:

"Ahura-Mazda, the great lord who created the lofty sky, created Man, created Man's good fortune, raised Darius to kingship, has assigned to King Darius this great empire with all these precious horses and multitudes of people.[20] I am King Darius, great king, king over many varied races, king over extensive and remote domains, son of Vishtasb of the Achaemnids; so declares King Darius: I am a Parsi.

I govern Egypt from Pars. I decreed this canal be dug to link the between a river called Nile which flows in Egypt to the sea which reaches Iran.[21] This canal has been dug by my command and the ships have sailed via this canal from Egypt to Iran as I had desired."

Thus we see that twelve centuries before the rise of Islam in Arabia, a great and powerful government existed as its eastern neighbour. There is little doubt that amongst the past rulers of Iran Darius was an outstanding figure from the standpoint of ideas, capabilities and policies. This is especially true in connection with his attitude towards the conquered lands since, unlike other great conquerors of the world, he gave more importance to the administration of his domains than merely to conquer them. After retrieving his ancestral territories i.e. the domain of his ancestor Kurosh, he had no inclination to add further territory to his realm, and only wished to create to an extent a welfare administration for his subjects in the extensive realm of Iran of those days.

This is a notable aspect of the life of Darius, and thus, according to the writings of orientalists, his accomplishments in that age are definitely outstanding, though this point is not relevant to the present discussion.

Class Structure and Social Divisions

Briefly then, such a government existed in the region, in the eastern neighbour of Arabia, about twelve centuries before the rise of Islam, however the basis and nature of those civilised governments were quite different from the Islamic government that followed. In fact these two were essentially unlike each other, since that civilised realm was charaterised by a deep class system.[22]

In the extended period of human life, vestiges of which can still be observed in backward societies, people were since birth divided into various classes or castes so that the children of the lower class were naturally condemned to remain inferior and had no right to ascend do a higher class. Such was the class structure then existing.

This class structure existed in Iran, too. As far as I can recall from my studies in history, the seat and center of this caste system was in India, and since the civilisations of Iran, Greece and Rome have been Indo-European in origin, this Indian concept of class society travelled wherever Indian civilisation asserted an influence.

But the cruelty and severity which were observed and are still to some extent prevalent in India in enforcing this system, have not been observed else where or in Iran.

In Iran of that time, class system and social attitudes and perceptions took the form that the king was absolute and the concept of 'Shahinshah' or king of kings was introduced in the time of the Medes well before Kurosh and Darius.

The royal class was considered super-human, and other classes were related to common people who were divided into several classes: In the time of Darius the upper most class were those on whose shoulders rested the pillars of the ruling monarehy, namely soldiers who were held above all others in being given social privileges. The second class comprised the farmers[23] and in the third class were included the artisans.

Thus there were three classes in the Achaemenid time. History does not mention any organised group named clergy as such in that period, but of course there have been priests in the same way that there had been a faith and religion.[24]

The clergy as a class made its appearance in the Sassanid time, and as it will be explained later, this class of priests came to be regarded as the first class, warriors and soldiers as the second class, clerks and civil servants as the third class with the farmers artisans and craftsmen falling in the fourth class.

In his epic 'Shahnameh', Ferdowsi, has this to say about these classes:

There was a group called Katuzis (priests) who were engaged in worshipping, The next in rank were the Neissaris (military) who were warriors, lions of battle, honour of the army and country;

Then came the Nassoudi (farmers) to whom all are indebted; for, they plough, sow and reap that they may not be blamed; The fourth group were the Ahyu-Khashi (artisans) who used their hand to shape unruly substances, and employed their ideas and intelligence.[25] The above were what Ferdowsi has described in his Shahnameh, but according to Tho'alebi[26] there were the following classes: 1. warriors, 2. priests and physicians, 3. clerks and government employees, 4. farmers, craftsmen and artisans,. Tho'alebi's description appears to be historically more reliable, since Ferdowsi's Shahnameh is mostly based on hearsay.

In a letter written by one of the governors of northern Iran to the king of Tabarestan, priests have been accorded the first class, warriors the second, clerks the third, and labourers the fourth class; a classification which differs from Ferdowsi's.

In any case the Priests and soldiers constituted the first and the second classes or vice versa; clerks and government employees the third class, and farmers and artisans made up the fourth class.

In such a society the class implied that the child of a farmer, or artisan or tradesman could when grown up become a good farmer, or artisan or tradesman, but he could never entertain the thought of raising his social status to that of a clergyman, a warrior, a clerk or a government servant; he did not belong there and he did not have the right to hope, except in very exceptional cases when a person could be elevated by the king' s special decree to a higher class. This of course meant an upgrading limited only to that person's lifetime for the education of special talents and skills.

This social system with such limitation was quite contrary to what Islam introduced later on. The class system has purposely been discussed here because in the discussion of various faiths and creeds especially in the Sassanid period of time, this subject will gain importance and deserves particular attention.

Progress in Learning

We will deal later with the state of learning and progress in this field during the Sassanids period as concerning scientific and industrial progress in the Achaeminid period in Iran, no substantial evidence is available. However, what is certain is that Darius could not have succeeded in administering such an extensive realm, without a stock of knowledge and learning.

However, are particular aspect which occurs in historical evidence is that the sovereigns of Iran seemed to have cherished the idea that all the civilised lands of that time would eventually become part of Iran even though two other states existed.[27] Thus we witness that the great physician of that time is a Greek, and the renowned geographer who was sent to the Sind valley by Darius to .survey that land, and prepare a report, was, too, a Greek.

Even the best and the finest of warriors of that time were Greek, the reason being that in Darius' mind these subjects were not non-Iranians, but were regarded as citizens of the greater Iran. Therefore, it did not occure to Darius and other kings that the people of central region who lived close to the seat of the government should remain among the artisans and tradesmen of the fourth class, while physician, clerks,

and warriors should be from Greece, Egypt and outlying regions! So the scholars were brought from the outer regions of the empire while locals comprised the artisans and craftsmen.

It is for this reason that the history of that time fails to indicate any outstanding Iranian scholar who was not of Greek, Egyptian or Indian stock. That does not mean of course that such individuals did not exist. Very little historical evidence is available and addedly, most of the available sources are of Greek origin, and the Greeks were not behind others in holding nationalistic prejudice - if anything, they were well ahead in this respect. Therefore, it becomes difficult to reach a verdict in this matter.

Anyhow from the point of view of academic learning, no distinguished scholars in particular fields appear in Iran or in India or in Ionia, in the south of Turkey near the Mediterranean, who could equal the personalities from Phoenicia, Chaldea, Assyria, Greece and Egypt. In Phoenicia, which included a part of Lebanon, Syria,

Palestine and a small portion of Jordan as well, we come across such individuals who were superior to Iran in learning. From the economic aspect, too, they enjoyed better conditions, and were richer and more prosperous than Arabia.

Situation of the Heading Tribes of the Quraish

The Quraish tribe had many sub-tribes, however the leading ones were: The Hashemis, Umavis, Nufelis, Abduddaris, Asadis, Timis, Makhzumis, 'Adavis, Jamhis and the Sahmis.

There were the prominent sub-tribes' branches, but there were also others, less significant clans. At that time there existed only two or three positions in connection with the Ka'aba. To make these clans to co-operate with one another, Qussi bin Kalab created a number of new positions, giving each of the clans a position to be content with,

and so abstain from internecine fighting. Thus it would appeal that the creation of designations had a long precedent! Concurrent with the birth of the Prophet of Islam there existed about 15 positions in Mecca, each of which pertained to one of the prominent clans of the Quraish as follows:

Position of the Keeper and custodian of the Ka'aba was the top most in first-rate precedence

Position of the provider of water to the pilgrims. During the pre-Islamic pilgrimage those who visited Mecca were not familiar with the water wells, and as they all needed water, the task of bringing water from the neighbouring wells and offering it to pilgrims was assigned to a branch of the Quraish to act as wardens over water Georgie Zeydan narrates that they devised open tanks of hides and filled them with water for the pilgrims to take.

Position of reception and hospitality. To attract more visitors to Mecca and make their market brisk, as well as to preserve the Arab custom of acting as lordly hosts, they laid out feasts for the pilgrims as their guests, and this task was assigned to a particular branch of the Quraish tribe For this purpose they collected contributions to provide free meals to the pilgrims.

Position of flag-bearer. Mecca had a flag called the Eagle banner which was used in the time of war. This flag was kept in the family whose chief would bring it out in the event of war. In the time of the Prophet this banner was in the hands of the Bani Umayya.

Position of Dar-un-Nadwa or Dar-u-Showra. One of Qussi's initiatives was to build a house near the Ka'aba, called Dar-en-Nadwa.[16] Dar-ul-Nadwa means a meeting place or assembly for consultation. Whenever an issue of importance rose for the Quraish in general, their chiefs and elders who were truly the people's representative assembled in that place, discussed the matter and came to a decision about it and whatever the majority's decision carried it out.

What is noteworthy however is that according to the laws of elections of Qussi bin kalab, one of the pre-conditions was that the tribes and clans representatives should not be less than forty years of age. Today young people could well protest against such a law on the plea that it meant favouring the old people as they accepted only over forty years old.

In those days, however, they wished to have well tried and experienced peoples' representatives, though at the same time we read in the biography of the holy Prophet of Islam that Abdul-Mutallib took Muhammad (a s.) as a child along with him to Dar-un-Nadwa, even though the admission of a person below the age of forty was forbidden.

The first time Muhammad (a.s.) was taken there, they were displeased, but after that they agreed that he could enter - but that is another story.

The charge and leadership of trade caravans was held by the Bani-Umayya.

The institution for the payment of blood-money and compensation. Sometimes when a member of a tribe was killed by someone from another tribe, in the first place was a demand for compensation and indemnity or a fight would ensue. Thus the fine had to be collected, and one of these families was responsible for this task of determining the share, collecting them, and handing them over to the claimants. This was in fact a kind of office for public funds related of course to blood-money and reparations.

Administration of the arsenal. This was a large tent where arms and weapons were collected in the event of war and distributed judicially among the soldiers.

Management of army stables: a task given to a branch of Quraish tribe to take care of the remounts such as horses and camels necessary far the war effort.

Assigning of envoys or ambassadors: Sometimes it became necessary to dispatch envoys abroad. As we shall see later, envoys were required to travel to Abyssinia to pursue the question of Muslim emigrants to that country.

Position of administering justice was given to a special committee of Arabs.

Position of the Key Bearer of the Ka'aba, as distinct from the position of the custodian. As you may be aware, pilgrims to the holy shrines often made offerings of gold coins in the holy shrines. The pilgrims who visited the Ka'aba often brought vowed offering for dropping them within the sacred grille. Once a year or every six months the custodian would open the door of the Ka'aba, collect whatever had been offered and then divide that amongst the various clans.

Position of the repairs and maintenance of the holy Ka'aba and other buildings of Mecca which were entrusted to one particular clan Position of "Ansab and Azlam", which could be called the office of lottery.

There was a custom among the Arabs called "Isar" (from "Yusr" meaning ease and plenty) incidentally the Arabic word is also related to 'gambling and lottery' At present, too, in winter there comes a time when a villager has consumed whatever he has in store, is left with nothing, and is in dire need Such conditions often occurred in Arabia during winters particularly when rainfall was scanty in spring and summer Such a custom also exists in remote parts of Iran near the annual spring festival.

So to provide relief the Arabs resorted to a measure by which a part of the wealth of the rich would be contributed to help the needy. Such practices are common among people who have not developed a secure economic system and are faced with straitened circumstances.

The Arabs invented a lottery as a game of chance This game of luck was played as follows: They took ten wooden shafts, on seven of which they wrote a number of shares from one to seven serially and the remaining three were left blank. These shafts were then handed over to a trustworthy man. Then a camel was bought, and the price of it was paid by drawing lots with these wooden beams which determined the share of the money to be paid by the participants. With this money the camel was bought and slaughtered, and the meat was distributed on the basis of lottery members again.

These wooden shafts were called 'Ansab' which in from 'Naseeb' meaning destiny. They also had another form of lottery called 'Azlam' which served for divining whether a step should be taken in a matter or not.

Here they prepared seven small wooden shafts on each of which either a positive load as 'do it', or negative indication such as 'don't do it' or 'to your advantage' or 'to the advantage of the other side' etc. were written and one of them was left blank. Whenever a person was undecided about what he should do in a matter, he would go to a diviner who employed these shafts for fortune-telling, and drew a lot from under a cloth, and that shaft indicated to him what he should do.

The above systems of 'Ansab' and 'Azlam' were entrusted to another clan of the Quraish tribe. Thus the allocation of the said positions was intended to prevent disputes and war, but clashes nonetheless occurred from time to time. However, sometimes disputes would rise and through the application of this organisation, albeit defective, they managed to prevent wars.

After Qussi bin-kalab no armed clashes occurred between the branches of the Quraish tribe, except an old one and that too a minor one. The period following Qussi in Mecca was a period of transition between the tribal and control government's establishment. For, as you can see, in this period discussions regarding types of organisation, positions, division of responsibilities and political order were taking place in Mecca. That was the situation as it prevailed in Mecca.

Ta'if, on the other hand, was more or less under the influence of a single tribe named Bani Thaqif It was a small but a flourishing city controlled by that tribe. However Medina offered an interesting perspective. As already stated, it has been predicted at the beginning of the second century A.D. that the Mareb Dam would collapse, consequently a large number of the Qahtani Arabs of Yemen migrated to the north and north-east. Two of these clans namely the Aus and Khazraj having reached Yathrib, found it to be a suitable place and decided to settle down there.

But before the arrival of the Arabs, the Jews had chosen it to be their home, and thus they were its original residents. The new-comers, namely the Aus and the Khazraj were delighted at the beginning to pay tribute to the Jews because they were weak, alien and emigre guests. Meanwhile the Jews, too, were politically astute and for a long time coexisted with the newcomers.

After a time the Jews found a rather powerful and despotic ruler who encroached upon the Aus and Khazraj, giving rise to continued fighting between the Jews and the Aus and Khazraj tribes. The latter, owing to their relations with the neighbouring Arabs who had a common race and spoke the same language, grow in numbers and enhanced their influence, as well as received assistance from their Arab allies in their conflicts with the Jews. Gradually therefore the power of the Arabs went on the increase while that of the Jews diminished in Medina.

So long as the Aus and Khazraj remained united, everything was in their favour. But an incident occurred that caused a rift between them resulting in a war. The sly Jews made the utmost use of this difference, and did their best to intensify this dispute.

Close to the time of the Prophet's ordainment, this dispute between the Khazraj who were the larger tribe and the Aus who were the smaller, carried on. The Khmazraj who were sub-divided into several clans, decided to choose a king for themselves. As you are aware, Mecca was then passing through a transition phase between the tribal and centralised governmental systems, and Medina, too, was passing through a similar process trying to pass from the tribal phase to a governmental stage.

Thus for the first time in the history of the Arabs in Medina, this became the common topic and ground was prepared that all should swear allegiance to Abdullah bin Abi, a respected man among the Khazraj tribe, and make him the king and make ready a throne and crown for him This matter had a lasting effect from various aspects on the future history of Islam.

This subject which might appear small and trifling, was really quite consequential and will be discussed further. It was under such socio-economic and political conditions and the state of religious beliefs that the Prophet of Islam declared his mission in Mecca inviting people to the new faith.

This was the brief situation in Arabia concurrent with the rise of Islam with reference to its historical background which bears relation with our subsequent discussions.

Iran Before Islam

The starting point for our discussions has been chosen from an aspect which in fact marks the origins of Islam, and from another viewpoint, is inseparably linked to the study of ideological, social and practical problems. This approach is also more compatible with the natural course for pursuing these studies.

In order to study Islam in its correct, historical perspective, for obtaining a clearer understanding, it was appropriate to have begun with a familiarisation with the region of its birth, namely the Arabian peninsula incorporating Saudi Arabia (Hejaz and Najd), Yemen, the sheikhdoms along the Persian Gulf littoral and the Sea of Oman. We also generally commented on the geographic, social, racial, lingual, religious and economic conditions of that region.

Henceforth our discussion will be related to those civilised regions which bounded the Arabian peninsula of the time.

These civilised regions could basically be divided into two parts: in one part consisting of small free status , linked with the Arabian peninsula and possessing small local governments, which should however be regarded Arab settlements though most of them were installed by great powers. One of these which had parts of Iraq under its influence was the government of Hira (or the Nu'manis and Munadherah) under the hegemony of Iran. Another was Yemen which, being within the Arabian peninsula, had an independent government.

For about 150 or 200 years this government had been installed either by Iran or Abyssinia till about the time of the rise of Islam. In the other part were the states in the western part which included the present day Jordan and Israel. This was the Ghassani government which was under the hegemony of Rome.

We will have a short and brief discussion about these three small governments in their proper place, since these three states happened to have a significant role in the contemporary history of the rise of Islam which merits particular attention.

A) Ancient Iran

The Arabian peninsula of that time was bounded by four powerful, strong and civilised nations with rather well established governments. Of these four countries, two could be rated as first class and the other two as second class powers. One of the first group was Iran which extended on one side as far as the Tigris and Euphrates and Shatt-al-Arab, namely upto the middle of the present day Iraq and included the Caucasus and the present Iran itself; and on another flank included Turkestan, Afghanistan, a part of Pakistan as far as the Hindus (Sind) River valley.

In these regions there lived a people with a long and civilised past which had undergone many tribulations and change, and were regarded as the great neighbours of the Arabian peninsula.

The fact is that if we wish to speak on the basis of common usage, Arabian peninsula was just a stretch of desert to which no one paid any attention, and the use of the word 'neighbour' could hardly apply to Iran with its immense size and grandeur as compared with Arabia. But here the discussion is not about great or small but only to become familiar with the geographic neighbours of Arabia.

The second great neighbour was Rome which also neighboured Iran. It was a great power including northern Iraq, present day Turkey and the Balkans, and was known as Eastern Rome. When we mention Rome in this discussion it implies the Eastern Roman empire, since western Rome with its seat in Italy neither remained a great power at that time, nor had any relation with Islam. Of course western Rome of that time included Italy, a portion of Yugoslavia, Albania, some part of Spain and even a part of France, thus Europe of that time was only one country under Rome.

Other peoples living beyond its limits were called Berbers.[17] Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire possessed such greatness at that time that it was far above comparison with the other Rome. Western Rome rose to greatness after the Muslims had overthrown Eastern Rome, and the caliphs, namely the Ottoman rulers and kings, had captured the city of Islambol or Constantinople.

It was then that in the 15th century A.D. learned men of Eastern Rome fled to Western Rome and became instrumental in causing the Renaissance and provided the base for the present civilisation of Europe and the western world, because during the period which we are discussing, Western Rome was hardly great and indeed was regarded as a second rate power.

These were the great neighbours of the Arabian peninsula. The other two second-rate neighbours were, firstly, Egypt which included the present day Egypt, Libya, Tunis and some part of Sudan. Although this country held some importance from Islam's viewpoint, yet it was not considered a great power such as Iran and Rome.

The next neighbouring country was Abyssinia which included the present day Abyssinia and some part of the Sudan, In this region, too, there was no powerful government, though in Islam's times it was an empire with a considerable past having a civilisation and characterised by noteworthy social and religious freedom.[18]

As is evident while surveying these countries, only two other regions remained in the entire civilised world, namely China and India, and beyond these two we do not find any other place in the world which could be termed civilised, This detail has been mentioned here because certain people, especially among the educated class whether in Iran or here in Germany raise the question whether the prophet brought Islam as a universal religion, and if so, how much did he know about the world outside the Arabian peninsula?

The answer is: firstly, that we do not call a person 'prophet' on account of his having been formally educated or having studied books and maps etc. A prophet to us is a person who acquires all the necessary knowledge through divine revelation, and this is without bounds or limits. Secondly, the Prophet (a.s.) in his own time, had sent communications to the rulers of these regions and hence the question whether the Prophet was aware of the other non Arab nations and their basic needs would seem to be a childish question.

History has recorded that the Prophet (a.s.), in the third year of his ordainment, was commanded by God to make his call to Islam public and declare it to all his neighbours, relatives and the Quraish. For this purpose he issued an open invitation inviting all to his house, and declared that they would soon have a religious code which would open the gates of the palaces of (Khusrow, the Emperor of Iran) and of caesar and other rulers. Also in the sixth year of his ordainment,

he sent letters to the rulers of the three small regions of Hira, Ghassan and Yemen; first to Bazan king of Yemen, then to Khusrow Parviz emperor of Iran, then to the emperor of Eastern Rome, then to the ruler of Egypt (Maquqass), and next to Najashi (Negus) king of Abyssinia. All these letters have been recorded in history, and there is no doubt or question about them.

What remains to be said is whether the Prophet of Islam knew of such places as India and China or not. Anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with Arab's history would know that one of the principal occupations of life for Arab merchants was the transportation of goods. There they carried from China and India via the Sea of Oman and Hejaz to Europe, i.e. Rome.

Thus, not only the prophet but Arab traders as well were familiar with India and China and even their products such as spices, perfumes, handicrafts and China ware which were the industrial and agricultural products of India and China at that time.

Trade in such commodities was a part of the commercial pre-occupation of the Arabs of that time. Therefore in discussions should someone raise the question whether the Prophet of Islam was aware of human civilisations existing in the world or not,

becomes quite irrelevant. It is likely someone may ask Prophet knew of the inhabited regions of the earth, though we could not possibly answer this question, since we do not believe that he know everything but rather that whatever he needed to know was provided to him through revelation. I really cannot imagine if the Prophet (a.s.) needed to know about all these places in those times.

Geographical Situation

The reason we brought up Iran for discussion is firstly, there are certain pertinent points about the Sassanid period such as the rise of the Mazdaki code of life that needs be studied and emphasised.

It is an interesting discussion which will be pursued for a comparative analysis subsequently. From the point of view of natural environments, if we were to compare Iran with Arabia, it could be said that Arabia as the birthplace of Islam was a poverty stricken, dry and deprived region whereas Iran or at least some parts of Iran were populated, flourishing and affluent.

Incidentally, the areas of the great Iranian plateau which were contiguous to Arabia were all green and included the western slopes of the Zagross mountain range and parts of Lorestan, Bakhtaran, Hamadan and present Kurdestan, as well as part of Mesopotamia along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates,

all of which are green and full of palm groves, so that in those times the Arabs called these lands the Black Land's. This was so because as of the dry, sandy deserts came to this part, they would notice a dark horizon which in fact was the palm groves and other trees, whereas in their own dwelling places there were only old trees in the rarely found oases.

During one journey which I happened to have undertaken I noticed how poverty stricken the region was. Concerning the region along the east coast of the Red Sea, one comes to realise how unprivileged it is since despite its proximity to the Red Sea, no habitation or even a tree could be seen from Jordan right down to Jedda. The seashore, too, totally barren, has nothing more to offer than sand and ground.

I don't know whether it is the soil that is bad or the wind which blows in the direction of Africa and carries the vapours of the Red Sea towards Africa because if there were no winds, some of this vapour might have remained to produce rain fall. However, all the vapour is carried towards the opposite side of the sea, namely to Somalia and Abyssinia which derive full benefit.

In any case if we were to make a relative study of the area, it will be seen that the region which is adjacent to Arabia in the east is the best part of Iran from the viewpoint of natural environment next of course to the Caspian Sea littoral shores which is a thriving and populous region. It is interesting to know that the average population density in the regions of Gilan and Mazandaran is 100 persons per square kilometer,

whereas for the whole of Iran the average is 16. The approximate area of these two provinces is 30,000 square kilometers, and they are so flourishing and populous that about three million people live.[19]

Aside from this prosperous region which was not contiguous to Arabia, the western regions of Iran and eastern part of Iraq which neighboured Arabia, were comparatively prosperous and utilizable from the aspects of climate, vegetation and other environmental factors.

From the viewpoint of area, the border of Iran reached the Sind River valley including the greater part of Afghanistan as far as the Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers and above the Araxes River which included the present Caucasia upto and including the Shatt-al-Arab. There were the boundaries of Iran then and hence Arabia stands no comparison with Iran.

At the time of the rise of Islam and even before that, the eastern regions of Iran were called Khorassan in general, a name which is derived from 'Khor-Assa' meaning the region of sun rise, owing to its being situated in the east of Iran. Thus the eastern part of Iran of those days included Khorassan, soutlhern Turkestan, Afghanistan, Baluchestan and Sistan, all ofthem together bearing the name Khorassan.

Civilisation

The Iranian civilisation is considered to be an Aryan civilisation, having a precedent of eleven and even twelve centuries prior to the rise of Islam, after having evolved from a nomadic and tribal society to a central authority, whereas Hejaz had not till then reached the stage of a central government. The first government established in Hejaz was under Islam, whereas the government of media (Ecbatan) had been set up twelve centuries before that of Islam, in Hejaz.

It will be an interesting example to quote from an inscription by Darius at a public works project. This inscription is naturally composed in a royal and a pompous style usual in that imperial age, however the content of it is rather interesting. Darius ruled in the years 550 to 529 B.C. The first Iranian inscription dates back to his reign, that is to say prior to him there were no such inscriptions.

After a short period of chaos and disorder, Darius was able to establish a vast empire in Iran extending as far as Egypt including the entire region of Shaam, Syria and Egypt, and had thus become a neighbour of Greece. At that time the Eastern Roman had not risen, but there was the Roman Empire in the west which had not till then gained any importance.

In the time of Darius the two countries of importance were Greece and Egypt. When Iran conquered Egypt, it also brought Greece under pressure. In the wars of that time, Darius frequently waged against the Greeks, he had to employ the sea route since the Greek territory consisted of a number of islands and land campaign would not have been feasible.

As the Iranian ships had no access to the Mediterranean, Darius decided to open a sea way for the Iranian warships to reach the Greek shores. Thus he ordered a canal dug which was the precursor of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean Sea via the Nile River to the Red Sea. Darius describes the history of this canal in an inscription as follows:

"Ahura-Mazda, the great lord who created the lofty sky, created Man, created Man's good fortune, raised Darius to kingship, has assigned to King Darius this great empire with all these precious horses and multitudes of people.[20] I am King Darius, great king, king over many varied races, king over extensive and remote domains, son of Vishtasb of the Achaemnids; so declares King Darius: I am a Parsi.

I govern Egypt from Pars. I decreed this canal be dug to link the between a river called Nile which flows in Egypt to the sea which reaches Iran.[21] This canal has been dug by my command and the ships have sailed via this canal from Egypt to Iran as I had desired."

Thus we see that twelve centuries before the rise of Islam in Arabia, a great and powerful government existed as its eastern neighbour. There is little doubt that amongst the past rulers of Iran Darius was an outstanding figure from the standpoint of ideas, capabilities and policies. This is especially true in connection with his attitude towards the conquered lands since, unlike other great conquerors of the world, he gave more importance to the administration of his domains than merely to conquer them. After retrieving his ancestral territories i.e. the domain of his ancestor Kurosh, he had no inclination to add further territory to his realm, and only wished to create to an extent a welfare administration for his subjects in the extensive realm of Iran of those days.

This is a notable aspect of the life of Darius, and thus, according to the writings of orientalists, his accomplishments in that age are definitely outstanding, though this point is not relevant to the present discussion.

Class Structure and Social Divisions

Briefly then, such a government existed in the region, in the eastern neighbour of Arabia, about twelve centuries before the rise of Islam, however the basis and nature of those civilised governments were quite different from the Islamic government that followed. In fact these two were essentially unlike each other, since that civilised realm was charaterised by a deep class system.[22]

In the extended period of human life, vestiges of which can still be observed in backward societies, people were since birth divided into various classes or castes so that the children of the lower class were naturally condemned to remain inferior and had no right to ascend do a higher class. Such was the class structure then existing.

This class structure existed in Iran, too. As far as I can recall from my studies in history, the seat and center of this caste system was in India, and since the civilisations of Iran, Greece and Rome have been Indo-European in origin, this Indian concept of class society travelled wherever Indian civilisation asserted an influence.

But the cruelty and severity which were observed and are still to some extent prevalent in India in enforcing this system, have not been observed else where or in Iran.

In Iran of that time, class system and social attitudes and perceptions took the form that the king was absolute and the concept of 'Shahinshah' or king of kings was introduced in the time of the Medes well before Kurosh and Darius.

The royal class was considered super-human, and other classes were related to common people who were divided into several classes: In the time of Darius the upper most class were those on whose shoulders rested the pillars of the ruling monarehy, namely soldiers who were held above all others in being given social privileges. The second class comprised the farmers[23] and in the third class were included the artisans.

Thus there were three classes in the Achaemenid time. History does not mention any organised group named clergy as such in that period, but of course there have been priests in the same way that there had been a faith and religion.[24]

The clergy as a class made its appearance in the Sassanid time, and as it will be explained later, this class of priests came to be regarded as the first class, warriors and soldiers as the second class, clerks and civil servants as the third class with the farmers artisans and craftsmen falling in the fourth class.

In his epic 'Shahnameh', Ferdowsi, has this to say about these classes:

There was a group called Katuzis (priests) who were engaged in worshipping, The next in rank were the Neissaris (military) who were warriors, lions of battle, honour of the army and country;

Then came the Nassoudi (farmers) to whom all are indebted; for, they plough, sow and reap that they may not be blamed; The fourth group were the Ahyu-Khashi (artisans) who used their hand to shape unruly substances, and employed their ideas and intelligence.[25] The above were what Ferdowsi has described in his Shahnameh, but according to Tho'alebi[26] there were the following classes: 1. warriors, 2. priests and physicians, 3. clerks and government employees, 4. farmers, craftsmen and artisans,. Tho'alebi's description appears to be historically more reliable, since Ferdowsi's Shahnameh is mostly based on hearsay.

In a letter written by one of the governors of northern Iran to the king of Tabarestan, priests have been accorded the first class, warriors the second, clerks the third, and labourers the fourth class; a classification which differs from Ferdowsi's.

In any case the Priests and soldiers constituted the first and the second classes or vice versa; clerks and government employees the third class, and farmers and artisans made up the fourth class.

In such a society the class implied that the child of a farmer, or artisan or tradesman could when grown up become a good farmer, or artisan or tradesman, but he could never entertain the thought of raising his social status to that of a clergyman, a warrior, a clerk or a government servant; he did not belong there and he did not have the right to hope, except in very exceptional cases when a person could be elevated by the king' s special decree to a higher class. This of course meant an upgrading limited only to that person's lifetime for the education of special talents and skills.

This social system with such limitation was quite contrary to what Islam introduced later on. The class system has purposely been discussed here because in the discussion of various faiths and creeds especially in the Sassanid period of time, this subject will gain importance and deserves particular attention.

Progress in Learning

We will deal later with the state of learning and progress in this field during the Sassanids period as concerning scientific and industrial progress in the Achaeminid period in Iran, no substantial evidence is available. However, what is certain is that Darius could not have succeeded in administering such an extensive realm, without a stock of knowledge and learning.

However, are particular aspect which occurs in historical evidence is that the sovereigns of Iran seemed to have cherished the idea that all the civilised lands of that time would eventually become part of Iran even though two other states existed.[27] Thus we witness that the great physician of that time is a Greek, and the renowned geographer who was sent to the Sind valley by Darius to .survey that land, and prepare a report, was, too, a Greek.

Even the best and the finest of warriors of that time were Greek, the reason being that in Darius' mind these subjects were not non-Iranians, but were regarded as citizens of the greater Iran. Therefore, it did not occure to Darius and other kings that the people of central region who lived close to the seat of the government should remain among the artisans and tradesmen of the fourth class, while physician, clerks,

and warriors should be from Greece, Egypt and outlying regions! So the scholars were brought from the outer regions of the empire while locals comprised the artisans and craftsmen.

It is for this reason that the history of that time fails to indicate any outstanding Iranian scholar who was not of Greek, Egyptian or Indian stock. That does not mean of course that such individuals did not exist. Very little historical evidence is available and addedly, most of the available sources are of Greek origin, and the Greeks were not behind others in holding nationalistic prejudice - if anything, they were well ahead in this respect. Therefore, it becomes difficult to reach a verdict in this matter.

Anyhow from the point of view of academic learning, no distinguished scholars in particular fields appear in Iran or in India or in Ionia, in the south of Turkey near the Mediterranean, who could equal the personalities from Phoenicia, Chaldea, Assyria, Greece and Egypt. In Phoenicia, which included a part of Lebanon, Syria,

Palestine and a small portion of Jordan as well, we come across such individuals who were superior to Iran in learning. From the economic aspect, too, they enjoyed better conditions, and were richer and more prosperous than Arabia.