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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(May Allah be pleased
with her) 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 (Peace be upon
him) declared Islam in Arabia, he cancelled all these forms of sexual
contacts except that of present Islamic 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.
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 (Peace be upon him) 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 (Peace be upon him) 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.”
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 andsupported by tribal-pride. Their
undisputed motto was: “ÇäÕÑ ÃÎÇß ÙÇáãÇ Ãæ ãÙáæãÇ — 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.
The economic situation ran in line
with the social atmosphere. The Arabian ways of living would illustrate this
phenomenon quite clearly. Trade was the most common means of providing their
needs of life. The trade journeys could not be fulfilled unless security of
caravan routes and inter-tribal peaceful co-existence were provided – two
imperative exigencies unfortunately lacking in Arabia except during the
prohibited months within which the Arabs held their assemblies of ‘Ukaz,
Dhil-Majaz, Mijannah and others.
Industry was alien to the Arabian
psychology. Most of available industries of knitting and tannage in Arabia
were done by people coming from Yemen, Heerah and the borders of Syria.
Inside Arabia there was some sort of farming and stock-breeding. Almost all
the Arabian women worked in yarn spinning but even this practice was
continually threatened by wars. On the whole, poverty, hunger and
insufficient clothing were the prevailing features in Arabia, economically.
ETHICS:
We cannot deny that the pre-Islam
Arabs had such a large bulk of evils. Admittedly, vices and evils, utterly
rejected by reason, were rampant amongst the pre-Islam Arabs, but this could
never screen off the surprise-provoking existence of highly praiseworthy
virtues, of which we could adduce the following:
1. Hospitality: They used to emulate one another at hospitality and take
utmost pride in it. Almost half of their poetry heritage was dedicated to the
merits and nobility attached to entertaining one’s guest. They were generous
and hospitable on the point of fault. They would sacrifice their private
sustenance to a cold or hungry guest. They would not hesitate to incur heavy
blood-money and relevant burdens just to stop blood-shed, and consequently
merit praise and eulogy.
2. In the context of hospitality, there springs up their common habits of
drinking wine which was regarded as a channel branching out of generosity and
showing hospitality. Wine drinking was a genuine source of pride for the
Arabs of the pre-Islamic period. The great poets of that era never forgot to
include their suspending odes the most ornate lines pregnant with boasting
and praise of drinking orgies. Even the word ‘grapes’ in Arabic is identical
to generosity in both pronunciation and spelling. Gambling was also another
practice of theirs closely associated with generosity since the proceeds
would always go to charity. Even the Noble Qur’ân does not play down the
benefits that derive from wine drinking and gambling, but also says,
“And the sin of
them is greater than their benefit.” [2:219]
3. Keeping a covenant: For the Arab, to make a promise was to run into
debt. He would never grudge the death of his children or destruction of his
household just to uphold the deep-rooted tradition of covenant-keeping. The
literature of that period is rich in stories highlighting this merit.
4. Sense of honour and repudiation of injustice: This attribute stemmed
mainly from excess courage, keen sense of self-esteem and impetuosity. The
Arab was always in revolt against the least allusion to humiliation or
slackness. He would never hesitate to sacrifice himself to maintain his ever
alert sense of self-respect.
5. Firm will and determination: An Arab would never desist an avenue
conducive to an object of pride or a standing of honour, even if it were at
the expense of his life.
6. Forbearance, perseverance and mildness: The Arab regarded these traits
with great admiration, no wonder, his impetuosity and courage-based life was
sadly wanting in them.
7. Pure and simple bedouin life, still untarnished with accessories of
deceptive urban appearances, was a driving reason to his nature of
truthfulness and honesty, and detachment from intrigue and treachery.
Such priceless ethics coupled with
a favourable geographical position of Arabia were in fact the factors that
lay behind selecting the Arabs to undertake the burden of communicating the
Message (of Islam) and leading mankind down a new course of life.
In this regard, these ethics per
se, though detrimental in some areas, and in need of rectification in certain
aspects, were greatly invaluable to the ultimate welfare of the human
community and Islam has did it completely.
The most priceless ethics, next to
covenant-keeping, were no doubt their sense of self-esteem and strong
determination, two human traits indispensable in combatting evil and
eliminating moral corruption on the one hand, and establishing a good and
justice-orientated society, on the other.
Actually, the life of the Arabs in
the pre-Islamic period was rich in other countless virtues we do not need to
enumerate for the time being.
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