COMMENT | According to Uqbah ibn Amir, the Messenger of Allah once told his people not to hate their daughters, “for daughters are your precious companions” (Musnad Ahmad 16922, Hasan Al-Haythami).

And sure enough, the Prophet himself exemplified the sort of precious love that every father should have towards his daughters.

From the moment she was born, the Prophet protected Fatimah al-Zahra from the various harmful practices which were regarded as norms during his time. He had the choice to do what everyone else was doing, or to reject things out of love for his daughters. This included female circumcision and female infanticide - the deliberate killing of baby girls because they were regarded as less valuable than baby boys.

In fact, the Prophet raised the value of girls to be equal to boys. In a narration by Anas, it was reported that a man was with the Messenger of Allah when his son came. He kissed the boy and sat him on his thigh.

Then his daughter came and she sat to his side. Upon seeing this, the Prophet said, “Why do you not treat them equally?” (Sharh Ma’ani al-Athar 3838, Hassan Al-Albani)...