Qur’anic Attitudes to Pre-Islamic Society and Customs

 “We were a people of Jahiliyyah, worshipping idols, eating the flesh of dead animals, committing abominations, neglecting our relatives, doing evil to our neighbours and the strong among us would oppress the weak…”1 This was the ambassadorial address of Ja’far Ibn Abi Talib to the Negus of Abyssinia, describing the days of ignorance before Islam: the Jahiliyyah.2 In regards to the aforementioned quote, one would probably claim that the Qur'an adopted a culture of rejection to pre-Islamic customs. However, on close investigation of the topic in a wider sense, it becomes apparent in fact that the Quran’s attitude to society…