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Jahiliyyah or jahalia (Arabic: جاهلية) is an Islamic concept of "ignorance of divine guidance" or "the state of ignorance of the guidance from God"^[2] 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 not following Islam and the Qur'an.

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^[3]. 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."^[4]

When a person embraced Islam during the time of the Prophet, 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] [5]}

Jahiliyya in Muslim Societies

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.

Main article: Qutbism

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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.

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

• 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.

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. 

Specific notes and references