Reference: Brown, D. (2009). A new introduction to islam. -2nd ed. (9781405158077). 2nd ed. Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell, pp.19-32.
Thesis statement: Arab world and the way of living before and After Islam, and how Arab way of living and Islam might have influenced each other
Main Themes:
First the author talks about the way of living in the Arabic world and how we have little information about their style of living at that time, except from some poems that remained (Brown, p. 21). If it was not for the poems, we may never know what kind of life they followed and if they were more than a nomad. They had very little to offer in terms of agriculture and civilization. One of the only contribution or involvement they had was through poetry. And through poetry they describe their simple life (Brown, p.24). If it was not for this, not only we would not have been able to know their way of life but also they might not have had any impact or footprint left behind for us to study them. It would have been as if they didn’t exist (if Islam did not have come also!).
Second part that is also really interesting that author talks about is the Mecca and Quraysh at that time. He talks about how Ka’ba was a place of worship from long time ago and how they had an annual worship ceremony as we have for Islam now (Brown, p. 28). He also talks about their trade and that they were not too big on this deal. They were not trading luxury items, but only the items that is grown n found in the Arabian environment at the time such as dates and leather (Brown, p. 28). He then talks about how to think that it was obvious that Islam would have emerged in the Arab world because of its prestigious location, culture, or civilization is an implausible as there was nothing in Arabia to predict this emergence (Brown, p. 29). The Author then turns toward the facts that would make the Arabia the perfect place for the development of Islam