Page 168 - UAE Truncal States_Neat
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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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