سُوْرَةُ التَّكْوِيْرِ
Surah At-Takwir (81) — Ayah 8
وَإِذَا ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ سُئِلَتْ ﴿8﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And when the female (infant) buried alive (as the pagan Arabs used to do) is questioned:
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَإِذَا
wa-idhā
And when
ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ
l-mawūdatu
the female infant buried alive
سُئِلَتْ
su-ilat
is asked
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
8. And when the buried-alive girl is asked [9],
[9]
Reasons for Burying Alive and the Prevention of This Custom:
In one recitation, instead of ﴿سُئِلَتْ﴾, ﴿سَئَلَتْ﴾ has also been reported, meaning that the girl who was buried alive herself will cry out to her Lord, asking for what crime she was buried in the earth. However, the recitation of ﴿سُئِلَت﴾ is more eloquent than ﴿سَئَلَت﴾, which means that Allah Almighty will neither like to look at such merciless and hard-hearted oppressors nor like to speak to them; rather, instead of them, attention will be turned to the oppressed girl and she will be asked for what crime she was killed. And this manner of address is evidence of Allah Almighty being extremely angry with the criminals. As for why the Arabs were so hard-hearted that they considered their daughters such a despicable gender that they would bury them alive, this has already been mentioned at several places before. Briefly, there were three reasons for this:
(1) They would kill their children out of fear of becoming poor and destitute, and in this regard, there was no difference between boys and girls.
(2) They considered it a matter of shame and disgrace to have someone become their son-in-law.
(3) And the third and most important reason was that the Arabs were constantly engaged in tribal wars, and in such wars, male offspring would become their successors or helpers. But the matter of girls was entirely different from that of boys. The girls, when married into another tribe, had to support that tribe, and the tribe of the girl's parents had to submit before it. And probably for this reason, the Arabs had deprived girls of inheritance. To end this concept, Islam took twofold measures. Firstly, it declared the killing of children and burying girls alive to be an even more severe crime than ordinary murder and strongly refuted the notion that people had the right to kill their children. Secondly, it encouraged the upbringing and nurturing of girls by declaring it a great virtuous deed. Thus, Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqaؓ narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever is tested by the birth of these girls and then treats them well, these girls will become a means of protection for him from the punishment of Hell. [ترمذی۔ ابواب البروالصلۃ۔ باب ماجاء فی النفقات علی البنات]
[9]
Reasons for Burying Alive and the Prevention of This Custom:
In one recitation, instead of ﴿سُئِلَتْ﴾, ﴿سَئَلَتْ﴾ has also been reported, meaning that the girl who was buried alive herself will cry out to her Lord, asking for what crime she was buried in the earth. However, the recitation of ﴿سُئِلَت﴾ is more eloquent than ﴿سَئَلَت﴾, which means that Allah Almighty will neither like to look at such merciless and hard-hearted oppressors nor like to speak to them; rather, instead of them, attention will be turned to the oppressed girl and she will be asked for what crime she was killed. And this manner of address is evidence of Allah Almighty being extremely angry with the criminals. As for why the Arabs were so hard-hearted that they considered their daughters such a despicable gender that they would bury them alive, this has already been mentioned at several places before. Briefly, there were three reasons for this:
(1) They would kill their children out of fear of becoming poor and destitute, and in this regard, there was no difference between boys and girls.
(2) They considered it a matter of shame and disgrace to have someone become their son-in-law.
(3) And the third and most important reason was that the Arabs were constantly engaged in tribal wars, and in such wars, male offspring would become their successors or helpers. But the matter of girls was entirely different from that of boys. The girls, when married into another tribe, had to support that tribe, and the tribe of the girl's parents had to submit before it. And probably for this reason, the Arabs had deprived girls of inheritance. To end this concept, Islam took twofold measures. Firstly, it declared the killing of children and burying girls alive to be an even more severe crime than ordinary murder and strongly refuted the notion that people had the right to kill their children. Secondly, it encouraged the upbringing and nurturing of girls by declaring it a great virtuous deed. Thus, Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqaؓ narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever is tested by the birth of these girls and then treats them well, these girls will become a means of protection for him from the punishment of Hell. [ترمذی۔ ابواب البروالصلۃ۔ باب ماجاء فی النفقات علی البنات]
