What were the political conditions of pre-Islamic Arabia?

Answer 1

Pre-Islamic Arabia refers to the Arabic civilization which existed in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam in the 630s. The study of Pre-Islamic Arabia is important to Islamic studies as it provides the context for the development of Islam.

The most remarkable feature of the political life of Arabia before Islam was the total absence of political organization in any form. There was no authority other than the authority of the chiefs of their tribes. The only law of the land was lawlessness. In the event a crime was committed, the injured party took law in its own hands, blood for blood and a life for a life. Since Arabia did not have a government, and since the Arabs were anarchists by instinct, they were locked up in ceaseless warfare. War gave them an opportunity to display their skills at Archery, Fencing and horsemanship.

The population of Arabia consisted of two main divisions, sedentary and nomadic. In Mecca the dominant tribe was the Quraysh; in Yathrib, the dominant tribes were the Arab tribes of Aus and Khazraj, and the Jewish tribes of Nadheer, Qaynuqaa and Qurayza. Economically, the Jews were the leaders of Arabia. They were the owners of the best fertile lands in Hijaz. They were also the entrepreneurs and they enjoyed a monopoly of the armaments industry.

Slavery was an economic institution of the Arabs. Male and female slaves were sold and bought like animals, and they formed the most depressed class of the Arabian society. The most powerful class of the Arabs was made up by the capitalists and money-lenders. The rates of interest which they charged on loans were exorbitant.

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. Female infanticide was rampant. Drinking & gambling were common vices of the Arabs. The period in the Arabian history which preceded the birth of Islam is known as the Times of Ignorance. The Arabs were the devotees of a variety of "religions"