Change and Continuity in the Status of Arab Women During the Pre Islamic Period and the
It has been evident in past civilizations that with the increase of political centralization and urbanization, there is a decline in the status of women. This correlation is also evident in the Islamic civilization. Although the Pre-Islamic Era and the Abbasid Empire both kept men and women in their gender-specific roles, the Pre-Islamic Era gave women more freedom and a stronger voice in the household and in society, while the Abbasid Empire totally confined women to the home. These drastic shifts in women’s social, political, and occupational rights were due in part to the Islamic religion and by the heavily absorbed Persian culture. Women of the Bedouin tribes, which were widespread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, usually experienced more freedom and a higher status than women in urbanized cores. Women were not deemed the superior gender, but were able to make significant contributions to Bedouin life.