Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 3Abyssinia, Syria, Palestine and even India. The richamong them were great admirers of Indian swords. Theirclothing needs were supplied largely by Yemen andSyria. The trading centres were the towns. The rest ofArabia, excepting Yemen and some northern parts, wasBedouin. There were no permanent settlements, orplaces of habitation. The tribes had divided the countrybetween them so that members of a tribe wanderedabout freely in their part of the country. When the watersupply in any place was exhausted, they would move onto some other place and settle down. Their capitalconsisted of sheep, goats and camels. From the woolthey made cloth, and from the skins they made tents.What was left over they sold in the market. Gold andsilver were not unknown, but they were certainly veryrare possessions. The poor and the common folks madeornaments of cowries and sweet-smelling substances.Seeds of melons were cleaned, dried and strung togetherto make necklaces. Crime and immoralities of variouskinds were rampant. Theft was rare but dacoity wascommon. To attack and to dispossess one another wasregarded a birthright. But, at the same time, theyhonoured their word more than any other people.Should an individual go to a powerful leader or tribe andask for protection, that leader or tribe was honourboundto protect that individual. If this was not done,the tribe lost caste throughout Arabia. Poetscommanded great prestige. They were honoured asnational leaders. Leaders were expected to possess greatpowers of speech and even to be able to compose verse.Hospitality had developed into a national virtue. Aforlorn traveller on arrival at the headquarters of a tribewould be treated as an honoured guest. The bestanimals would be slaughtered for him and the utmostconsideration shown. They did not care who the visitorwas. It was enough that a visitor had arrived. The visitmeant an increase of status and prestige for the tribe. Itbecame the tribe's duty, therefore, to honour the visitor.By honouring him it honoured itself. Woman in this