In the time of al-Jāhiliyyah the tribe of Quraish was the most respected and influential tribe of the Arabian Peninsula. They held custody of the Kaʿbah, guarded Mecca and formed the economic and political heart of Arabia.¹
Their name was bound up with power, eloquence, leadership and commercial skill, qualities that made them the natural elite of Arabia.
Origin and position in Arabia
Quraish descended from Fihr ibn Mālik ibn al-Naḍr, from the line of Adnan, and thus belonged to the Arab al-Mustaʿribah, the Arabized descendants of Ismaʿil ibn Ibrāhīm عليهما السلام.²
They settled in Mecca after the Khuzaʿah had governed the city for centuries, and under the leadership of Quṣayy ibn Kilāb they once again took up the custody of the Kaʿbah.³
From that moment Quraish grew into the guardians of the Kaʿbah, an office that conferred both religious prestige and political influence.
Their power and honour among the Arabs
The standing of Quraish among the Arab tribes was unrivalled, and their prestige sprang from three factors:
- Their custody of the Kaʿbah, the oldest sanctuary on earth,
- Their neutrality and leadership, on account of which they were regarded as arbiters in disputes,
- Their economic power through trade and diplomacy.⁴
No tribe in Arabia could match the reputation of Quraish in trade, language, genealogy and religious authority alike.
Ibn Kathīr describes them thus:
كان لقريش في العرب السيادة والشرف والمهابة لما لهم من ولاية البيت الحرام.
“Quraish had among the Arabs authority, honour and awe on account of their custody over the Sacred House (the Kaʿbah).”⁵
Their authority was not merely symbolic, for the tribes of Arabia acknowledged their role as keepers of the sacred places, and many maintained alliances or treaties (hilf) with Quraish in order to retain access to Mecca.
The Ilaf of Quraish - their commercial alliances
One of the most important sources of the power of Quraish was their ʾĪlāf (إيلاف), a network of trade treaties and safe passages that they held with the surrounding empires.
The Qur’an refers to this in Surat Quraish (106:1–4):
لِإِيلَافِ قُرَيْشٍ – إِيلَافِهِمْ رِحْلَةَ الشِّتَاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ
“For the accustomed security of the Quraysh - their accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer -” (Quraish 106:1–2).⁶
These rihlat ash-shitaa was-sayf were their winter and summer caravans:
- in the winter they journeyed to Yemen and Abyssinia,
- in the summer to as-Shām (Syria / Palestine).⁷
Their ilaf with the surrounding powers, Byzantium, Abyssinia and the Himyarites, guaranteed their safety along the trade routes and their exemption from tolls.⁸
Al-Baladhuri records that Quraish concluded treaties with the Arab tribes who lived along their trade routes, so that their caravans could travel unhindered, and in return these tribes received merchandise, food and protection.⁹
Their economic network extended from Hadramawt to Gaza, from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. The Quraish were not only traders, but also diplomats and cultural intermediaries between East and West.
Their economic and diplomatic influence
Through their trading circuits the Quraish knew the goods, languages and customs of the great empires of their time:
- from Byzantium they received fabrics, glass and wine;
- from Yemen frankincense, spices and gold;
- from Abyssinia ivory and leather;
- from Persia silk and metals.¹⁰
They traded these goods at ʿUkāẓ, Majannah and Dhu’l-Majāz, the great markets of Arabia where poetry, politics and adjudication likewise came together.¹¹
Their command of trade made Mecca the economic centre of Arabia, and through their neutrality all tribes could trade there freely, a unique position in an age of tribal rivalry.
The Quraish were thereby not merely tribal chiefs, but architects of stability. The Qur’an refers to this divine favour:
فَلْيَعْبُدُوا رَبَّ هَذَا الْبَيْتِ – الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍ
“Let them worship the Lord of this House, who has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe, [saving them] from fear.” (Quraish 106:3–4).¹²
Why Quraish was honoured
The honour of Quraish among the Arabs thus had both material and moral foundations:
- they were descendants of Ismaʿil عليه السلام,
- they held custody of the Kaʿbah,
- they safeguarded peace and trade in Mecca,
- and they were known for their hospitality and generosity toward the pilgrims.¹³
Their leaders, such as Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf, established charitable funds for travellers and saw to it that water and food were provided for the pilgrims, a custom that was later sanctified by Islam.¹⁴
Symbolic significance
In Islamic historiography Quraish symbolizes the summit of Arab power before the revelation. Their honour, wealth and organization formed the historical preparation for the coming of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who arose from their midst.
Their ilaf and trade routes connected the Arab world with the rest of civilization, and their command of Mecca made it possible for the message of tawḥīd to spread out from the central sanctuary of Arabia.
¹ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, vol. 1, p. 91.
² Al-Balādhurī, Ansāb al-Ashrāf, vol. 1, p. 72.
³ Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 244.
⁴ Al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, vol. 2, p. 163.
⁵ Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 245.
⁶ Qur’an 106:1–2.
⁷ Ibn Hishām, vol. 1, p. 92; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, vol. 1, p. 114.
⁸ Al-Balādhurī, Futūḥ al-Buldān, chapter “Makkah wa ʾĪlāf Quraish”.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Al-Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh, vol. 1, p. 176.
¹¹ Ibn Qutaybah, al-Shiʿr wa al-Shuʿarāʾ, p. 37.
¹² Qur’an 106:3–4.
¹³ Ibn Hishām, vol. 1, p. 94.
¹⁴ Al-Azraqi, Akhbār Makkah, vol. 1, p. 126.