Scholarship and Learning in Pre-Islamic Arabia: Foundations of Islamic Knowledge

The landscape of scholarship and learning in pre-Islamic Arabia, and its foundational impact on subsequent Islamic institutions, can be traced through textual references and archaeological findings. These sources highlight not only the presence of a scholarly class and early educational practices, but also the dynamic interplay of diverse intellectual traditions that shaped Arabia’s intellectual milieu before the advent of Islam.

📖 Schools and Scholars: An Overview

While formalized “schools” in the modern sense may not have existed everywhere, the concept of structured learning was evolving. Intellectual pursuits were active among individuals and communities, laying important groundwork for Islamic civilization.

Early Scholars and Intellectual Traditions

• The terms ‘alim (scholar) and ustadh (professor) appear in sources.

• Scholars like Adnan Sadiq Arzi discovered ancient manuscripts such as Kitab al-Awamir al-‘Ala’iyyah in the Aya Sophia Library.

• Researchers like Ahmed Fakhry and M. Ryckmans contributed to uncovering inscriptions, emphasizing the role of epigraphy and archaeology.

• Southern Arabian scholars meticulously studied inscriptions, with contributions from Glaser, Fritz Hommel, Rhodokanakis, and Philby.

• The father of Abu al-Mundhir al-Kalbi was known for expertise in exegesis, history, and genealogy—evidence of specialization even before Islam.

• Orientalists such as Goldziher, Caussin de Perceval, and Albright employed linguistics and archaeology to reconstruct Arabia’s past.

✒️ Literacy and Pre-Islamic Educational Practices

• Literacy was more widespread than often assumed, even among nomadic Bedouins.

• Ancient scripts such as Musnad, Safaitic, Thamudic, and Lihyanite all traced back to a South Arabian mother script.

• Pre-Islamic poetry referred to “khat zabur” (script of Psalms), showing familiarity with written texts.

• Chroniclers recorded names of teachers in Jahiliyyah—such as Bishr ibn Abd al-Malik, Sufyan ibn Umayya, and Amr ibn Zurara (known as the scribe).

• The adoption of the word “madaris” (schools) from the Hebrew Midrash highlights Jewish influence on learning structures in Arabia.

🕌 Institutions of Learning and Their Evolution

• Libraries like the Aya Sophia Library preserved important manuscripts.

• Religious centers (temples, Kaaba, houses of gods) doubled as centers of rituals, knowledge-sharing, and scribal activity.

• Tadmur (Palmyra) became a religious and educational hub, attracting pilgrims and traders.

• Archaeological links between South Arabian mosques and pre-Islamic structures show continuity of communal and learning spaces.

• Crucially, when Muslims conquered Iraq, they found numerous schools already teaching children reading and writing, proving the existence of educational infrastructures.

📜 The Foundation for Islamic Learning

• Arabic writing, derived from Aramaic, spread via Christian communities and Arab merchants trading with Syria and Iraq.

• This script later became the medium for Quranic revelation, transforming into the core script of Islamic civilization.

• Muslim scholars later defined fiqh (jurisprudence) as “deriving legal rulings from detailed proofs,” representing intellectual rigor that built upon earlier traditions.

• Jewish and Christian scholarly traditions (e.g., Talmud, Midrash) influenced the emerging Islamic scholastic model of textual interpretation and legal reasoning.

🏺 Conclusion

Pre-Islamic Arabia was not a cultural vacuum—it was rich with diverse traditions of literacy, intellectual exchange, and proto-educational institutions.

• Specialized scholars and teachers were already present.

• Multiple scripts and inscriptions established a scribal tradition.

• Jewish and Christian scholarly practices influenced local models of learning.

👉 Together, these elements formed the intellectual soil upon which Islam planted its roots—allowing Islamic knowledge to flourish into a vast and enduring tradition of learning.

Source: المفصل فى تاريخ العرب قبل الإسلام