The Koran is one of the most read books in the world. So in effect it shapes much of the world’s beliefs. The Koran tells the followers of Islam how to conduct their lives, including their family life. The people of the Islam faith are very devoted people, and the values of the Koran are shown in their daily lives.
The Koran speaks of the treatment of women, orphans and children. It tells people to treat the orphans, the women, and the children fairly and to speak to them honorably. It taught the Islamic people not to take the property of the orphans for that is considered a great crime. If women were to commit indecencies and are to be found guilty they are to be detained in their house until the day they die, and if both a man and a woman were found to commit indecencies then they were both to be punished, more than likely in the same manner.
It also tells the Islamic people how to divide their property up amongst their family, including women; so that no one is left with nothing. It told the Islamic how to decide who gets how much depending on weather or not someone has children, weather or not the heirs are male or female. In example “God charges you, concerning your children: to the male the like of the portion of two females, and if they be women above two, then for them two-thirds of what he leaves, but if she be one then to her a half;”(1) It told the Islamic people to divide their property amongst the children and the wife, or if there were no children more went to the wife and the other went to the family.
The Koran also tells the male followers who he can marry, to some extent. The Koran states that no man shall marry his mother and daughters, sisters, aunts, brother’s daughter… All of which are considered forbidden in every major culture. My guess is that through the expansion of Islam many of the people that did not convert to Islam absorbed many of the beliefs of the religion. The Koran also states that a man may marry as many as four women at one time, unless he can not teat them all equally, then he shall only marry one woman. It tells man that he is to manage the woman’s property, he is not to give it to fools or anyone else for it is not his to give away. The Koran gives many laws governing women’s rights as far as man intervention is concerned. Men are to take care of women to some degree, they are to look after their property, treat them kindly, and equally, when a man has more than one wife. If a man wants to exchange his wife for another he must return her dowries to her unchanged. A man or a women could repent for their sins, but only if they repent shortly after they sin, other wise God would not accept their repent. This was the same for both men and women. Allah was said to be the merciful, but only if you were to follow his every word.
From the reading in Stearns “Documents in World History” we find out that The Koran influenced the daily lives of men and women. Men were to be fair to their wives, and to their children and the orphans. Men were to take care of women, and their property. The property of men was to be split up equally amongst his heirs, depending upon his family tree. Men and women were to repent shortly after they had sinned for God would not accept their repent. Allah dictated man in every way, and the Koran was his way to pass down to man kind his wishes.