A daughter can be as useful and efficient a person as a son.

A daughter can be as useful and efficient a person as a son. You must receive the news of the birth of a healthy child, be it a son or a daughter, with equal happiness. You must thank God that it is a gift from Him that has come to you. It is a part of your existence that has come to the world. The Prophet and his Holy Descendants always took this attitude towards the life. Whenever the Imam Sajjad received the news of the birth of a child he never enquired if it was a son or a daughter.

But he used to offer a prayer to Allah when he used to be informed that the new-born was hale and hearty.[^1] One day the Holy Prophet was busy talking to his companions when a person reached his presence and informed that Allah has given to him a daughter. He was joyful and offered his thanks to Allah. But when he saw the faces of his companions he found them crestfallen. He was upset with them and said, “What has happened to you? Allah has given to me a flower whose fragrance I smell.

Allah has ensured sustenance for her too as He would for a son !"[^2] Allah has deplored the discrimination between the sons and daughters thus: “When they get tidings of a daughter their faces turn dark with shame; anger pervades them and they hide their faces from others." (Qur’an, 16:58-59) [^1]: Wasail al-shiah, v15, p. 143 [^2]: Wasail al-shiah Previous…