Because of the fact that the Old Testament recognized no
inheritance rights to them, widows were among the most vulnerable of the Jewish
population. The male relatives who inherited all of a woman's deceased husband's
estate were to provide for her from that estate. However, widows had no way to
ensure this provision was carried out, and lived on the mercy of others.
Therefore, widows were among the lowest classes in ancient Israel and widowhood
was considered a symbol of great degradation (Isaiah 54:4). But the plight of a
widow in the Biblical tradition extended even beyond her exclusion from her
husband's property.
According to Genesis 38, a childless widow must marry her
husband's brother, even if he is already married, so that he can produce
offspring for his dead brother, thus ensuring his brother's name will not die
out.
"Then Judah said to Onan, 'Lie with your brother's wife
and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your
brother' " (Genesis 38:8).
The widow's consent to this marriage is not required. The
widow is treated as part of her deceased husband's property whose main function
is to ensure her husband's posterity. This Biblical law is still practiced in
today's Israel. A childless widow in Israel is bequeathed to her husband's brother.
If the brother is too young to marry, she has to wait until he comes of age.
Should the deceased husband's brother refuse to marry her, she is set free and
can then marry any man of her choice. It is not an uncommon phenomenon in
Israel that widows are subjected to blackmail by their brothers-in-law in order
to gain their freedom.
The pagan Arabs before Islam had similar practices. A widow
was considered a part of her husband's property to be inherited by his male heirs
and she was, usually, given in marriage to the deceased man's eldest son from
another wife. The Quran scathingly attacked and abolished this degrading
custom:
"And marry not women whom your fathers married--Except
what is past -- it was shameful, odious, and abominable custom indeed" (Qur’an 4:22).
Widows and divorced women were so looked down upon in the
Biblical tradition that the high priest could not marry a widow, a divorced
woman, or a prostitute:
"The woman he (the high priest) marries must be a
virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by
prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so he will not defile his
offspring among his people" (Lev. 21:13-15)
In Israel today, a descendant of the Cohen caste (the high
priests of the days of the Temple) cannot marry a divorcee, a widow, or a
prostitute. In the Jewish legislation, a woman who has been widowed three
times with all the three husbands dying of natural causes is considered
'fatal' and forbidden to marry again.The Quran, on the other hand, recognizes neither
castes nor fatal persons. Widows and divorcees have the freedom to marry
whomever they choose.
There is no stigma attached to divorce or widowhood in the
Quran:
"When you divorce women and they fulfil their terms
[three menstruation periods] either take them back on equitable terms or set
them free on equitable terms; But do not take them back to injure them or to
take undue advantage, If anyone does that, he wrongs his own soul. Do not treat
Allah's signs as a jest" (Qur’an 2:231).
"If any of you die and leave widows behind, they shall
wait four months and ten days. When they have fulfilled their term, there is no
blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just manner" (Qur’an 2:234).
"Those of you who die and leave widows should bequeath
for their widows a year's maintenance and residence. But if they [the widows]
leave (the residence) there is no blame on you for what they justly do with themselves" (Qur’an 2:240).
