Souk Okaz was a seasonal market which operated for two weeks each year during the month of Dhu al-Qidah. It was active from approximately 542-726 CE. It was more than a market, it was an important center where Arabs would meet to formalize tribal rules, settle disputes, pass judgments, make agreements, announce treaties and truces, hold sporting competitions and races, poetry competitions, and religious gatherings. It was especially important for poetry competitions, which served to formalize rules of Arabic language grammar and syntax. It was destroyed by the Kharijites in 726.