The Aptitude of the Arabs

Seerah as a Movement The Aptitude of the Arabs The result of Dawah work depends on the response of the audience. However untiring the efforts of the preacher, and no matter how accurately he presents the true message of Islam, it is more the response of his audience that determines whether his call is accepted or not. The character of the Arabs was a valuable factor which contributed towards their acceptance of Islam. They were children of nature, brought up in simple, natural surroundings. Despite their seeming stubbornness, they reflected the qualities of their environment. Thirty million square kilometers of desert, the hot, bare, hard country in which they lived, was the ideal breeding ground for the most lofty human values. The average Arab had just one source of income—his camel. But, if he had guests, he would sacrifice this invaluable beast in order to provide them with food. If a victim of oppression took refuge with an Arab in his tent, he knew he had a friend who would give his own life in defence of the wronged. Even plunderers did their looting in a chivalrous manner. If they wanted to steal clothes and jewelry from a tribe’s womenfolk, they would not snatch them off the women’s bodies with their own hands: instead, they would tell the women to handover their valuables, while they themselves would look in the opposite direction to avoid seeing women undressing themselves. It would be misleading to think of the desert Arabs as simpletons. They were a highly aware people, of penetrating intelligence. Seven Muslim converts came to the Prophet from a certain tribe. They told him that they had learnt five things during the time of ignorance that preceded Islam. They would adhere to these principles, they said, unless the Prophet gave them other instructions. The Prophet then asked them what these principles that they had inherited from the time of ignorance were. “Thankfulness in times of affluence,” they answered, “and patience in times of difficulty. Steadfastness on the field of battle and resignation to fate. We learnt not to rejoice over another’s setbacks, even if it was one’s own enemy that was afflicted.”