Daughters are not a burden, they are a great bounty of Almighty Allah

 In the pre-Islamic ignorant times, women and girls were considered unlucky.  Women could be bought and sold like other lifeless objects.  In India, the wife would face untold difficulties on the death of her husband.  In fact, she had to burn herself alive.

 

The world changed with the arrival of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  The whole society became imbued with a general goodwill.  Especially, the lot of women and girls who were silently bearing everything was completely changed.

 

        The worst affected were the female infants, who were buried alive as they were considered to be unlucky.  The Holy Quran talks about this in the following verse:

 

And when the news (of the birth) of a daughter is disclosed to any of them, his face turns dark and he gets pent up with anger.  Surah Nahl (16:58)

 

All the aforementioned acts against humanity and modesty had become a part and parcel of their respective cultures.  It was not exactly easy to weed out these customs.  However, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) redeemed the basic human nature within a few years.  He cast immutable love for infants in the bosoms of men and women.  He threw wide open the floodgates of affection and benevolence on women.  Time and again, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) gave glad tidings on raising girls and adorning them with education and proper manners.  He also declared that their marriage, when they reach the proper age for it, is also a responsibility of parents and they will receive great worldly and spiritual rewards for it.

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:

 

Translation: Paradise is the lot of the one who raises 3 daughters, educates them, performs their marriage and treats them with kindness.  (Sunan Abu Dawood, Hadith No. 5149)

 

In the aforementioned Hadith, the Ummah is exhorted to raise daughters, to educate them, to treat them kindly and to perform their marriages.  Only a person who loves and has affection for his/her daughter will act on the above exhortations.  With this, we understand that the objective here is to inculcate love of daughters in the parents and guardians.

 

 

An incident from the annals of Islamic history

 

A messenger from the Caliph Mansoor brought a letter for Imam Hasan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) on the occasion of the birth of his daughter, Hadhrat Nafeesa (May Allah shower His Mercy on her).  He would keep reading it and keep crying.  A large gathering of students was present and they asked him the reason for it.  Imam Hasan (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) said:  The caliph has appointed me the governor of Madina.  Now, I am going to go to the city of my Master.  People congratulated him and said:  It is the good luck of the people of Madina that a descendent of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) will govern them and fill the land with justice.  Along with this order, the caliph had also sent 20,000 Dirhams as a gift.

 

In these times, the birth of girls is considered to be an ill omen.  If someone has multiple daughters, people become depressed.  If the previous lines are read, it becomes clear that girls are a mercy of Allah Most High.  Almighty Allah grants sustenance along with girls.  Just see!  Here Hadhrat Nafeesa (May Allah shower His Mercy on her) was born and there, her father, whose life was already a success, became a greater success even from the worldly point of view.

 

Education of girls – Means of entry into paradise for parents/guardians

 

The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has granted equal rights to men and women.  When it comes to acquisition of knowledge, it should be clearly understood that Islam doesn’t prohibit education for girls.  In fact, Islam gives glad tidings of entry into paradise for those who adorn their girls with education.  However, education which breeds indecency and encourages girls to cast off the veil of modesty is not included in the ambit of this glad tiding.  Very many parents have rendered their girls immodest in their quest to make them educated.  May Allah protect us from this.

 

It is the responsibility of parents to teach their girls what is lawful and what is unlawful.  They should teach them necessary rules of the Shariah.  They should instruct them to guard their gaze and their hearts so that their tongues don’t ever utter anything indecent or lewd and their hearts remain free of stray thoughts.

 

No matter how a girl is, she is the bounty of Almighty Allah

 

Nowadays, people fawn upon physical beauty.  Sadly enough, even small girls are subject to this (mental) torture.  Those girls who are beautiful are cuddled and kissed and those girls who are not naturally attractive remain deprived of this love of the elders.  Even though one’s nature might not be endeared to them, but simply going by physical attractiveness is not intelligence.  What do those poor children have to do with it?  They are manifestations of the power of Allah Most High.  If being free of defects and faults is the standard of love, then is there anyone who is free of them?  The real reason for love is not the outward aspect, but the inward aspect.  It is not the face, but the character.  It is not the complexion of the skin, but the purity of the heart.  Children do have pure hearts.  Thus, love for them should be by virtue of their childhood and innocence.