Jahiliyyah or jahalia (Arabic: جاهلية) is an Islamic concept of "ignorance of divine guidance" or "the state of ignorance of the guidance from God"^[1] referring to the condition Arabs found themselves in pre-Islamic Arabian society prior to the revelation of the Qur'an. By extension it means the state of anyone lacking the benefit of Islam and the Qur'an. Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Pre-Islamic Arabia is studied by Islamic scholars because it is the context in which Islam, as practiced today, was formed. ...

The term is used several places in the Qur'an, for example:

Is it a judgment of the time of (pagan) ignorance [jahiliyya] that they are seeking ? Who is better than Allah for judgment to a people who have certainty (in their belief) ? (5:50)

and also 3:154, 33:33, 48:26

Medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiya was probably the first to use the term to describe backsliding in contemporary Muslim society (in other words to describe groups of people who thought they did have the benefit of God's guidance from the Qur'an). In the 20th century, Indian Islamist writer Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi wrote of it^[2]. Sayyid Qutb popularized the term in his influential work Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones), with the shocking assertion that "the Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries."^[3] Taqi Ad-din Abu Al-abbas Ahmad Ibn abd As-salam Ibn abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Taymiya (Arabic: أبو عباس تقي الدين أحمد بن عبد السلام بن عبد الله ابن تيمية الحراني) (January 22, 1263 - 1328), was an Islamic scholar born in Harran, located in what is now Turkey, close to the Syrian border. ... It has been suggested that Introduction of Islam (book) be merged into this article or section. ... Sayyid Qutb Sayyid Qutb (IPA pronunciation: ) (Arabic: ‎; 9 October 1906[1] – 29 August 1966) was an Egyptian intellectual author, and Islamist associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. ... Maalim fi-l-Tariq or Milestones (Arabic: معالم في الطريق), first published in 1964, is a book by Egyptian Islamist author Sayyid Qutb in which he lays out a plan and makes a call to action to re-create the Muslim world on strictly Quranic grounds, casting off what Qutb calls...

When a person embraced Islam during the time of the Prophet—peace be on him—he would immediately cut himself off from Jahiliyyah. [The state of ignorance of the guidance from God.] When he stepped into the circle of Islam, he would start a new life, separating himself completely from his past life under ignorance of the Divine Law. He would look upon the deeds during his life of ignorance with mistrust and fear, with a feeling that these were impure and could not be tolerated in Islam! With this feeling, he would turn toward Islam for new guidance; and if at any time temptations overpowered him, or the old habits attracted him, or if he became lax in carrying out the injunctions of Islam, he would become restless with a sense of guilt and would feel the need to purify himself of what had happened, and would turn to the Qur'an to mold himself according to its guidance.

—Sayyid Qutb^{[1] [4]}

Sayyid Qutb Sayyid Qutb (IPA pronunciation: ) (Arabic: ‎; 9 October 1906[1] – 29 August 1966) was an Egyptian intellectual author, and Islamist associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. ...

Jahiliyya in Muslim Societies

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!) Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. This article has been tagged since June 2007. Image File history File links Information. ...

Use of the term for modern Muslim society is usually associated with Qutb's other radical ideas (or Qutbism) -- namely that reappearance of Jahiliyya is a result of the lack of Sharia law, without which Islam cannot exist; that true Islam is a complete system with no room for any element of Jahiliyya; that all aspects of Jahiliyya ("manners, ideas and concepts, rules and regulations, values and criteria") are "evil and corrupt;" that Western and Jewish conspiracies are constantly at work to destroy Islam, etc. Qutbism (also Kotebism, Qutbiyya, or Qutbiyyah) is the radical strain of Islamic ideology and activism, based on the thought and writings of Sayyid Qutb, a celebrated Islamist and former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was executed in 1966. ... Sharia (Arabic: transliteration: ) is the body of Islamic law. ...

Main article: Qutbism

Qutbism (also Kotebism, Qutbiyya, or Qutbiyyah) is the radical strain of Islamic ideology and activism, based on the thought and writings of Sayyid Qutb, a celebrated Islamist and former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was executed in 1966. ...

Jahiliyya in Western Societies

Jahiliyyah has come to have a particular function in some radical Islamic circles, analogous to the idea of false consciousness in secular radical movements.^[5] The Muslim masses are unaware that they are not true Muslims without overthrow of the secular state and complete and strict sharia law. Following Sayyid Qutb, Jahiliyyah has come to be seen as an active force, emanating in particular from the permissive society of the USA, and seducing Muslims away from the Divine Law. Participation in modern liberal capitalist social and political institutions is taken to be a symptom of the infection.^[6] False consciousness is the Engelsist hypothesis that material and institutional processes in capitalist society mislead the proletariat — and perhaps the other classes — over the nature of capitalism. ... Sayyid Qutb Sayyid Qutb (IPA pronunciation: ) (Arabic: ‎; 9 October 1906[1] – 29 August 1966) was an Egyptian intellectual author, and Islamist associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. ...

The threat this 'disease' poses to the survival of Islam might justify a more militant attitude towards Western influence in Islam's heartlands, and can be seen as permitting 'real' Muslims to attack Muslims who have succumbed to Jahiliyyah — who are therefore no longer true Muslims.

According to the website http://jahalia.com, the term describes what is seen as "the fundamental sickness of western culture - that being a sickness of 'ignorant barbarism'".

"The Jahalia is everywhere
In every town of every country
Look outside and it is there
Step into a school and it surrounds you
But even in a time of subliminal deceit
It can be fought and it will be beat

Wake up and open your eyes
Curse the day you were so ignorant"[2] Barbarism may refer to: Barbarism (derived from barbarian), the condition to which a society or civilization may be reduced after a societal collapse, relative to an earlier period of cultural or technological advancement; the term may also be used pejoratively to describe another society or civilization which is deemed inferior...

A Problematic Term

Many scholars consider 'Jahiliyya' a problematic term. Although many believe it to be the period of "ignorance" before Islam, it may actually refer to the arrogance and power-hungry nature of the time. The problem with the term essentially resides in the emphasis on the dichotomy of good and bad by using "ignorance" as its primary meaning.

See also

• Jaahil
• Arabic poetry
• The Power of Nightmares, the first part of which also talks about an extremist interpretation of Jahiliyyah
• Affluena - according to The Power of Nightmares, jahiliyyah is the muslim view on the painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more, also known as Affluenza.

JAAHIL (sing. ... Arabic poetry is poetry composed and written down in the Arabic language either by Arab people or non-Arabs. ... The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. ... The Power of Nightmares is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. ...

Notes and references

General references

• ^  Milestones
• Dr. Hina Azam. Terrorism: A Return to Jahiliyya. alt.muslim. Retrieved on 2005-12-01.
• Kepel, Gilles (1985). The Prophet and Pharaoh: Muslim Extremism in Egypt. Al Saqi. ISBN 0-86356-118-7. 
• Qutb, Sayyid (1981). Milestones. The Mother Mosque Foundation. 
• Sivan, Emmanuel (1985). Radical Islam : Medieval Theology and Modern Politics. Yale University Press. 

Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Specific notes and references