By SYED JALALUDDIN OMARI
Translation SYYED MANSOOR AGHA
Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari is an eminent Islamic scholar. To his credit are many acclaimed books. Main thrust of his works is to defuse misconceptions and misgivings about basic tenets of Islam. Status of women is one of the most misunderstood and wrongly presented aspects. In his scholarly work, Aurat- Islami Muashre me’n (Women in Islamic Society) Maulana Omari has dealt with the subject in an objective way. The book has been widely welcomed during the last five decades. Recently he revised and got it published with important additions.
Tahqeeqat-e-Islami, a quarterly magazine of Idara Tahqeeqat-e-Islami, Aligarh, published excerpts from the book in the form of an article. (See issue 1/30 – January-March 2011). Keeping in view the relevance of topic, a faithful translation of the same is being presented here. – SMA]
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF ISLAM
At times, before the advent of Islam, under the dark clouds of cruelty and ignorance, girl children were done to death. Sometimes it was the mother herself, whose heart is otherwise a pool of love and affection, who, after realising the sex of the new-born, pushed her in the arms of death. In some cases, when a girl attained age of six, her father would dig a pit, push his lovely daughter into it and fill it will earth. Those innocent lives who fled the brutality, were dressed in rough attire made of sheep’s wool and engaged in grazing camels and goats, etc.
It is reported that Qais bin A’asim (may Allah be pleased with him) buried eight girls alive, and according to another narration 12 out of 13 girls, during his period of ignorance (before he could embrace Islam). When he narrated this to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), he directed Qais to free the same number of slaves and he did follow. According to another report, his wealth was camels and he slaughtered the same numbers of camels as sadaqua (an offering in the name of Allah). (Maybe, he did both i.e. freed slaves and slaughtered camels.)
AGAINST HUMAN NATURE
Some people had feelings against this cruelty. Famous poet Farzooq’s grandfather Sa’sa’a bin Najia used to urge people against the practice. After coming to the fold of Islam, he told the Prophet that he saved lives of 63 (according to another report 360) girls, (this may be some exaggerated number) from being buried alive. He also said he gave one camel and two she-camels of ten months pregnancy in exchange of each girl he saved. The Prophet said to him, this is your piety, and for this Allah has rewarded you with Islam.
Since this barbaric act is against human nature, the possibility of other individual efforts was also there to stop it. Therefore, it cannot be adduced that killing of a female child was common among Arabs. If it had been so, existence of women would have been finished gradually. However, incidents of killing girl-children were not rare, but occurred in numbers. Akrama reported that some people of Rabia and Madhar tribes used to bury girl-children alive. In some cases two persons went into a pact to keep one daughter alive and kill the rest. Baghawi also reported that this ill-tradition was followed by Rabia, Madhar and some other tribes. It was not among Kinana tribe. Kinda tribe is also mentioned for this ill act, but it was not a general practice among all Arabs. Qazi Abu Mohammad says: “In general, Arabs did not practise this.”
ISLAM GIVES WOMAN RIGHT TO LIVE
From the very beginning, Islam treated “killing of children” as a grave issue and raised its voice against the evil. According to the tenets of Islam, killing of an individual is as grave a sin as murder of the whole humanity. To kill one’s own lovely, innocent kids, is the worst form of human killing. Every person takes birth in this world with his/her ‘right to live’ and he/she must get it definitely. What may be a greater cruelty than the kind hands of parents becoming ruthless hands of executioner to snatch the right to live of his/her own child and pushing her in the sleep of death!
MOTIVES TO KILL ONE’S OWN CHILD
There are certain factors which played as motives to kill one’s own child. The greatest is poverty or fear of paucity. (This factor still exists even in well-off societies. _SMA) There were some other factors also which motivated Arabs to kill their girl-child.
Clashes and armed conflicts were common among Arabs. Even for the slightest provocation, a tribe may attack another. It was feared that women cannot defend themselves and may be captured and later enslaved easily. Therefore, they thought it better that women do not exist.
They also believed wrongly that angels are daughters of Almighty Allah; if we killed our daughters, they will be in union with angels and therefore this is not a wrong act.
They also took it as a humiliation if their daughter got married in another tribe and felt that thus superiority of another tribe would be established upon theirs.
In case of boys, sometimes it happened that one would vow (make it obligatory for himself, which is called ‘nazar’) to ‘sacrifice’ his son if his some will or condition would be fulfilled. For example, if he had such and such numbers of sons, he would sacrifice one of them. There is a famous historical incident when Abdul Muttalib, the ancestor of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) vowed to sacrifice one of his sons near Ka’ba, provided he got 10 sons and all became capable to protect and support him. When his sons reached the age of adulthood, he stood up to fulfil his ‘nazar’. His sons also agreed. By draw Abdullah (father of Muhammad) was chosen to be slaughtered. When Abdul Muttalib was making preparations to slaughter Abdullah, people of his tribe Quraish stood up and vehemently appealed to him to desist. A priest was consulted and on his advice one hundred camels were sacrificed in place of Abdullah (who eventually became father of the last Prophet of Allah, the messenger of truth, piety, tolerance and peace for all).
QUR’ĀN REBUTS MOTIVES OF CHILD KILLING
As stated above, there were various social, economic and other excuses pertaining to their faith to kill their own children. The Qur’ān condemned them on all counts, rebutted their illusions, fallacies, superstitions and the absurdity of this aspect of faith. The Qur’ān reformed wrong ideologies and showed them the true picture of humanity.
The sixth Surah of Qur’ān – al-Ana’m – describes in detail the influence of polytheism on the deeds and vision of Arab idolaters. The Qur’ān points out that in the agrarian proceeds and in animals they used to spare a portion in the name of Allah and another in the name of their presumed gods. These presumed gods were so dear to them, or they were afraid of them to the extent, that they might mix the share of Allah with that of the presumed gods but the share of presumed gods could not be mixed with that of Allah. After that the Qur’ān says:
And likewise, to many polytheists, the partners (whom they believe to have a share in Allah’s Godhead,) have made the killing of their children fair, in order to lead them to ruin and to cover them with confusion in their religion; and had Allah willed, they would not have done so. So leave them busy in that which they invent. (Al-Ana’m-137)
Here the Qur’ān has mentioned ‘to many polytheists’. This indicates the polytheists who were indulged in the sin of killing their children. They were in good numbers, but this does not mean that the majority of Arabs was indulged in it.
This ayah reveals several aspects of killing of one’s own children.
1. Those, who Arabs believed were partners in Allah’s Godhead, have made the act of killing their own children decorative for polytheists. A barbaric and unjust act had been made so attractive to them that they did not even sense the severity of the cruel deed; instead they often think it a righteous act.
2. Who are the ‘partners’? These are the devils that plant false and erroneous ideas in the minds, and people used to adopt them willingly or unwillingly. The priests and religious entities, who give religious colour to false ideas or deeds, are also included in the devils and their followers adopt the erroneous things, taking them as righteous. Among them included are those leaders also, who, in the guise of wisdom, urge them to do wrong acts, like killing of children.
3. Thirdly, consider this phrase, “in order to lead them to ruin”. The expression makes it quite clear that killing of offspring is the path of self-destruction. The person who adopts this path does the crime to his own genocide. He virtually chops out his own hands. And the nation that takes this path gradually diminishes its own human-power and ultimately gets destroyed and vanished. Jin and human devils are showing this path of devastation to them.
Probably the feeling, that killing of one’s own child is a crime, has been present in the society in some form. But the Qur’ān for the first time made mankind aware about its gravity, repugnancy and destructive effects in such a detail. The history has confirmed what the Qur’ān warned. Today we see that many families have been destroyed under its effect. Human resources of nations are dwindling. This is the ruin of this life. The loss and impairment of hereafter will be even sterner, much more severe.
4. In this connection, the fourth point the Qur’ān mentions is “to cover them with confusion in their religion”. Basically, real “Deen” (religion, servitude of Allah, the creator) was that of Hazrat Ibraheem and Hazrat Ismael, which was free from impurities of polytheism and cruel acts like the genocide of one’s own generation. But the Jin and human devils mixed the impurity of polytheism with the purity of monotheism and showed the path of child-killing in place of love and affection for progeny. The polytheists of Arab are following the same path. This world is the place for examination. Those, who are making false claims in the name of religion, are not worthy to be listened.
In the same context, after two Ayahs, the Qur’ān says:
Most surely they became losers, who, in their folly and ignorance killed their own children. (Al-Ana’m-140)
This expression is declaration of the fact that ‘killing of one’s own children’, irrespective of any excuse or reason, is an action of loss and ruin. This act is expression of utter ignorance and unawareness. There can be no reasonable excuse. To validate logical, social, cultural, moral or religious reason for this act is quite impossible.
(to be continued)