Social conditions in the near East including Arabia before the dawn of Islam

 1: Social Conditions:

Arabia was a male-dominated society. Women had no status of any kind other than as sex objects. The number of women a man could marry was not fixed. When a man died, his son "inherited" all his wives except his own mother. A savage custom of the Arabs was to bury their female infants alive. Even if an Arab did not wish to bury his daughter alive, he still had to uphold this "honourable" tradition, being unable to resist social pressures.

Vices:

Drunkenness was a common vice of the Arabs. With drunkenness went their gambling. They were compulsive drinkers and compulsive gamblers. The relations of the sexes were extremely loose. Many women sold sex to make their living since there was little else they could do. Social Position of Women.

Amongst the Arab, woman was just like merchandise which could be bought and sold and did not possess any individual or social rights - not even the right of inheritance. The enlightened persons among them put women under the category of animals and for this very reason, considered her to be one of the chattels and necessities of life.

Treatment with Daughters:

Usually, on account of fear of famine and occasionally dreading embarrassment, they beheaded their daughters on the very first day of their birth or hurled them down from a high mountain into a deep valley or at times drowned them in water.

According to the Holy Quran,

"And when one of them is informed of

[the birth of a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief." (Surah Nahl: 58) "He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide." (Surah Nahl: 59)

"For those who do not believe in the

Hereafter is the description of evil; and for Allah is the highest attribute. And He is Exalted in Might, the Wise." 

(Surah Nahl: 60)

At another place, God has asked,

"And when the girl [who was] buried alive

is asked. For what sin she was killed." (Surah Tawkir: 8-9)

Most deplorable of all things was their marriage system which was not based on any law. For example, they did not believe in any limit in the number of wives. To avoid payment of dowry, they maltreated women. In the event of the death of a person or his divorcing his wife, it was treated as lawful for his son to marry her and the story of Ummayyah bin Shams in this regard is preserved in the pages of history. When a woman obtained divorce from her husband, her right of second marriage was dependent on the permission by the first husband and such permission was usually accorded on her surrendering her dowry.