The girl child: how a blessing is considered a burden

I often wonder how a father could bury his little angel in the soil while she is still breathing. Her cry shows her helplessness, and the mother is quiet. Her cry is a question for her mother, “Mother why don’t you pick me up?” Then the cries get louder as the little angel realizes her mother or father is ignoring her and her cries begin to question her parents, “Why are you covering me in the dirt? Did you wash and bath me for this day?” She gets no answer to her cries and of her sorrow as her father continues to burden her under the pile of soil. Finally, she is under the soil, burdened by this earth and cries begin to slow down as the child chokes and bids this world farewell. If a child could speak at this painful moment even then a daughter would never curse her parents… this is how beautiful a girl is.

Centuries have passed and this shameful tradition of burying a girl child alive still prevails in some parts of the world. Allah has made a girl child a blessing, it’s the people who have made it a burden. It’s a massive problem of a mindset that prevails in the Asian and Arab countries. At the time of our Prophet (peace be upon him), women used to take part in the manliest jobs there were, like trading or being present on the battlefield helping the wounded. They were a support system for men. These days women are equally passionate about being a contributing member of society but society doesn’t let them fulfil their dreams or better yet live their lives.

The first thing that comes to the mind of people who consider a girl child a liability is “Oho its a girl!! Now don’t go about spending too much on her studies, save it for her dowry so that she gets a good proposal. And don’t pamper her too much, if she gets spoiled who will marry her?” The fact that the girls would eventually marry therefore in some families it is considered useless to educate a girl child. And this is the reason why early marriages are so common these days. Because in such households the sole purpose of upbringing a girl child is to get her married into a wealthy family.

It’s funny how obsessed some people are with their family name and its supposed legacy. As girls adopt the surname of their husband so they will not actually be the name bearer of the family. Sadly, this is the reason why some women get abortions done of a female fetus in the early stages of pregnancy. Our Prophet (peace be upon him) had many children but his (peace be upon him) legacy was continued through Hazrat Fatimah R.A.’s sons Hazrat Imam Hassan and Hussain R.A. This example is a proof of the importance of a girl child in Islam.

It’s about time we revolutionize our mindsets and let our daughters be happy. Don’t give or accept dowry; you are already giving your daughter away. That’s the most valuable thing in the world and much more beautiful and precious than any car, TV or fridge.