ABSTRACT
Before investigating the development of Islamic law from the time of the Prophet to recent modifications, it might be well to look again at the condition of society prior to the introduction of Islam in Arabia. Law, as we think of it today from the purely secular standpoint, or law that is a religious obligation, as in Isalam, had no counterpart in the tribal structure of the Arabian peninsula. The nomadic people of the area were organized into family or blood groups that owed a loose allegiance to an elected chief. Laws, if we can give them such a name, were little more than customs that sprang up through usage and common acceptance and which were enforce by public pressure or a leader's influence. The debt that Muslims law owes to pre-Islamic structures will be mentioned later; suffice it to say that the pagan law was divided between inter-tribal and intra-tribal regulations. 1 Since the former type became redundant when, under Islam, all believers came under one brotherhood, only custos that regulated the individual's life in society were retained.
