The Quran substantially reformed the gender inequity of divorce practices that existed in pre-Islamic Arabia, although some patriarchical elements survived and others flourished during later centuries. Before Islam, divorce among the Arabs was governed by unwritten customary law, which varied according to region and tribe, and its observance depended on the authority of the individuals and groups involved. In this system, women were particularly vulnerable. The Quranic rules of marriage and divorce provided a fixed set of norms for all Muslims, backed by divine authority and enforced by the community. The early Islamic reforms included giving the wife a possibility to initiate divorce, abrogation of the husband's claim to his wife's property, condemnation of divorce without compelling reason, criminalizing unfounded claims of infidelity made by the husband, and institution of financial responsibilities of the husband toward his divorced wife. In pre-Islamic times, men kept their wives in a state of "limbo" by continually repudiating them and taking them back at will. The Quran limited the number of repudiations to three, after which the man cannot take his wife back unless she first marries another man. Additionally, the pre-Islamic bridewealth ("mahr"), which was paid by the groom to the bride's family, was transformed into a dower, which became property of the wife, though some scholars believe that the practice of giving at least a part of the "mahr" to the bride began shortly before the advent of Islam.