"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty...

"And do not kill your children for fear of poverty; We give them sustenance and yourselves (two); surely to kill them is a great wrong."(Holy Qur’an, 17:31) "And When the female-y buried alive is asked, for what Sin she was killed,..." (Holy Qur’an, 81:8-9) A Prophetic tradition says: "A man named Qais bin Asim al-Timimy came to the presence of the Prophet of Allah (s.a.w.) and said: 'I buried all eight of my daughters during Jahiliyah (the pre-Islamic period of ignorance)..." [^1] The pre-Islamic history of ignorance of the Arabs is illustrated below: "Burying female children was carried out in different miserable conditions; the infant was buried alive!

They used diverse ways in practising this custom. If a girl was born to one of them, they kept her for six years. Then, her father ordered for her to be perfumed and beautified on the pretext of taking her to one of her relatives! A well was already prepared for her in the desert. When she reached the well, her father told her to look at it and then pushed her into it and threw dust and soil over her! "Others used this way: The mother, during the time of her delivery, went and sat over a pit.

If the newborn was a daughter, she dropped her into the pit and filled it with dust. If it were a boy, she would take him home! "Those who did not want to bury their daughters, kept them humiliated until they reached the age when they would be able to shepherd. Then they were dressed in a woollen robe and sent to the desert to shepherd camels! "Those who did not prefer to send her to shepherd, used other means to humiliate her personality by using wickedness against her.

"For example, if the girl grew up and wanted to marry and after her marriage if her husband died, her guardian would come and dressed her in a special garment which meant that she had no right to marry anyone unless her guardian agreed. Thus, she was forced into marriage against her will! If her guardian did not want to marry her, she would be imprisoned until she died and then he would inherit her. If she wanted to save herself from this state, she had to give some ransom to free herself.

"Others set women free on the condition that she should not marry anyone except with her guardian's permission or she should pay a ransom. Others imprisoned widows and kept her for one of their children until he grew up and married her.