Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 17
17 During that time the assassination of the Emperor of Iran was revealed to the Prophet. When he informed the emissaries of his revelation and pointed out that the Emperor’s orders could no longer have effect, the astonished men hastened back to Yemen to communicate to the Viceroy the Prophet's words ⎯ words soon confirmed by dispatches from the Iranian capital. This incident led the Viceroy and his court, as well as large numbers of the people of Yemen, to embrace Islam. The Christian tribes in the north of the peninsula were in treaty relations with Byzantium, and enjoyed the protection of the Byzantine Emperor. Mecca itself was a sort of oligarchy. Its affairs were administered by a Council of Elders, composed of the heads of the leading families of the Qureish, the principal tribe inhabiting Mecca. The Council met as occasion demanded within the precincts of the Ka’aba, in a structure known as the House of Consultation, for the transaction of business relating to the affairs of the town. Different families of the Qureish had been assigned various functions in connection with the service of the Ka’aba, the regulation of the pilgrimage, and the administration of the city (9:19). The Ka’aba and its enclosure were then, as they are now, the center of life in Mecca.