Respect of Children (1/3) [Archives:2006/909/Culture]
Abdulaziz Atieq
The Cultural Center for Foreigners' Call
Respecting others is the most prominent feature of Islam, a religion of balance. Parents, brothers and sisters, kinfolks and all others, Muslim or non-Muslim, have rights endowed by their Creator, who never likes oppression of one party against another. As part of this list, children, according to Islamic teachings, enjoy great respect, from the moment they are in their mothers' wombs to the last stage of childhood. In this article, we will learn how Islam respects children, discussing the child from the following aspects: before and after marriage, as a fetus, as a newborn baby and lastly, as a child.
Before marriage, according to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), it begins before the beginning. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cautioned us and called upon us to be careful in our choice of spouses. He is reported (by ibn Majah) to have said, “Make a good choice for (your) spouse, for blood will tell.” This highlights the effect of heredity on the infant. It is therefore the right of the child to have parents who are loving and of noble and righteous character. After conception, the rights Allah has prescribed for unborn children in Islamic Law then take effect.
Islam prohibits anything that will lead to harming the fetus and takes strong measures against those who ignore the rights of this very weak creature who is guarded by his merciful and wise God. If the fetus is exposed to harm from hunger, then the pregnant woman, even if she is healthy, can break Ramadan fasting, which is compulsory upon every healthy Muslim. If she insists on fasting after warning her, she is sinful and must repent. If someone hits a pregnant woman's belly and causes the death of a four-month-old fetus, this person must pay blood money estimated to that of a fully mature person. Once a fetus dies, people should pray for it as they do for mature persons. Instructions of physicians for the safety of a fetus become Islamically incumbent. A man who divorces his wife while she is pregnant must continue spending money on her until she delivers, as Allah says, “And if they are pregnant, then spend on them until they deliver,” (At-Talaq: 6) and then finishes her babysitting period, as Allah Almighty says, “The father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother's food and clothing on a reasonable basis.” (Al-Baqarah: 233)
Abortion without a good reason is a violation of the fetus's rights. This is unlike in the United States, where human, civil and moral rights are debated hourly and the rights of the unborn often are neglected and ignored. In the past 25 years since the Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade, more than 35 million unborn children have been slaughtered in the industry's abortion mills. In an authentic hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told us that human life begins 120 days after conception. It is human life that is being extinguished, not some meaningless blob of tissue. The rights of the unborn in Islamic Law protect the unborn from the ignorant and misguided and those ungrateful for their Lord's bounties. Allah, Most High, describes those who kill their children, prior to or after their birth, as lost, misguided and ignorant, “Indeed lost are they who have killed their children, from folly without knowledge and have forbidden that which Allah has provided for them, inventing a lie against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and were not guided.” (Al-Ma'idah: 140) Anyone who aborts a fetus without justifiable reasons must pay reparation (blood money). Some may abort their unborn due to poverty. However, Allah, the All-Mighty, has decreed, with His prior Knowledge, the right of the infant for sustenance and He guaranteed such rights. As a result, He soothes the hearts of those who may fear poverty, “And kill not your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you. Surely, the killing of them is a great sin.” (Al-Isra': 31)
However, it does not stop here. Islamic Law further commands the guardian to consider the pregnant woman's condition, her affairs and mental frame of mind. Doing well to the expectant mother is mandatory, even if she has committed a crime or an offense against society. Her guardian should delay her punishment so that the unborn will not be affected by it.
The evidence used here is the order given by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the guardian of the woman who committed adultery and was pregnant, to be kind with her (Ibn Majah). The story of Al-Ghamediyyah is popular and well-known. It was narrated that a woman from the tribe of Ghamed came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, “I have committed adultery.” The Prophet told her to return later. The following day, she returned to him and said, “You may want me to return, as you did with Ma`iz ibn Malik, but by Allah, I am pregnant!” He told her, “Return after you deliver,” so she left. When she had delivered, she brought the baby to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “Here I am with what I have delivered.” He said, “Return and breastfeed him until fitam (weaning or the end of the nursing period and beginning of eating regular food).” When the time of fitam came, she went to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with the child, who was eating something from his hand. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then gave the child to one of the Muslim men. He commanded a hole be made for her and then ordered that she be stoned (Abu Dawud). It is clear from this hadith how careful and concerned Islam is about the life of the infant and the need for giving the infant his complete rights, such that he may be capable of depending on himself, even if he came into this life through illegitimate means.
The manner of a child's birth is not his sin, “And no soul shall bear the sin of another.” (Fatir: 18) No matter how a child comes into the world, all of his rights, including rights for sustenance, remain valid under Islamic Law. So an unborn child's life is considered sacred under Islamic Law.
——
[archive-e:909-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-01-05-p:culture]
