Among the Arabs of the Age of Ignorance, the woman had a poor condition and lived in the worst conditions. Women were bought and sold like a commodity and was deprived of any social and individual rights. They had placed women among animals and considered her as part of life’s accessories and furniture. They often beheaded their daughters on the first day of their birth out of fear of famine or corruption, or threw them from the top of a high mountain into a deep valley and sometimes drowned them in the middle of water. Also, any woman whose first child was a girl was considered unblessed. Allah the Almighty says: «وَإِذَا الْمَوْؤُدَةُ سُئِلَتْ بِأَيِّ ذَنْبٍ قُتِلَتْ» Translation: “When the girls buried alive are asked (by Allah Almighty) for what sin they were killed?” Often, the killing of the baby girl was delayed due to the father’s travel or being busy, and at some point, he buried her alive, who had grown up and understood everything. There have been narrated bitter and tearful stories about such cases. In the so-called civilized countries of that day, what they did to women was no less than barbaric nations.
When Qays bin Asim was asked how many of your daughters have you buried alive so far? He replied: “Twelve or thirteen girls.” For this purpose, several verses of the Holy Quran have been mentioned in their condemnation. Almighty Allah says: «قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ قَتَلُوا أَوْلَادَهُمْ سَفَهًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ» Translation: (Of course, those who killed their children out of stupidity, ignorance and lack of wisdom became losers.)
In another place, Allah (S.W.T) says: «وَكَذلِكَ زَيَّنَ لِكَثيرٍ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكينَ قَتْلَ أَوْلادِهِمْ شُرَكاؤُهُمْ لِيُرْدُوهُمْ وَلِيَلْبِسُوا عَلَيْهِمْ دينَهُمْ وَلَوْ شاءَ اللهُ ما فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَما يَفْتَرُونَ» Translation: in this way, their partners made the killing of their children look like a pretense to many polytheists in order to destroy and mistaken about their religion. If Allah the Almighty wanted it, they would not have done it; so, leave them with the slander that they make.”
The issue of women in the history before Islam was an issue full of hardship, suffering and violation of rights. Throughout history, there was no humanistic view of the female sex, and it was often considered as a commodity or, at most, as a lowly human being; Women had never had the chance and ability to get their rights and refer to their origin. Ignorant Arabs, before the advent of Islam, hated women and attributed poverty and shame to women; Whenever a man heard that his wife had given birth to a girl child, his face would turn blue with anger and he would immediately leave the unfortunate creature alive in the cold ground, thinking that by doing this, he would save his family from the shame and dishonor.
Allah Almighty describes the ignorance of the Arabs like this and says:
«وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِالْأُنْثَى ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ [۵۸] يَتَوَارَى مِنَ الْقَوْمِ مِنْ سُوءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِ أَيُمْسِكُهُ عَلَى هُونٍ أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ أَلَا سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ [۵۹]» “When one of them was given the news of the birth of a girl, [his face would change so much because of his sadness that] his face would turn black and full of anger and sadness, and he would hide himself (confused and surprised said to himself) Should he accept this shame and keep the girl or bury her alive in the ground? Yes! What a bad judgment they had!”.
In this verse, Allah Almighty shows the extreme cruelty and ignorance of the Arabs of Jahiliya, that in the old Jahiliya era, women were openly oppressed and were treated brutally and without regard to their rights.
In the age of ignorance, women were deprived of social rights and the right to inheritance, and they did not have the right to protest and disobey the orders of men. If someone was killed, the murderer had to hand over his daughter to the victim’s parents, and the victim’s parents had the right to kill the girl or keep her for themselves and inflict thousands of other atrocities on her.
Allamah Abulhasan Nadwi, may Allah have mercy on him, in his book “Exploration of the State of the World and the Decline of Muslims” states: “Women faced all kinds of oppression in the Jahili society; their rights were ignored, and their properties were stolen or appropriated to others. After the divorce or the death of the husband, they did not have the right to remarry, and like other property and animals, they were handed over to others as an inheritance.”
Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, says: “If someone’s father or brother passed away, his wife would be given to him; He wanted to keep it to donate her dowry or to continue living until she dies, and her property goes to him.”
Ata bin Abi Rabah says: “In Jahiliya, when someone died and left behind a woman, the family of the deceased would keep the woman for the sake of the little child that was left behind.”
Sadi, may Allah have mercy on him, says: “In Jahiliya, if a woman’s husband died, whoever of her heirs first laid a veil over the woman, the woman belonged to him; He had the right to marry the woman with the dowry of the previous husband or marry another and take her dowry himself; If a woman could somehow reach her family, no one would dominate her. During the era of ignorance, women’s rights were severely neglected; Men had different rights, but women did not have these rights. The dowry that was given to the woman was taken from her again and she was kept for various reasons such as lack of love and violation of her rights. She was treated with indifference and symptoms by her husband and was often kept suspense. Some foods and special products were only for men and women were not allowed to use them. Also, a man in Jahili society was able to marry several women without any restrictions.
It has been narrated that when Abdullah bin Mughfal (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), sadness would appear on his face. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked the reason for this sadness, and he replied: “During the Jahiliya, I once went on a long journey, while my wife was pregnant. I returned after a few years. When I returned, I found that my wife had given birth to a beautiful daughter. She plays among the children. I told her mother to make her up. Of course, she knew that I was going to kill her. “Don’t waste your trust,” her mother told me while she was crying and upset and putting her daughter’s makeup on. Then I took this beautiful girl, who was considered one of the most beautiful children, and took her to one of the deep valleys. There I was looking for a well that was around it, this well did not have a single sip of water. I stood on the edge of the well and looked at my daughter’s face, and because she was a pure girl and had not committed any sin, I felt compassion. Then I remembered his marriage and adultery and the disgrace I had from him, and as a result, my heart became hard. It was here that I was indecisive between two jobs and between two emotions. He said: I finally decided and threw this girl headfirst into this well. I waited a moment to see if she was dead and if her face was covered in dust. Until after a moment I heard her repeating this sentence: “My father! You wasted the trust.” until finally her voice stopped.
O Messenger of Allah! I swear to Allah, every time I remember this story, I feel sad, and I wish I could be forgotten forever. Then he looked at the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and suddenly tears flowed over the beard of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and said to him: “O Abdullah! I swear to Allah, if I were to enforce a limit on a man who had committed an abominable act during the time of ignorance, I would definitely enforce it on you. But Islam erases the sins of the past.”
Now, in order to clarify the matter, it is necessary to find the root of this oppression and see what was the main cause of this oppression?
By admin2
