MENAS 398 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Arab Spring, Arab Culture, Premarital Sex

• School: U of M
• Department: Middle Eastern And North African Studies
• Course: MENAS 398
• Professor: Noah Gardiner

Document Summary

Week 1: january 13 and 15: this week, you read a translation of imru al-qay"s mu"allaquat (most venerated poem). In what ways does this poem reflect your current understanding of life in pre-islamic. Also, please share your favorite line of the qasida at the bottom of your forum post. Life in pre-islamic arabia seems to be dictated by higher power. Imru al-quay was constantly avoiding the guards as he made his way to his love, in order to satisfy his urges. The way he spoke during his poem, it was made clear that the woman he was sleeping with was not betrothed to him. He was hiding from the guards as he went to have intercourse, and he made sure to take his companion far from the camping grounds when he engaged with her. These instances demonstrate, how pre-marital sex wasn"t favored even then, just as pre-marital intercourse isn"t promoted in the arab countries now.