First Question

Before the arrival of the Holy Prophet, Arabia was wealthy, yet Godless. They constantly drank alcohol
of many types, gambled, and performed usury via interest that was often at such a high rate that people
were left completely destitute by it. It was as bad as the most corrupt places on Earth today, if not
worse. Women were granted no rights whatsoever, as they essentially suffered automatic and
permanent slavery from birth. They were frequently killed at birth by being buried alive, and those who
were not lived their entire life in pure misery, being used and discarded constantly by men.

The Arabs also kept actual slaves, who had no rights. Even in such a corrupt nation as Rome, masters
could not kill their slaves arbitrarily, but Arabs could and did. They suffered the worst tortures for any
transgression, and were never allowed to marry and so were forever without love.

They did not even have government or law. They were loyal only to their tribe. Tribes fought and killed
each other for the slightest disagreement, and their leaders were selected not by wisdom, but by the
power and wealth they already possessed, as well as their ancestry.

Yet the Arabs were not entirely without virtue. They were superior poets, yet spoke clearly, enjoyed
great intelligence, possessed excellent horsemanship, were loyal to those who they did pledge
themselves to, and independent of outside ideas or influence. Thus, they were the ideal people to
receive Allah’s final revelation, for they were also in the perfect geographical location to spread it as far
as possible, as the Caliphs’ conquests and the extremely large population of Muslims today show.

Second Question
After the arrival of the Holy Prophet, he was, like all of his predecessors, persecuted. The Quraish, the
leading tribe of Makkah, were angered by his message, for they made great amounts of money off
theirs false gods and the pilgrims who came to see them, in a sort of gross perversion of the practice of
Hajj. They killed or tortured many of his followers and many of his own family shunned him because
they either believed in the false gods of the Arabs or simply feared the Quraish. They also perpetrated
less severe forms of persecution, doing their best to make the Holy Prophet an outcast and a pariah, and
spreading rumors that he was involved in black magic. None of this deterred him. Instead, he left
Arabia and took the Muslims to Abyssinia, whose king received them kindly and sheltered them. But
the Quraish were not content with their exile, and tried to convince the king of Abyssinia to hand the
Muslims over to them. After hearing part of the Quran recited, however, the king refused. So the
Quraish instead decided to persecute the family members of the Prophet who did not emigrate,
forbidding the sale of food to them until the Prophet was killed. However, they endured, and all of this
made even the Arabs wonder whether following the Quraish was right, if they were willing to commit
such brutality.
 Final Question
An extremely worrisome trend may be noticed: Arabia today is becoming closer to the state it was then.
Though they have managed to avoid those particular offences, they still grow closer in spirit, if not
action, to the ancient, pagan Arabs: Huge, expensive hotels are built right next to the Holy Kaaba, kings
of countries like Dubai live in extravagance that would not be out of place when indulged in by an
ancient Arab tribe leader, and people treat Hajj as a free “refresh” of their sins in the eyes of Allah, not
at all heeding the intention of it. Thankfully, Arabia today also produces some of the greatest Muslim
scholars in the world, but if nobody will listen to them, it will not help. Thus, just as the first Muslims
went against their society to do the right thing, so their descendants (both literal and spiritual) in
modern Makkah must follow Islam without searching for loopholes or otherwise attempting to
undermine the word of Allah, for it is only effective when one believes in it and begins to think in an
Islamic manner, rather than just act the part.