1- Evidence regarding the validity of the attribute shirk in spite of jahiliyyah before the Nabawi ikama (establishment) of hujjah

First Evidence: The following ayah is the first evidence:

 “If one amongst the Pagans ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are men without knowledge.” (At-Tawba, 9/ 6)

In the tafsir of this ayah Imam Tabari states: “Allah’s word to His prophet is: O Muhammad after the months of haram have passed, if one among the mushrik I had ordered you to fight against and kill asks asylum from you to hear the word of Allah ‘give him time’: Give him asylum until he hears and until you recite to him the word of Allah. Afterwards take him to where he is going. What is meant here is: After hearing the word of Allah if he does not become Muslim and if he is not influenced by the word of Allah you had read and if he does not accept take him to the place he is going in security…

“That is because they are men without knowledge”

By granting them asylum you must act in such manner so that they listen to the Qur’an. The reason behind taking them to the place they are headed in security is because they are a tribe of ignorance who is not able to comprehend any evidence of Allah. As such, they will not know of the advantages if they are to have iman in Allah nor will they be aware of the disadvantages of sin and crookedness originating against them in abandoning their iman in Allah. (Tabari, Tafsir)   

Imam Baghawi states: “Until they hear the word of Allah.” Here it is meant they would not know what the advantage and disadvantage is as reward or punishment.

“That is because they are men without knowledge”

They do not know the deen of Allah and tawhid. For this reason they are in need of hearing the word of Allah. Hasan (ra) had said this ayah is muhkam until qiyamah.”

Imam Shawkani in his tafsir stated: “…they are men without knowledge…” This means it is because they have lost the beneficial knowledge which distinguishes between khayr (benefit) and sharr (wickedness).”

As seen with the guidance of the Qur’an the nass which is muhkam proves that the hukm of shirk is still valid in spite of continuous and extreme ignorance (jahl). Even in an era which the tracks of shariah have been diminished openly and the path of haq has been erased.

In the explanation Imam Nawawi brings to the hadith of Ibn Jud’an he states: “What had been meant by jahiliyyah is the era prior to nubuwwa. Due to their extreme ignorance they have been given this name.”

While Ibn Taymiyyah describes jahiliyyah he states: “It must be known that without doubt when Allah sent Muhammad as an envoy to His creations on earth, the entire nation except for those who survived from among most of the ahl Kitab who died before his arrival, with its Arab and ajam (non-Arab) was in a condition of exposed to the rage of Allah.” *(‘…Then Allah looked at the people of the earth and disliked them all, the Arabs and non-Arabs among them, except a few from among the Children of Israel.’ (Ahmad, Muslim and Nasai)”)

In that era, people had been in either of the following 2 states:

1- They were either ahl kitab who embraced the book whether it had been mutilated or not didn’t make a difference. Or the traces of some had been lost, therefore they had become unknown and some had embraced a religion abandoned.

2 – Those who fit this group are the ummi either Arab or non Arab. These individuals would idolize stars, statues, graves, monuments and any other thing which they liked and believed would bring advantage to them.

But only these individuals had been within deep ignorance. Within this deep ignorance they believed some words to be knowledge which in reality were only words of ignorance, some acts to be pleasant and salih amal which in reality were only corruption. The intention behind those faces which were reckoned to be chosen in knowledge and action was to either achieve crumbs of knowledge from the turbid ‘ilm which had been left from the previous prophets but in the hands of the defeatist or ahl bidah; the haq was mixed with batil, or they dealt with ‘ilm which some had been legitimate but most had been fabricated. The owner of this knowledge would only benefit so little. These individuals were trying to be beneficial with a philosophical attitude. In this sense their efforts were spent on matters of nature, mathematics, and manners. This effort of theirs was senseless because although they had been trying, the knowledge they had was more of batil than haq.

These individuals had many and deep disagreements among them. Besides evidence and reason have been very distant from the real matter.” (Iktidau Siratil Mustakim, 2)

“It is He Who has created you; and of you are some that are Unbelievers, and some that are Believers: and Allah sees well all that ye do” (at-Taghabun 64/ 2)

Ibn-i Hazm (ra) touched upon this: “For an individual there are only two religions: Islam or kufr, otherwise kufr or iman. Whoever is not Muslim then he is kafir.” (Al-Faslu fi’l-Milal wa’l-Ahwau wa’n-Nihal, 3/276-285) This is proof that even if it is before the arrival of hujjah people in jahl, are kafir.

The Second Evidence: The second evidence is the following revelation from Allah: “Those who reject (Truth), among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, were not going to depart (from their ways) until there should come to them Clear Evidence” (Al Bayyinah 98/ 1)

Ibn Taymiyyah states: Abu’l Faraj Ibn Jawzi is among the ones who explain this. He states: ‘there had not been from the ahl kitab anyone who performed kufr.’ The Jewish and the Christian ‘among the polytheists’ they were idol worshipers, ‘munfakkina’ meaning those who abandon… The meaning of this is, until bayyinah had come to them they were not to abandon their kufr and shirk. The remark of the ayah is future tense (mustakbal) however its meaning belongs to the past (mazi). Bayyinah is a messenger. The messenger is Muhammad (saw). Considering that he had showed them their straying from the right path and their ignorance…

The explanation of Baghawi is similar to this. He states: “They will put an end to their kufr and shirk. ‘Until bayyinah comes to them.’ The remark of this ayah is mustakbal but the meaning is mazi. This means until open proof (bayyinah) comes to them in other words until Muhammad (saw) comes to them with the Qur’an and shows them their straying from the right path and their ignorance and calls them upon iman and until Allah saves them from their ignorance and straying from the right path.” (Majmul Fatawa 16/483-486)

Shawkani states: “Wahidi said: Allah informs us the kuffar will not end their shirk and kufr until RasulAllah (saw) comes to them with Qur’an and explains to them their straying from the right path and their ignorance. This is explaining a blessing and ending straying from the right path and ignorance.”

This ayah clearly shows that before Muhammad (saw) had been sent and before the evidence from the Qur’an had been revealed the attribute of shirk and kufr was valid for individuals. Just like in the phrases from the salaf both ignorance and shirk salaf had been mentioned together. In reality in the Qur’an they have been described with ignorance and negligence many times. The following ayah is only one of them:  “It is He Who has sent amongst the Unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom,- although they had been, before, in manifest error” (Al-Jumua 62; 2)

Tabari stated: “…Our glorious Lord states those illiterates, had gone astray from the right path and were very distant to embracing clear hidayah before an envoy had been sent. This means that He explains hope and desire for those who are strayed from the right path and are in error.” (Tabari)   

Ibn Kathir said: “So, Allah -- all praise and thanks be to Him -- sent him when the Messengers ceased and the way was obscure. Indeed it was a time when it was most needed. Especially since Allah hated the people of the earth, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, except for a few of the People of the book, who kept to the true faith Allah the Exalted sent to `Isa bin Maryam, peace be upon him.” (Tafsir)

Some could state that it was already:

Without doubt before the Nabi (saw) had been sent, the hukm that they had been mushrik had already existed. The reason is because, for them the evidence of nabawi risalah was completely valid. The ignorance and negligence they had been in, was not because the evidence had been destroyed, on the contrary it was because they had rejected them.

Whereas the statements of the salaf mentioned above rejects this suspicion. They had described this era as an era of fatrah which the traces of the right path had been erased and the coming of the Rasul had been cut.