Commercial operations

The Quraysh of Makkah used to fit out two commercial Caravans, one to Syria during the summer and the other to Yemen during the winter season. The four months of Hajj, that is, Rajab, Dhul-Q'ada, Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram, were deemed sacred when it was not lawful to engage in hostilities. During these months the precincts of the Holy Temple and the open place besides it were utilized as a trade centre to which people from distant places came for transacting business. All the necessaries required by the Arabs were easily available in this market of Makkah. The stores for the sale of various commodities, located in different lanes and byways, mentioned by the historians, tend to show the economic and cultural growth of Makkah. The vendors of attars had their stalls in a separate bylane and so were the shops of fruit-sellers, barbers, grocers, fresh dates and other wares and trades localized in different alleys. A number of these markets were spacious enough, as, for example, the market set apart for food-grains was well-stocked with wheat, ghee (clarified butter), honey and similar other commodities. All these articles were brought by trading caravans. To cite an instance, wheat was brought to Makkah from Yamama. Similarly, cloth and shoe stores had separate quarters allocated to them in the market.

Makkah had also a few meeting places where carefree young men used to come together for diversion and pastime. Those who were prosperous and accustomed to live high, spent the winter in Makkah and the summer in Ta'if. There were even some smart young men known for their costly and trim dresses costing several hundred dirhams.

Makkah was the centre of a lucrative trade transacting business on a large scale. Its merchants convoyed caravans to different countries in Asia and Africa and imported almost everything of necessity and costly wares marketable in Arabia. They usually brought resin, ivory, gold and ebony from Africa; hide, incense, frankincense, spices, sandal-wood and saffron from Yemen; different oils and food-grains, amour, silk and wines from Egypt and Syria; cloth from Iraq: and gold, tin, precious stones and ivory from India. The wealYour merchants of Makkah sometimes presented the products of their city, of which the most valued were leather products, to the kings and nobles of other countries. When the Quraysh sent 'Abdullah b. Abu Rabl'a and 'Amr b. al-'As to Abyssinia to bring back the Muslim fugitives, they sent with them leather goods of Makkah as gifts to Negus and his generals.

Women also took part in commercial undertakings and fitted out their own caravans bound for Syria and other countries. Khadija bint Khuwaylid and Hanzaliya, mother of Abu Jahl, were two merchant women of dignity and wealth. The following verse of the Qur'an attests the freedom of women to ply a trade.

"Unto men a fortune from that which they have earned, and unto women a fortune from that which they have earned." [Qur'aan 4:32]

Like other advanced nations of the then world, the commercially minded citizens of Makkah had based their economy on commerce for which they sent out caravans in different directions, organized stock markets and created favorable conditions in the home market for the visiting tourists and traders. This helped to increase fame and dignity of Makkah as a religious centre and contributed in no mean measure to the prosperity of the city. Everything required by the people of Makkah, whether a necessity or a luxury, reached their hands because of the city's commercial importance. This fact finds a reference in these verses of the Qur'aan:

"So let them worship the Lord of this House, Who hath fed them against hunger, And hath made them safe from fear" [Qur'aan 106:3-5]

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