The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 71
II - Arabia & its Inhabitants 71 stand, who presented a few vigorously formidable couplets in praise of the Holy Prophet sa and his companions. The Banū Tamīm was compelled to accept the eloquent superiority of these couplets and subsequently accepted Islām. 1 Customs and Tribal Lifestyle Among the foul habits of the Arabs, three were particularly distinct. Drinking, gambling and fornication were so abundantly rampant that may God be a refuge. To one’s amazement, these habits were considered a means of pride. Therefore, poets of the Jāhiliyyah pleasurably make mention of such lewdness in a description of their explicit experiences. Moreover, without such explicitly lewd mention, poetry was considered meaningless to the Arabs. Therefore, it was considered incumbent that in the prelude to a Qaṣīdah 2 , regardless of its actual topic, the poet would make explicit mention of his actual or longed-for-lover, and would describe a few of his intimate encounters with her. Ka‘b bin Zuhair was a renowned poet who came before the Holy Prophet sa and presented a Qaṣīdah in praise of the Holy Prophet sa which is known today as the Bānat Su‘ād. In the prelude to this poem as well, the poet relates stories of his suffering with relevance to this parted lover. The level of shamelessness was such that on various instances masters would subject their female slaves to prostitution and would acquire its generated revenue. This was also a means of revenue generation; however, the nobility was free of such utter disgrace. Due to ignorance and the unnecessary fury of the Arabs, fighting would erupt upon the pettiest of matters. It is apparent through history that upon certain instances, two tribes would fall into a vehement war over a small incident and then gradually various other tribes would also become involved, due to which murder and bloodshed would continue for years upon years. The instance mentioned below is a minor page in the history of Arabia. To the end of the fifth century A. D. , Kul ai b bin Rabī‘ah was a very powerful and influential ruler who was the chieftain of the Banū Taghlib which inhabited the north east of Arabia. Ḥalīlah bint Murrah, the wife of Kul ai b, belonged to the Banū Bakr bin Wā ’ il. Ḥalīlah had a brother named Jassās who lived with his maternal aunt named Basūs. It so happened that a person named Sa‘d visited Basūs and stayed with her as a guest. He owned a camel named 1 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Malik bin Hishām, pp. 482-486, Qudūmu Wafdi Banī Tamīm wa Nuzūlu Suratil-Ḥujurāt, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 2 A Eulogy (Publishers)