Page 168 - UAE Truncal States

The Islamic Basis of Society

him a special place in society. Life in IhcTrucial States was usually
hard for everybody and the majority of those who could not go on the
pilgrimage did not have to face accusations of neglect of their duty
from over-zealous religious groups.

Conclusion
The common faith, which provided all the inhabitants of the area
with the same understanding of justice and law, and with a common
way of life, did not depend on the mosque and the religious
institutions as the only places where the sincerity of a Muslim’s belief
was manifest. The institutions were only a part of the Muslim system
of life which was shared by the whole population and gave this
society its homogeneity.

Religion and family life
The absolute necessity for any locally born individual to be and to
remain integrated into a clan and a tribal system stems from the
tribal rather than the Islamic basis of society. But the way in which
the members of the family arrange their lives together, and incorpo­
rate other members of the society into the family unit by marriage, is
to a very large extent prescribed by the tenets of Islam. To describe
the family life of the traditional society on the Trucial Coast only in
terms of the influence of Islam on it would be inadequate, because the
origin of the traditions and the very basis of tribal society, both of
which rule family life, are also inter-twined with the tribal roots of
Islam.

The Harim40
The form that family life takes is largely moulded by the role of
the women in it. To the outsider this role is obvious in the way in
which the family accommodation is built and allocated to the mem­
bers of the family and to the various functions. In the Trucial States
every house or tent provides for a segregated area called harim. An
extended family in a typical household lives within the confines of a
rectangular barasli-fenced compound including a courtyard; most of
the barasti buildings opening onto the courtyard are used by all the
family and therefore form part of the harim. The majlis, which is open
to visitors, usually occupies one side of the courtyard. Sometimes it
has a door directly to the outside but in many houses access to it is
through the courtyard and a few yards from the main front door.41 In

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