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[quote=Anonymous]Re: Islam and female infanticide.  There are several verses in the Quran denouncing infanticide in suras 6 and 7.  But the verses are not specific to female infanticide, but rather to infanticide of boys and girls (the male plural for children is used).

There is a reference to a girl buried alive in the Quran, but it is in an apocalyptic sura that describes the end of days--when the sun is wrapped in darkness, when female camels are neglected (the last thing a nomadic Arab would ever do as female camels provide milk, vital for human sustenance in the desert), etc  One of the signs of the end of days in this sura (81) is when a girl who was buried alive is asked what sin she committed (81:8-9).  One thus cannot take 81:8-9 as a prohibition of female infanticide specifically.  It is rather part of a poetic rendering of the seemingly impossibly things that will happen at the end of days.

Some modern Muslim like to say that Islam values women highly because it outlawed female infanticide, ergo Islam values women and elevates their status.  Then they point to other obscure verses like the ones about consultation and the oath of allegiance of the Medinan women to bolster their case, wringing meaning out of them that was not intended.  Those who do this are making anachronistic arguments by trying to read the Quran through the lens of today where much of the world accepts the equality of women.

By pointing to these verses, they hope to show how Islam treats women equally despite their unequal treatment in matters of divorce, inheritance, etc.

But the fact remains, the starting argument for all this--that Islam specifically prohibited female infanticide--is in error.  Islam prohibited infanticide of both male and female children. (A good thing in itself to be sure.)

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