An Abrahamic ？ajj Tradition Accepted by the Qur？ān: Qalāid

The Abrahamic tradition that the Arabs value most was ？ajj. The ？ajj, which means to visit Ka？ba was the greatest means of getting closer to Allāh. The Ka？ba was the house of Allāh. And the visitors of the Ka？ba were Allāh’s guests. For this reason, the Arabs used to great respect to the visitors and they never used to attack a man in the ？arem (the area around the Ka？ba). The same respect included visitors’ travels to the Ka？ba. There were two Abrahamic traditions that ensured the safety of visitors and sacrifices: ？aram months and qalāid. ？aram months were Dhū l-Qa？dah, Dhū l-？ijjah, Mu？arram and Rajab. And the Arabs did not used to attack anyone in those months. For visits outside the ？aram months, the visitors used to use the qalāid as a primitive visa. Qalāid is the plural of the word qilāda, meaning necklace. The Arab, who saw the qilādas, used to understand that the person who wore the qilāda wanted to go to the Ka？ba or had returned home from the Ka？ba. Qilādas used to be knitted from wool ropes and they used to be hung on animals’ neck or humps. Sometimes horseshoes used to hang on these qilādas. On the way back from Ka？ba, the barks of the ？arem trees used to hang on the qilādas instead of the horseshoes. The Qur？ān orders Muslims not to disrespect the qilādas. This order also reveals that the Qur？ān recognizes the qilāda tradition. Allāh’s Apostle (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and ？a？āba are also known to continue this tradition. Summary: ？ajj was the most important worship of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic period. Human and commodity mobility in the ？ajj had an important place in the life of the Meccans who lived in land unfit for agriculture. This fact is expressed as follows in Abraham’s (Ibrāhīm al-Khalīl) prayer: “Our Lord! Lo! I have settled some of my posterity in an uncultivable valley near unto Thy holy House, our Lord! That they may establish proper worship; so incline some hearts of men that they may yearn toward them, and provide Thou them with fruits in order that they may be thankful.” (Ibrahim 14:37) The Arabs who lived in various parts of the Arabian Peninsula used to come to Mecca during the ？ajj season and present their sacrifices. They also used to buy their needs from nearby markets. These markets were also places where traders had the opportunity to sell their products. Because the Arabian Peninsula is unfavorable in terms of climate and soil, many Arab tribes used to raid and attack other tribes to sustain their existence. It is even known that some Arabs proud of their raids. The attacks only used to stop in the ？aram