PROF. U MUHAMMAD IQBAL presents how anti-daughter attitude of the past survives to this day in modern India, and argues how the Prophetic prophecy that there will come a time when women will form an overwhelming majority may come true after all.
In the enduring relationship between man and myth, it is the image of the woman that has got tarnished. Pandora brought her box full of life’s perennial problems. Satan, it is believed, found in Eve an ideal target for his evil-tongued eloquence, and she in her turn exploited Adam’s uxoriousness. Consequently somewhere in the deep collective unconscious of man, the image of the woman is that of an omen of inauspiciousness, deserving of severe suppression. Steps are taken to block her birth. If she outwits her detractors and manages to come into the world, she is subjected to infanticide, or disposed of by abandonment and exposure. If she manages to survive, she is allowed to survive through symbiotic relationship with the father, or the husband or the son during different phases of her life.
Economic independence of a woman was not envisaged in many social orders of the past, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari writes, “In the Arabian society of the pre-Islamic days, inheritance was denied to women. Their argument in this behalf was that she was weak, incapable of enhancing both one’s own and family’s resources and a hindrance rather than an asset in defending the enemies. She could not bring home spoils of war to improve the economic condition of the household and the tribe. And so she could not be the recipient of a share in the family’s substance.” (Rights of Muslim Women, translated by Sharif Ahmed Khan, New Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami Publishers, 2009, p.179).
The Qur’ān describes how the news of the birth of a daughter was responded to. “When any of them is told about the birth of a female, his face turns dark, and he is filled with suppressed anger, and he hides himself from people because of the bad news, thinking, should he keep the child despite disgrace, or should he bury it in dust? How evil is their estimate of Allah!’ (16: 58,59)
This anti-daughter attitude of the past survives to this day in modern India. A lady chartered-accountant from the south describes her experience. “They (in-laws) did not like my having a daughter. They said they conducted the traditional bangle ceremony only to have a boy. My mother-in-law did not even touch the child, she was so angry. They did not want to take care of my daughter, while I worked and did not want me to leave her with my maternal aunt. My husband kept saying their reaction was natural.” (Tehelka, October 2009)
When the birth of the first girl child is looked upon as something of a catastrophe, the arrival of the second girl child is described by M.P Padmakumar as follows: Her arrival many a time unsettles the delicate balance of equations in households to the extent that fathers go gloomy, (and) mothers end up cursing themselves. (The Hindu, open page, November 15, 2009, p.18)
References to ‘angry’ and ‘gloomy’ in the two extracts given, miraculously echo the references to ‘suppressed anger’ and ‘turn dark’ occurring in the Qur’ānic excerpt.
A rare incident but not unnatural in the given circumstances is reported in the Sunday Times (Nov.15, 2009, p.4). A 26-year old woman jumped to death along with her three girl children in Thanjavur.
In sharp contrast to this scenario, the Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) reformed the social attitude towards the birth of a girl child, he is reported to have said, “When a baby-girl is born, Allah sends angels to her family and they greet the household with words, “Peace be unto you!” They take the baby-girl in the shade of their wings and gently touch her head with their hands and say, “This baby is delicate, and is born to a delicate mother. Allah’s succour will be ever forthcoming to the end of days to that person who takes care of the baby girl and brings her up.” (Tabarani)
The prospect that the birth of a baby-girl attracts the singular privilege of angels visiting one’s own house and their invocation of peace for one’s family and the promise of divine succour to her parents and guardians is highly exhilarating. Spiritually elevated by the prospect, one rejoices over the birth of a baby-girl as much as one would rejoice over the birth of a baby-boy. It is a distinguishing feature of a Muslim to be ever grateful to Allah and to accept whatever gift (boy or girl) He bestows upon him and never to offend Him by questioning His wisdom and love. The angels’ reference to the delicate baby and the delicate mother seems to highlight the fact that no blame attaches to them. Modern science tells us that Y-Chromosome which determines the male sex of the baby is found in man’s semen and not in the pelvic anatomy of a woman.
The beloved Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) has made an observation that throws the reader into ecstasy. The observation is as follows: Allah has decided that paradise should be the ultimate resting-place for that gentleman who religiously looks after three daughters or sisters, nurtures them, teaches them good manners, and is ever tender-hearted towards them until Allah enables them to take charge of their own affairs. On hearing this observation, a listener asked if the good news was applicable to a situation where the daughters or sisters involved were just two. The Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) replied that the reward for such a situation was the same. Ibne Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) held the opinion that the Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) would have conveyed the same good news if he had been asked about the reward for the upbringing of one daughter or sister.
The Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) promised Heaven to that father who did not bury his daughter alive, who did not treat her with contempt, and who did not think that his son was preferable or superior to her.
Such observations, coming as they did from Allah’s last Messenger (May Allah bless and greet him), carried an unsurpassed credibility and fascination and the social climate of opinion turned wholly in favour of the girl-child. The need to commit suicide along with three daughters was completely eliminated.
The Day of Judgement will be the Day of Questioning. “It is for Us to call them to account”. (88:26) “Then, on that Day, you will be called to account for all the bounties you enjoyed.”(102:8) “And soon you will be called to account concerning that (the Qur’ān).”(43:44) A classic example of such questioning is, And when the girl child buried alive shall be asked: For what offence was she killed? (81:8,9) Demanding from the innocent victim the reason for her victimisation is a linguistic device to display judicial sympathy for the victim and to forewarn the cruel victimiser about the severity of the punishment to come. Maulana Maudoodi’s footnote on these two verses is very comprehensive and worth reading. He quotes an anecdote from Tabarani that the grandfather of a poet by name, Farazdaq saved 360 girl-children when he was a non-Muslim and Allah rewarded him by opening his heart to Islam. There were people like him who did not like this heinous practice in the pre-Islamic Arabia.
Maulana Shams Peerzada observes in Dawatul Qur’ān that these two verses (81:8, and 9) proved to be so effective from the point of view of social reform that the atrocious custom of burying the girl child alive was eradicated from Arabia once and for all.
Maulana Abdur Rahman Keelani says that it is possible to translate the said verses in another but less eloquent way too. “The girl-child will ask (Allah, seeking justice) for what offence she was killed.” In this translation, the voice of the verb in verse 8 is rendered active. He asserts that Islam condemned the practice of infanticide as more wicked than the act of murder and rejected most emphatically the assumption of the parents that they had the right to kill their children and informed the people that to nurture and educate the daughters was an act of great merit. (Tayseerul Qur’ān, Vol. IV, Footnote 10 of chapter 81).
Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi mentions the opinion of experts in jurisprudence that these verses imply that the non-Muslim children will not be subjected to punishment and will not be sent to hell and that there will be no punishment when there is no crime.
Towards the end of days, Islamic values will be abandoned. Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reports that he heard the Prophet (May Allah bless and greet him) prophesy that the following factors, among others, will herald the onset of the Doomsday: (Religious) knowledge will be hard to come by; ignorance (total indifference to God) will be rampant; indulgence in adultery will be widespread; there will be addiction to alcoholism; women will far outnumber men to the extent that only one man would be available for fifty women”. (Maulana Muhammad Farooq Khan, Kalam-e-Nubuwwat, Vol.I, P.359)
Such a state of affairs will be in sharp contrast to the efforts people are making nowadays to resort to female foeticide and infanticide. Will such a state of affairs be Nature’s way of settling scores with mankind? The prediction that there will come a time when women will form an overwhelming majority may come true after all. It is the Y chromosome that determines the male sex of the foetus. Jug Suraiya quotes the “finding” of Prof. Jennifer Graves that some 300 million years ago, the Y Chromosome was made up of some 1400 genes and that currently the Y Chromosome has only 45 genes left, and is depleting. (Times of India, July 1, 2009, p.14) At this rate, the diminishing trend of Y Chromosome can lead to one result only – the number of men will decline steadily until there will be an exponential growth in the population of women. And the prophecy will be fulfilled, to the utter dismay of the anti-girl child lobby.