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Regular battles between the Bedouin clans erupted due to struggles to gain and control pastureland and water holes. Because they lived in a harsh desert environment, these oases and sources of food were vital to their survival. While the inter-clan rivalries and regular battles helped maintain clan cohesion, it also created a huge vulnerability to outside invaders. During the Mayday Era, there existed an internal conflict over the succession to the throne. The Sunnis believed that anybody could become caliph, while the Shiites believed that only descendants of All could rise as ruler.
This led to a split within the Arabs which sparked hostility and is still significant today. During the Basis Era, there were again internal disputes over succession to the throne. After third caliph al-Maid died, he failed to determine which of his older sons would take his place, and the eldest sons resorted to fighting each other for the throne. This was a precedent to wars breaking out between the sons whenever the time came for a new caliph. Over time, Arab princes formed slave armies in order to defend themselves and win over their brothers.
This large dependency on the slave armies led to the armies themselves becoming the real center of power. The issue of succession remained from the Mayday Caliphate to the Basis Caliphate because before Muhammad died, he never appointed a successor or created a system that would determine the next ruler. From the Bedouin clans to the Mayday Caliphate to the Basis Caliphate, the presence of internal struggles were kibbles in each and though they were for different causes, they all led to an increasing vulnerability of the Arab people as a whole.
Both men and women were allowed polygamy, and advice from women was highly regarded in councils. During the Mayday Caliphate, the morals and ethics of marriage were stressed. People were required to have a kindness and bond to their wives and daughters, and men and women were equal under the eyes of Allah. Although this may seem that women gained as much freedom and sights as men, it was still stressed in key legal rights that women were still held inferior to men. This incorporation of ideas was due to Muhammad and his introduction of Islam.
During the Basis Era, the woman’s position in both family and society plummeted. The harem and the veil were also introduced as a means to seclude women from society. This was because when the Persians took over the Muslim caliphate, their ideas or woman seclusion and isolation spread to the Arabs. Women were also married at puberty and had to be devoted to the household. The wives and concubines f the caliphs had to stay in the forbidden quarters, and rich women had no career outlet.
In fact, slave women had the most freedom, as they didn’t have to don veils or robes in public. From the Bedouin clans to the Mayday to the Basis, women gradually became less important. This was due to a mixture of both outside influences and the incorporation of Islam. From the time of the Bedouin clans to the Mayday rule to the Basis rule, internal fighting and self weakening remained a constant, while the status and inequality Of women decreased exponentially.