Life-of-Muhammad

4Life of Muhammad saArab society had no status and no rights. Among them itwas thought honourable to put baby girls to death. It isa mistake, however, to think that infanticide waspractised on a country-wide scale. Such a dangerousinstitution could not flourish throughout a country.That would have meant the extinction of the race. Thetruth is that in Arabia—or for that matter in India orany other country where infanticide has ever existed, ithas been confined only to certain families. The Arabfamilies who practised it either had an exaggeratednotion of their social status or they were constrained inother ways. Possibly they were unable to find suitableyoung men for their daughters to marry; knowing this,they put to death their baby girls. The evil of thisinstitution lies in its savageness and its cruelty, not inthe results which it has in terms of a nation'spopulation. Different methods were used for killing babygirls, among them burying alive and strangulation.Only the real mother was regarded as a mother inArab society. Step-mothers were not regarded asmothers and there was no ban on a son's marrying hisstep-mother on the death of his father. Polygamousmarriages were very common, and there was no limit tothe number of wives a man could take. More than onesister could also be taken to wife by the same person atone and the same time.The worst treatment was meted out by combatantsides to one another in war. Where hatred was strong,they did not hesitate to split the bodies of the wounded,take out parts and eat them in cannibal fashion. Theydid not hesitate to mutilate the bodies of their enemies.Cutting off the nose or ears, or plucking out an eye wasa common form of cruelty practised by them. Slaverywas widespread. Weak tribes were made slaves. Theslave had no accepted status. Every master did as heliked with his slaves. No action could be taken against amaster who maltreated his slave. A master could murderhis slave without having to answer for it. If one mastermurdered another's slave, even then the penalty was notdeath. All that was required of him was to compensatethe aggrieved master suitably. Women-slaves were used