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How was the wife treated<br />
Most <strong>of</strong> the kinds <strong>of</strong> marriage which have been mentioned did<br />
not show any sign <strong>of</strong> deep emotions or feelings between the two<br />
partners which might suggest a true conjugal life. On the contrary,<br />
it was. regarded more or less as a sexual relationship and in.<br />
consequence <strong>of</strong> that, there were no deep intense feelings. However,<br />
if we consider BUI-tula marriage as the ideal kind <strong>of</strong> mariage, the<br />
relation between the husband and the wife would depend on three<br />
important factors<br />
1. The first one was the position <strong>of</strong> the wife's family; if the family<br />
<strong>of</strong> the wife was in a high position. this means that the husband might<br />
consider her family position and treat her well.<br />
2. If her tribe was far from her. the wife's position might be<br />
influenced by the loss <strong>of</strong> the protection <strong>of</strong> her tribe.<br />
3*. If the husband and the wife were cousins, it would be necessary<br />
for the husband to treat his wife well. But if the wife were from a<br />
low class in society. in this case, the wife might face a terrible<br />
life with her husband. who would ignore her, fail to respect her,<br />
or even beat her# with a whip.<br />
1<br />
In_general. the man in Jahiliyyah would not accept disobedience<br />
from his wife. but sometimes we might find the wife in settled society<br />
had a higher position than the one who lived in bedouin society as<br />
Hatab mentioned "In summary. some women became wealthy. either through<br />
inheritance or trading and managed to keep their wealth even after<br />
marriage, because in the marriage contract. the husband had the right<br />
to live with her and produce children but not to own her. These women<br />
took advantage <strong>of</strong> their status and dictated conditions to' their husbands#<br />
like for example, having the right to divorce them. or the children<br />
being named after their mother. 2<br />
1. U4ab. op. cit.. P. 53<br />
2. Ibid<br />
30<br />
I