By Defending-Islam.com Team
While reading a series of Hindu blogs, we came across the following article highlighting the plight of widows in India entitled “A life of ashes – The story of India’s widows” (Last Accessed September 29, 2013):
The rendering of the matter in this article is indeed very heart-wrenching. Seeing the pitiful state of Hindu widows described in this tract convinced us that it is imperative to contrast their state with what it is when the laws of Islam are applied. Before we start, two things are to be kept in mind:
1. We are very much aware that the conditions of Muslim widows are better than Hindu widows; because the teachings of Islam regarding women, especially widows, are sympathetic and kind. In the case of Hinduism, the traditional Hindu lifestyle is the one that is the driving force for such problems, and moving away from these traditions is the only logical solution for these problems as mentioned in the article itself.
2. It has to be stressed that the treatment of Hindu widows is not the only basic reason why Hinduism is incorrect as a belief system. There are many other theological and logical reasons for that. However, highlighting this aspect of Hindu society and contrasting it with what the original Muslim teachings say are among the ways that show what Islam is and how it deals with different topics, be they theological or social.
An Example of Suffering Hindu Widows
Now, the article starts off by mentioning the journalist’s mother and how she was lucky to have been able to leave India and go to Australia after she became widowed. It then mentions:
“Think then of the life of a woman like Nargis who lives in a poor village in West Bengal. She was married off in her teens to a man already diagnosed with TB. Her parents couldn’t afford a decent dowry so they settled for the first marriage offer that came their way for their daughter. Her husband died a couple of years later, leaving her a mother and a widow in her early 20’s.”
Comparing this with Islam, we see that the Islamic rules state that it is obligatory for the male to give Mahr (a monetary gift) to his wife upon the time of marriage. In the Islamic books concerning family laws, there is no mention at all of any obligation for the female side to give any obligatory gift to the male or to his relatives. So in an Islamic setting, such a situation would have been avoided from the get-go, and the parents of the girl would not have had to be worried that their dowry could only afford a terminally ill man for their daughter.
What are the Sorrows of Hindu Widows?
The article then states:
“Hindu widows especially are faced with a battery of societal taboos; the general rule of thumb is that the higher their caste, the more restrictions widows face. Traditionally when a man dies, his widow is expected to renounce all earthly pleasures.”
“Widows should no longer look attractive, and are expected to wear only simple white saris for the rest of their lives. On news of their husband’s death, they break their bangles and can no longer wear jewelry or use Sindoor – the red powder women wear in their parting and on their foreheads to denote their married status.”
An orthodox widow may be expected to cut her hair or even shave her head. A widow from the south of the country may not even be able to wear a blouse under her sari.
The above is totally unimaginable from a pure Islamic viewpoint. From the Islamic perspective in general, when the husband dies, the woman has to keep a number of restrictions only for four lunar months and ten days. After this period is completed, she is free to marry and live her life as before. With respect to the restrictions placed on her and on any of the men-folk directly approaching her for marriage, the wisdom behind this is mostly to keep her protected during a period of great emotional distress for her. Otherwise, she would be vulnerable to any man who would want to take advantage of her emotional state for marriage, without her being able to judge the decision in a proper mental and emotional state.
What a Hindu Widow Must Eat?
![]() |
According to Hinduism a widow has to throw
herself into her husband’s pyre or to live in this world like a dead,
abandoning all kinds of worldly desires.
|
Post a Comment