The Attitude of the pre-Islamic Arabs Toward Crafts and Artisans

Abstract

Did Jahili Arabs really despised Crafts and Craftsmen?

From the late Roman period the Saracens (the people of Arabia) were described by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (380 CE.) as wandering over extensive lands, having no home and no fixed abode. In such lifestyle, they abstained of works and handicrafts that obligate their executors to be settled.  

    Such being the case, it would be important to ascertain the real attitude of the Arabs towards arts and crafts and, more importantly, to understand its original compelling reasons. One possible way to do this is to make a distinction between the views of the townsfolk and those of the Bedouin in Arabia. It is also necessary to study this issue within the historical and cultural milieu of the ancient Near East.  Special emphasis should also be given to the links of the pre-Islamic Arabs with neighboring cultures such as those of the Mesopotamians, the Palestinian and Babylonian Jews and the Hellenists. The whole issue is of special importance in the study of the economic, social and artistic history of Islam. Here, one should ask questions like: Was there any continuation of the pre-Islamic attitudes within the Islamic milieu? If the answer is yes, what impacts did these attitudes have on Islamic society, economy and art?