Woman Between Islam and Western Society
9. Dowry
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largely from their unpreparedness for the married
state. Such a situation is invariably aggravated
when the girl’s parents, spurred on by her
complaints, attempt to intervene. Their hostile
attitude in the long run only causes their daughter
to suffer more. Whenever there is; clash between the
weak and the strong, it is always the former who
suffer and, of course, within the bonds of marriage,
it is always the girl who is in the weaker position.
Parents do not realize the damage they do to their
own daughter’s life in waging an unending war
against her in-laws. But, as the old saying goes,
“Every father is a fool where his children are
concerned.”
Where parents are blinded by their affection for
their daughter, it is up to the girl herself to think
objectively. Suppose, as a customer in a shop, she
attempted to appropriate items for which she had
not paid. Obviously these goods would be withheld
from her by the shopkeeper. You have to give
before you get. Similarly, in her parents-in-law’s
home, if she demands their attention, care and
affection without having given any of these things
to them, she cannot expect them to behave towards
