were manufactured in different designs. Bags and small baskets were used for carrying
commodities of daily use as well as corn from the fields.
The residences of those who were affluent were well-decorated with various other types
of furniture. The jewelry worn by the womenfolk included bracelets, armlets, wristlets,
earring circlets, rings, and golden or gem necklaces.
Spinning and weaving were popular domestic endeavors from which women find solace
with in their spare-time at Medinah. Sewing and dyeing of clothes, house-building, brick-
laying and stone crafts were some of the manual arts already known to the city folks before
the Prophet (r) emigrated there.
YATHRIB’S ADVANCED AND COMPOSITE SOCIETY
The Hijrah of the Prophet (r) and his companions from Makkah to Madinah was, in no wise,
an emigration from a town to any hinterland known by the name of Yathrib but from one
city to another. The new home of the émigrés was, at the same time different in many
respects from the town they had left. For one, it was comparatively smaller than Makkah,
but the society was more complex in comparison to the social life of Makkah. The Prophet
(r) was therefore, expected to come across problems of a different scope and nature owing
to the subscription of its populace to different religions offering various social codes and
customs, not to forget its divergent cultural patterns. The Herculean task ahead of him was
one of meeting the challenges of such a prevailing situation. By and large, only a Prophet
could achieve such a feat. One who is commissioned and blest by God with wisdom, fore-
sight, conviction and firmness of purpose and capacity to smother and blend the conflicting
ideas and ideals into a new concept, one which could usher the dying humanity into a new
brave and commendable world. And, above all, such arbiter or savior had to have a loveable
personality. How very aptly has God set forth the services rendered by that benefactor of
the human race?
“And (as for the believers) hath attuned their hearts. If You had spent all that is in the
earth You couldst not have attuned their hearts, but Allah hath attuned them. Lo! He
is Mighty, Wise.” [Qur'an Qur’an 8:63]