Trade and the Religious Dimension in Pre-Islamic Arab Society: A Historical Review in the Light of Selected Models
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17605/cajssh.v6i4.1231Keywords:
Pre-Islamic Arabs, Meccan trade, religion and rituals, seasonal marketsAbstract
This article seeks to provide a critical historical review of studies that have addressed the nature of the relationship between trade and the religious dimension in pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula society. The article adopts an analytical review approach by categorising previous studies into three main themes: Studies that focused on commercial activity, caravan routes and markets, studies that dealt with the religious structure and its doctrinal and ritual manifestations, and studies that explored the dialectic of interaction between trade and religion. Through this article, the researcher reached the conclusion that most of the classical sources and modern studies that dealt with research in this field agreed unequivocally that Mecca was a pivotal center where trade and religious rituals overlapped. The article also concludes that understanding the interaction between trade and religion requires the use of multiple approaches (economic history, sociology of religion, and anthropology), which opens up new horizons for researchers.
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