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The Motives behind buryinZ infant dau&hters alive 1. The first motive is explained clearly in the . Qur-an: - ýý _- "Kill not your children for fear of want: we shall provide substance for them as well as you. Verily. the, killing of them is, a great sin. " 1 Poverty was, in this case, the main motive behind it (as the Qurlan indicates). As Smith remarked: The Nomads of Arabia suffer constantly from hunger during a great part of the year. The only 2 persons who have enough to eat are great men. In such circumstances& it is safe to conclude that the pressure of famine was a major factor responsible for infanticide. These innocent girls were a burden to their families. We might consider burying daughters alive was an act of cruelt y, but this might be a normal reaction for these people who were suffering from a harsh life. "To the poorer, a daughter was a burden, and infanticide was as natural to them as to other' savage people in 3 the hard struggle for life. 11 Burying daughters alive was regarded by some Arabs as a sort of kindness and mercy to the female, because their parents knew about their weakness and their inability to struggle against all the harshness of life. They Preferred to choose death for their daughters instead of letting them undergo the hardship and dangers of life. They chose the bitterness of losing a daughter with all its grier, instead of burdening themselves with the responsibility of a female. To Pre-Islamic Arabs however, "the despatch of a daughter is a 45 kindness. " "The burial of daughters is a noble Q. 17.. 31 2. Smith. OP- Cit.. P. 294 3. Ib id 4. Nicholson, op. cit., P. 91 5. Ibid deed. " 51
2. The second motive was the fear that their daughters would be taken captive and thus bring disgrace and ignominy to their family. As Nicholson remarked: "Fathers feared that they should have useless mouths to feed. or lest they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters being made prisoners of war. " Moreover, wars between Arabs before Islam were broadly of two kinds, as we said, The first was motivated by the desire to plunder. The second. by revenge. As Smith affirms, "That in plundering excursion. not much blood was shed. women were captured often and (as some contemporary poems indicate) were simply taken to the slave market of some such trading place as Mecca and sold out of the country. " 2 In the war of revenge, on the other hand, the men were Immediate victims; the women were. as a rule. taken captives. So, together "With the idea that it was humiliating to beget daughters, there ran the thought in that in a society where marriage by capture was common, girls might be carried off in wars to become the wives or concubines of enemies, 11 3 and bring disgrace on their parents, clans and tribes. It was reported that "when al-Aýnaf bin Qays was told about his daughter's birth, he wept. When he was asked why. he said, "How can I not weepT' She is shame. Her presence is theft. Her weapon is crying and her good is not for me but for another. 11 4 Burying daughters alive was reported in more than one Arab source to have started with a chieftain of Tamim al-NumMi b. Mundhir (the king of Hirah). It is narrated that his troops made a foray against the tribe It Tamim and carried off all the women. but the king ordered that the captives should choose to return to their husbands or to stay. if they Ibid Smith. op. cit.. P. 294 3. Le yP p cit., P. 92 *op. 4. Alzfý, cit., P. 292 52
- Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to exp
- Page 5 and 6: INTRODUCTION The Islamic and Arabic
- Page 7 and 8: The status of women in Islamic and
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- Page 11 and 12: funcultivatable valley', although i
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- Page 17 and 18: fight Muslims; not satisfied with t
- Page 19 and 20: From the Qurlan, we know that she w
- Page 21 and 22: would not marry at all unless she h
- Page 23 and 24: unequal match. "If you can't find a
- Page 25 and 26: ut also among the Hebrews and Arame
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- Page 47 and 48: The Woman's Inheritance in Pre-Isla
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The Motives behind buryinZ infant dau&hters alive<br />
1. The first motive is explained clearly in the . Qur-an: - ýý _-<br />
"Kill not your children for fear <strong>of</strong> want:<br />
we shall provide substance for them as well<br />
as you. Verily. the, killing <strong>of</strong> them is, a<br />
great sin. " 1<br />
Poverty was, in this case, the main motive behind it (as the Qurlan<br />
indicates). As Smith remarked: The Nomads <strong>of</strong> Arabia suffer<br />
constantly from hunger during a great part <strong>of</strong> the year. The only<br />
2<br />
persons who have enough to eat are great men. In such circumstances&<br />
it is safe to conclude that the pressure <strong>of</strong> famine was a major factor<br />
responsible for infanticide. These innocent girls were a burden to their<br />
families. We might consider burying daughters alive was an act <strong>of</strong><br />
cruelt y, but this might be a normal reaction for these people who were<br />
suffering from a harsh life. "To the poorer, a daughter was a burden,<br />
and infanticide was as natural to them as to other' savage people in<br />
3<br />
the hard struggle for life. 11<br />
Burying daughters alive was regarded by some Arabs as a sort <strong>of</strong><br />
kindness and mercy to the female, because their parents knew about<br />
their weakness and their inability to struggle against all the harshness<br />
<strong>of</strong> life. They Preferred to choose death for their daughters instead <strong>of</strong><br />
letting them undergo the hardship and dangers <strong>of</strong> life. They chose the<br />
bitterness <strong>of</strong> losing a daughter with all its grier, instead <strong>of</strong> burdening<br />
themselves with the responsibility <strong>of</strong> a female.<br />
To Pre-Islamic Arabs however, "the despatch <strong>of</strong> a daughter is a<br />
45<br />
kindness. " "The burial <strong>of</strong> daughters is a noble<br />
Q. 17.. 31<br />
2. Smith. OP- Cit.. P. 294<br />
3. Ib id<br />
4. Nicholson, op. cit., P. 91<br />
5. Ibid<br />
deed. "<br />
51