The Concept of Death among the Arabs before Islam in Al-Mufassal by Jawad Ali

Abstract

Death among the Arabs before Islam was associated with certain beliefs and customs, some of which were prohibited by Islam. The Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah took a clear stance regarding them. Despite this, the Arabs before Islam respected death and the dead. This study relied on the concept of death in the book Al-Mufassal by Dr. Jawad Ali, who elaborated on this subject following a historical methodology supported by primary sources and Qur’anic verses. He usually documented the information with poetic verses, since poetry was considered both a tool and a source of historical knowledge. Through it, social, political, economic, and religious conditions were reflected. The Arabs believed in the inevitability of death and that it was a destiny from which there was no escape.