Position and Status of Women among the Arabs before Islam
The tenth section of the above-mentioned book makes it abundantly clear that women were subjected to a peculiar degradation amongst these people and led the most tragic life. In the Holy Qur\’an also verses have been revealed condemning the actions of the Arabs, and throwing light on their moral degradation. It mentions their loathsome practice of killing the girls, and says When the infant girl, buried alive, is asked for what crime she was slain. (Surah al-Takwir, 81:8). i.e. the girls buried alive will be asked this question on the Day of Judgement. Evidently it is the height of moral debasement that when one\’s own child has grown up or has just arrived in the world one should bury it under tons of dust and should not be moved in the least by its cries and lamentations.
The first people who resorted to this practice were the tribe named Bani Tamim. No\’man bin Munzir, the ruler of Iraq, attacked his enemies (including Bani Tamim) at the head of a big army and routed them. He confiscated their properties and took their girls as captives. Representatives of Bani Tamim approached him and requested for the return of their girls. However, as some of the girls had contracted matrimonial alliances during the period of their captivity, No\’man gave them the option either to sever their connections with their parents and stay on with their husbands or to obtain divorce and return to their homes. One of the representatives of Bani Tamim was an old man named Qays bin \’Asim. His daughter preferred to stay on with her husband. The insult cut the old man to the quick and he decided that, in future, he would finish his daughters as soon as they were born. Gradually this practice penetrated into other tribes also. When Qays bin \’Asim had the honour of presenting himself before the Holy Prophet, one of the Ansar enquired from him about his daughters. Qays said in reply “I buried all my daughters alive and was not touched in the least while doing so (except once
. At one time l was journeying and the time for my wife being delivered of a child had drawn near. By chance my journey was prolonged. On return home l enquired from my wife about the issue. she replied that owing to some illness she had been delivered of a still-born child. In fact, however, she had given birth to a female child and fearing me had entrusted it to her sisters. Years passed by and the girl attained her youth. l did not have the least information about it. However, one day, while l was sitting in my house, a girl stepped in all of a sudden and inquired about her mother. It was a very beautiful girl. Her tresses were knit together and she wore a necklace round her neck. I enquired from my wife as to who the lovely girl was. With tears in her eyes she replied, “She is your own daughter. She is the same girl who was born while you were journeying. Fearing you I had concealed her”. My silence was taken by my wife to be a sign of my acquiescence and she thought that I would not besmear my hands with the blood of the girl. Hence, one day, she left the house with a confident mind. Then, according to my solemn promise and vow, I caught the hand of my daughter and took her to a far-off place. There l began digging a pit. When l was engaged in this task my daughter asked me repeatedly as to why I was digging the earth. Digging over, I caught the hand of my daughter, pushed her into the pit and began throwing dust on her head and face without paying any heed to her heart-rending cries.
She continued groaning and saying. “Dear father! Are you burying me under earth? Will you return to my mother after leaving me here alone?” But l continued pouring the dust till it enveloped her completely. It was only on this occasion that I had some scruple of conscience”.
When the narrative of Qays came to an end tears were flowing from the eyes of the Prophet and he remarked: “This is an act of hard-heartedness and a nation which does not possess feelings of pity and kindness is not entitled to Divine mercy”.(In \’Usudul Ghaba\’ Ibn Athir quotes Qays as saying that the Holy Prophet asked him as to how many daughters he had buried alive and he replied that they were twelve in number).
SOCIAL POSITION OF WOMEN AMONGST THE ARABS
Amongst the Arabs, woman was just like merchandise which could be bought and sold and did not possess any individual or social rights – not even the right of inheritance. The enlightened persons among them put woman under the category of animals and for this very reason considered her to be one of the chattels and necessities of life. On account of this belief the proverb: \’Mothers are only as good as vessels and have been created to serve as receptacles for sperm\’ was fully current amongst them.
Usually on account of fear of famine and occasionally dreading embarrassment they beheaded their daughters on the very first day of their birth or hurled them down from a high mountain into a deep valley or, at times, drowned them in water. The Holy Qur\’an the great heavenly Book which is admitted even by non-Muslim orientalists at least to be a historical and instructive document which has not been tampered with contains a strange narrative on the subject. It says When the birth of a girl was announced to one of them, his face grew dark and he apparently swallowed his anger. Because of the bad news he hid himself from his kinsmen and did not know whether he should keep the new-born with disgrace or bury her under dust? How ill they judge? (Surah al-Nahl, 16:60).
Most deplorable of all things was their marriage system which was not based on any law in vogue in the world of that time. For example, they did not believe in any limit in the number of wives. To avoid payment of dowry they maltreated women and in case a woman ceased to be chaste she lost the dowry in toto. At times they took undue advantage of this rule and calumniated their wives to be able to refuse the payment of dowry. In the event of the death of a person or his divorcing his wife it was treated to be lawful for his son to marry her and the story of Ummayyah bin Shams in this regard is preserved in the pages of history. When a woman obtained divorce from her husband her right of second marriage was dependent on the permission by the first husband and such permission was usually accorded on her surrendering her dowry! In the event of the death of a person his successors took possession of the woman like other household chattels and declared themselves to be her owners by throwing a head-dress on her head.
A BRIEF COMPARISON
If the esteemed reader takes notice of the rights of woman in Islam and ignores the quarrels and disputes which at times crop up all of a sudden, he will certainly acknowledge that the rules and regulations and the effective steps for the improvement and normalisation of the rights of woman, which were taken through the Holy Prophet of Islam, are themselves a glaring testimony of his truthfulness and communication with the world of revelation. For what sympathy and good treatment could be greater than that (besides proclaiming the rights of women in various verses of the Holy Qur\’an and in Ahadith (traditions) and also setting practical examples in this behalf for his followers to act upon) in the sermon of the last Haj performed by him, whereby, as ordained by God Almighty, he reiterated his message in a concise form, nominated his successor and at that very time also recommended women to men in the following words: “O people! You have rights over your women and they too have rights over you. Enjoin them to do good, for they aid and assist you. Give them to eat such as you eat yourself and give them to wear such as you wear yourself”. shiastudies.com/en
