Arabia did not have a proper political system and social system in the Era of Ignorance. The majority of the people were leading a nomadic life. They were separated into tribes. A tribe is a community which determines its own social system. These nomadic tribes were continuously in conflict with each other. They were ready to attack and dishonor someone else and steal his goods at any given moment. Incursion and plunder were their means of livelihood. They used to attack an enemy tribe of theirs and take away their camels and enslave their women and children.

There had not been a time in which there was peace. If a tribe wronged another tribe, that tribe would try to gain revenge by applying the philosophy of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Wars, fighting and incursion were so rooted in their souls and lives that they would fight each other if they could not find any hostile tribe to fight against. The poet Qutami intends to express this situation with these lines, “If we cannot find anyone else, we will attack Bakrs, who are our brothers.” (1)

They had been living as tribes and clans for a long time and never thought about uniting around a central government. For this reason, the Peninsula was deprived of civilized and social laws. Therefore, cruelty, conflicts, battles and fights continuously occurred. Anyone could do anything he wanted if he had enough power. The powerful and reputable would always get away with everything they did. (2

1. Ahmad Amin, Fajru'l-Islam, Trns: Ahmed Serdaro?lu, p.37.

2. Ahmad Amin, Fajru'l-Islam, Trns: Ahmed Serdaro?lu, p.37-38