Sociology

Layla and Majnun is a story of two such people who dedicated their lives to each other from the time they fell in love. It is a story that is present in every household even today. People try to follow the footsteps of this love story in their own lives. Layla and Majnun are inseparable to such an extent that now even the ‘and’ between their names is not used while referring to them.

But their life ended tragically. They did not get anything their way. They struggled all through their life just to be together but unfortunately for them even with that power in their love they were never able to share their time or company with each other.

Their story began when a boy name Qais was sent to a boarding school which was later joined by a beautiful young girl called Layla. As soon as he saw her he was enchanted in her thoughts after which he could never concentrate on anything else but her. This behaviour of his was predicted by astrologers who said he would be wandering in the wilderness and would be known for his romantic saga. Layla too, soon fell in love with him. But being of a rich family she was not allowed to marry him since he was a poor boy, and was accused by her father of being mad because of his obsessive behaviour towards her.

She was married off too someone else, a rich prince, which completely shattered both, Qais and Layla. They would be chanting each others name at any point in time. In certain versions of the story it is said that Layla’s marriage broke soon because she refused to let her relationship with her husband culminate into a real marriage as she was so loyal. After this she came in search of Qais who had run away to the surrounding desserts. She found him after searching far and wide and for a long period of time but was again separated when her mother took her away and locked her at their palace. It is said she died when she couldn’t bear the thought of separation again.

In other versions of the story it has been said that she died soon after she was married because she just could not allow herself to be anyone else’s. In both cases Qais died soon after her when he was shattered at the news of her death. This is when he was given the name Majnun which means ‘a person driven mad’ and in this case he was driven mad by his love for Layla.

The theme of this story is love and family being the obstacle. We also see how they fulfil their duty towards them. We see how they both tried to balance both but just could not make their love succeed. Even though today their stories are the heights where all lovers wish to take their relationship, they themselves did not have a happy ending.

To begin with, the fact that Qais was poor was not acceptable by Layla’s father since they were rich. It is but natural that a father would want his daughter to be married to a suitor of their status so that he can be sure that his daughter will be happy and will get everything she wants. This was the first hurdle they faced. They had to sacrifice their love for the sake of responsibility towards family. This is why she married someone else.

According to the Arab traditions, marrying below the family’s status would create a scandal and it would be Layla’s duty to make sure that nothing is said about the family in a negative light. Here again she had to leave her love and do what is best for the respect of her family.
To fulfil her duties towards her family she married another man but still was very faithful to Qais as she did not let anyone else touch her even if the person was her husband. In this way she was pulled between two very conflicting situations and she fulfilled both to a great extent as, in such a case she would betray one if she took the side of the other.

When Qais did not get Layla he left his family because he just could not bear the thought of being away from his love. Here we see how the feelings of the family have been put after his emotions at the time he had been separated from Layla. Without thinking about his responsibility towards his parents he left to go to the desserts where he spent all his time being depressed over thoughts of being separated from Layla.
In this story we also see a few traits of the Islamic society coming to light.

In the Islamic beliefs there is no such difference between men and women, since God treats them equally everyone must follow the same. Men and women in Islamic culture are treated at different levels only because of their physical and emotional differences. Men in some way are considered superior because they are the protectors of the women. This is because of their physical strength that they have this responsibility. We see this clearly in Layla’s father as decides what is best for her and what she is allowed to do and not. She did not have the choice to decide who she wanted to marry and who she did not.

It is definite that there is sex segregation in Islam. Men and women who are unmarried are not allowed to freely converse or meet apart from certain cases like business matters. Women have a special dress code, and not all of them are allowed the privilege of education. But luckily in the case of Layla it was not the same. We see that she had that privilege when she was sent to the boarding school. There are also certain conditions laid down in case of women being employed.
Islamic society used to be very strict in their outlook towards women, but now things have progressed and there is much more ease.

Love is a universal emotion. People consider it love when they feel attached to a person or feel strong affections towards them, or care for someone deeply and passionately. It can be between any one and any number of people. It is a bond that brings people closer. A lot of people however do not understand this emotion and especially if it is between two other people. Love is often criticised because of the way people behave when they experience it. Also we see how we would never want to hurt our family in any situation.
Layla Majnun refers to immortal love and undying passion. This story portrays true and deep love on one side and family against them on the other. They had to sacrifice their love for each other due to various pressures the maximum being family. Their love was such that they did not hesitate in doing anything for each other even if it meant giving up their lives in the process, which they ultimately did.

Love for them did not last only till it was possible in the sense that it continued even after Layla was married off. Their behaviour was termed as madness but they did not care what the world had to say because they knew all they wanted was each other and nothing could take them apart.

The theme in this story, being love, is so powerful that even if their love may not have succeeded against the wishes of their families, it has definitely lasted for the rest of the world to witness