The Arabian Society presented a social medley, with different and
heterogeneous social strata. The status of the woman among the nobility recorded an
advanced degree of esteem. The woman enjoyed a considerable portion of free will, and her
decision would most often be enforced. She was so highly cherished that blood would be
easily shed in defence of her honour. In fact, she was the most decisive key to bloody
fight or friendly peace. These privileges notwithstanding, the family system in Arabia was
wholly patriarchal. The marriage contract rested completely in the hands of the
woman’s legal guardian whose words with regard to her marital status could never be
questioned.
On the other hand, there were other social strata where prostitution
and indecency were rampant and in full operation. Abu Da’ûd, on the authority of
‘Aishah [R] reported four kinds of marriage in pre-Islamic Arabia: The first was
similar to present-day marriage procedures, in which case a man gives his daughter in
marriage to another man after a dowry has been agreed on. In the second, the husband would
send his wife – after the menstruation period – to cohabit with another man in
order to conceive. After conception her husband would, if he desired, have a sexual
intercourse with her. A third kind was that a group of less than ten men would have sexual
intercourse with a woman. If she conceived and gave birth to a child, she would send for
these men, and nobody could abstain. They would come together to her house. She would say:
‘You know what you have done. I have given birth to a child and it is your
child’ (pointing to one of them). The man meant would have to accept. The fourth kind
was that a lot of men would have sexual intercourse with a certain woman (a whore). She
would not prevent anybody. Such women used to put a certain flag at their gates to invite
in anyone who liked. If this whore got pregnant and gave birth to a child, she would
collect those men, and a seeress would tell whose child it was. The appointed father would
take the child and declare him/her his own. When Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] declared Islam in
Arabia, he cancelled all these forms of sexual contacts except that of present Islamic
marriage. [Abu Da'ud - The Book of marriage]
Women always accompanied men in their wars. The winners would freely
have sexual intercourse with such women, but disgrace would follow the children conceived
in this way all their lives.
Pre-Islam Arabs had no limited number of wives. They could marry two
sisters at the same time, or even the wives of their fathers if divorced or widowed.
Divorce was to a very great extent in the power of the husband. [Abu Da'ud - The Book of marriage]
The obscenity of adultery prevailed almost among all social classes
except few men and women whose self-dignity prevented them from committing such an act.
Free women were in much better conditions than the female slaves who constituted the
greatest calamity. It seemed that the greatest majority of pre-Islam Arabs did not feel
ashamed of committing this obscenity. Abu Da’ûd reported: A man stood up in front of
Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] and said: "O Prophet of Allâh! that boy is my son. I had
sexual intercourse with his mother in the pre-Islamic period." The Prophet
[pbuh]
said:
"No claim in Islam for
pre-Islamic affairs. The child is to be attributed to the one on whose bed it was born,
and stoning is the lot of a fornicator." [Abu Da'ud - Chapter "The child is to the one on whose bed it was
born]
With respect to the pre-Islam Arab’s relation with his
offspring, we see that life in Arabia was paradoxical and presented a gloomy picture of
contrasts. Whilst some Arabs held children dear to their hearts and cherished them
greatly, others buried their female children alive because an illusory fear of poverty and
shame weighed heavily on them. The practice of infanticide cannot, however, be seen as
irrevocably rampant because of their dire need for male children to guard themselves
against their enemies.
Another aspect of the Arabs’ life which deserves mention is the
bedouin’s deep-seated emotional attachment to his clan. Family, or perhaps
tribal-pride, was one of the strongest passions with him. The doctrine of unity of blood
as the principle that bound the Arabs into a social unity was formed and supported by
tribal-pride. Their undisputed motto was: "Support your brother
whether he is an oppressor or oppressed" in its literal meaning; they
disregarded the Islamic amendment which states that supporting an oppressor brother
implies deterring him from transgression.
Avarice for leadership, and keen sense of emulation often resulted
in bitter tribal warfare despite descendency from one common ancestor. In this regard, the
continued bloody conflicts of Aws and Khazraj, ‘Abs and Dhubyan, Bakr and
Taghlib,
etc. are striking examples.
Inter-tribal relationships were fragile and weak due to continual
inter-tribal wars of attrition. Deep devotion to religious superstitions and some customs
held in veneration, however, used to curb their impetuous tendency to quench their thirst
for blood. In other cases, there were the motives of, and respect for, alliance, loyalty
and dependency which could successfully bring about a spirit of rapport, and abort
groundless bases of dispute. A time-honoured custom of suspending hostilities during the
prohibited months (Muharram, Rajab, Dhul-Qa‘dah, and Dhul-Hijjah) functioned
favourably and provided an opportunity for them to earn their living and coexist in peace.
We may sum up the social situation in Arabia by saying that the
Arabs of the pre-Islamic period were groping about in the dark and ignorance, entangled in
a mesh of superstitions paralyzing their mind and driving them to lead an animal-like
life. The woman was a marketable commodity and regarded as a piece of inanimate property.
Inter-tribal relationships were fragile. Avarice for wealth and involvement in futile wars
were the main objectives that governed their chiefs’ self-centred policies.
