Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

The Moral Degradation
In the moral sphere one of the chief ills was the nefarious practice -of burying girl babies alive. The Arabs were also passionately addicted to drinking, gambling and music. Female singers, notorious for their immorality, were held in the highest esteem, the leading chiefs and magnates of the tribes paying public court to them. Now I take up as one by one vices of the pre-Islamic Arabs.
1. The Status of Women (a) The Killing of Daughters
The position of women there was worse than that of the women of any other country in ancient history. The pre-Islamic Arabs regarded their women as chattels and looked upon them with bitter contempt. Among Bani Tamim and the Quraysh daughters were regarded as a nuisance and some fathers prided themselves on their feats of murdering their daughters. When a daughter grew up to the age of five or six, the callous father buried her alive inspite of her soul-harrowing cries. With the exception of a few tribes all other soiled their hands with their daughter’s blood. Some killed their children for fear of poverty as stated in the Holy Qur’an. And kill you not your children for fear of poverty. We provided them with livelihood and you also; surely killing them is a heinous sin. So in pre-Islamic Arabia women had no rights and no social respect. (b) The Marrying of Widows
When a person died and left a widow or widows, the nearest male relation had to cover her or them with his mantle and they become his wives. Even a son, in this way took his step-mother as his wife. This most heinous custom was abolished by the Holy Qur’an (iv 22): And marry not those women whom your fathers have married. But what is past (is past); Surely (such marrying) is an indecency and a heinous affair; and an evil way. All this was possible because there was no authority to enforce any laws in Arabia except tribal customs and because women’were regarded as mere chattels.
(c) Fornication and Adultery
The relations amongst men and women in pre-Islamic Arabia were such as were not and couldn’t be controlled by any laws. The women were as lawless as the men and that may have provided some excuse to fathers who killed their .own daughters. Girls of

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Political and Cultural History of Islam
flirting disposition putting on their ornaments to look their best would go to the outskirts of the city where they allowed the menfolk to take full liberty with them. These people were not in the least ashamed of their promiscuous relations. They did not offend their sense of decency.