Jahiliyyah

(exp. ayyam al-jahiliyyah lit. the days of ignorance) The so-called "pre-Islamic period." The period between the Prophethood of `Isa bin Maryam (Jesus) and the Prophethood of Muhammad. Jahiliyyah is the term Muslims use to refer to the era just before the coming of the Prophet Muhammad and more generally to the state of affairs which characterized this era, which was plagued by shirk (the crime of associating partners with Allah), infanticide, tribal strife, etc.