The Problems of Widows Throughout History: Obstacles and Solutions

Abstract

The woman is considered half of society because of her greatly influential role in it because she is the educator, teacher, wife, lover, worker, producer, patient, sacrificial worker...etc., and through her role in her home, her family, her work, and her direct influence on her husband, her children, her colleagues at work, and the society to which she belongs, she reflects her combined value, her strength and femininity. Although she has delicate feminine physical characteristics, she is strong, determined, thoughtful, and planning her life and living despite the presence of the husband, whose role is sometimes limited to providing income to meet his family’s requirements, but the greatest burden falls on the wife through her thinking about how to dispose of this gain, which makes her family’s life balanced. Therefore, But in the event that the other half is lost due to the death of the husband and the wife becomes a widow due to the loss of her husband, then she is not half of society, but rather becomes the whole society. This great position that God wanted her to have is like a great honor for her, because it is her leadership in raising and raising her children in the right way. Right and righteous, and this depends on proving her worth in order to get out of the crisis because she is sometimes exposed to losing the gain that was coming to her and she has to manage it. Now she has two responsibilities, which is providing the gain and managing her family, so she must come out of her sadness and look at her new responsibility, providing the gain, and work. Any work according to her academic qualifications, even if she does not have an academic degree, so that her goal is to achieve self-independence for herself, thus overcoming the major crises she faces in her life. The widow was given a place in the laws of ancient times to preserve her right to inheritance. Some of them preserved her right to her, and some of them deprived her of it. This goes back to the status of women in that era. Then came the pre-Islamic era, which did not give women status and respect, and they had rights from their husband’s inheritance, which religion restored. Islam is for her and he is keen to take her rights according to what God has decreed for her, liberating her from the control of the ignorant over him, and granting her a great position and standing in the sight of God Almighty. After we explained in our research the status and rights of the widow in ancient times and in the Islamic era, we then explained the obstacles and problems facing the widow, the extent of their negative impact on her and her family, and the dangers of submitting to them. Then there are ways to treat these problems and how the widow overcomes these problems, if she is aware of how dangerous her new life is, as she did not work hard to take these treatments as quickly as possible, so that she is not subject to the sadness, pain, loss and separation that will lead to her loss and the loss of her children.