Waʾd (Infant Burial)

Summary

Wad is the burying of daughters alive out of fear of shame and of expense, and with it the killing of sons out of fear of poverty and destitution. The Sealed Nectar mentions it in the context of a man's relationship with his children in the Jahiliyya, and refers to the verses in al-An'am, al-Isra', al-Takwir and al-Nahl ¹.

In The Sealed Nectar's account

A man's relationship with his children took various forms. Some said, "Our children are our livers walking on the earth." Others would bury their daughters alive out of fear of shame and expense, and kill their sons out of fear of poverty and destitution ¹. But the author holds that this cannot be counted among the common and widespread morals, since they were the people most in need of sons to protect them against enemies ¹.

In the Qur'an

The author refers to al-An'am 151, al-Isra' 31, al-Takwir 8 and al-Nahl 58 ¹.

Not covered here

The spread of wad among particular tribes and the reports of the chroniclers about it have not yet been added. The author himself warns against generalising it.

For young visitors

In the old days some people buried their small daughters alive, out of fear of poverty or shame. Islam came to forbid this and made it one of the gravest sins.

At a glance

Summary

In The Sealed Nectar's account

In the Qur'an

Not covered here

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Jāhilī Marriage Forms