Islam Social Structure

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CCOT- SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND GENDER ROLES OF ISMAL FROM 600-800 CE The Islamic world was one of the most impressive and influential societies of the ancient world. Islam was a very religiously dedicated society that was frequently influenced by multiple changes, but managed to maintain characteristics and their ways of life as well. During the period of 600-800 CE, the social structure and gender roles of Islam such as matrimonial ways, boundaries of women, social class system, and land ownership, altered and stayed constant. Before Muhammad in Pre-Islamic society, the Bedouins practiced polygamy, which is when a man marries more than one woman. Polygamy carried on into the time of Muhammad, and throughout the 7th to 9th century. A change in this practice occurred when Muhammad restricted men to only four wives. Some believed that woman had the right to make their husbands loyal to only one woman, but that was very rare. Along with polygamy, divorce was legal as well, but that right was strictly given to only the husband. Power tended to lean more to the husband than the wife, since men could work professional jobs, along with taking care of the family. Muslims are considered one of the several “people of the book”, and follow the word of the Quran. The Quran clearly states that women should be treated with respect, but eventually Islamic custom ruled that out. Women in Islam, all throughout 600-800 CE, were not treated with much respect, as it was for most other cultures. Women were usually uneducated, and in the household, they were expected to raise children, cook, and clean. A huge alteration took place whenever women became slaves to men and the men became the dominant power. Women were locked in their homes, and prohibited from social contact with males outside of their family. They also had to cover themselves with a veil alone or even with family, but
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