Jahiliyyah Definition Jahiliyyah literally means ignorance. Technically, It means absence of religious guidance as a result of which corruption dominate the life of a people. How ever in the context of Islamic history it refers to the period before Islam (know as the period of ignorance). It is the period immediately preceding the down of Islam, when Arabs lost contact with Devine revolution and engaged in immorality, indiscipline and anarchy. Tribal grouping of the Arabs During the jahiliyyah period, Arabs could be Divided into two groups (1) the dwellers of towns and cities who engaged in trade and cultivation. (2) the nomad Arabs who wandered from one place to another in the Arabian desert in search of pasture and water for their animals such as horses, Camels and sheep Characteristics of jahiliyyah Arabs way of life   The tribal life of the jahiliyyah Arabs was characterised by the prevailing conditions in the Arabian peninsula before the Advent of Islam. Two main ways