Getting rid of social evils

The Arabs used to bury their daughters alive because of apathy and the social stigma related to the birth of daughters. The Qur’an speaks about it in the 17th verse of Surah Zukhruf:

“And when one of them is given good tidings of that which he attributes to the Most Merciful in comparison, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief.”

The advent of the Prophet ﷺ to eradicate the evil from the people and the society, has been mentioned in the Quran.

Instilling the fear of Allah in the hearts of people, purifies the society - The day of Justice is an important day for everyone

“On that day, when a little girl will be asked - For which sin were you killed?”

A heartwarming incident, recorded in the books of Hadith, shows the impact of Islamic teachings in the society where daughters were killed on birth..

At the time of conquest of Makkah, three Companions of the Prophet had a dispute amongst them.

People quarrelled to take up the guardianship of orphans

After the death of Jaffer al Tayyar, his young daughter was orphaned and needed a guardian to take care of her. Islam had changed the views of Arabs. They now loved their daughters and loved to take care of orphans. Everyone was trying to seek the guardianship of the little girl. Her maternal and paternal uncles came to see her. The young daughter ran to meet her guardians. She now had three options. Three of her uncles wanted to take care of her. The Arabs who did not want to bring up their own daughters were now fighting to bring up someone else’s daughter. The Prophet ﷺ lifted the little girl and said:

“She will go to her maternal aunt ( her mother’s sister who was the wife of one of the Companions seeking the little girl’s guardianship), because maternal aunt has a status that equals to mother.”

In Masjid e Nabwi, the Prophet ﷺ used to carry Umama bint Zaynab, his granddaughter and used to lead the prayer while his little granddaughter was in his arms. Thus, he set an example of expressing affection towards daughters.

A wonderful Teacher of the Book of Allah

Ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ used to give us five verses to study, ponder upon, think of ways to implement them in our lives and memorize them, before we proceeded to further lessons. Such was the wonderful style of teaching of our Prophet ﷺ. He did not only teach orally but also taught how to implement that knowledge in their daily lives, a practice that has been discarded by many teachers of Qur’an nowadays.

He taught them wisdom

Imam Shafa’ee, and many other scholars have said that, whenever the word “Hikmat” comes along with the word “Kitab”, it refers to hadith and established sunnah. The sunnah is an elaboration and methodology of applying the commands of the Qur’an. It is a part of faith in Islam, providing consistency and harmony to our Deen.