Cruelty to children - A grave sin

Maulana Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi, Professor, Islamic Law, Jamia Nizamia, Founder/Director, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center spoke on the topic, “Cruelty with infants – A worrisome picture of the society” on Sunday, October 9, 2011, at Masjid Abul Hasanaat.  The lecture was organized under the aegis of Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center.  He said that we frequently hear the distressing news through the media that infant boys and girls are being killed.  In this way, the society is accepting the creed of the days of ignorance.  This is a very grave sin.  On one hand, we have infanticide and on the other, the cases of abortions are ever on the rise.

 

The Mufti described various reasons for all of this.  He said that some people are doing so out of poverty and penury and some others are doing so to hide their adulterous relations and to save themselves from the taunts of the world.

 

These people, who do this to save themselves from the humiliation of this world, will end up being facing even severe humiliation in the hereafter.  They will be punished very severely.  These people who have hearts of stone will be cast into hell.

 

When someone murders someone else, the family members of the victim move the courts, but in these cases the murderers are the parents and relatives themselves.  Allah will ask this helpless infant, who has no one to support it, as to why was he murdered.  It is given in Surah Takveer:

 

And when the infant girl buried alive will be asked, For what crime was she slain?  Surah Takveer (81:8/9)

 

The Mufti said that aborting the child after 4 months into pregnancy is like killing a live person.  Without a valid reason, abortion is not permitted.  If an expert doctor opines that the pregnancy should be aborted, otherwise the life of the mother is in danger, only then the pregnancy can be aborted.

 

The Mufti said that all Muslims believe that Allah Himself is the sustainer of all creation. It is His responsibility to provide sustenance to one and all.  Thus, infants should not be killed out of fear of poverty.  Allah says in the Holy Quran:

 

Say: ‘Come, I will recite to you those things which your Lord has forbidden to you: Do not set up anything as a partner with Him; be morally excellent with parents; and do not kill your children owing to poverty. We alone give you sustenance and (will provide for) them as well. And do not draw near to shameful deeds (whether) open or hidden. And do not kill the soul whose (killing) Allah has forbidden, except when it is rightful due (according to Law in self-defense, against disruption and while combating terrorism). It is these (injunctions) He has enjoined upon you so that you may apply reason.  Surah Ana’am (6:151)

 

The Mufti said that in this verse of the Holy Quran, Allah has first prohibited killing children out of fear of poverty.  Then He has warned us against indecency.  Then again, He has instructed us nobody should be killed without a valid reason.  This verse indicates that neither should adulterous relations be maintained nor should the children born out of those relationships be killed.

 

The Mufti said that the infant is not a burden on anyone.  Instead, it brings its own sustenance.  Children, be them boys or girls are a great bounty of Allah.  Ask those people about it who don’t have any children.  Nowadays, the birth of a girl is disliked and their very existence is being looked down upon.  This whole notion goes against the teachings of Islam.  Islam has declared the birth of a girl to be a means of mercy and prosperity.

 

There is a Hadith in Kanz Ul Ummal and Mo’jam Ausat Tabarani.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  When a girl is born to a person, Allah sends a group of angels.  They address all the family members:  O members of the family!  Peace be upon you!  Then the angels shade that girl with their wings and caress her head with their radiant hands and say:  A weak one which has come from a weak one!  Those who take care of her will be helped until the Qiyamah.

 

There is a Hadith in Jame’ Tirmidhi:  If a person is passed through difficulties through the daughters and he is patient on it then those girls will become a shield for him on the Day of Judgment.

 

The lecture ended with Salaam and Dua.  Maulana Hafidh Syed Ahmed Ghouri led the proceedings.