Women in Arab Society Essay

This essay examines the complex roles of women in traditional Arab tribal society, contrasting the pre-Islamic and post-Islamic periods. It argues that women enjoyed greater freedom and a more expansive role in pre-Islamic society. The essay cites Zaki (2016), who notes that some scholars believe women were better off in certain Middle Eastern cultures before the rise of Islam. The essay highlights how interpretations of the Quran led to gender inequity in the Islamic period, establishing a norm that contrasts sharply with the more liberal pre-Islamic era. The author uses historical accounts to support the claim that women's roles were more expansive and liberal before the establishment of Islam.

Women in Society: The Arab Context
The role of women in traditional Arabic tribal society had been a complicated one and
this can be argued by citing the mores and conventions of the concerned society in terms of
restricting and confining the activities of women up to certain specific limits. But it must be
said that their roles and responsibilities were far more liberalized in the pre-Islamic period
than in the Islamic period. In this respect, Zaki (2016), referring to Ahmed has stated that “in
come cultures of the Middle East women had been considerably better off before the rise of
Islam than afterward.” Such a comment is enough to fuel debates among scholars regarding
the nature of the role of women in traditional Arabic tribal society that existed and flourished
before the actual rise of Islam.
It can be quite interesting to learn that women played a wider role in pre-Islamic
traditional Arabic tribal society, and this can be argued by pointing towards the writings of
early historians and scholars who did show by providing examples how the Islamic religious
leaders showed dissent to the acts that were performed by women in the ‘pre-Islamic time’
(Zaki, 2016). Quite pathetically, in the Islamic period, interpreting the Quran in the
wrong way, some prominent Islamic religious heads suggested that the rights that Quran has
given to men are thoroughly different that what it has given to women (Zaki, 2016). This
shows that in the Islamic period, in the Arabic society, gender inequity was established as a
norm and as such a norm was anti-pre-Islamic, one can say that the role of women in the
traditional Arabic tribal society was more expansive and liberal than the role of women in the
society after the rise and establishment of Islam.
(291 words)

References
Zaki, S.B. (2016). Arab women before and after Islam: Opening the door of pre-Islamic
Arabian history. Arab Humanists. Retrieved June 15, 2017, from
http://www.arabhumanists.org/arab-women-pre-islam/