ARABIAN SOCIETY IN THE PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

There is no doubt that the geography and climatic conditions of the region of the Arabian Peninsula had a significant influence on shaping social life. As a matter of fact, the settled people (hadari) who resided in the oases and the Bedouin nomads who resided in rural areas constituted the two main elements of Arabian society during the Age of Ignorance. This classification reflects the two dominant life-styles in the region, while also demonstrating the distinctive geographical and climatic characteristics of the peninsula. The predominant life-style of northern and central Arabia was a Bedouin life-style; these people lived with limited opportunities in a region that was inhospitable geographically and climatically. The settled people represented the southern life style, where a variety of opportunities existed. This differentiation within Arabian society was first mentioned in the Holy Quran. Those living in the villages and in the cities of the peninsula were referred to as “Arabs”, whereas those living as nomads in the desert were called “A’rab: Bedouin”.

Although the life-style of the Arabs is depicted as that of Bedouins who have settled, they can be divided into two main groups with regard to the branch with which they were affiliated. The first branch, the Arab-i Baida is an extinct Arab tribe that lived in the pre-Islamic centuries, mixing with other tribes and which became forgotten over time. The second branch, the Arab-i Baqiya, continued their existence during the birth of Islam and constituted the peninsula society; this group can be divided into two groups. The first group, comprising the Kahtani tribes of Yemen origin, is called Arab-i Ariba and are the descendants of Shem, the son of Prophet Noah, who was considered the second father of mankind. These tribes had to leave their countries as a result of the Arim flood. The Huzaa tribe migrated to Mecca, whereas the Aws and Hazraj went to Medina and became resident in these locations. Some members of these tribes went to Syria and founded the State of Ghassanid, whereas others went to Iraq and formed the State of Khiral. The Arab-i Musta’riba, the second branch of the Arab-i Ariba, are descendents of Ishmael. This branch is connected to Ishmael, whose father Abraham came to Mecca and married a woman from the Jurhum tribe of the Kahtanis. They are called the Adnanis, referring to Adnan, an ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad; they are also called the Mudaris, the Meaddis, and the Nizaris. One of its largest branches was the Quraishi tribe of which Prophet Muhammad was a member. Most of the tribes affiliated with this clan resided in Mecca and in the surrounding areas; they made up most of the society at that time.

BEDOUINS

Most of Arabian society could be classified as either Hadari or Bedouin in terms of their life styles; the Bedouins lived a nomadic life in tents made of camel or goat hair, whereas the rest of the population was comprised of settled residents living in villages, towns and cities of adobe houses, the Hadari. When we consider that the location where Islam emerged was central and northern Arabia, then the predominant life-style of this region, which has a desert climate, is that of the  Bedouins. Since ancient times camels have been domesticated by the Arabs and have become indispensable components of desert life due to their resistance to hunger and thirst; over time they have become a fundamental part of the lives of the people living in this region. Camels are incredible animals that can carry up to 200 kilograms in heat of 57 C° without drinking water for 17 days. In Bedouin life, where there is constant migration, spurred on by climatic conditions, a herd of camels is a sign of great wealth for people. Camels have stomachs that are large enough to store food for a week, humps that serve as a food resource, noses that have special membranes that shut out sand during a sand storm, eyes that have a double lining of eyelashes, ears with hairs on the inside, a mouth and digestive system that can withstand eating thorny plants; they can resist cold and hot weather and can drink 60 liters of water at once and distribute this water rapidly throughout their body. In addition to all these features camels have powerful memories that help them to follow ancient routes despite sand dunes that frequently change their shape in sand storms. There can be no doubt that the camel is the most suitable animal for this geography. The terms related to camels in Arabic are numerous enough to fill a book and in the Age of Ignorance the camel often appeared among the main subjects of poetry; from these two facts we can understand the importance of these animals in Arabic society. Camels were able to transport water over long desert journeys. In the development of civilization the camel also played a significant role in intercontinental trade throughout the ancient world.

Although horses were preferred for sudden attacks or during visits paid neighboring tribes, the camel, without a doubt, was the most common animal for transport in Arabian society during the Age of Ignorance. The camel was, and is, also used for its flesh, milk, leather, manure, wool and for providing shade.

Three things that can best define pre-Islamic Arabia are the desert, the camel and Bedouins. The Bedouins, able to survive the harsh conditions of the desert with a miraculous animal like the camel, generally lived inside tents made of camelhair. The Bedouins preferred movable tents that were easy and practical to carry and their weapons, food and the fodder and harnesses of their animals were protected by their tents.

The negative economic and social conditions of desert life led to frequent conflicts among Bedouin tribes, generally over water and grazing rights. The Ayyamu’l-Arab, the battles between tribes that had laws and rules established by tradition, constitutes a significant place in the pre-Islamic history of central Arabia.

Although the Bedouins formed the backbone of Arabian society in the Age of Ignorance, the semi-nomadic elements who settled in the oases and valleys along different points benefited from the trade caravans; the societies settled along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula also constituted significant social links within the Arabian Peninsula. However, these components cannot be completely separated. There were nomads who later on adopted a settled city life and there were also city residents who were Bedouins and returned to the nomadic life.

As was the case for all societies in the Arabian Peninsula, all the elements of the population within pre-Islamic Arabian society lived together on common ground. These people needed one another. The oasis societies that were isolated in the middle of the desert handed over their superiority to the Bedouins due to the latter’s military hegemony won by the speed of their mounts. On the other hand, the Bedouins acquired their various needs from the settled societies in the region. In a sense, the nomadic people were eating the dates of the settled people and the settled people were drinking the camel milk of the Bedouins. However, it is possible to say that southern Arabia was much more developed and urbanized in comparison to the northern and central Arabian regions. The advantages there, in terms of agricultural and trade opportunities, considerably influenced such developments. Although the Hejaz oases had an active trade economy in the early periods of Islam, due to the fact that they acted as caravan centers organizing the relations between southern Arabia and the Mediterranean world, this can not be compared with the regional role played by southern Arabia. Thanks to the port of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea, southern Arabia served as one of the most important junction points in trade activities between the Mediterranean Sea and the Far East during the period in question. The residents of the coastal region had higher living standards compared to that of the nomads and their main means of living consisted of trade, shipping, fishery, pearl and sponge hunting, as well as a limited amount of agriculture.

ECONOMIC LIFE

While the economic life of the Arabian Peninsula changed in accordance with the climatic conditions and social structure, it was generally dependent on animal husbandry, agriculture and trade. The Bedouins, who were prevalent, did not involve themselves in the fields of art and craftsmanship, but generally made their living by means of husbandry, hunting and trade, whereas the settled people carried out lives based on agriculture and trade. Although the peninsula is surrounded by seas on three sides, fishery was only practiced within a limited area.

The Bedouins, whose basic means of subsistence was animal husbandry, also considered their frequent attacks on neighboring cities and villages and on the caravans as an means of living. The trade routes began to pass through the deserts from the earliest periods of history; as a result, the Bedouin Arabs became skilled at attacking caravans and seizing their goods. In addition to stealing camels and food during the attacks, they also abducted children and women and demanded ransom for their release.

It should be noted that trade was an important means for the Bedouins, who obtained their basic needs from the residents of the city. They acquired basic needs such as grains, dates, clothing and pots and pans by selling oil, wool, material made from camel or goat hair, carpets, water jugs and bags made of leather, sack, ropes and mats. During this period, the Bedouins delivered goods to fairs organized in various locations of the peninsula, becoming experts in the caravan trade. Soon the Bedouins provided camels for the international trade caravans that started their journeys in India and China and went as far as Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea through Yemen and the Red Sea. In addition to this, they also maintained the safety of the caravan routes and protected them from various attacks. The income obtained from caravan protection and services as guides for travelers and trade convoys passing through their lands constituted a significant income.

The city people, who constituted the settled population of Mecca, were actively involved in this trade in which the Bedouins were indirectly participating. The most important means of income for the people of Mecca were the pilgrims who came to the region for hajj. In particular, the residents of Mecca would go to the great emporiums around Taif, and they engaged in many commercial activities in the tents pitched under the shadow of date trees. The Meccan residents also participated in trade campaigns conducted to Yemen during the winter and Damascus in the summer. In this way, they contributed to the commercial vibrancy of Mecca, which became an important connection point on the Yemen-Damascus route.

POLITICAL AND EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION

The only administrative body in Mecca was an assembly known as the Mela, composed of the leaders and prominent figures of various tribes. This assembly had no executive power. In the Mela, decisions were taken unanimously after discussing the matters and those decisions were regarded as effective. Apart from this, every tribe was given the right to act independently. In this structure, which had a simple political organization, the authority was represented by the tribe leader, who was referred to with titles of sheik, reis emir, rab, or sayyid. Tribal leaders were chosen from among the elders of each tribe; the person chosen would be someone with status due to their wealth or honor. Each leader had equal rights in the tribal gatherings. Their responsibility was to serve as a judge rather than to rule. The leader had no power of sanction. Their main responsibilities were managing the tribal meetings, representing the tribe in relations with other tribes, dealing with disagreements within the tribe, issuing declarations of war, commanding the army during war, sharing out loot, determining journeys and immigration periods and times, helping the poorer tribe members, signing treaties, welcoming guests, rescuing prisoners of war, and paying blood money. The matters related to justice were referred to arbitrators in Bedouin social life. Anyone who did not obey the decisions of the arbitrators was expelled from the tribe. The matters of the tribes were dealt with in the Mela assemblies. These assemblies also consulted with the leaders. Punishments and rewards were only decided by the above-mentioned assembly. Although tribe members respected the opinions of the leader and the other prominent figures in the Mela, every member had a right of say.

The structure in question undoubtedly reflects the administrative traditions of Bedouin Arabs who resided in deserts and lived in tents. As for the administrative structure of the Mecca, in which people led a settled life, there was a more organized administration tradition. In this structure, a Kaaba-centered administration was formed, as the Kaaba was considered to be the reason for the existence of city. This administration determined the means of living for the population, shaped the religious understanding and cultural structure of the region, and was mainly composed of organizational services related to the Kaaba. There were dozens of such duties being carried out when Islam was introduced. These duties included service sectors, such as sidana (the administration, caretaking and protection of the Kaaba), siqaya (finding and providing water for pilgrims), rifada (providing food for poor pilgrims), uqab (carrying the banner in war), qiyada (commandership), ishnaq (establishment and payment of debts and fines), qubba (the tent where war equipment and ammunition were kept), ainna (bridling, dispatching and control of battle horses), safarat (serving as an emissary), isar (method of divining used to assist in decision-making, in particular related to important matters like journeys and battles), government (dealing with cases), mahcara (the management of money and jewelry donated to the idols of the Kaaba), imara (maintenance of peace and quiet around the Kaaba), nadwa and mashwarat (consultancy assembly). Although some of the duties that were shared out between the various branches of the Quraishi tribe were not very important, they were created to keep the Quraishi happy and to prevent competition and resentment among them. Moreover, the tribe members perhaps thought that this division of labor would contribute to creating an orderly service and would attract many pilgrims to the region.

FAMILY

The basis of the tribe in pre-Islamic Arabian society was the family. The family structure was patriarchal and family relations were determined by relations between men. For this reason, it was important to have many boys in Arabian society to strengthen the family and to raise the prestige of the tribe. Men were regarded as the most important fighting components of the tribes in the harsh desert conditions, where physical strength had a great importance. It was accepted that men had absolute superiority over women. Women were considered to be a social burden. Women had no social status, they were deprived of the right of inheritance, they had no parental rights over their children, even if their husbands were dead, and they were regarded as second class individuals who could only join a family by giving birth to a child. Accordingly, every newborn girl was treated as a valueless and embarrassing member of the family. The Arabs at this time saw no harm in sentencing these girls to death. Although it was asserted that the reason for killing young girls was due to the harsh living conditions of the desert, it is obvious that women were despised. Despite their lowly roles, it can be understood that women undertook fairly important duties in Arabian society. In a social order where Bedouin men passed their time talking about women, love and bravery, or sleeping due to the heat, many tasks fell to Bedouin women during the day. Apart from the duties of giving birth to and raising children, women had many other responsibilities, such as preparing the meals, milking the animals, preparing butter, washing clothes, weaving material for ground cloths, tents and clothing, spinning wool, and pitching and dismantling the tents. However, in a society where the means for enlarging a family was to increase the number of men, the main responsibility of women was to give birth to boys. In Arabian society during the Age of Ignorance, the families were part of a tribe; therefore it would be senseless to speak of independence in the make-up of the family.

In Arabian society, marriage was far from being an institution that guaranteed family life. Although the widespread method of marriage was that a man would marry a woman who was a member of a tribe and branch equal to the man’s tribe, and that he would pay a dowry, in reality very different forms of marriage or relationships existed in society. These different marriages or relationships consisted of those in which a woman would sleep with another man with the approval of her husband in order to have a child, wife swapping, a woman would live with a man as his mistress, but would not be considered an adulteress due to her independence, a woman would concurrently being married to ten different men, temporary marriages, a son would marry his stepmother, or two sisters would marry the same man.

SOCIAL VALUES

In pre-Islamic Arabian society, which was based on a tribal system of people thought to have come from the same forefathers and who had a blood relationship, the only thing that determined the social values and rules was tribal tradition established by the elders of the tribe. This structure had its own peculiar rules, was consistent in itself and had a protective order. It regulated all the rights of tribal members, particularly those concerned with safety of life and property. Opposing the tribal order or violating these rules, which were known by everyone, meant exclusion from the protection that was regarded as the security system of the desert; this was clearly a form of suicide. Being a member of a tribe not only provided many rights for the individual, but also paved the way for creating a collective understanding of responsibility between the members of the tribe.

During the Age of Ignorance the Arabs lived with a collective consciousness as part of a tribe. They developed their own concepts of morality and virtue in the harsh conditions of the desert. Bravery and strength in battle, patience in disaster, insistence on seeking revenge, being truthful, even at the risk of one’s life, were all perceived as virtues and praised. These played an important role in increasing cooperation within the tribe. Protecting the weak and standing up to the strong were regarded as merits.

Although all these virtues were elements that held the tribe together, the main element that connected the members of the tribe was sensitivity to tribal traditions. This sensitivity ensured feelings of cooperation between members of society, whether they were of the same lineage or not; this is turn represented the psychological power and support that the members of the tribe provided for each other as a result of the belief of being united As a matter of fact, the struggle against the harsh natural conditions and rival tribes required cooperation within the tribe. Accordingly, the Bedouins who had to live together, act together, and struggle with inequalities together practiced a common ownership, except for tents and camels. Soil, food, grass, fire and water were regarded as common possessions of the tribe.

The feeling of belonging to the tribe not only imposed duties and responsibilities, considered to be sacrosanct, upon the individual, but it also fulfilled the role of administration in the economy. All members of the family acted together to compensate for any loss experienced by a tribe member and in case of tribe member being killed, all members would act together to take revenge. As a matter of fact, taking the life of a person protected by these traditions had very serious repercussions. This cost, which was defined as “blood for blood, and a life for a life”, was paid by the murderer to the victim’s relatives. Otherwise, if the person who was responsible for seeking revenge failed to do so, they were believed to be covered in dishonor. For that reason, the issue of killing person incurred extreme efforts, which could lead to the outbreak of long and bloody battles.

The virtues established by tribal rigidity that protected both the life and property of the individuals required that they obey the tribal order and traditions, as well as agreements made with other tribes. The Bedouins did not submit to any authority, but they showed an unconditional submission to tribal traditions.

The tribal bond was very strong and it reinforced the blood relations that were formed between tribes. These blood relations was formed in ways called hilf, djar and wala, and in these ways, new people joined the tribes. Hilf and djar meant a person who had left their tribe or had been expelled from their tribe came under the protection (djar) of a member of another tribe or became an ally (halif) of this member. Wala was the release of a slave who was captured as a result of a battle or attack, or bought from someone.

CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

In the desert life, where people experienced harsh conditions in vast lands, Arabian society found itself in a very different field, composed of poetry and oration. This was their way of resisting the hardships of life and became very significant in uniting a society that was continuously on the move from one place to another. Arabic poetry had many themes, like love, wine, battle, victory, bravery, hatred against the enemy, hunting, nature, tribal virtues; it came in some way to mirror Bedouin life. Everything that entered the life of a Bedouin was transferred to the poems. Numerous wives and children, large flocks, camels and horses, trade, raids and attacks, assaults, wine, and women were the basic social foundation of pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula, and these were the themes that were mentioned and praised in Arabic poetry and oration. The poets, who were masters of their art and who received a great deal of respect in the country, were regarded as the spokespeople, guides, wise men, orators, and even historians of their community. It was believed that they were supported by a divine power that was not possible for a common man to achieve and they were believed to have been blessed with a special intellect. It was fairly common for the poets to write poems that praised their tribes and criticized enemy tribes. In these poems, there were sections that attacked and sections that were written as answers; these had to be written in the same meter and constitute the same rhyme. The satirical or laudatory poems were the best appreciated. However, satire could easily shift to imprecation while praise could easily shift to adulation.

Thanks to the two-way trade between southern Arabia and the Middle East, and between Mediterranean countries and the Far East, a number of markets and fairs opened in pre-Islamic Arabia. These fairs had an important effect not only on the regeneration of the Arabian social structure, but also on shaping a certain cultural environment in the region. Mecca held important privileges, as it was the religious center of the pagan Arabs. The people of Mecca succeeded in making use of these privileges in trade and contributed to the revival of the commercial and cultural life of the Arabian Peninsula with their trade agreements signed with neighboring countries. As a matter of fact, in the fairs frequented by all tribes, at which both the Iranian drachma and Byzantine dinar were used, there was cultural exchange as well as commercial transactions. The people who came to Medina for pilgrimage from many regions and those who visited the large fairs held during the pilgrimage season, like the fairs at Mina, Macanna, Zulmacaz and Uqaz, found the opportunity to experience the Arabian cultural environment where poetry and oratory contests were held; the winning works were written in gilded letters and hung on the wall of the Kaaba.

The literacy rate was very low in the Arabian Peninsula. The oral poems were written down only at a very late period. For many centuries the poems were memorized and were passed from one generation to another, bringing them down to the Islamic period. Even in Mecca, the most prominent cultural center of the Hejaz where these poems thrived for many years, the number of literate people was less than twenty, according to some accounts. Among the nomadic Arabs there were no literate people. In other centers, this number was even less. The people who learned how to write were the people who needed to write.

Although the literacy rate was low, it can be said that the Arabs had a strong verbal accumulation in certain fields to which they had transferred their knowledge and experiences. Genealogy, a historical tradition mixed with legends, predictions based on the water and climatic conditions about personal health or the health of their animals, and tracking skills can be counted among the “Sciences of the Age of Ignorance.”