The word · History
الجَاهِلِيَّة
Jahiliyyah
The age of ignorance in Arabia before Islam, and any conduct that still belongs to it.
Also written · Jahiliya · Jahilia · Jaahiliyyah · Jahiliyya · Jahalat · Age of Ignorance · Days of Ignorance · Cahiliye · Jahiliyah · Pre-Islamic Arabia · Jahiliyyat
The meaning
What Jahiliyyah means in Islam
The root is jahl, which means recklessness and hot headed ignorance rather than illiteracy. The Arabs of that age had poetry, memory, hospitality and law, so the word is a verdict on their worship and their violence, not on their intelligence. It also names a condition rather than only a period: the Prophet told Abu Dharr, after he insulted a man over his mother, that he was a man with jahiliyyah still in him.
Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Am al-FilThe year an army with an elephant marched on the Ka'bah and was destroyed, around 570.عَامُ الفِيل
- MakkahThe valley city holding the Ka'bah, where the Prophet was born and revelation began.مَكَّة
- SirahThe life story of the Prophet Muhammad, told in order, from birth to death.السِّيرَة
- ShirkGiving to something other than Allah what belongs to Allah alone, above all worship.الشِّرْك
More from History
- Abu BakrThe Prophet's closest friend, his companion in the cave, and the first caliph.أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيق
- Battle of Mu'tahThe first clash with Byzantine forces, in year eight, where three appointed commanders fell in turn.مُؤْتَة
- Hijr Isma'ilThe low semicircular wall beside the Ka'bah, enclosing ground that is part of the original house.حِجْرُ إِسْمَاعِيل
- Imam ash-Shafi'iThe imam who wrote the first book on how law is derived, bridging Madinah and Iraq.مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ الشَّافِعِيّ
- KhilafahSuccession to the Prophet in governing the community, not in prophethood, which ended with him.الخِلَافَة
- Safa and MarwahTwo small hills in Makkah, now enclosed in a corridor, walked between during hajj and umrah.الصَّفَا وَالمَرْوَة