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Bismillah
Salamo Aleikom Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu
I want to comment about an article that I happened to read one of these days. I posted it on my Facebook profile by mistake, but I want to have my say in it, inshaAllah.
This is the article in question: Stop Telling Muslim Women How To Dress
I must say, I was allured by the title, but, once I started reading it I just felt how much of consciousness of todays trials and Islamic thought weren't put into the article.
I agree that some people lead the subject of hijab/niqaab to sexist views, but it's not all of them. Let's see: isn't a Muslim woman supposed to follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah? So, why would she go back on the Qur'an and the Sunnah at the same time when it comes to her clothing? WAIT, now that I'm saying this, people will start calling me extremist. Well, it's not me who is extremist then, look to the Qur'an, see the context and the commentaries of the Sahabah and other scholars and then check the Sunnah about hijab. No, it's not me who is extremist.
Also, there's a difference between insulting and giving advice. The first is not allowed from a Muslim to another Muslim or even to a kafir (unless during war, when the kuffar are hostile towards the Muslims). The second is more than allowed, but are the receivers of this advice with an open heart for the worry her sister/brother has on her Hereafter?
Another thing is when the people that don't wear hijab and don't wear the proper hijab, try to say that there's no such rules in the Qur'an and Sunnah that tell them to cover up more. Well, go look again and bring a sheikh to explain it to you or just look to the rulings on the clothing through Islamic history and compare to the lay back attitude of some sheikhs today that allow some people even to drink wine and eat pork... astaghfirullah.
Now, let's make some differences here. Not wearing hijab or not wearing proper hijab does not mean we can judge the faith of that person. Faith is in the heart, it can't be seen through a garment. It's like smoking. You can't tell a person that smokes that they have low faith. Some relative in my husband's family smokes and I see each Fajr prayer, he stays praying and reading Qur'an until the sun rises, he is an old person, so it's hard for him to go to the masjid. And I KNOW many Muslims don't do that, they don't even go to the masjid if they can. Many of them don't even pray Fajr and they still don't smoke. So, let's make some sense here.
The reality I see many times is that as much as the sisters and brothers want to see some positive change in the people who don't wear hijab or don't wear proper hijab, out of worry, not of insult, they take the advise as an offense, which shouldn't happen. Why are they so sensitive to this matter? Is it because they know they are wrong in wearing what they wear? Allahu A'lam.
I see many times a sister giving an advise to another sister who is not wearing proper hijab and she simply gets offended by the worry of her sister who is advising.
One of these days, after I took care of my visa, I went to a masjid near the building I was in. The prayer started, everyone prayed. Then, after it finished, a sister comes to the prayer room. For you to have a picture, she was not wearing proper clothing to enter a masjid, she was wearing a very tight shirt on the upper part. Yes, like most of the girls in Egypt. So, before she prayed, a lady who was about 40-50 years old called her and asked her name. She said her name and then the lady advised her "you can put some prayer dress over your clothes so that your prayer can be accepted". The girl smiled and went away, she did not pray. So, which kind of Muslims are we talking about? The ones that take an advise as an offense (generally). I must tell you, if the Sahabah took and advise and confirmed it to be the Sunnah and the right way, they would hold on to it and practice it as much as they can.
Understand, my sisters in Islam, that the people who advise you, worry about you. They are not indirectly offending you, they want the best for you, they want Paradise for you. Insulting is one thing, advising is another thing. Let's distinguish that a bit.
To the people that advise, try to be as subtle as possible, be kind and gentle. Explain with proof from Qur'an and Sunnah.
To the subject about "men and women can't be friends in Islam", well, they can, as long as they are mahram. It's not about sex, it's about Islamic rulings and how Islam was and is practiced. I remember the incident when 'A'isha (raw) was alone in the desert when she went to search for her necklace, she fell asleep. The person who came and saw her said "subhanAllah", did he go there and say "how are you 'Aisha, what happened, why are you here?". No, their conversation was direct to the point and he tried to help her, not out of friendship, but out of respect and knowing that she was the wife of the Prophet (sws). Also, why is there a separation between men and women in prayer? Even if the women pray behind the men, there's a separation, the women don't pray beside men and men don't pray beside women, and this is a Sunnah. So, you see there's no mixing allowed by the Prophet (sws). And he (sws) advised us not to go to supermarkets, if possible. To avoid what? Mixing. So, if you say non-mahram girls and boys can be friends, why did the Prophet (sws) forbid girls and boys to be in touch in the first place?
Another thing, scholars are mostly men, if you don't take an advise from a scholar then you're in an even worse situation and you should check yourself and the faith you are having right now. If people write books on this subject it's because they care, they don't write books out of a hobby.
Let's take a deeper look to our teachings.
About the non-Muslims telling Muslim women how to wear. They are adding wood to the fire. I must ask to the non-Muslims, where in this whole world are you capable of telling a Muslim what he/she is doing wrong or right in his/her religion?
Most of these non-Muslims just go to their Muslim neighbor Sami around the corner and ask him to give them a commentary from himself on the Qur'an just because they think by a person knowing Arabic that they can understand the Qur'an to that extend.
Let me remind the non-Muslims that Qur'an is not like the Bible. Many of you may not have seen the original texts of the Bible, but we Muslims have to see things in Arabic to have a deeper understanding of what's being said and even so, we need something called Tafsir from scholars to know the exact meaning. It's not like "bring a cup of popcorns and let's watch the movie". It requires years of study of the grammar and the interpretation from hadith and the sahabah and the students of the sahabah to know about these verses in the Qur'an and explain them. It's not like you read it just like that and it's what's in front of you. There's something called "context". If you don't care about the context you're just like Al-Qaeda that reads and does, no question about it. You're using Al-Qaedas tactics? Aren't you supposed to be against their way of thinking?
Take Care
Salam
I have lost count of the number of times that I have read a comment in which the writer orders any woman who chooses to cover according to the laws of Islam to take off what they so endearingly describe as their 'tablecloths'. Now, I don't necessarily think that wearing what looks like a tablecloth is a bad thing.. (neither did Michael Kors in Spring '09, apparently).
(P.S. I accidentally deleted the last 25 comments written on the blog.. sorry..modern technology is just too confusing)
I find myself loving and hating the above look at the same time.. Loving because of it's beautiful modesty and striking monochrome colours and hating because of those ghastly shoes and that 'I'm pregnant' pose. I've reinvented the look with a slightly younger twist, losing the peep-toes but hopefully keeping the modesty:
Of course the dress is intended to be paired with a black long sleeve top underneath :)
SM reader Zain emailed me asking where should could buy polo necks to wear under short sleeved dresses online. Here are a few shops: |
| Black + Pink + Baby Blue |
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| An abaya makes a lady. |
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| What an elegant lady. |
The next Reader's Look is on Seyma, the owner of the hijabrevival blog. She's a 28 year old mother and teacher living in Australia who is originally from Turkey. Check out her style..Chanel chic:
A casual maxi dress and denim jacket look - the perfect combo.
I love her hijab styles, Turkish scarves really do look lovely when worn in the right style..
I love the attention to detail in this next look, everything goes together perfectly:
In fact, I liked this look so much that I decided to casually copy it on Polyvore.. Well kind of..
Hijab Chic by Zaenab
And finally, a lovely Abaya-esque look:
Thanks Seyma :D If you want to be featured, email me.
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| Sultan Tenku Muhammad Faris Petra |
Of course there are minor hijab tweaks needed but we all know that.
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| Layla Abaya |
