By Mawlānā Dr. Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Chishtī (al-Nuʿmānī)

Supervisor, Department of Specialization in the Science of Ḥadīth, Jāmiʿat al-ʿUlūm al-Islāmiyyah, Banūrī Town, Karachi

[In 2005, my mentor, Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm Chishtī Ṣāḥib, gave me an English translation of this article for editing. An unnamed friend had prepared the translation. I do not recall whether he provided any background of the article or its translator, but I do remember that I did not have the original Urdu for comparison.

The translation he provided required substantial revision. After several rounds of editing, it assumed a substantially different form. In fact, it would be fair to call it an entirely new adaptation of the material in English. I therefore asked Ḥaḍrat for the original article or any additional drafts that might assist in comparing my edits to the original and determining how truly it represented his language. However, before I could present my revised version or receive additional material to assist the editing work, I returned to the United States and did not have the opportunity to share it with him. The draft then remained on my hard drive for years. Without the Urdu original, I hesitated to revise it further.

After Ḥaḍrat’s passing, I searched through his many articles that were uploaded online in the hope of finding the original Urdu text, but without success. Now, after many years, I feel compelled to share what I have saved up to this point, in fear that it be lost and the task left unfinished. I therefore offer this version, which I recently reviewed and edited for language once more. If anyone is able to locate the original Urdu article, I would be most grateful, as it can help me feel more comfortable with publishing a final draft. Readers should bear in mind that this remains, in some respects, an unfinished draft. Any misrepresentation of Ḥaḍrat’s research is my own responsibility.]

1 Foundations of Cultural Heritage 

Across societies and historical periods, human communities have exhibited a persistent and inherent concern for the preservation of three interrelated pillars of cultural continuity: territory, language, and religion. The pre-Islamic Arabs, commonly designated as the Arabs of the Days of Ignorance (Jāhiliyyah), are a salient illustration of this dynamic. Although literacy was not widespread among them and written culture did not assume a central role in their intellectual life, they nonetheless displayed a high regard for safeguarding these foundational elements of their heritage. Cultural preservation, therefore, did not depend upon the diffusion of writing. Instead, it was secured through alternative, highly developed mechanisms.

Foremost among these mechanisms was the cultivation of prodigious mnemonic capacity. The Arabs of the Jāhiliyyah relied primarily upon the disciplined faculties of memory and oral transmission rather than upon written documentation. Their chests were metaphorically described as “repositories of knowledge” (khazāʾin al-ʿilm) due to the degree to which learning was internalized and embodied. The preservation and dissemination of this knowledge took place through structured social practices, including exclusive literary gatherings and widely attended annual public fairs. These assemblies served as the principal conduits of cultural transmission. They enabled the circulation of poetry, genealogy, legal custom, and collective memory from individual to individual through recurrent and institutionalized forms of oral exchange.

2 Private Academic Gatherings of the Jāhiliyyah Period

Among the customary practices of the Arabs in the Jāhiliyyah period was the regular convening of both private and public assemblies intended to preserve and transmit their intellectual and literary inheritance. Tribal leaders, in particular, were known to gather at dusk in the outer precincts or courtyards of their dwellings, where they would receive companions and engage in discussion on a range of matters. 

This mode of conserving learning finds eloquent expression in the poetry of Zuhayr b. Abī Salmā (d. 609 CE). In his praise of Hārim b. Sinān, renowned for his patronage of poets and men of discernment, Zuhayr states: 

           وَفِيهِمْ مَقَامَاتٌ حِسَانٌ وُجُوهُهُمْ وَأَنْدِيَةٌ يَنْتَابُهَا الْقَوْلُ وَالْفِعْلُ               

Among them are assemblies, fair of countenance,

And forums frequented by noble speech and deed.

وَإِنْ جِئْتَهُمْ أَلْفَيْتَ حَوْلَ بُيُوتِهِمْ مَجَالِسَ يُشْفِي بِأَحْلَامِهَا الْجَهْلُ

If you were to attend them, you would find around their homes

Gatherings whose discernment heals ignorance.

It is instructive to examine several of these assemblies more closely.

1. Among the Arabs, some convened such meetings on a daily basis, while others did so weekly. These gatherings played a formative role in cultivating literary competence and sustaining the transmission of inherited knowledge. It was not uncommon for affluent members of society to host such assemblies, offering hospitality in the form of food while simultaneously fostering intellectual exchange. A notable example is that of Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Quḥāfah ʿUthmān al-Taymī al-Qurashī (634-573 CE), may Allah be pleased with them. According to a report attributed to ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them:

كانت قريش تألف منزل أبي بكر رضي الله عنه لخصلتين: للعلم و الطعام، فلما أسلم، أسلم عامة من كان يجالسه.

“The Quraysh frequented the house of Abū Bakr for two reasons: knowledge and food. When he embraced Islam, most of those who sat in his company embraced Islam as well.”

2. Ghaylān b. Salamah al-Thaqafī (d. 664 CE), was known as a man of letters, a poet, and an individual of intellectual refinement. He is reported to have hosted comparable literary gatherings on a weekly basis. In due course, he too embraced Islam.

3. With the advent of Islam, however, a new and transformative mode of recitation emerged. The Qurʾān began to be proclaimed publicly among the Arabs, morning and evening. Its linguistic power, rhetorical force, and aesthetic excellence captivated its listeners, while its ethical and theological teachings initiated revolutionary changes in individual and collective life.

This development elicited deliberate countermeasures from certain leaders of Quraysh. Among them was al-Naḍr b. al-Ḥārith al-Qurashī (d. 642 CE), a chieftain reputed for his familiarity with multiple languages. Perceiving the Qurʾānic proclamation as a threat to established norms and to what might be termed the cultural self-understanding of his community, he organized rival gatherings in which he narrated tales of the kings of Persia and al-Ḥīrah, including Rustam and Isfandiyār. He is also reported to have attended other assemblies and recounted these narratives there.

The Qurʾān characterizes such diversions as lahw al-ḥadīth, or discourse that distracts from the remembrance of God. In Sūrat Luqmān 31:6, it states:

﴿ وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ ﴾

“And among humankind are those who purchase idle discourse, without knowledge, in order to lead others astray from the path of Allah and to take it in mockery; for such there awaits a humiliating punishment.”

4. As noted above, it was customary among the Arabs of the Jāhiliyyah to assemble at the residences of their notables, often convening on raised platforms situated outside their homes. The Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported on one occasion to have attended such a gathering in order to present the message of Islam to its participants. He was accompanied by two of his closest Companions, Abū Bakr and ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with them both. During the exchange, the leading figure of the assembly posed to Abū Bakr a question concerning his tribal lineage. Abū Bakr’s reply was so precise and incisive that the questioner was left confounded. The episode gave rise to a proverbial expression, “Indeed, misfortune is bound to one’s speech” (inna al-balāʾ muwakkal bi-l-manṭiq).

In the early Madinan period, the Qurayshī Muhājirūn (Emigrants) continued the practice of convening such assemblies in Madinah. These gatherings came to be known as majālis al-qalādah, literally “assemblies of the necklace” (an expression connoting a stringing together of precious elements, here understood as jewels of knowledge).

5. Among those associated with these circles was ʿUbayd Allāh b. ʿAdī b. al-Khiyār al-Qurashī, who hosted a majlis al-qalādah in his home, located adjacent to the residence of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him. He died during the caliphate of al-Walīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik. 

Such gatherings attracted committed seekers of knowledge. Muʿāwiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, himself is reported to have attended them regularly. If ever prevented from doing so, he would inquire about their proceedings, asking, “What was discussed in the majlis al-qalādah?”

ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, likewise held sessions near the so-called Pillar of Repentance (ustuwānat al-tawbah) in the Prophet’s Masjid in Madinah. There, Qurayshī Muhājirūn would assemble and engage in learned discussion. This circle, too, came to be designated a majlis al-qalādah. Over time, however, more formalized scholarly circles and institutional settings for instruction emerged, gradually superseding these earlier assemblies and diminishing their central role.         

6. In the Jāhiliyyah period, public assemblies were held throughout the year at designated times and locations, structured according to a recognized calendrical cycle. Among the most prominent of these was the market (sūq) of Dūmat al-Jandal, situated in northern Najd, which convened in the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. In Rabīʿ al-Ākhir, a fair was held in Baḥrayn at Hijr. The market of ʿUmān took place in Jumādā al-Ūlā, followed in Jumādā al-Ākhirah by the market of Mushaqqar in Ḥaḍramawt. The market of Shiḥr, also in Ḥaḍramawt, was held in Rajab. In Shaʿbān, the market of Tihāmah, located between ʿUmān and ʿAdan, drew considerable attendance. During Ramaḍān, the market of ʿAdan animated southern Yemen, while in Shawwāl the markets of Ṣanʿāʾ and Ḥaḍramawt likewise attracted large gatherings and commercial activity.

These seasonal market fairs functioned not merely as commercial centers but as expansive public forums. They afforded opportunities for the exchange of goods, the arbitration of disputes, the recitation of poetry, and the articulation of political and tribal positions. Participation was not formally restricted by religion, tribal affiliation, lineage, or social rank. As a result, Jews and Christians also frequented these gatherings, particularly the largest and most celebrated among them, collectively referred to in later sources as the Aswāq al-ʿArab or Mawāsim al-ʿArab.

7. Of these annual markets, the most renowned was the market of ʿUkāẓ, held in the month of Dhū al-Qaʿdah. It represented the principal annual convocation of the Arabs, drawing visitors from diverse regions of the peninsula. Beyond its commercial importance, it served as a preeminent venue for literary competition and intellectual display. Poets presented their compositions before large audiences, and reputations were forged in this arena of public evaluation.

The pre-Islamic poet Abū Dhuʾayb alludes to the scale and atmosphere of this gathering:

إذا بُنيَ القُبابُ على عُكاظ وقام البيّع و اجتمع الألوفُ

When the tents are erected at ʿUkāẓ,

And trade is set in motion and thousands assemble…

8. The annual literary competitions at ʿUkāẓ are reported to have commenced around 540 CE. Although the fair encompassed commercial and social dimensions, its most celebrated feature was the prominence accorded to poetic and literary performance. In comparison with other seasonal markets, ʿUkāẓ enjoyed a distinctive reputation as the principal arena of literary contestation.

For poets and tribal representatives alike, the ʿUkāẓ market provided a public platform for boasting, disputation, and the assertion of collective prestige. It is said that the very name ʿUkāẓ connotes disputation or mutual contest. Distinguished poets were accorded marked honor: tents were erected specifically for them, which signaled both their status and the centrality of their craft to the proceedings. When al-Nābighah al-Dhubyānī Ziyād b. Muʿāwiyah (d. 604 CE), attended the fair, he is reported to have taken up residence in a red leather tent prepared for him.

Within this setting, poets recited their compositions before recognized masters of the art, whose critical judgments conferred prestige and shaped reputations. Their opinions were solicited, poems were compared and evaluated, and aspiring poets found in ʿUkāẓ an unparalleled opportunity to present their verses to attentive and discerning audiences.

In the Jāhiliyyah period, ʿUkāẓ effectively operated as a center of intellectual and cultural circulation and dissemination. Through its proceedings, poetic compositions spread rapidly across the peninsula, transmitted from tribe to tribe until they were widely known and recited. The following episode illustrates the perceived reach of its assemblies. When Umayyah b. Khalaf al-Jumaḥī disparaged Ḥassān b. Thābit, may Allah be pleased with him, later renowned as the poet of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, Ḥassān responded with a pointed challenge. He warned that his opponent’s conduct would be exposed and disgraced at ʿUkāẓ, declaring:

أَتَانِي عَنْ أُمَيَّةَ زُورُ قَوْلٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِالْغَيْبِ ذِي حِفَاظِ

News has reached me of false speech from Umayyah,

Yet its reality is no hidden matter to the discerning.

سَأَنْشُرْ إِنْ بَقِيتُ لَكُمْ كَلَامًا يُنْشَرُ فِي الْمَجَامِعِ مِنْ عُكَاظِ

If I remain alive, I shall proclaim words

That will be spread in the assemblies of ʿUkāẓ.

The celebrated pre-Islamic cavalier Ṭarīf b. Tamīm al-ʿAnbarī once expressed, in boastful verse, the renown he enjoyed at ʿUkāẓ:

أَوَكُلَّمَا وَرَدَتْ عُكَاظَ قَبِيلَةٌ بَعَثُوا إِلَى عَرِيفِهِمْ يَتَوَسَّمُ

Whenever a tribe arrives at ʿUkāẓ,

It dispatches its spokesman to observe and mark me.

فَتَوَسَّمُونِي أَنَّنِي أَنَا ذَلِكُمُ شَاكِي السِّلَاحِ فِي الْحَوَادِثِ تُعْلَمُ

They recognize me as that very man,

Fully armed, whose mettle is known in battle.

The Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is known to have visited the ʿUkāẓ market prior to the advent of revelation and heard there the celebrated sermon of Quss b. Sāʿidah, remembered in later tradition for its eloquence and rhetorical force. The address came to be regarded as a notable specimen of early Arabic oratory and continues to be cited in classical anthologies of Arabic literature.

It is likewise established in the sīrah literature that after the commencement of his prophetic mission, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, visited the seasonal markets of ʿUkāẓ,and Dhū al-Majāz, with the noble purpose of inviting the assembled tribes to Islam. 

The duration of the Arab’s attendance at the ʿUkāẓ, Majannah, and Dhū al-Majāz markets followed a customary sequence tied to the lunar calendar. With the sighting of the crescent of Dhū al-Qaʿdah, tribes would gather at ʿUkāẓ and remain there for approximately twenty days. They would then proceed to Majannah, where they stayed for ten days. Upon sighting the moon of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, they assembled at Dhū al-Majāz for eight days, after which they departed for ʿArafah on the Day of Tarwiyah, provisioned with sufficient water for two or three days’ travel.

These gatherings served multiple functions. In addition to trade and the procurement of necessary goods, participants settled outstanding debts, paid compensation where required, negotiated the release of captives, and convened literary assemblies.

The centrality of the ʿUkāẓ market in pre-Islamic intellectual life may be appreciated from the fact that the cumulative literary production of the preceding year was publicly presented there for evaluation and acclaim. Established poets recited their latest compositions before discerning audiences, while aspiring entrants into the literary sphere tested their abilities in the same arena. In this manner, cultural memory and poetic convention were transmitted to a new generation through a well-established and socially sanctioned process.

The impact of these fairs extended beyond their immediate setting. When the tribes proceeded to ʿArafah and Muzdalifah for the pilgrimage, then the largest periodic convocation of the Arabs, the verses and narratives heard at the markets often remained upon their tongues and were recited in those sacred precincts. The Qurʾān, however, sought to reorient this practice. It admonished believers to devote the days of pilgrimage not to tribal boasting or ancestral celebration, but to the remembrance and glorification of God. In Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:200, it declares:

﴿فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُمْ مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا﴾

So when you have completed your rites, remember God as you remember your forefathers, or with even greater remembrance.

In 746 CE, Kharijite (Khawārij) forces reportedly plundered the market with such severity that it ceased thereafter to function as the principal annual center of literary exchange. In subsequent periods, other urban venues, such as Mirbad in Baṣrah and Kināsah in Kūfah, assumed analogous roles within the evolving intellectual geography of the Islamic world.

Surely, all must come to an end, except the ultimate soveignty of the Lord, exalted and everlasting.

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