Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
(1) DUTIES TOWARDS ORPHANS
The Holy Qur’an assigns an important place in its system of duties to the doing of good to orphans, so much so that caring for the orphans has assumed the form of a sacred institution in Islam—and that for the first time in the known history of mankind.
The holy book divides the orphans into two categories, namely, (1) those who are destitute; and (2) those who inherit means of subsistence and are under one’s care; and it condemns the malpractices of the people in respect of both, and lays down duties of omission and commission with regard to both.
1. DUTIES RELATING TO THOSE ORPHANS WHO ARE DESTITUTE
AND TO ORPHANS IN GENERAL:
(a) Duty of Omission
Treating the orphan with harshness prohibited:
“Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness.” (93:9).
Because, treating the orphans with harshness should be possible only for him who belies religion and not for a believer in Divine Guidance:
“Have you observed him who belies religion? That is he who repells the orphan (with harshness).” (107:1-2).
(b) Duties of Commission
(1) Doing good to the orphan in every way, enjoined:
“Serve Allah, and join not equals with Him; and do good—to parents, kinsfolk, orphans …” (4:36).
Also 2:83, 2:215.
(2) Spending one’s wealth with the highest motive for the welfare of the orphans emphasized as an act of true righteousness and as one of the acid tests of one’s Faith hence its observance is duty:
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West ; But it is righteousness—to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans …” (2:177).
(3) The difficult path of duty which brings the highest rewards from God emphasized, among other things, in terms of feeding the orphans in times of distress:
“Ah, what will convey unto you what the Ascent is:—(it is) to free a slave, and to feed in a day of privation an orphan near of kin, or some poor wretch in misery.” (90:12-16).
Also 76:8
It may be noted here that, besides the ‘orphan near of kin’ who has naturally a special claim, orphans in general are included in the category of ‘some poor wretch in misery’.
(4) To set aside a portion of one’s wealth for the benefit of orphans when inheritance is divided, enjoined:
“But if, at the time of division, other relatives, or orphans, or the poor are present, give them something also, and speak to them words of kindness and justice.” (4:8).
(5) Besides voluntary help from the Muslims, making the orphans beneficiaries in the spoils of war and in enemy property acquired otherwise by the Islamic State, enjoined:
“And know that of all the booty that you may acquire (in war), a fifth share is assigned to Allah,—and to the Messenger, and to near relatives, (and to) the orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer,—if you do believe in Allah and in the revelation We sent down to Our Servant on the Day of Testing,—the Day of the meeting of the two forces; for Allah has power over all things.” (8:41).
“What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger (and taken away) from the people of the townships,—belongs to Allah,—to His Messenger and to kindred and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; in order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you. So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. And fear Allah; for Allah is strict in Punishment.” (59:7).
2. DUTIES RELATING TO THOSE ORPHANS WHO INHERIT MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE AND ARE UNDER ONE’S CARE:
(a) Duties of Omission
To start with: the Holy Qur’an condemns very strongly the practice of the pagan Arabs who used to misappropriate the helpless orphan’s inheritance.
Taking up the problem of the orphans who may come under a Muslim’s care, and for whose property he may be the custodian, the holy book prohibits all such acts whereby even the slightest injustice may accrue to an orphan—and that in the following terms:
(1) It enjoins abstinence from interfering with—nay, even coming near—the orphan’s property except when it becomes necessary in the interest of the latter’s welfare:
“Come not nigh to the orphan’s property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfill (every) engagement, for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).” (17:34).
“Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a Fire into their own bellies: they will soon be enduring a blazing Fire!” (4:10).
(2) It enjoins abstinence from employing deceptive measures for misappropriating the orphan’s property:
“To orphans restore their property (when they reach their age), and do not substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by mixing it up) with your own. For this is indeed a great sin.” (4:2).
(3) It enjoins abstinence from marrying the orphan girls with the motive of exploiting their wealth thereby:
“And if you apprehend that you may not deal justly with the orphan-girls, then marry such as please you, of other women, by twos and threes or fours; but if you apprehend that you shall not act justly, then marry one only, or that which your right hands own, that will be more suitable that you may swerve not.” (4:3).
(4) It enjoins abstinence from wasteful spending of the orphan’s property out of dishonest selfish consideration:
“… And consume it not wastefully, nor in haste against their growing up …” (4:6).
(5) It enjoins abstinence from carelessness in safeguarding the interests of the orphans in respect of restoration of the orphan’s property to them:
“And give not unto the weak of understanding (what is in) your (keeping of their) wealth, which Allah has given you to maintain, but feed and clothe them out of it, and speak to them words of kindness and justice.” (4:5).
(6) Finally, it makes a touching appeal and registers a stern warning in these words:
“Let those (disposing of an estate) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own if they had left a helpless family behind: Let them fear Allah, and speak words of appropriate (comfort). Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a Fire into their bellies; they will soon be enduring a blazing Fire!” (4:9-10).
(b) Duties of Commission
(1) Loving care for, and conscientious service to, the orphans living under one’s guardianship, and honest protection of their property, with permission for reasonable remuneration to the manager of orphan’s property, in case of his poverty, enjoined:
“And test the orphans (in respect of their capacity to handle their affairs independently) until they reach the marriageable age (i.e., age of majority); then if you find them of sound judgment, hand over unto them their property; and consume it not wastefully, nor in haste against their growing up. If the guardian is well-off, let him claim no remuneration (for service to an orphan). But if he is poor, let him have for himself (as remuneration) what is just and equitable. When you release their property to them, take witness in their presence. But all-sufficient is Allah in taking account.” (4:6).
(2) Co-partnership with the orphans, for better management of their property and their affairs, permitted:
“They ask you concerning the orphans, Say: The best thing to do is what is for their good: if you mix their (financial) affairs with yours (as co-partners), they are your brethren (and as such entitled to all generosity and love). But Allah knows the man who means mischief from the man who means good. And if Allah had wished, He could have put you into difficulties: He is indeed Exalted, Wise.” (2:220).
(3) The principle of the Court of Wards for protecting people of “weak understanding”, including minor orphans, through the institution of guardianship, laid down. Also, permission given to invest the capital of the orphans in trade with a view to benefit them:
“Give not unto the weak of understanding (what is in) your (keeping of their) wealth,* which Allah has given you to maintain; but feed and clothe them out of (the profits of) it,** and speak to them words of kindness and justice.” (4:5).
* Here the verse lays down the rule of guardianship for all those owners of property who are weak of understanding, thereby establishing the institution of Court of Wards.
** According to the Qur’anic commentary, Bahr al-Muhit, it means: “Make it a means of maintaining them so that you invest it in trade and earn profit, and so that you may be able to meet their expenses from the profit and not from the capital.” (vol. 3, p. 179).
(4) Finally, the Holy Qur’an enjoins absolute justice in all respects towards the orphans:
“They ask you concerning the Women. Say: Allah does instruct you about them: and (remember) what has been rehearsed unto you in the Book, concerning (justice to) the orphans of women to whom you give not the portions prescribed, and yet whom you desire to marry, as also concerning the children who are weak and oppressed: that you shall stand firm for justice to orphans. There is not a good deed which you do, but Allah is well-acquainted therewith.” (4:127).
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(4) DUTIES TOWARDS WIDOWS
Basic Observations:
The position of the widows had been miserable even in certain advanced and civilized communities of the world before the advent of the Holy Qur’an. Among the Jews and the Christians, they enjoyed no prerogatives, because of the Biblical dogma which affirms woman’s responsibility for the Original Sin, so much so that she could not even benefit from her husband’s wealth as an inheritor. Among the Hindus, it was not considered appropriate for her even to remain alive,—it being a virtue for the widow to burn herself alive in the funeral pyre of the husband; and, even when she chose to abstain from suicide, it was her most sacred duty to regard all her remaining life as a period of mourning and to pass it, therefore, in wretchedness and misery—as a mark of devotion to her deceased husband: remarriage being considered a heinous crime. This was so, because “widowhood, according to Hindu doctrine, is the penalty incurred for the sins committed in a previous incarnation, entailing hopeless drudgery for the rest of life.” In the Greco-Roman culture, “the dying husband could leave her by will to a friend, with his goods and by the same title.”
As regards the pagan Arabs themselves, who were the first addressees of the Holy Qur’an: “The widows … were regarded as part of the estate, and as such passed ordinarily into the hands of their husband’s heirs.”
Of course, the widow’s right to property was unthinkable in any community of the world, because “women appear to have been universally and in every respect regarded as minors so far as rights of property went … Only sons, not daughters, still less wives, can inherit.”
It was in this background that the Holy Qur’an introduced the following thorough-going reforms in respect of the widows, and made it an obligation on the Muslims to practise them:
1. The period of mourning has been restricted to four months and ten days. It has been actually called ‘period of waiting’, and, as such, it is not a period for imposing wretchedness and misery on the widow but a period prescribed in the interest of her biological preparation for re-marriage and in the interest of finding out if she is with an unborn child by her deceased husband,—all this being for the promotion of human welfare.
The Holy Qur’an says:
“If any of you die and leave widows behind, they (the widows) shall, wait, keeping themselves apart (i.e., in restricted social intercourse), four months and ten days. Then when they have fulfilled their (prescribed) terms, there is no blame on you if they (as independent dispensers of their future) dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner (in the enjoyment of social life and in connection with their re-marriage).* And Allah is well-acquainted with what you do.” (2:234).
* In case it is proved that there is unborn issue, a widow will not re-marry until it is born and for a reasonable time thereafter—in which case the term may be more or less than four months and ten days; and during the entire period her maintenance is the liability of her late husband and shall be chargeable to whatever assets he leaves behind. (See: al-Hedaya, vol. 2, pp. 33, 34., Egyptian edition).
(2) In case the dower-money has not been already paid by the husband, or has not been written off by the wife, it shall be treated as debt and shall be paid to the wife after the death of her husband before any share is delivered to any inheritor,— this, according to the Qur’anic law:
“… (The distribution of inheritance in all cases is) after the payment of legacies and debts …” (4:11).
(3) The widow shall receive her fixed share in inheritance from her husband’s estate, according to circumstances:
“… In what you leave, their (i.e., the wives’) share is a fourth, if you leave no child; but if you leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts …” (4:12).
(4) Re-marriage of widows has been strongly advocated for providing them enjoyment of fullness of life: The Holy Qur’an says:
“(O Muslims!) Wed those among you who are single (i.e., those who are not already in the bond of wedlock, whether they are unmarried, or lawfully divorced, or widowed). (24:32).
(5) Abstinence from treating the widow as a chattel, enjoined:
“O you who believe! It is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit the women (of your deceased kinsmen) …” (4:19).
(a) Duties of Commission:
Among the above injunctions, numbers 1 to 4 relate serially to the following three duties of commission:
1. Duty of permitting a period of consolation and readjustment to the widow:
2. Duty of strengthening the widow financially;
3. Duty of encouraging the widow to re-enjoy fullness of life through suitable remarriage, in case she desires it and considers it conducive to her overall welfare.
(b) Duty of Omission:
Injunction 5, on the other hand, relates to the duty of omission— the duty, namely, of abstaining from damaging her personality and her human dignity.
Indeed, according to the Qur’anic teaching, a widow possesses a free and independent personality, and anyone who subjects her to humiliation or loss is a sinner.
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to be continued . . . . .
Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times
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