Womens Position in Various Periods - Essay Example

Women’s Position in Various Periods Women’s Position in Pre-Islamic Arabia Before the adoption of Islam in Arabia, it is widely believed that the region had adopted a high level of diversity. This was evident through the presence of different communities in Arabia. These different communities had different cultures, including languages, lifestyles, and beliefs and values, among others. Therefore, each group possessed a distinct belief system, which comprise of social norms as well. Due to the high level of diversity in pre-Islamic Arabia, there was a great discrepancy in women’s rights across the different communities in Arabia during this period (Muslim Women’s League Web). Since the pre-Islamic Arabia was highly diverse, this influenced the role of women and their position in society. Before Islam, the core unit of the society in Arab was the tribe. Each tribe consisted of a clan, which further comprised of ‘hayy’ members, similar to today’s family members. Members of a tribe were related by blood, and headed by a chief, who also was charged with settling conflicts in the tribe. It is believed that most tribes bore feminine names, showing that the pre-Islamic Arabia was probably a matriarchal society (Muslim Women’s League Web). Diversity in pre-Islamic Arab led to different laws and customs among the people, depending on their communities. Therefore, it might be impossible to explain the position of women during this time using a single account. Different indications have pointed to the fact that women during this period were highly influential and allowed higher leadership positions in society. In this period, women had an upper hand in decision-making in different spheres of their personal life, as well as those issues that affected the society. This includes marriage and divorce, inheritance, and leadership, among others. However, despite this, women also were faced with challenges in society, including how men perceived them, and some were detrimental to womanhood. A major negative practice in pre-Islamic Arabia, which affected women adversely, was female infanticide. This mainly was performed on young girls, who would be buried alive upon birth. The main reason for female infanticide in pre-Islamic Arabia was for population control. Girls were chosen mainly because they were considered unproductive in society, except for their beauty. In addition, this would reduce the rate of poverty and famine during dry periods, since there would be no extra mouths to feed (Muslim Women’s League Web). With regard to marriage, men married women to increase the population of their clans. Women on the other hand, did not lose their kinship after being married. Nonetheless, marriage during this period had low restrictions, laws, and was highly flexible. Women would get married through various ways including agreement and inheritance. On the other hand, women would be purchased or captured during war, then forced into marriage. Additionally, a woman would enter into temporary marriage, based on an agreement between her and a man. Nonetheless, a common factor in this period is that women experienced more freedom with regard to their marriage spouse. Divorce was allowed for women in pre-Islamic Arabia. Women were permitted to leave their husbands, if they received poor treatment. However, divorce was conducted between a woman’s husband and her father, after the dowry is returned to the man. About inheritance of family property, the laws were discriminative of women, since they were not allowed to inherit property. The main reason was that women were less important in society. During this era, a person’s importance in the community was attached to their ability to participate in war. However, in some strong matriarchal communities, inheritance was allowed for women, and they would pass their property down to their children. Nonetheless, when Islam was introduced in Arab, most of the negative practices allowed on women, such as female infanticide, were abolished, and the society shifted its orientation from tribe to family. 2. Women’s Position During the Prophet’s Lifetime The advent of Islam brought many changes in the role of women in society. Islam was first experienced in Medina and Mecca (Guity and Beck 35). The prophet was believed to have been the reason for the myriad transformations witnessed in Arab with the advent of Islam. Nonetheless, he is believed to have come to address the social evils, injustices, and inequalities in society, but not to perform an overhaul of the society. To prove that the prophet came to improve the society, some of the practices in society prior to Islam were still maintained even after the introduction of Islam, but with only a few changes. For example, polygamy remained, but a limit was put on the number of wives to marry, as well as new instructions on how to treat the wives with dignity (Guity and Beck 35). From the Qur’an teachings, it is clear that social and economic status of women in Mecca and Medina was greatly transformed during the time of Prophet Muhammad. Guity and Beck note that different injunctions in the Qur’an, such as the allocation of shares in bequests to wives and children, had a positive influence on women as individuals, and served to strengthen family ties in society (36). Additionally, during the Prophet Muhammad’s time, Islamic laws in the Qur’an regulated different practices in the society, which were derogatory to women. For instance, men are expected to provide act as breadwinners and for their families. This therefore, safeguards the woman from financial and economic strains when she gets into marriage. In addition, married women in Islam would now have the privilege of enjoying their personal wealth, without any law demanding that they share with their husband (Guity and Beck 36). Furthermore, while the dowry negotiations were conducted between a woman’s father and her husband-to-be, during Prophet Muhammad’s time, this was changed in favour of the woman. The bride would now be responsible for the reception of her dowry. Therefore, this aimed at improving the economic status of the woman. With regard to divorce, during Prophet Muhammad’s time, the woman herself, and not her father, would decide whether it was right to end a marriage. Before Prophet Muhammad and Islam, upon divorce, the woman’s father was expected to repay the dowry to husband of his daughter. However, Islamic law forbids the man to demand the re-imbursement of his bride wealth even after a divorce is effected. In addition, if a man divorces their wife, they are forbidden from reclaiming any gifts they had offered them. All these had the objective of restoring the economic status of women in society. On the other hand, regulating the number of wives a man can marry to four did away with the past beliefs before Islam, which promoted the objectification of women in society. The time of Prophet Muhammad is therefore, considered to have a positive bearing on women, by changing their position and role in society for the best. Most of the negative practices that discriminated against women were eliminated in society. Female infanticide was one of the greatest setbacks to women rights in society before the coming of Muhammad the Prophet. After the advent of Islam, female infanticide was abolished, and this was a great milestone in granting women their rights. Apart from the abolishment of female infanticide, women were also allowed to inherit property, a right, which they had been denied before the advent of Islam and coming of Prophet Muhammad. The inheritance law in Islam demanded that women are subject to half of what the males in the family inherited from parents, siblings, spouse or children (Guity and Beck 36). Such provisions favoured women and gave them a better experience, compared to their life before Islam. 3. Women’s Position During the Abbasid Era Islam spread in the Abbasid dynasty during the period of 600-1400. This saw many Arabs and Non-Arabs adopt the religion of Islam. During this period, Islam was under the influence of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, and therefore, the Muslim faithfuls had adhered to the Islamic law. Women were enjoying the privileges that came with the teachings of the Prophet, which had granted them more social and economic freedom, as well as freedom from discriminatory practices that were perpetuated on them before the Prophet. However, things took a turn when after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 (Leila 66). The era of Abbasid is historically important, as this represents a period when women in Islam were highly exploited and their roles highly restricted (Leila). When the Abbasid Dynasty conquered Sasanian and Byzantine lands, this gave an opportunity to Arabs to exclude women from the political limelight, thus, making the position of women to highly decline during this period. At first, the lives of women underwent slow deterioration, followed by greater effects. According to Guity and Beck (37), the main factor that led to the decline of women’s position in the Abbasid era was the discrepancies in the Qur’an teachings and the Arab’s position on Sharia law. The three main situations imposed on women during this period were based on clothing, seclusion, and the restriction of women from public space. During Prophet Muhammad’s time, these were not imposed on women. Therefore, the Arabs in Abbasid era adopted different beliefs, which were contrary from Prophet Muhammad’s teachings, and incorporated them into the law of their land. Guity and Beck (38) note that the Arabs adopted these restrictions from some of the societies, which they had conquered in war after the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632. Most of the influence is believed to have come from the Persians, with whom the Arabs in Abbasid interacted with at a high level. During the Abbasid era, Muslim women were restricted to their homes, performing childcare and other domestic chores. Wearing of veils by women became mandatory during this era, when the Abbasids took over the leadership of the Islamic world. Near the end of the Abbasid era, more restrictions were imposed on women. The wives and concubines of the Abbasid Caliphs were also restricted on public space, thus, were rarely allowed out of the palaces. Many women in slavery were taken as concubines by the caliphs. The wealthy, elite Muslim men in this period afforded acquired as many concubines as they could afford (Leila 83).This therefore, had taken the society back to the days of women objectification. During the Abbasid era therefore, the teachings of Prophet Muhammad were forsaken. While the Prophet Muhammad taught equality between men and women, the leaders of the Abbasid Empire did not adhere to the teachings. Therefore, the death of Muhammad, the Prophet, resulted in the faltering of his teachings. However, the Islamic teachings and beliefs as taught by the Prophet have remained today. The fact that most of the population in Abbasid and Umayyad, including their caliphs, failed to adhere to Prophet Muhammad’s teaching after his death, did not make Islam collapse. Nonetheless, Prophet Muhammad is an icon in the Islam religion, because of his teachings, which transformed the society, and led to a harmonious living. Works Cited Leila, Ahmed. “Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate.” New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. Guity, Nashat & Beck, Lois. “Women in Iran from the rise of Islam to 1800.” Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 2003. Muslim Women’s League. “Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia.” 1995. Web. Viewed 8 April 2013 Read More