This thesis is an attempt to interpret the conception of authority that was predominant among the Central and Northern Arabs at the time immediately preceding the rise of Islam. Since that conception was not explicitly formulated, we have analyzed the role and influence of the different political and religious functionaries as well as the reactions of their "subjects" to their commands in order to discover the basis of legitimacy for that authority. As there exists an essential relationship between authority and society, we have presented the social and economic organization and the ideal values of the pre-Islamic Arabs which might have influenced their conception of authority. That is why we discuss the Bedouin and the urban settlements separately. As a possible origin and justification of authority, we discuss its connection with religion, in particular, whether in pre-Islamic times there ever existed a theocratic rulership. [...]

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