在对阿拉伯半岛的宗教与政治生活进行研究之后,现在适宜简要谈谈当时那里盛行的社会、经济与伦理状况。

After the research we have made into the religious and political life of Arabia, it is appropriate to speak briefly about the social, economic and ethical conditions prevalent therein.

阿拉伯社会呈现出一幅社会百态的图景，其中包含着各不相同、形形色色的社会阶层。在贵族阶层中，女性的社会地位达到了较高的尊崇程度。女性享有相当大的自由意志，她的决定通常会得到执行。她备受珍视，以至于为了捍卫其荣誉，人们很容易流血牺牲。事实上，她是决定战争流血或和平友好的最关键因素。尽管有这些特权，阿拉伯的家庭制度却完全是父权制的。婚姻契约完全掌握在女方法定监护人手中，其关于女方婚姻状况的话语决不容置疑。

The Arabian Society presented a social medley, with different and heterogeneous social strata. The status of the woman among the nobility recorded an advanced degree of esteem. The woman enjoyed a considerable portion of free will, and her decision would most often be enforced. She was so highly cherished that blood would be easily shed in defence of her honour. In fact, she was the most decisive key to bloody fight or friendly peace. These privileges notwithstanding, the family system in Arabia was wholly patriarchal. The marriage contract rested completely in the hands of the woman’s legal guardian whose words with regard to her marital status could never be questioned.

另一方面,在其他社会阶层中,卖淫和淫乱行为十分猖獗,并且公然进行。艾卜·达乌德根据阿伊莎(愿真主喜悦她)的传述,记载了伊斯兰前阿拉伯半岛的四种婚姻形式:第一种与当今的婚姻程序相似,即男子在双方商定彩礼之后,将女儿嫁给另一名男子。第二种,丈夫在妻子经期结束后,让她与另一名男子同居以期怀孕,待她受孕后,丈夫若愿意,便会与她发生性关系。第三种,少于十人的一群男子与同一名女子发生性关系。若她怀孕并生下孩子,她便会召集这些男子,谁也不能推辞,他们都要来到她的家中。她会说:“你们知道自己做了什么。我生下了一个孩子,这是你们的孩子。”(并指向其中一人)被指定的那个人必须接受。第四种,大量男子与某个特定的女子(妓女)发生性关系,她不会阻拦任何人。这类女子会在门口挂一面特定的旗帜,邀请任何喜欢的人进入。若这名妓女怀孕并生下孩子,她便会召集那些男子,由一位占卜者判定孩子是谁的。被指定的父亲便会收养这个孩子,并宣称其为自己的骨肉。当穆罕默德ﷺ在阿拉伯半岛宣布伊斯兰教时,他废除了所有这些形式的两性关系,只保留了伊斯兰的婚姻制度。 妇女总是陪同男子出征。胜利者可以随意与这些女子发生性关系,而以这种方式出生的孩子,终其一生都要蒙受耻辱。 伊斯兰前的阿拉伯人对妻子的数量没有限制。他们可以同时娶两姐妹为妻,甚至在离婚或丧偶后娶父亲的妻子。离婚的权力在很大程度上掌握在丈夫手中。

On the other hand, there were other social strata where prostitution and indecency were rampant and in full operation. Abu Da’ûd, on the authority of ‘Aishah(May Allah be pleased with her) reported four kinds of marriage in pre-Islamic Arabia: The first was similar to present-day marriage procedures, in which case a man gives his daughter in marriage to another man after a dowry has been agreed on. In the second, the husband would send his wife – after the menstruation period – to cohabit with another man in order to conceive. After conception her husband would, if he desired, have a sexual intercourse with her. A third kind was that a group of less than ten men would have sexual intercourse with a woman. If she conceived and gave birth to a child, she would send for these men, and nobody could abstain. They would come together to her house. She would say: ‘You know what you have done. I have given birth to a child and it is your child’ (pointing to one of them). The man meant would have to accept. The fourth kind was that a lot of men would have sexual intercourse with a certain woman (a whore). She would not prevent anybody. Such women used to put a certain flag at their gates to invite in anyone who liked. If this whore got pregnant and gave birth to a child, she would collect those men, and a seeress would tell whose child it was. The appointed father would take the child and declare him/her his own. When Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) declared Islam in Arabia, he cancelled all these forms of sexual contacts except that of present Islamic marriage Women always accompanied men in their wars. The winners would freely have sexual intercourse with such women, but disgrace would follow the children conceived in this way all their lives. Pre-Islam Arabs had no limited number of wives. They could marry two sisters at the same time, or even the wives of their fathers if divorced or widowed. Divorce was to a very great extent in the power of the husband.

在伊斯兰教出现之前，淫乱之事几乎在各个社会阶层中都很盛行，只有少数自尊自重的男女不去做这种事。自由女子的境况远比女奴好得多，而女奴则是最大的灾难。看来，伊斯兰前的阿拉伯人中，绝大多数人并不以犯下这种淫行为耻。 艾卜·达五德记载：有一个人站在先知穆罕默德ﷺ面前说：“安拉的先知啊！这个男孩是我的儿子。我在伊斯兰之前的时代与他的母亲有过性行为。”先知ﷺ说：

The obscenity of adultery prevailed almost among all social classes except few men and women whose self-dignity prevented them from committing such an act. Free women were in much better conditions than the female slaves who constituted the greatest calamity. It seemed that the greatest majority of pre-Islam Arabs did not feel ashamed of committing this obscenity. Abu Da’ûd reported: A man stood up in front of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and said: “O Prophet of Allâh! that boy is my son. I had sexual intercourse with his mother in the pre-Islamic period.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

“伊斯兰教中对前伊斯兰时期的事务不予追究。孩子应归属于在其床上出生的那一方，通奸者则应受石刑。”

• “No claim in Islam for pre-Islamic affairs. The child is to be attributed to the one on whose bed it was born, and stoning is the lot of a fornicator.”.

关于前伊斯兰时期阿拉伯人与其子女的关系，我们看到阿拉伯半岛的生活充满矛盾，呈现出一幅阴郁而对比鲜明的图景。一些阿拉伯人珍视子女，对他们倍加疼爱；另一些人则因为对贫穷和耻辱的虚幻恐惧而压在心头，将自己的女儿活埋。然而，不能因此认为杀婴之举普遍而不可遏制，因为阿拉伯人迫切需要男性子嗣来保护自己，抵御敌人。

With respect to the pre-Islam Arab’s relation with his offspring, we see that life in Arabia was paradoxical and presented a gloomy picture of contrasts. Whilst some Arabs held children dear to their hearts and cherished them greatly, others buried their female children alive because an illusory fear of poverty and shame weighed heavily on them. The practice of infanticide cannot, however, be seen as irrevocably rampant because of their dire need for male children to guard themselves against their enemies.

贝都因人（游牧阿拉伯人）对其部族怀有根深蒂固的情感依恋，这是阿拉伯人生活中另一值得一提的方面。家族，或者说部族荣誉感，是他们最强烈的情感之一。血缘同源的观念，作为将阿拉伯人联结为一个社会整体的原则，正是由部族荣誉感所形成并维系的。他们无可争议的座右铭是：“انصرأخاك ظالما أو مظلوما——无论你的兄弟是施暴者还是受害者，都要支持他”，按其字面意思理解；而他们忽略了伊斯兰的修正，即支持施暴的兄弟，意味着阻止他去作恶。

Another aspect of the Arabs’ life which deserves mention is the bedouin’s deep-seated emotional attachment to his clan. Family, or perhaps tribal-pride, was one of the strongest passions with him. The doctrine of unity of blood as the principle that bound the Arabs into a social unity was formed andsupported by tribal-pride. Their undisputed motto was: “انصرأخاك ظالما أو مظلوما — Support your brother whether he is an oppressor or oppressed” in its literal meaning; they disregarded the Islamic amendment which states that supporting an oppressor brother implies deterring him from transgression.

对领导权的贪欲，以及强烈的好胜心，常常导致部落之间的残酷战争，尽管他们同出一个共同的祖先。在这方面，奥斯与海兹拉杰、阿卜斯与祖比扬、伯克尔与塔useful格卜之间持续不断的血腥冲突，便是显著的例子。

Avarice for leadership, and keen sense of emulation often resulted in bitter tribal warfare despite descendency from one common ancestor. In this regard, the continued bloody conflicts of Aws and Khazraj, ‘Abs and Dhubyan, Bakr and Taghlib, etc. are striking examples.

部族之间的关系因连绵不断的消耗性部族战争而脆弱不稳。然而，对宗教迷信的深切虔信以及一些受到尊崇的习俗，遏制了他们冲动嗜血的倾向。在另一些情况下，结盟、忠诚与依附所带来的动机与敬重，能够有效地营造和睦的气氛，并消弭毫无根据的争端。一项历史悠久的习俗，即在禁月（穆哈兰姆月、赖哲卜月、宰尔喀尔德月和宰尔黑哲月）内暂停敌对行动，产生了良好的作用，为他们谋生和和平共处提供了机会。

Inter-tribal relationships were fragile and weak due to continual inter-tribal wars of attrition. Deep devotion to religious superstitions and some customs held in veneration, however, used to curb their impetuous tendency to quench their thirst for blood. In other cases, there were the motives of, and respect for, alliance, loyalty and dependency which could successfully bring about a spirit of rapport, and abort groundless bases of dispute. A time-honoured custom of suspending hostilities during the prohibited months (Muharram, Rajab, Dhul-Qa‘dah, and Dhul-Hijjah) functioned favourably and provided an opportunity for them to earn their living and coexist in peace.

我们可以这样概括伊斯兰前阿拉伯的社会状况：伊斯兰前时期的阿拉伯人在黑暗与无知中摸索，陷入层层迷信的网罗之中，这些迷信麻痹了他们的心智，使他们过着近乎禽兽般的生活。妇女被视为可以买卖的商品，被当作一件没有生命的财产。部落之间的关系脆弱不堪。对财富的贪婪和卷入毫无意义的战争，是支配其首领们以自我为中心的政策的主要目标。

We may sum up the social situation in Arabia by saying that the Arabs of the pre-Islamic period were groping about in the dark and ignorance, entangled in a mesh of superstitions paralyzing their mind and driving them to lead an animal-like life. The woman was a marketable commodity and regarded as a piece of inanimate property. Inter-tribal relationships were fragile. Avarice for wealth and involvement in futile wars were the main objectives that governed their chiefs’ self-centred policies.

经济状况与社会氛围相互一致。阿拉伯人的生活方式可以非常清楚地说明这一现象。贸易是满足他们生活需要最常见的方式。商队的贸易之旅，若没有商路的安全和部落之间的和平共处，就无法完成；而这两项至关重要的条件，在阿拉伯半岛却十分匮乏，只有在禁月期间才得以例外，阿拉伯人正是在这些月份里举行欧卡兹、祖·马贾兹、米贾纳等集会。

The economic situation ran in line with the social atmosphere. The Arabian ways of living would illustrate this phenomenon quite clearly. Trade was the most common means of providing their needs of life. The trade journeys could not be fulfilled unless security of caravan routes and inter-tribal peaceful co-existence were provided – two imperative exigencies unfortunately lacking in Arabia except during the prohibited months within which the Arabs held their assemblies of ‘Ukaz, Dhil-Majaz, Mijannah and others.

阿拉伯人的心理与工业格格不入。阿拉伯境内可得的纺织和制革行业，大多由来自也门、希拉以及叙利亚边境地区的人经营。阿拉伯内地存在某种形式的农业和畜牧业。几乎所有阿拉伯妇女都从事纺纱，但即便是这一行当，也不断受到战争的威胁。总体而言，从经济上看，贫困、饥饿和衣物不足是阿拉伯地区普遍的特征。

Industry was alien to the Arabian psychology. Most of available industries of knitting and tannage in Arabia were done by people coming from Yemen, Heerah and the borders of Syria. Inside Arabia there was some sort of farming and stock-breeding. Almost all the Arabian women worked in yarn spinning but even this practice was continually threatened by wars. On the whole, poverty, hunger and insufficient clothing were the prevailing features in Arabia, economically.

我们不能否认，伊斯兰教以前的阿拉伯人身上存在大量的恶行。诚然，理智所彻底拒斥的种种恶习与罪恶在伊斯兰教以前的阿拉伯人中极为盛行，但这绝不能掩盖那些令人惊讶的、极其值得称赞的美德的存在，下面我们可以列举其中几项：

We cannot deny that the pre-Islam Arabs had such a large bulk of evils. Admittedly, vices and evils, utterly rejected by reason, were rampant amongst the pre-Islam Arabs, but this could never screen off the surprise-provoking existence of highly praiseworthy virtues, of which we could adduce the following:

1. 好客：他们彼此攀比待客之道，并以此为豪。他们的诗歌遗产中，差不多有一半都在颂扬款待宾客的美德与高尚。他们慷慨好客，甚至到了近乎过失的地步。遇到寒冷或饥饿的客人，他们会把自己私下留存的口粮让给客人。为了止息流血，他们也毫不迟疑地承担沉重的血债赔偿及相关负担，因此赢得赞美与颂扬。

1. Hospitality: They used to emulate one another at hospitality and take utmost pride in it. Almost half of their poetry heritage was dedicated to the merits and nobility attached to entertaining one’s guest. They were generous and hospitable on the point of fault. They would sacrifice their private sustenance to a cold or hungry guest. They would not hesitate to incur heavy blood-money and relevant burdens just to stop blood-shed, and consequently merit praise and eulogy.

2. 在好客的语境下，人们形成了饮酒的共同习俗，酒被视为慷慨与款待的一条延伸途径。饮酒在前伊斯兰时期的阿拉伯人中确实是一种引以为豪的事。那一时代的伟大诗人在他们悬挂的诗篇（悬诗）中，总少不了以最华丽的诗句，夸耀和赞美狂欢饮酒的场面。就连阿拉伯语中的“葡萄”一词，在读音和拼写上都与“慷慨”相同。赌博也是他们的另一习俗，与慷慨密切相关，因为赌博所得总是用于慈善。即使是《古兰经》，也并未淡化饮酒和赌博所带来的益处，而是说：

2. In the context of hospitality, there springs up their common habits of drinking wine which was regarded as a channel branching out of generosity and showing hospitality. Wine drinking was a genuine source of pride for the Arabs of the pre-Islamic period. The great poets of that era never forgot to include their suspending odes the most ornate lines pregnant with boasting and praise of drinking orgies. Even the word ‘grapes’ in Arabic is identical to generosity in both pronunciation and spelling. Gambling was also another practice of theirs closely associated with generosity since the proceeds would always go to charity. Even the Noble Qur’ân does not play down the benefits that derive from wine drinking and gambling, but also says,.

“它们的罪恶比它们的益处更大。”[2:219]

“And the sin of them is greater than their benefit.” [2:219].

3. 守约：对阿拉伯人来说，许下承诺便等于欠下了一笔债。为了坚守根深蒂固的守约传统，他宁愿付出儿女的性命、毁掉自己的家业，也不会吝惜。那一时期的文学作品中，有大量故事彰显了这一美德。

3. Keeping a covenant: For the Arab, to make a promise was to run into debt. He would never grudge the death of his children or destruction of his household just to uphold the deep-rooted tradition of covenant-keeping. The literature of that period is rich in stories highlighting this merit.