Socio-cultural Condition of Ayyam-i- Jahilia

Arabia before the birth of Muhamamd SAWS

Socio-cultural Condition of Ayyam-i- Jahilia

(Most of this write up has been taken from my book titled "History of Islam:Prophet Muhammad (saas) and Khulafae Rashidin" written by Dr. Muhammad Omor Faruq and Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman Akandha, Published by BIIT, Dhaka- 2014)

Social Condition

The Arabian society presented a social medley, with different and heterogeneous social strata. The status of women among the nobility recorded an advanced degree of esteem. 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 honor. In fact, she was the most decisive key to bloody fight or friendly peace. These privileges, notwithstanding the family system in Arabia, were wholly patriarchal. 

The marriage contract rested completely in the hands of the woman’s legal guardians, 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. A man was free to marry any number of woman and could divorce as he wished. Women were deprived of the right of inheritance. Abu 

Da’ud, on the authority of ‘Ayeshah (RAA)¹ reported four kinds of marriage in pre -Muhammadanic Arabia: The first was similar to present-day marriage procedures, in which 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 be sent to these men, and nobody could prevent this from happening. 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 certain flags at their gates to invite in anyone whom she liked. If this whore got pregnant and gave birth to a child, she would collect those men, and a seer would tell whose child it was. The appointed father would take the child and declare him/her his own. When Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) preached Islam in Arabia, he cancelled all these forms of sexual contacts except that of the 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.”

It was a custom for the eldest son to take as wives his father’s widows, inherited as a property with the rest of the estate. Pre -Muhammadan 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, to the will of the husband.

Fornication and Adultery : 

The obscenity of adultery prevailed almost among all social classes except the few men and women whose self-dignity prevented them from committing such an act. Free women were in much better conditions than female slaves, who constituted the greatest calamity. It seemed that the greatest majority of pre -Muhammadan Arabs did not feel ashamed of committing this obscenity. Man gave their wives for seeding to famous men believing they would beget sons like them. Nudity carried social approval. Women even undressed themselves in the house of Ka’ba and circumnavigated around it naked.

Killing of Female Children : 

With respect to pre -Muhammadan Arab’s relation with his offspring, we see that life in Arabia presented a gloomy picture of contrasts. Some Arabs held children dear to their heart and cherished them greatly. On the other hand, most Arabs were embarrassed at the birth of daughters and sometimes, fathers would bury them alive in spite of soul-harrowing cries because an illusory fear of poverty and shame weighed heavily on them. The Qur’an declares : “When any of them is given the good tidings of a girl, his face is darkened and he chokes inwardly, as he hides himself from people because of the evil of the good tidings that have been given to him, whether he shall preserve her in humiliation, or trample her into the dust.”²

Women were despised, not only in Pre-Muhammadan Arabia but also in the Roman and Sassanid lands. The Qur’an openly declares that men will be questioned concerning this: When the female (infant) buried alive is questioned—for what crime was she killed? ³

After Muhammad (SAAS) had declared his prophethood, a companion told him what he had done with his daughter : O Messenger of Allah, I had a daughter. One day I told her mother to dress her, for I was taking her to her uncle. My poor wife knew what this meant, but could do nothing but obey and weep. She dressed the girl, who was very happy that she was going to see her uncle. I took her near a well, and told her to look down into it. While she was looking into the well, I kicked her into it. While she was rolling down, she was shouting : “Daddy, Daddy!”

Ibn Khallikan says that the practice was so rampant that, at one point, Sasaah Ibn Najiyah, the grandfather of the famous poet Farazdaq, alone saved about 400 girls by paying ransom.⁴

Superstitions : 

Superstitions were inbred in them as they pursued paganism. They believed in ghosts, devils and evil spirits. Soothsayers and fortune tellers were the social poets of the Arabs. They were regarded as the masters of Jinn who supplied them with information about the past and the future. The Arabs in general believed that the evil spirit patronized soothsayers and it gave them access to the unseen. These soothsayers were both men and women and lived in the temples. One example of their superstitions is that, they thought that killing snakes would invite revenge from their surviving mates Again. If the birds flew from one’s right flank, it carried a good omen but, if from the left, it would bring bad luck. The polytheist Arabs would make offerings for the dead, who were buried with their belongings and they erected statues or stones by their tombs. They were so degraded in thought and morals that, as reported by Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, they would cut their idols into pieces and eat them. The only excuse offered was that they were following the steps of their forefathers. When it was said to them : “Follow what Almighty Allah has sent down.” they say: “Nay! We shall follow what we found our fathers following.” (Would they do that) even though their fathers did not understand anything nor were they guided?” ⁵

Wine and Gambling : 

The whole Arab society was submerged in social evils, and life had no worth to them, neither was their conduct governed by any ethical code. Gambling and drunkenness were so common that hardly any people could be found free from these vices. Wine, gambling, slaughtering and all inhuman indulgences were just synonymous with the very name of Arab. Drinking wine was considered a genuine source of pride for the Arabs of the pre -Muhammadanic period. Christians had the monopoly in the wine trade. Historian Khuda Bakhsh (1842-1908) reports, “War, women and wine were the three observing passions of the Arabs.”⁶ The Glorious Qur’an says, “And the sin of them is greater than their benefit.”⁷

Cruelty : 

In the absence of a true religious tradition the Arabs were also cruel. They lived in a hopeless continuum of the present ness of the present without thinking an accountability of the life after death. Cruelty had its trends from pagan culture. Sometimes women would be tied to a horse’s tail and dragged through the sand until they died. They would slit pregnant women’s womb and kill the unborn baby. The death of enemy would not satisfy their rage; the mutilating also done, even women would string the chopped noses and ears into a necklace and wear it around their necks.

Slavery : 

Slavery was another curse having a firm hold on Arab society. People in Arabia were either masters or slaves, rulers or subordinates. Slave trade was controlled by the Jews. Masters had claim to every advantage; slaves had nothing but orders to obey. Masters possessed the authority of life and death over them.

Vices : 

The worst type of obscene language was used in expressing sex-relations. Stories of love and illicit relationships were narrated proudly and with utter want of shame in verses of the most indecent kind. Robbery, pillage and murder were also common occurrences, human blood being shed (almost daily) without remorse or horror. On the death of a person, the custom was to tie his camel to his tomb and make it suffer to starve to death his camel being called baliyah. The daily life of a Bedouin was nothing more than that of a shepherd. Theft, including highway robbery, was part of their life. Tribes like Aslam, Ghifar, Muzayanah and Juhayanah even lived by it.

We may sum up the social condition in Arabia by saying this much that the Arabs of the pre -Muhammadan period were groping about in darkness and ignorance, entangled in a mesh of superstitions paralyzing their mind and driving them to lead an animal-like life. Women were 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 obsessions that governed their chiefs’ self-centered policies.

References: 

1 (RAA) Stand for ‘Radiallahu Anhu’ meaning May Allah be pleased with him.

2 The Qur’an, 16 : 58–59.

3 The Qur’an, 81 : 8-9.

4 Shauqi Dhaif, History of Arabic Literature: The Early Islamic Era, Darul Maarif, Cairo, n.p.d., p.268.

5 The Qr’an, 2 : 170.

6 S. Khuda Bakhsh, The Arab Civilization, Lahore, 1943,p. 11-14

7 The Qur’an Qur’an, 2 : 219.