Islam Rediscovered
17. Prophetic Vision
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only an ancestral heritage; it had no other
significance.
Due to the shortage of water in Makkah, agriculture
and horticulture did not exist there. Idolatry,
however, provided one of the greatest sources of
the townspeople’s livelihood. The Makkans had
placed in the Kabah idols numbering 360, belonging
to all the Arabian tribes. These Arabian tribes used
to visit Kabah to worship their idols where they also
offered devotional presents. Due to their visit in
great numbers the business in Makkah prospered.
By the visit of these devotees, Makkans benefited in
almost the same manner as countries benefit
nowadays from the visit of tourists on a large scale.
Furthermore, since the Makkans were the
custodians of this idolatrous system, they had come
to acquire the position of political leadership of the
whole of Arabia. Abandoning idolatry, therefore,
appeared to them to be synonymous with the
collapse of their politics and economics.
Whereas the situation in Madinah was quite
different. There was water and fertile soil. By means
of agriculture and horticulture, its inhabitants easily
