1. Introduction to Women in Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Societies

Women in many societies can be seen today to have gained status and perhaps in the trade-off have lost female privilege as many of the patriarchal practices of the past have been tossed away. In early evolving Islamic Arabia, we see women gaining privilege and losing status with the cultural changes born of patriarchy. How does one weigh these gains and losses against each other, and is status more important than privilege? One way to see these changing cultural systems is to see the status of women through what one sees echoed in ancient mythology and religious or magical artifacts that favored the position of the goddess. In a society where mythology centers on a male god who is dominant in all of the aspects of deity and who dominates any consorts or human females in the mythology, there will be a lower status of females in that society. As mythology also explains ritual, it is therefore implied that females had more involvement in the rites and decisions of the group as reflected in the actions of the goddesses, and fewer roles under male-dominating deities. Such cultural change is especially evident in Greek mythology where Goddesses begin to be replaced by Gods to fulfill the Goddess functions, as seen in the Greek cultural shift. The Olympian gods replace the more ancient Titan’s pantheon now drawn from a new culture that includes patriarchy and lowers the status of women and diminishes such mighty deities as Gaia, mother of all.

Greek Goddess Gaia Mother Earth

In a striking symbol of the new religion, we even see Zeus giving birth to the goddess Athena, as Gaia once would have under the Titans. The goddesses and oracles of the older pantheon at Delphi are ousted by males led by the Olympian Apollo. Apollo's new religion triumphs as he kills the Python of Delphi, the dragon daughter of Gaia, Mother Earth. Python had been the protector of the female leaders of Delphi, who are now supplanted by the Olympian male oracles and gods. Apollo saw the female-oriented religious site as monstrous and through slaying the dragon Python, Delphi was transformed to a male-controlled site.

Inanna, al-Uzza or Allat as fertility goddess

In addition to mythology, we also see changes in religious practices, marriage customs and legislation in the settled areas of the Middle East such as Mesopotamia. We see from the evidence a former system with more freedom of movement and choice for women. The existence of specific legislation indicates a transition to a situation with increasingly more stringent rules regarding the disposition of women starting with the husband's physical control of his women and later evolving into government control of women's behavior, particularly control of female sexuality. The remnants of the ancient laws discovered in the Middle East thus demonstrate a downward trend in the egalitarian aspects of society as patriarchy becomes increasingly entrenched. At the same time, the patrilineal wife in Mesopotamia, though dominated, still had privileges and status in her secluded position:

1. She had slaves
2. She was considered higher than the concubines and "public" women
3. She could own and administer her property.

Even under patriarchy, women in the ancient Middle East were also seen as powerful and active people: they participated in public works, as counselors, held religious offices, and accompanied warriors to the battlefront as encouragers and helpers and were also found to be the strategic and courageous leaders of the forces. Information found in Islamic literature shows that women held the freedom to act in their environment prior to advent of Islam which was superior to that found after seclusion and dominance from the patriarchal society. While her status was lost, some privilege was gained in her secluded environment. In early Arabian Islamic society, unlike some patriarchal Arabian tribes, women were guaranteed an inheritance, one-half the portion of inheritance given to males. She received the mahr or bridewealth as well as this smaller portion of her father's property upon his death.

Eye Idol from Petra

The transition to Islam and a changed lifestyle was difficult for many women in the early years where the memory of women's previous possibilities was still retained. There is a sharp contrast between the pre-Islamic and later status in the lives of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Khadijah, Muhammad's first wife was free in many spheres such as owning a thriving trade business and exercising her freedom of choice in divorce and marriage. For example, in addition to being a widow, she also had a previous husband who was still alive during later Muslim battles, and as she was a woman of some wealth, it was probably on her own initiative that the divorce was made. She also made the suggestion of marriage to Muhammad when she was already forty and Muhammad's senior. This was a common privilege among women in the matrilineal society in the area, and many women still held such a status in pre-Islamic Arabia. In her marriage with Muhammad she was his only wife. Following her death he took on multiple wives immediately, which seems to indicate that the marital contract must have included the stipulation that she would be his only wife during her life. This stipulation, of course, was a female-oriented privilege seen in a practice known as mut’ah, or matrilineal marriage. Mut’ah was later adapted to become a male-favored custom of temporary marriage of early Islam and can still be seen today in Shi’ite Iran.

‘Aishah was Muhammad's favorite wife following Khadijah's death. She was the daughter of Abu Bakr, one of the companions of the Prophet, and the first Muslim ruler following Muhammad. She was married to Muhammad while still a child. She had been raised a Muslim, yet she was still able to be extremely active in the political realm and very open to expressing her opinion regarding religion and other matters. She is one of the authorities quoted on the life and traditions of Muhammad, recorded in the Hadith. Following Muhammad's death, his widows were not allowed to remarry and were encouraged to remain secluded and move into the background of the male-led empire; and thus the previously active ‘Aishah was forced to retire from many of her previous stalwart and influential activities.

Being forced to abide by the new Islamic laws must have been a trial for many early Arabian women. One allusion to the new hardships of Muslim women in giving up previous freedoms is seen in the tradition that the great-granddaughter of Muhammad, Sukaynah, was asked why she was so merry and her sister Fatimah so sad. Sukaynah replied that the reason for the difference in their temperaments was because "she had been named after her pre-Islamic great-grandmother, whereas her sister had been named after her Islamic grandmother" (Leila Ahmed. Women and gender in Islam: historical roots of a modern debate. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992. p.60). This quotation suggests that the pre-Islamic grandmother held certain privileges or freedoms not available to those born under the Islamic tradition.

Mesopotamian Inanna as Mistress of the Beasts

Other clues to the status of pre-Islamic women can be found in their roles in war, arbitration, religion, and sorcery. They were also the object of unbounded love as seen in poetic stories of passionate temporary and long-lasting relationships. The prominence of female deities in pre-Islamic Arab religion also indicates the importance of the feminine in the divine role seen in pre-Islamic Arabia. These deities continued to persist in the hearts of many converted Muslims, even as they had been proven false and unnecessary by Islamic dogma. Along with the clues found in pre-Islamic literature, it is through the integrity of the Muslim historians and recorders of hadith of the monotheistic, male-centered Islam that there remain several indicators of this distinct and powerful image of the pre-Islamic woman.