The Divine Education Model in the Family of the Prophets (Part 147)
Educational Lessons from the Life of the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (PBUH)
The Conditions of the World Before the Birth and Prophethood of the Leader of Both Worlds, the Noble Messenger (PBUH)
The Conditions of the Countries and Nations of the World Before Islam
4. The Arabs
Women in Pre-Islamic Society
In pre-Islamic society, women were subjected to every kind of injustice and oppression. Their rights were violated, their property was seized, and they were deprived of inheritance. After divorce or the death of their husbands, they had no right to remarry. They were inherited by others just like other commodities and animals.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) said, “If a man’s father or brother died, his wife would come under the control of that man. If he wished, he could keep her until she gave up her dowry to him, or he could leave her as she was until she died, after which he would inherit her property.”
Ata ibn Abi Rabah (RA) said, “During the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), when a man died and left behind a wife, the deceased’s family would keep the woman because of the young child he had left behind.”
Al-Suddi said, “During the Age of Ignorance, when someone’s father, brother, or son died and left behind a wife, whichever of his heirs first threw his cloak over that woman would gain control over her. He had the choice either to marry her himself using the dowry given by her previous husband or to marry her off to someone else and take her dowry for himself. However, if the woman somehow managed to reach her own family, she would be free, and no one would have authority over her.”
In pre-Islamic society, women’s rights were violated. Men enjoyed rights, but women had none. The dowry given to a woman could be taken back from her, and she could be kept against her will in order to harm her and violate her rights.
A woman might be neglected and shunned by her husband and, on many occasions, left in a suspended state, neither properly married nor divorced.
Certain foods were reserved exclusively for men and forbidden to women. A man could marry several women without any restrictions.
Aversion to daughters reached the point of burying them alive.
Haytham ibn Adi, as quoted by Maydani, said: “Burying daughters alive was a common practice among all Arab tribes. At least one out of every ten men certainly committed this act.”
The Arabs had different motives for burying their daughters alive. Some did so out of a sense of honor and fear of the disgrace that their daughters might bring upon them.
Others committed this act because of a daughter’s physical appearance, such as having a dark complexion, black skin, white patches on the skin (leprosy), or paralysis. They regarded these characteristics as bad omens.
Others did so out of fear of poverty and destitution. These people were among the poor and needy members of Arab tribes. Some Arab chiefs and nobles would buy their children.
At times, daughters were buried alive with extraordinary cruelty. In some cases, the killing of a newborn daughter was postponed because the father was traveling or occupied with other matters. He would eventually bury her alive when she had grown older and was able to understand everything. Bitter and heartbreaking stories have been narrated about such incidents. Some people threw their daughters from mountain peaks. [1]
Among many tribes, a woman was treated as a worthless commodity and inherited as property. An elder son could marry his father’s wife after his father’s death, provided that she was not his own mother. He also had the right to prevent her from marrying someone else. Islam subsequently prohibited a son from marrying his father’s wife, and the following verse was revealed: وَلَا تَنكِحُوا مَا نَكَحَ آبَاؤُكُم مِّنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَمَقْتًا وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا” [2] Translation: “And do not marry those women whom your fathers married, except what has already occurred. Indeed, it was an obscenity, hateful, and an evil way.” [3]
The Arabs regarded marriage to one’s mother, grandmother, daughters and their descendants, sisters, maternal aunts, and paternal aunts as prohibited.
According to the Arabs, inheritance was granted only to those capable of fighting on horseback. Therefore, women, girls, and children were deprived of inheritance. Their exclusion from inheritance was a custom and tradition that they followed.
During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), Aws ibn Thabit died, leaving behind two daughters and one son. His two paternal cousins, who were his heirs through his father’s side, came and took all his inheritance for themselves. Aws’s wife said to them, “Marry my daughters.” However, they refused because they considered the girls unattractive.
She then went to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and said, “O Messenger of Allah (PBUH), Aws has died, leaving behind one young son and two daughters. His paternal cousins, Suwayd and Urfutah, have taken all his property for themselves.”
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Do not move anything of his property from its place.” Then the divine command concerning this matter was revealed: “لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا” [4] Translation: “For men there is a share of what parents and close relatives leave, and for women there is a share of what parents and close relatives leave, whether it is little or much—a prescribed share.” [5]
The Arabs considered having a daughter shameful because she was unable to fight, work, engage in physical activities, or defend herself against aggressors. If she was captured during a war, the enemy might sexually exploit her, and she might even be forced to take up prostitution as a profession.
Consequently, when a daughter was born into a family, the prospect of such a miserable future caused her father to feel ashamed. The Holy Qur’an describes the condition of a person who was informed of the birth of a daughter as follows: وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُم بِالْأُنثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ “ يَتَوَارَىٰ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ مِن سُوءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِ أَيُمْسِكُهُ عَلَىٰ هُونٍ أَمْ يَدُسُّهُ فِي التُّرَابِ أَلَا سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ” [6] Translation: “When one of them is given the news of the birth of a female, his face darkens, and he is filled with grief. He hides himself from the people because of the bad news he has been given, wondering whether he should keep her in humiliation or bury her in the ground. Indeed, evil is the judgment they make.” [7]
Most of them preferred to bury their innocent daughters alive.
The Holy Qur’an condemned and rebuked them for this despicable practice, declaring: وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَتْ Translation: “And when the girl buried alive is asked: For what sin was she killed?”
In addition to the practice mentioned above, some people killed their children because of poverty or fear of poverty. With the advent of Islam, however, this practice was prohibited.
Allah (SWT) says: قُلْ تَعَالَوْا أَتْلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَلَّا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُم مِّنْ” إِمْلَاقٍ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ [8] Translation:“Say, ‘Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited for you: do not associate anything with Him; be good to your parents; do not kill your children because of poverty—for We provide for you and for them; do not approach immoralities, whether apparent or concealed; and do not kill any soul whose life Allah has made sacred, except by right. This is what He has instructed you to do so that you may understand.’” [9]
Some tribes did not bury their daughters alive. Individuals such as Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl considered this practice reprehensible. Other tribes respected women and sought their opinions regarding marriage. [10]
A free Arab woman would refuse to have sexual relations with anyone other than her husband. [11] Courage was one of her prominent characteristics. Women accompanied warriors, encouraged them, and participated in battles when necessary. Likewise, a Bedouin Arab woman helped her husband graze and water livestock, collected wool and animal hair, and wove clothing and men’s cloaks, while maintaining her chastity. [12]
