Saudi Arabia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example As Prophet Mohammad was responsible for converting members of all communities into Islamic faith, the constitution of Saudi Arabia has been the Holy Koran. The Islamic law, called Shari’a guides the country. The King is bound by such laws, along with the advice of Ulema, the religious scholars. The status of women has improved, as compared to the same that was prevalent during the pre-Islamic period, in Arabian region. However, the same needs lot of further reforms, as the present laws are definitely against females. Incidentally, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world, where women are not allowed to drive. The oil boom, starting from 1950-60 has brought prosperity and huge economic development to the nation, which is evident everywhere in the country, currently. Pre-Islamic history of Saudi Arabia Before the dawn of Islam and arrival of Prophet Mohammad, as messenger from God; the whole Arabian Peninsula was fragmented into different tribes, with no cohesion or authori ty. As there was total lack of any political organization or activity, in \the whole region; the moral authority of tribal chiefs ruled the day, which was decided by their personality and character. However, Yemen was an exception, as it had some sort of a political government. Due to lack of any government in the Arabia, the Justice was delivered, barely as per the wishes of injured victim, which most often resulted in harsh cruelty. Since no judges, police or other law enforcing agencies prevailed, the rule of justice was based on the feelings of revenge. Hence, the confederation of tribes played an important part to protect people from enemies, seeking such revenge. (Arabia Before Islam) No political authority The life in Arabia, during late sixth and early seventh century, A.D, just before the arrival of Prophet Mohammad, revolved mainly around war and other feuds among various tribes. As it is, the region is mostly covered by the Arabian Desert, which could not support life, as progressively, as is being done now. Therefore, war was seen as an instrument to reduce the population, while people enjoyed participating in such battles. They took it as an activity to kill their time, while war gave them the opportunity to show case their skills with bows, arrows, horsemanship and so on. The victory of the people in war would bring honor to the whole tribe. There were mainly two groups of Arabian population, at that time, called Hejaz and Bedouins. While people belonging to Hejaz section were settlers along the towns, Bedouins were nomadic tribes, which used to wander around, looking for their own prey. The sedentary population of Hejaz group always feared the nomads, as Bedouins were deemed to be the pirates of the desert, following their own anarchic traditions. The lack of any political authority, until the rise of Islam in the region was responsible for arrogance of the people. The command of any tribal leader and obedience to the same was mainly based on th e sharing of booty, during any battle. The obedience would vanish, once the sharing gets over, as the members would freely change their loyalty. Religions followed in pre-Islamic Arabia Various tribes followed different religious faiths. Most of the population was idol worshippers, as Kabba in Makkah had around 360 idols made from stone and wood. The tradition says that it