Jahiliyah is an
Arabic word used generally to mean The Age of Ignorance; which for
Muslims is the period prior to the arrival of their
prophet Muhammad. Although it is used to describe a time, it is more generally used to imply the place: sixth and seventh
century (
common era) Arabia. It is called this because in many ways it was an
extremely barbaric society:
female infanticide was
rife,
honour killings were the norm, and it was a very class-oriented society.
The definition above is incorrect. The root word for jahiliyah is jahala (to be ignorant of). In Arabic if someone is ignorant, he would be called a jaahil. The author above is confused with the word kaafir, which means to cover up and is also the word used in the Qur'an as a term for non-believers: that they know the truth but choose to cover it up.