"It is in the INHERENT NATURE OF MAN that he is more joyous when he is given news that a son is to be born to him rather than a daughter;
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Asalamalikum,
Dear brother Burhan,
Recently you answered a question with regards to aqiqah. The question is titled
as: 4443: Aqiqa & two witnesses women. In one of the paragraphs, you state
that:
"It is in the INHERENT NATURE OF MAN that he is more joyous when he is
given news that a son is to be born to him rather than a daughter; and that
feeling is confirmed even in this day and age in nations like India and China
where a large percentage of the abomination of abortions are carried out only
because modern technology has allowed man to determine whether the child to be
born would be a male or a female."
With regards to the reality and nature of man, only Allah(swt) knows the truth.
He has revealed some of these qualities of man in the holy Quran and through
our beloved Prophet(saw). So by what authority and evidence do you make the
SPECIFIC claim about the nature of man with respect to childbirth? Please
provide your evidence from the Quran and
I mean no offense to you by my question.
Asalamalikum,
Your brother
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Preference of Male boy birth
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Your
Statement: I mean no offense to you by my question.
My dear and beloved brother in Islam, it is indeed an
error and shortcoming on our part that we did not provide the evidence along
with the earlier article; and we sincerely and humbly seek your forgiveness and
the forgiveness of our Lord Most Gracious to forgive us our severe shortcomings
in the service of His Cause.
If our statements have inadvertently given rise to any
confusion or misunderstanding whatsoever, the fault, error and shortcoming is
clearly ours; and we do humbly implore you as our brother in faith to please
forgive us our unintentional error and are grateful that you have written back
to us and given us the opportunity to clarify our position and statement.
Dear and beloved brother in Islam, we would like to take
the liberty of quoting a portion of the challenging nature of the question
posed by the sister and her frustration in understanding the wisdom behind the
command of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for sacrificing two sheep for a baby
if male and one if a female.
It was only in the search and study of the wisdom of that
question posed by our sister that we made those statements in the article,
which unfortunately might have given rise to a misunderstanding.
(The question posed by the sister was:) so why is
it that more celebrations are made when a boy is born? isn`t it a famous saying
that jannat lies under your monther`s feet?..so when this newly born girl is
born why is only one goat sacrificed why not two?she will grown up to be a
mother and will provide jannat for her children..isn`t this a good thing..a
good enough reason to sacrifice 2 goats?
i find these type of saying fustrating and would
like to know your opinions as soon as possible..
Sunan of
Abu-Dawood Hadith 2829 Narrated by Umm
Kurz
I heard the
Prophet (saws) say: ‘Two sheep are to be sacrificed for a boy and one for a
girl, but it does you no harm whether they (the sheep) are male or female.’
Dear and Beloved Sister in
Islam, to understand the wisdom behind the hadith, one must relate to the times
of ignorance before the advent of the Prophet (saws), where it was an accepted
custom in the region that the Arabs would bury their new-born alive if it
happened to be a girl. It is in the
inherent nature of man that he is more joyous when he is given news that a son
is to be born to him rather than a daughter; and that feeling is confirmed even
in this day and age in nations like India and China where a large percentage of
the abomination of abortions are carried out only because modern technology has
allowed man to determine whether the child to be born would be a male or a
female. Leave alone offer a sacrifice as
a sign of being grateful or celebrate the birth of a female child, the ignorant
and evil amongst mankind were willing to even kill or abort the infant if it
happened to be a girl!
With the advent of Islam, Allah
and His Messenger (saws) guided the believers to be grateful for whatever the
Lord Wills to provide them; and be joyous and celebrate the birth of the
new-born, whether it be a girl or a boy; but because of the inherent nature of
man who is happier to receive the news of a boy, Allah and His Messenger (saws)
guided the believers to show their appreciation and gratefulness to the Lord by
offering a double sacrifice.
One should also understand that
one sacrifice for the new-born girl and two for the new-born boy is the minimum
one may offer as a sign of his being grateful to the Lord Most Gracious; but if
one is so joyous at the birth of one’s child, regardless of whether it is a boy
or a girl, and wills to offer more than the minimum number he may offer as many
sacrifices as he wishes as a sign of his being grateful to his Lord Most
Gracious. If one is so happy and joyous
at the birth of a baby-girl which the Lord Willed to provide them, there is
absolutely no harm if one shows one’s gratefulness for the Mercy and Grace of
their Lord and celebrates the birth by sacrificing a hundred or a thousand
camels or even more, if one so wishes!
Your
Question: So by what authority and evidence do you make the SPECIFIC claim
about the nature of man with respect to childbirth? Please provide your
evidence from the Quran and
Beloved brother in Islam, for the absolute majority of the
Commands and Guidance that Allah Subhanah revealed in His Glorious Quran like Tawheed, Shirk, disbelief, hypocrisy, the
purpose of the Divine Message, the concept of the Hereafter, etc.; the wisdom and
purpose behind those Commands and Guidance were sufficiently explained and revealed by the Lord Most High
Himself in His Glorious Quran.
The wisdom behind some Commands and Guidance which were
not fully understood by the companions, or which needed further clarifications,
etc. were asked to the Messenger of Allah (saws), and he (saws) revealed the
Divine Wisdom behind those Commands; and these were recorded in his authentic
narrations.
The Commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws) which were
easily and completely understood and comprehended in the society of the times,
like the usage of distinct alphabets in the beginning of a Surah
(Alif-Laam-Meem, Yaa-Seen, etc.), or the allowance of polygamy in Islam, or the
concept of slaves in Islam, etc. were so entrenched in the society of the times
that the Commands concerning them required no further clarifications or
justifications.
The inclination of parents towards having or preferring to
have a male child was and is so inherent in the nature of man, that even today
in overly populated nations like China and India which discourage or restrict
families to one or two children, the vast majority of abortions are carried out
if it is determined that the child will be a female! Such is the imbalance created in these
nations by that, that the authorities at times have banned and prohibited their
citizens from determining the sex of the child before its birth!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah
Ale-Imran verses 35-36:
35 Behold! a woman of Imran said: "O my Lord! I do dedicate unto
thee what is in my womb for Thy special service so accept this of me for Thou Hears
and Knows all things."
36 When she delivered, she said: "O my Lord! Behold! I have
delivered of a female child!"
And Allah knew best what she brought forth, and nowise is the male
like the female. (
In the above quoted verses of the Glorious Quran, the
displeasure of the mother of Maryam is apparent at the birth of her female
child.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 53 Surah
Najm verses 21-22:
21 What? For you the male sex and for Him (Allah) the
female?
22 Behold such would be indeed a division
most unfair!
The pagan disbelieving Quraysh held the false belief that
the
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 42 Surah
Shura verses 49-50:
49 To Allah belongs the Dominion of the Heavens and the earth. He creates what He Wills. He bestows (children) male or female
according to His Will (and Plan).
50 Or He bestows both males and females and He leaves barren whom He
Wills: for He is Full of Knowledge and Power.
Islam guided mankind that The Dominion of the Universe
belongs to Allah Subhanah Alone and He Creates whatever He Wills and
Pleases. He bestows male children to
whom He Wills, female to whom He Wills, both male and female to whom He Wills, and
leaves barren whom He Wills; thus man should remain grateful for whatever he
has been bestowed with from their Lord Most High.
Not only did Islam guide the believers to not discriminate
between their children because of their gender, the Messenger of Allah (saws)
informed that any believer who would cherish their female children, took good
care of them, was generous and benevolent with them, they would earn a huge
reward from Allah Subhanah.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 5128 Narrated by
The Prophet (saws) said: “If anyone cares for
three daughters, disciplines them, marries them, and does good to them, he will
go to
The Prophet (saws) said: "Whoever is put
to trial by daughters and he treats them generously (with benevolence), then
these daughters will act as a shield for him from Hell-Fire."
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister