Tarikh al-Fikr al-Dini al-Jahili
- Author died
- 1427 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Fikr al-Arabi
Tarikh al-Fikr al-Dini al-Jahili ("History of Pre-Islamic Religious Thought") is a study of pre-Islamic Arabian religion and intellectual history by the Egyptian scholar Muhammad Ibrahim al-Fayyumi (d. 1427 AH / 2006 CE). The work examines the origins of paganism, the wider Semitic civilizational milieu, foreign religious influences, and the religious landscape of Arabia prior to Islam.
Background and Composition
The book originally appeared across three editions under the title Fi al-Fikr al-Dini al-Jahili ("On Pre-Islamic Religious Thought"). For its fourth edition (published in 1415 AH / 1994–1995 CE by Dar al-Fikr al-Arabi in Cairo), al-Fayyumi substantially revised and expanded the text, altering the title to Tarikh al-Fikr al-Dini al-Jahili to reflect its broader historical scope. In expanding the work, he incorporated newly published classical texts, translated modern scholarly studies, and findings from archaeological excavations and ancient inscriptions across the Near East and the Arabian Peninsula.
Structure and Content
The work opens with an introductory section outlining its intellectual vision, followed by six major parts (abwab):
- The Semitic East as a Civilizational and Religious Unity (al-Sharq al-Sami wahda hadariyya wa-diniyya): Surveys the concept of the ancient Semitic East, archaeological findings across Central Asia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the Near East, various hypotheses on Semitic origins, and the civilizational and religious heritage of ancient peoples including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Canaanite-Phoenicians, Arameans, and Hebrews.
- The Arabs in Their Historical and Political Phases (al-Arab fi tawrihim al-tarikhi wa-l-siyasi): Addresses the designation "Arab," the meaning of Jahiliyya, traditional genealogies (extinct Arabs, Adnanites, and Qahtanites), and early political entities such as the Nabataean Kingdom, Palmyra, the Ghassanids, the Lakhmids of al-Hira, and Kinda.
- The Arabs and Inflows of Religious Thought (al-Arab wa-rawafid al-fikr al-dini): Discusses commercial and diplomatic channels, Hellenistic and Neoplatonic philosophy, intellectual centers such as Antioch, Nisibis, and Jundishapur, and the presence and doctrines of Judaism and Christianity in the Arabian Peninsula.
- Sabians and Zoroastrianism (al-Sabi'a wa-l-Majusiyya): Analyzes Sabian history, celestial worship, and categories of Sabians, followed by Zoroastrian doctrines of good and evil and their diffusion in pre-Islamic Arabia. It also examines Arab monotheistic figures (Hunafa) such as Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl and Waraqa ibn Nawfal.
- Mecca as a Cultural and Religious Capital (Makka 'asima thaqafiyya wa-diniyya): Covers the geographic and mercantile standing of Mecca, the building of the Kaaba and the monotheistic call of Ibrahim, the transition toward idolatry, major pre-Islamic deities (such as Hubal, al-Lat, and al-Uzza), and the religious authority and customs (tahammus) of Quraysh.
- Issues in Pre-Islamic Religious Thought (Min qadaya al-fikr al-dini al-jahili): Examines theories on the emergence of idolatry (including the views of al-Biruni and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi), concepts of the divine in pre-Islamic poetry, forms of polytheism (shirk), the fatalist materialists (Dahriyyun), attitudes toward destiny (al-qada wa-l-qadar), sacred animals, pilgrimage rituals, and folk beliefs concerning spirits, jinn, divination (kahana), and omens (tiyara).
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