Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia, Time of Jahiliyyah via /r/MuslimNoFap

Assalamualaikum,

i wanted to talk about the history of per-Islamic Arabia pertaining to women and see the possible parallels between now and then.

Jahiliyyah 

is an Islamic concept of "ignorance of divine guidance" or "the state of ignorance of the guidance from God" or "Days of Ignorance" referring to the barbaric condition in which Arabs found themselves in pre-Islamic Arabia (in the non-Islamic sense), i.e. prior to the revelation of the Quran to Muhammad. The root of the term jahiliyyah is the I-form verb jahala'jahil' "to be ignorant or stupid, to act stupidly".

So we could discuss 

other issues like economics, social conditions, but i wanted to talk specifically on the status of women, because as we learned Islam came to liberate women and give them freedom and rights. They were viewed as objects and were constantly humiliated. Women had very little control over their marriages and could not inherit property. In the family, their purpose was nothing more but for bearing children although they did not have any rights to them. When a female baby was born it was considered a disgrace to the family and female infanticide was a common response

During this time, 

Women had almost no legal status under tribal law. There was no central government. Your tribe defines your rights and protects you from other tribes. This can be compared to nationalism today. I have american protection and freedoms. Another person can have rights of another country but its not necessarily equal rights and freedoms.

quran came and changed that stating

• 7:189 It is He who created you from one soul and created from it its mate that he might dwell in security with her.

• 4:1 O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women

   Women having no status, 

Fathers sold their daughters into marriage for a price. since they are sold it if often that Women had no right to choose, or even consent to being chosen as a partner for marriage; they were simply given away. This is still prevalent in the world today. Unfortunately i see it usually 3rd world countries with magnify glass on Muslim countries. But its not limited to these countries. This is an issue even in the US. between 2000-2010 3,853 children were married in the state of New York state. This is indiscriminate to the population. it affects any race, any religions, any kind of people. It happens

The husband can terminate the the marriage at will. 

This is interesting, England enacted a law in 1857 to allow divorces and the "floodgates were unleashed! 324 cases were filed. only 4 cases were brought by women. A husband needed to prove adultery to obtain a divorce. By contrast, a wife was required to prove adultery and some other especially aggravating circumstance to have the same grounds. Over the years, women learned that brutality, rape, desertion and financial chicanery did not count.

Best case scenario for women at the time was a legal separation, "separation from bed and board" they called it. it can be filed on the basis of life-threatening cruelty or adultery. This separation could include live apart from their husbands, often on an allowance fixed by the court. The process was expensive and tortuous—hence there were only a few dozen cases a year—and at the end, no matter what the grounds for the separation, a wife was still required to be chaste and obedient to her husband. Unless there were truly extenuating circumstances, she could expect to lose custody of her children, too.

Women also had little to no property or succession rights. 

In the Us After 1776, divorce law was less restrictive. Hearing divorce cases took the legislature away from what they deemed as more important work, so it was handed to the judiciary where it remains today. The big problem at the time, for women, at least, was that they were a legal non-entity in the sense that it was difficult for them to claim ownership of property or financial assets which worked against them in the case of a divorce. The Married Women’s Property Acts in 1848 went some way to rectifying this. but still very unequal since very few women were in the workforce to provide for themselves

here is a a timeline talking about women and their money though out history if you care

quran states,

• 4:32 And do not wish for that by which Allah has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned. And ask Allah of his bounty. Indeed Allah is ever, of all things, Knowing.

   one thing about divorced women in pre islamic arabia 

is they were forbidden to remarry if a husband divorced them. without family/tribe they had no protection and subject to having to sell themselves and humiliation.

Men in this time could have unlimited number of wives, 

There was no system of law and justice that would forbid a man from committing any injustice towards his wives. If a man dies his wives or women will be passed on to his sons excluding his birth mother. This is interesting because we have this similarity today. we had an incident at my university of guys posting a huge banner on move in day " Drop off your daughters here, daughter day care, drop off your mom too! Well take it from here. Our couch pulls out we dont, Plan B is Plan A. This kinda resembles the pass of women of a man to another younger man. Obviously it was met with controversy and such but this is an underlying symptom in society.

Women were also treated as 

as property and were viewed as war booty.

one huge this as well was the practice of female infanticide 

fathers usually became extremely angry and disgraced by the birth of a girl. reasons for such, economic burdens, and fear of humiliation frequently caused by girls being captured by hostile tribes. leading to women preferring their captors vs their tribe (This is a case of Stockholm syndrome)

the purpose of women in society were 

to produce offspring favoring males and take care of the house and such.

The veil was prevalent in society before Islam but 

it was only for women of status and showed elite power. Prostitutes and slaves were not allowed. Assyrian laws were so strict that intolerable consequences were enacted upon these women, some of which included beating or cutting their ears off. The veil was not only used to classify women according to their status, but it also labeled them based on their sexual activity and marital status. Ahmed, Leila (1992). Women and Gender in Islam. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 12–16.

one thing very few know is that 

women were stripped of very basic rights, quran even shows it

• 6:139 And they say, "What is in the bellies of these animals is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our females. But if it is [born] dead, then all of them have shares therein." He will punish them for their description. Indeed, He is Wise and Knowing.

women werent even allowed to drink milk!

4 types of marriages in time of jahiliyyah 

"There were four kinds of marriages during Jahiliyyah.

One was as we have it today; that is, a man would ask a person for the hand of his daughter or his ward in marriage, would pay the marriage-gift, and would marry her.

The second type was that a man would tell his wife, in between her menstrual periods, to call such and such man and become pregnant by him. He would stay away from her and would not touch her until the signs of pregnancy appeared. If he then wished, he would have intercourse with her. He adopted this method to obtain a son of high lineage.

A third form of marriage was polyandry. A group of men, less than ten, would come to a woman and have sexual intercourse with her. If she became pregnant and then gave birth to a child, and a few nights passed after childbirth, she would call them. No one could refuse this call. When they would all gather, she would tell them, 'You know the result. I have given birth to a child.' Then she would point to one of them and would say, 'This is his child.' The child would then be named after that person and would be considered his, and he could not deny this. A fourth form of marriage was that many men would go to a woman, and she was willing to accept any.

Actually, these were prostitutes and would place a flag in front of their doors as a sign. Anyone who wished would go to them. If such a woman became pregnant, after the delivery many people would gather by her and would call an expert in recognizing resemblances. To whomever he would ascribe the child's paternity, the child would be considered his and he could not refuse it."

some of these marriages sound like P to me honestly.

How are women treated nowadays, 

Objects, used only for sexual gratification, looks, as trophies (trophy wives) derogatory insults , the word b**** some women accept it and dont see it bad being called a b****. im sure you are all in college you hear it, i hear it. we see it in TV Musics. P Amplifies it. porn also allows violence on women. its common to be violent towards them. Women in college are expected to have sex before a relationship. I even heard if i buy girl dinner (a date) you better believe im gonna get some. Some prey on drunk women. We claim equailty this is 2016 but history shows islam set the golden standard and it seems were progressing were really not. how many women are anxious depressed have low self esteem, used, assaulted (verbally, sexually, physically) domestic violence is only a misdemeanor. Women are expected to show off their skin to be attractive and sexual harrasment isnt a big deal. What kind of world is this? Dont worry its 2016!

women's right in islam,

is here http://ift.tt/2eS1rNA