The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 61
II - Arabia & its Inhabitants 61 8. Adjoining Ḥijāz, there is the small region of Khaibar, situated to the north-east of Najd. At one point in time it was the major centre of the Jews and had been secured by the building of fortresses. To the north-east of Khaibar, there was another centre of the Jews, known as Taimā. In the close proximity of Taimā was the settlement of Ḥajr, the village of Thamūd, to which the Prophet Ṣāliḥ as had been sent. To the western side of Ḥajr, towards the seashore, once was the region of Midian, where prior to his prophethood, Prophet Moses as visited Prophet Shu‘aib as and stayed there for some time. Inhabitants Arabia is a sparsely populated country. Lack of rain, excessive desert and a deficiency of plant and mineral produce have collectively prevented a population increase. Nevertheless, its total population today is stated to be approximately 7,000,000 to 8,000,000, which is not overly diminutive considering the country’s circumstances. With relation to the division of inhabitants, historians have divided Arabian tribes into two, or in another case, into three categories. 1. ‘Arab-e-‘Āribah: Refers to the ancient and actual inhabitants of the country, which have then been further divided into two categories: A. ) Those ancient inhabitants of Arabia who passed away prior to Islām. Due to the remoteness of their existence, their detailed particulars are obscured. Yet it is known that they consisted of many tribes who inhabited various parts of the country, and among them, some tribes possessed powerful and civilised governments. Among these tribes, the names of those well-renowned are ‘ Ād, Thamūd, Ṭasm, Jadīs, and Jurhumul-Ūlā’. The homeland of ‘Ād was in Aḥqāf and Thamūd inhabited Jauf, which was located to the north of Ḥijāz. Due to the destruction of these ancient tribes they are also referred to as ‘Arab-e- Bā’idah 1. B. ) The tribes referred to as the Banū Qaḥṭān, which from various narrations, were the children of Prophet Hūd as. 2 1 Extinct Arabs (Publishers) 2 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Muḥammad bin ‘Abdul-Bāqī Az- Zarqānī, Volume 1, p. 171, Dhikru Ḥafri Zamzama Adh-Dhabīḥain, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)