Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hamid Sanni
Status of a female Child: Historical Context
I will like to commence this lecture by tracing the historical context in which a female child finds
herself not only among the early Arabs but also at different ages. I want to make reference to Q
3:35 where Allah narrated the story of the wife of Imran it goes thus:
Allah heard when the wife of Imran said, "O my Rabb!
I dedicate to Your service what is in my womb.
Please accept it from me. You alone hear all and know all."
When she gave birth to a girl instead of a boy, she said:
"My Rabb! I have given birth to a girl," - Allah knew
very well what she had delivered - "and that the male
is not like the female, I have named her Maryem (Mary)
and I seek Your protection for her and her children
from the mischief of Shaitan, the accursed."
It is very clear from the above quotation that she preferred to have a male child and she was a bit
disappointed when the child turn round to be a female child.
The Arabs of the ignorance age used to be buried their female children alive based on the belief
that female children can not fight in wars. A vivid description of the Arabs whenever they are
given a female child is related in Q16: 58-51
Whenever the news of a female child is announced to any one of
them, his face darkens and he chokes with inward gloom.
He hides himself from his people because of the bad news he has
heard, asking himself whether he should retain her with disgrace
or bury her in the dust. Beware! Evil is the judgement they make
about Allah.
Out of contempt for Allah, the unbelievers ascribed female children to Him. They believed that
the Angels and their Idols are daughters of Allah.
Islam as a redeemer of Feminine dignity
Islam, the civilizing force, came to teach man that Allah created him from a pair of male and
female. Both sexes are of equal importance. The difference lies in gender qualities. In other
words, there are things man can do by nature that woman cannot and vice versa. To show the
importance attached to the status of feminine, Allah dedicated a whole long Surah in Quran to
women (Suratun Nisah) Chapter of Women. Such privilege was not given to their male
counterpart. The First verse of the Chapter emphasizes the creation of mankind from both male
and females. It reads thus:
O mankind! Have fear of your Rabb, the One who
created you from a single soul, from that soul He
created its mate, and through them He spread
countless men and women. Fear Allah, the One in
whose name you demand your rights from one
A dowry should be given to a woman for marriage. This is her exclusive right. There is no limit to
the amount of dowry to be given to a woman though the noble Prophet encouraged lower rate to
encourage marriage. The leader of the faithfuls, Umar bn Khatab, tried to peg down the maximum
dowry to a certain amount, during his reign as the Khalifat, a woman challenged him openly for
that and Umar gave up the idea.
Islam makes provision for polygamy considering the percentage of women to men and due to the
very nature of women that might not give room for conjugal relation in certain periods such as
during their menstrual term, and during Nifas.( child birth blood). Yet a strong condition is placed
on this polygamy. A man should deal with them in a fear manner. Allah says in Q 4:3
If you fear that you shall not be able to treat the orphans with
fairness, (then you should not marry the women with orphan children;)
marry other women of your choice: two, three or four. But if
you fear that you will not be able to maintain justice between
your wives, then marry only one or any slave girl you may own.
That will be more suitable, so that you may not deviate from
the Right Way.
On the issue of justice among the wives, Allah explains further that though absolute justice
between more than one wife is not humanly possible; man should not incline totally to one at the
expense of the other. This is contained in Q 4:129
It is not possible for you to do justice between your wives
even if you wish to do so; therefore, (in order to comply with
Divine Law,) do not lean towards one wife to the extent that
you leave the other hanging in air. If you work out
a friendly understanding and fear Allah, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
A woman has a right to make monogamy a condition for her marriage. Any man who has the
courage and emotional capability and his able to play justice among the wives can go ahead to
marry more than one wife. The noble Prophet used to say after he has done justice among his
wives Oh my Lord! This is my judgement on what I have capability as a man, do not penalize
me for what I lack control over it i.e. love because that is subject to some circumstances such as
the conduct of the women and some other things. Whenever the Noble Prophet wanted to travel,
he would conduct a sort of balloting among his wives to determine which one among them would
accompany him on that journey. He used to warn seriously against injustice among women
because whoever does not play justice among his wives shall be raised up on the day of
Recompense with a bent side.
It is part of the roles of a man to fulfil the conjugal right of his legal wife. She should not be
denied her right. There was a particular case when the Noble Prophet entered the room of Aishat
and then rushed out. Aishat followed him to find out the reason for that. The noble Prophet later
explained to her that Angel Gabriel came to inform him that the night was the night of fifteenth
day of Shaban. The night is strongly recommended for Ibadah. Rasullullah sought her
permission before embarking of the Ibadah in order not to rub her of her conjugal right. By
implication a man should seek the permission of his wife before violating her conjugal right even
if he wants to embark on an act of Ibadah.
A man is expected to provide the wife with her basic necessity of life such as feeding, shelter,
clothing etc according to his capability. Allah says in Q65: 7
Finally, Islam accorded a woman a venerable position in life right from childhood to the end of
her life. It put her on the same footing with her male counterpart. A Muslim woman has a
peculiar mode of dressing to distinguish her from others in order not to be molested. The problem
only arise when a woman tries to assume the posture of a man in terms of dressing or other things
that are peculiar to male gender. Islam has liberated women folk already, the issue of woman
liberation or gender equality does not arise in Islam.