On the 3rd day of the mourning gathering in Zaria the Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria spoke further on the Arab soceity before the advent of Islam. He explained the sytem of leaderhip that existed in the Arab society.
They have individuals whom they considered as leaders tribal leaders. These individuals settle dispute among the Arabs, they are respected people and are called sayyids. Each of the tribes had its leader. The Bahu Hashim are the most respected because of their not involvment in vices and for excellent manners they have been known with. They dont tell lies or commit adultery and or consume alcohol. These acts were not welcome even in pre-islamic period as Leadership is for the respect who does not commit indecency. Leaders were selected by group of men from each of the tribes in a place called Darun Nadwa to select sayyid base on excellent qualities.
Sheik spoke on comepetions among Arab tribes where he said competitions among Arab tribes in terms of excellent qualities were on the increase daily basis. These qualites include the feeding of guests, provision of water to them, or alcohol etc. However, emergence of a Prophet who received revelation can not be contested by any tribe and as such the other trbes envied the Banu Hashim for having the best model in all aspects of good manner- Prophet (SAWA).
On the economy the leader expressed that most of the economc activities in the Arab soceity centered arround commercial activities and husbandry. They used to travel to as far as Sham to sell thier hand made items and bring goods. Quraish enjoyed protection by God against arm robbers on their journey. This was because of the destruction of Abraham men who rode on elephants with intention of destroying the ka’ba. So, people feared similar consequences should they attack Quraish. So makka is protected against attacks because of the holy ka’aba in addition to provisions they enjoyed despite the fact that they did not involve in farming activities.
On the issue of religion they worshipped idols as means of reaching God, thus leaving the religion of Ibraheem. Diiffernts idols were marked for particular purpose. When the prophet called for oneness of God they declared him as deviant who left the path of Ibraheem. They considered themselves as followers of Ibraheem! They subsititued the relgion of God with idol worshipping. They had about 360 idols in the Ka’ba each with its specific function, action which only benefitted the custodians who stand between the men and the idols.
The Arabs also had the culture of burrying alive thier daughters as a sign of bravity. Women were so much degraded. But Islam prohibted the bad cultures and raised the status of women.