PRE-ISLAMIC ARAB JUDICIARY IN ISLAM

Abstract

The society of Arabs, before Islam, can be divided into two major groups, the Urbanities who led a semi civilized life in cities like Makkah and Madina, and the rural, who lived nomadic and uncivilized life in other part of Arabia. However, there was no government and ruling power to control the whole peninsula. It hits the mind of a reader that how the Arabs could over come the disputes which were sure in the absence of government. But he is certainly taken aback when he read that despite their ignorance illiteracy they succeed to remove their grievances and quarrels by adopting some simple and easy methods. This paper attempts to give a brief account of the methods for the system of judiciary adopted by the Arabs before Islam, and to discuss their validity according to Islamic Sharia.