ABSTRACT
Mecca was traditionally a place of pilgrimage and also a place where disputes were settled and where a community that spent its time largely on the move could gather together with other families and clans and settle whatever differences they had, and make whatever deals they were interested in, albeit usually temporary, within an environment that fostered conditions appropriate to a truce. The Arabs were enthusiastic about their language but even this proved to be more a source of conflict than harmony, since they met at Mecca to compete poetically. The local worship at Mecca was of idols, and there were also significant Jewish and Christian tribes and communities there, and doubtless other representative religions also. The Quraysh was the tribe in control of Mecca, its rites and rules, and so acquired a strong influence, insofar as any group had influence at all over the region as a whole. The historical role of Mecca is a con-
troversial topic. For a long time it was accepted that Mecca was an ancient city that had been on the route of important caravan traffic across the Hijaz. Research by Patricia Crone (1987) quite brilliantly suggests this is not the case at
all, or at least that there is no evidence
that this is the case. Whatever the truth
of the matter, there can be little doubt
about the status of Mecca at the time of
the Prophet and the message of Islam.
