This ugly and harsh practice was driven by three motives...

This ugly and harsh practice was driven by three motives: – Some tribes considered having a daughter a source of disgrace and shame. Upon hearing the news of a newborn girl, their faces would darken with rage, and because of this distressing report they would hide from their people, seeing themselves torn between two choices: either bury her alive or raise her in humiliation: “When one of them is given the good news of a female child, his face becomes darkened, and he is filled with grief.

He hides himself from the people because of the bad news he has received: should he keep her in humiliation or bury her in the ground? Evil indeed is the judgement they make” . [5] A group among them would bury their daughters alive: “And when the girl who was buried alive is asked: for what sin was she killed?” . [6] Because killing daughters had become an accepted custom in the Age of Ignorance, they even called the grave the “bridegroom” of the girl.

[7] The reason behind such ignorant behavior was that daughters could not fight or plunder during raids, nor could they defend themselves during attacks, and if they were captured by the enemy, it brought eternal disgrace upon the tribe. – Another group killed their children, sons or daughters, due to economic pressure and poverty. God Almighty forbade this: “Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for you and for them” .

[8] – A third group sacrificed their sons or daughters to idols as vows or for blessing: “Thus, their partners made the killing of their children seem fair to many of the polytheists, leading them to their destruction and confusing them in their religion” . [9] Child-killing, which was among the most violent acts of the Age of Ignorance, when done as an act of devotion to idols, can be counted as a case of misunderstanding religious teachings.

The religious nature of these practices among pre-Islamic Arabs may be inferred from the words of the Amir al-Muminin (AS), who described such customs as “the worst religion” , another expression for misunderstanding the true divine religion. In the modern era as well, one of the causes of violence among extremist takfiri groups is their false and incorrect beliefs arising from misinterpreting religious teachings.