Observation

The candidates that chose this question mostly did not understand the question as the majority of them wrote on the general life of the pre-Islamic Arabs instead of limiting themselves to their political life. As such, the candidates failed to mention points such as the pre-Islamic Arabs settled in families, clans and ethnic groups; the clan formed the basis of society of the people; a number of kindred clans constituted the tribe; members of the same clan who were of blood relation referred to one another as sons of the originator of the clan; the highest political authority was exercised by the leader of the tribe who is referred to as the shaykh or sayyid and pre-Islamic Arabia did not have any centralized political structure. Thus, the candidates’ performance was just fair.