Fathwa, - Marriage in the pre-Islamic era

Question
what is the method of marriage before Islam in Arabs
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
The mother of the believers'Aa'ishahclarified this matter in the
Hadeeth reported byAl-Bukhaarion the authority of'Urwah ibn
Az-ZubayrthatAa'ishah)the wife of the Prophet( informed him thatthere
were four types of marriage during Jaahiliyyah )pre-Islamic period of
Ignorance( was of four kinds:
1-One type was similar to that of the present day, i.e.a man asks the
hand of a woman from her guardian or her father, and he gives Mahr
)dowry( to her and then he marries her.
2-The second type was that a man would say to his wife after she had
become clean from her period. "Send for so-and-so and have sexual
intercourse with him." Her husband would then keep away from her and
would never have sexual intercourse with her till she got pregnant
from the other man with whom she had sexual intercourse. When her
pregnancy became evident, he husband would have sexual intercourse
with her if he wished. Her husband did so )i.e. let his wife have
sexual intercourse with some other man( so that he might have a child
of noble breed. Such marriage was called as Al-Istibdaa'.
3-Another type of marriage was that a group of less than ten men would
assemble and enter upon a woman, and all of them would have sexual
relation with her. If she became pregnant and delivered a child and
some days had passed after delivery, she would send for all of them
and none of them would refuse to come, and when they all gathered
before her, she would say to them, "You )all( know what you have done,
and now I have given birth to a child. So, it is your child O
so-and-so!" naming whoever she liked, and her child would be
attributed to him and he could not deny him.
4-The fourth type of marriage was that many people would enter upon a
woman and she would never refuse anyone who came to her. Those were
the prostitutes who used to fix banners at their doors as a sign
]that they are prostitutes[, and he who would wish, could have sexual
intercourse with them. If anyone of them got pregnant and delivered a
child, then all those men would be gathered for her and they would
call the Qaa'if )some person skilled in recognizing the likeness of a
child to his father( to them and would let the child be attributed to
the man )whom they recognized as his father( and she would let him
adhere to him and be called his son. The man would not refuse all
that.
But when Muhammadwas sent with the truth, he abolished all the types
of marriages observed in Jaahiliyyah except the type of marriage the
people recognize today ]i.e. the Islamic marriage that fulfils all the
conditions and pillars of marriage[."
Allaah Knows best.