Islamic Education & Dawah

Surah At-Takwir — Verses 8–9

Tafseer, Commentary & Contemporary Relevance

Part One: The Quranic Verses & Tafseer

Verses 8–9 — Arabic Text

وَإِذَا الْمَوْءُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ ﴿٨﴾ بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَتْ ﴿٩﴾

Translation

“And when the girl-child buried alive is asked — (8) for what sin was she killed?” (9)

Footnote 9 — Mawdudi’s Tafheem ul-Quran

The tone of this verse carries a degree of intense divine wrath beyond which nothing more severe can be imagined. The parents who buried their daughter alive will be so utterly despicable in the sight of Allah that they will not even be addressed directly with the question: “Why did you kill this innocent child?” Instead, Allah will turn away from them and ask the innocent girl herself: “For what sin were you killed, poor soul?” — and she will narrate the cruelty her oppressive parents inflicted upon her and how they buried her alive.

Two enormously significant themes are contained within this brief verse:

First Theme — Mirror to Moral Collapse

It makes the Arabs feel the depth of moral degradation to which Jahiliyyah (the Age of Ignorance) had brought them — that they would bury their own children alive with their own hands, yet insist on remaining committed to that same ignorance and refusing to accept the reform that Muhammad ﷺ wished to bring to their corrupt society.

Second Theme — The Necessity of the Hereafter

It presents a clear argument for the necessity of the Afterlife. The girl who was buried alive — surely her grievance must be heard somewhere. The oppressors — surely there must come a day of accountability. In this world, no one listened to her cry. In the society of Jahiliyyah, this act was considered permissible. Should great injustice go unredressed in God’s creation?

The Practice of Burying Daughters Alive in Arabia

This merciless practice arose in ancient times for various reasons:

• Economic hardship — sons were hoped to earn; daughters seen as burdens to raise and marry off.

• General lawlessness — sons meant defenders in tribal warfare; daughters required protection and could not fight.

• Fear of capture — enemy tribes would enslave captured women, so fathers killed daughters preemptively.

A Companion’s Account Before the Prophet ﷺ

In Sunan al-Darimi, a man told the Prophet ﷺ about his act from the days of Jahiliyyah:

“I had a daughter who would come running when I called. One day I took her to a well, grabbed her hand, and pushed her in. Her last words were: ‘O Father! O Father!'”

The Prophet ﷺ wept until his beard was wet with tears. He then said: “Whatever occurred in Jahiliyyah, Allah has forgiven it — begin your life afresh.”

Arab Society Was Not Without Conscience

Sa’sa’ah ibn Najiyah al-Mujashi’i told the Prophet ﷺ he had saved 360 girls from being buried alive, paying two camels as ransom for each. The Prophet ﷺ replied: “Yes, you will receive reward — and it is this: that Allah has blessed you with Islam.”

Islam’s Transformation — The Value of Daughters

Islam abolished this practice and eradicated the belief that a daughter’s birth is a calamity. Select Ahadith:

مَنِ ابْتُلِيَ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْبَنَاتِ بِشَيْءٍ فَأَحْسَنَ إِلَيْهِنَّ كُنَّ لَهُ سِتْرًا مِنَ النَّارِ

“Whoever is tested by daughters and treats them well — they will be a shield from the Fire.” (Bukhari, Muslim)

مَنْ عَالَ جَارِيَتَيْنِ حَتَّى تَبْلُغَا جَاءَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَنَا وَهُوَ وَضَمَّ أَصَابِعَهُ

“Whoever raised two daughters until adulthood will appear on the Day of Resurrection alongside me — like this.” [fingers joined] (Muslim)

مَنْ كَانَتْ لَهُ أُنْثَى فَلَمْ يَئِدْهَا وَلَمْ يُهِنْهَا وَلَمْ يُؤْثِرْ وَلَدَهُ عَلَيْهَا أَدْخَلَهُ اللَّهُ الْجَنَّةَ

“Whoever has a daughter and does not bury her, does not humiliate her, and does not prefer his son over her — Allah will admit him to Paradise.” (Abu Dawud)

أَلَا أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى أَعْظَمِ الصَّدَقَةِ؟ ابْنَتُكَ الْمَرْدُودَةُ إِلَيْكَ لَيْسَ لَهَا كَاسِبٌ غَيْرُكَ

“The greatest charity is your daughter returned to you — divorced or widowed — with no one else to earn for her.” (Ibn Majah; Bukhari — al-Adab al-Mufrad)

Part Two: Contemporary Relevance

The Quranic condemnation of wa’d (burying daughters alive) addresses a universal human pathology that has manifested across cultures and centuries in different forms.

1. Sex-Selective Abortion — The Modern Wa’d

In India, son preference led to sex ratios of only 800 girls per 1,000 boys in some regions. China’s one-child policy created tens of millions of ‘missing women’ (Amartya Sen). The Quran says: “When one of them is given tidings of a female child, his face darkens and he suppresses his grief.” (An-Nahl 16:58). The technology changed. The heart did not.

2. Devadasi System — Dedicating Girls to Temples

In South India and Nepal, young girls were dedicated to temples — denied marriage rights, made available to upper-caste men, living in economic and social bondage. Islam declares every human soul mukkarram (honored) regardless of gender or birth.

3. Dowry-Related Violence and Bride Burning

In South Asia, dowry deaths remain documented. India records thousands annually. The logic is identical to Jahili Arabia: the female is a financial liability, not a human being of inherent worth.

4. Structural and Subtle Devaluation

• Girls denied education in favor of brothers

• Women paid less for equal work globally

• Female voices excluded from leadership and governance

• Widows abandoned or blamed; divorced women stigmatized

These are softer forms of the same disease — the belief that female existence is conditional or lesser.

The Quranic Framework Is Timeless

Allah does not merely prohibit a specific act in Surah At-Takwir — He does something far deeper:

• He restores the victim’s voice — she will be heard on the Day of Judgment

• He reframes female existence as inherently worthy — her death requires justification before Allah

• He grounds accountability in the Akhirah — because worldly systems consistently fail to protect women

Her cry had no listener in this world. Society normalized it. Family participated. Law permitted it. This is why the Hereafter is not optional theology — it is the only framework guaranteeing ultimate justice for the systematically voiceless.

Why This Education Is Urgently Necessary Today

• Islam was the first civilization-wide movement to structurally elevate women’s status through fiqh, inheritance rights, and prophetic modeling.

• The Prophet’s ﷺ teaching that raising daughters earns Paradise proximity inverted 1,400 years of patriarchal shame culture in a single image.

• Modern secular frameworks created new forms of female exploitation while congratulating themselves on ‘liberation.’ Islam offers dignity rooted in divine recognition, not social negotiation.

• Muslims themselves need this reminder — son-preference bias exists within Muslim communities too.

A Closing Reflection

“For what sin was she killed?” — perhaps the most morally devastating question in all of scripture. It needs no elaboration. It needs only to be heard.

The Islamic educator must ensure this question echoes — for:

• The aborted girl in a clinic in Delhi

• The trafficked girl in Southeast Asia

• The burned bride in Karachi

• The educated girl told her opinion does not matter

Allah heard her then. He hears her now. And He will ask.

 

ForOneCreator | Islamic Education & Dawah

Tafseer Source: Tafheem ul-Quran — Sayyid Abul A’la Mawdudi رحمه الله