Marriage Practices
In Pre-Islamic Arabia a variety of different marriage practices existed. The most common and recognized types of marriage at this time consisted of: marriage by agreement, marriage by capture, marriage by purchase, marriage by inheritance and "Mot'a" or temporary marriage.
Marriage by Agreement
Marriage by agreement consisted of an agreement between a man and his future wife's family. This marriage could be within the tribe or between two families of different tribes. In the case that involved a man and woman of two different tribes, the woman would leave her family and permanently reside within her husband.
The tribe of the husband then kept the couples children, unless a different arrangement was previously made which returned the children to their mother's tribe. In other cases women were forbidden from marrying outside of the tribe and had to either marry another member or a stranger who would agree to live within her tribe.
The reason for inter-tribal marriages was to ensure the protection and possession of the children the couple would produce. Women in inter-tribal marriages received more freedom and retained the right to dismiss or divorce their husbands at any time. The women had precise rituals they used to inform their husbands of their dismissal, such as this: "if they lived in a tent they turned it around, so that if the door faced east, it now faced west, and when the man saw this, he knew that he was dismissed and did not enter".
Marriage by Capture
Marriage by capture, or "Ba'al", was a common pre-Islamic marriage practice. Most often taking place during times of war, marriage by capture occurred when women were taken captive by men from other tribes and placed on the slave market of Mecca. From the slave market these women were sold into marriage or slavery.
In captive marriages men bought their wives and therefore had complete control over them. Women in these marriages had no freedom and were subjected to following their husbands orders and bearing his children. These women became their husbands property and had no rights to divorce or dismissal of her husband and therefore completely lost any previous freedom. Her husband had absolute authority over her, including the exclusive right to divorce. The husbands of these marriages were classified as their wife's lord or owner and had complete rights to his wife and her actions.
Marriage by Purchase
Marriage by purchase was a more traditional marriage practice. These marriages consisted of a woman's family paying a man "Mahr", or a dowry, to marry their daughter. The dowry usually consisted of items like camels and horses. Women in purchase marriages faced the same oppression as the women who were forced into marriages by capture.
This practice may have led to a decrease in female infanticide due to the profit a family could incur for selling their daughter. Women in these marriages were subject to their husbands control and had very little rights or freedom of their own.
Marriage by Inheritance
Marriage by inheritance, thus incestuous relationships between a son and his own mother was "a widespread custom throughout Arabia, including Medina and Mecca". This practice involved the possession of a deceased man's wife being passed down to his son.
In such a case, the son has several different options. He could keep her (own mother) as his wife, arrange a marriage by purchase for her to enter into from which he would receive a dowry for her, or he could simply dismiss her and had the right to forbid her to remarry. In these cases, as in the majority of marriage practices at this time, the woman had little or no rights and was subjected to follow the orders or her inheritor.
Marriage PracticesIn Pre-Islamic Arabia a variety of different marriage practices existed. The most common and recognized types of marriage at this time consisted of: marriage by agreement, marriage by capture, marriage by purchase, marriage by inheritance and "Mot'a" or temporary marriage.Marriage by AgreementMarriage by agreement consisted of an agreement between a man and his future wife's family. This marriage could be within the tribe or between two families of different tribes. In the case that involved a man and woman of two different tribes, the woman would leave her family and permanently reside within her husband.The tribe of the husband then kept the couples children, unless a different arrangement was previously made which returned the children to their mother's tribe. In other cases women were forbidden from marrying outside of the tribe and had to either marry another member or a stranger who would agree to live within her tribe.The reason for inter-tribal marriages was to ensure the protection and possession of the children the couple would produce. Women in inter-tribal marriages received more freedom and retained the right to dismiss or divorce their husbands at any time. The women had precise rituals they used to inform their husbands of their dismissal, such as this: "if they lived in a tent they turned it around, so that if the door faced east, it now faced west, and when the man saw this, he knew that he was dismissed and did not enter".
Marriage by Capture
Marriage by capture, or "Ba'al", was a common pre-Islamic marriage practice. Most often taking place during times of war, marriage by capture occurred when women were taken captive by men from other tribes and placed on the slave market of Mecca. From the slave market these women were sold into marriage or slavery.
In captive marriages men bought their wives and therefore had complete control over them. Women in these marriages had no freedom and were subjected to following their husbands orders and bearing his children. These women became their husbands property and had no rights to divorce or dismissal of her husband and therefore completely lost any previous freedom. Her husband had absolute authority over her, including the exclusive right to divorce. The husbands of these marriages were classified as their wife's lord or owner and had complete rights to his wife and her actions.
Marriage by Purchase
Marriage by purchase was a more traditional marriage practice. These marriages consisted of a woman's family paying a man "Mahr", or a dowry, to marry their daughter. The dowry usually consisted of items like camels and horses. Women in purchase marriages faced the same oppression as the women who were forced into marriages by capture.
This practice may have led to a decrease in female infanticide due to the profit a family could incur for selling their daughter. Women in these marriages were subject to their husbands control and had very little rights or freedom of their own.
Marriage by Inheritance
Marriage by inheritance, thus incestuous relationships between a son and his own mother was "a widespread custom throughout Arabia, including Medina and Mecca". This practice involved the possession of a deceased man's wife being passed down to his son.
In such a case, the son has several different options. He could keep her (own mother) as his wife, arrange a marriage by purchase for her to enter into from which he would receive a dowry for her, or he could simply dismiss her and had the right to forbid her to remarry. In these cases, as in the majority of marriage practices at this time, the woman had little or no rights and was subjected to follow the orders or her inheritor.
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