By Agencies / 24 Jan 2013

Even now daughters are considered an unwanted burden in some societies and instead of rejoicing, an atmosphere of grief and disappointment is produced in the family at their birth.

This is the position, today, but in the pre-Islamic times the daughters were positively considered a shame and disgrace among the Arabs, so much so that even the right to live was denied to them. Many a hard-hearted parent used to strangle his daughter to death, with his own hands, when she was born, or bury her alive.

Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said

"Whoever becomes the father of a girl, he should neither hurt her nor treat her with contempt nor show preference over her to his sons in kindness and affection. (Both boys and girls should be treated alike.) Allah will grant him Paradise in return for kind treatment towards the daughter."

It is narrated that a very poor woman, with two daughters, came to Ayesha's (may Allah be pleased with her) place to beg. By chance, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) had only one date with her, at that time, which she gave to the woman. The woman broke the date into two parts and gave one part each to the girls. She did not eat anything of it herself. When after some time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) related the incident to him, upon which he remarked:

"The believing man or woman upon whom there is the responsibility of daughters and he or she discharges it well and treats them with affection, the daughters will become a means of freedom, for him or her, in the hereafter."

It is related by Anas (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said

"The believer who bears the responsibility of two daughters and supports them till they attain puberty, he and I will be close to one another like this on the Day of Judgment."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), adds that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) showed, by joining the fingers of his hand, that as the fingers were close to one another, in the same way will the believer be close to him on the Day of Judgment.

Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said "Whoever bears the responsibility of three daughters or sisters or even of two daughters or sisters, and bears it well, and looks after their training and welfare properly, and then, gets them married, Allah will reward him with Paradise."

In these Ahadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has not only stated that kind treatment was the natural right or claim of the daughters, but, also that the believers who fulfilled the obligation towards them in a good and proper manner would be rewarded with Paradise in the hereafter. He, further, gives the joyful tidings that such a man will be close to him, on the Day of Judgment, as the fingers of a hand are, when joined together.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Anyone who has three daughters and provides for them, clothes them and shows mercy to them will definitely enter the Paradise.” A man from the people asked, “What about two daughters, O Messengerof Allah?” He replied, “And two.”   (Bukhari: al-Adab al-Mufrad)