THE QURAN'S IMPACT ON THE WORLD

Before the coming of Islam the world was in a state of oppression and injustice. Pre-Islamic Arabia was a dreadful place to live in as the Arabs were a people without any set moral values. Slavery was an economic institution of the Arabs. Male and female slaves were bought and sold like animals, and they formed the most depressed class of the Arabian society. Illiteracy was common among the Arabs, as were alcoholism and adultery. Those with power and money took advantage of the poor by charging 100 per cent interest on loans. Arabia was a male-dominated society, men could marry any number of women and when a man died, his son "inherited" all his wives except his own mother. Women had virtually no legal status, for example they had no right to possess property and had little to no inheritance rights. Female infanticide was widely practiced as they used to bury their daughters alive. I think you can appreciate why this period of Arab history before the dawn of Islam is known as the period of ignorance!