Quran [24:31]And tell the believing women to subdue their mental perceptions [of opposite sex], and maintain their chastity [sexual activity excepet with those allowed]. They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary [facial]. They shall cover their chests [sexual attraction], and shall not relax this code in the presence of other than their husbands, their fathers, the fathers of their husbands, their sons, the sons of their husbands, their brothers, the sons of their brothers, the sons of their sisters, other women [whom they can not marry includes Lesbianism], the male servants or employees whose sexual drive has been nullified [sexual connotations confirmed], or the children who have not reached puberty [sexual awareness]. They shall not strike their feet [high heels prompting sexual female features] when they walk in order to shake and reveal certain details of their bodies. All of you shall repent to Allah, O you believers, that you may succeed.
The wearing of high heeled shoes also restricts movement. A woman must walk more slowly and carefully to avoid dangerously harming herself, especially her ankles. So far we have seen nothing but uncomfortable drawbacks, dangerous possibilites of injury to the back and ankles, and the attention that heels draw to a women, regarding the way they make a woman’s waist sway and the noise heels produce. Furthermore, they change Allah’s creation in the sense that they give the illusion of greater height than what is natural.
All this, in the name of fashion… and not a SINGLE advantage.
It was part of a discussion in our family related to dressing, and my wife came up with some good points. I would request those few people to ignore this thread who very easily get offended by a general topic, and assume such topics to be a war against women.
When Allah (swt) and the prophet (saw) don’t feel shy of addressing these matters, you and I shouldn’t.
Well, it is better to put into the plate as much as is digestable for the present generation of internet and cable.
If anyone has the passion (I am sure there are many), one may raise ones level even more by following one’s ideals in a ‘true’ sense, i.e. the wives and daughters of the prophet (saw), their feet were completely covered and didn’t make any noise while they walk. Moreover, I have also come to know that Hazrat Fatima (r.a), even while fully covered, used to walk like an old woman so that no stranger gets attracted to her gait.
Ofcourse we can’t reach that level, but at least if we pray and have the urge to become like them, with a bit of efforts, inshaAllah Allah would make it easier for us to follow at least 5% of their ways.
My knowledge can be flawed as I don’t have references at the moment to prove what my heart also agrees upon, even though I have mentioned the Quranic verse. But please feel free to correct me if I have said anything that is wrong or your heart doesn’t agrees to, regarding our Role Models.
**(*1) **The need for modesty is the same in both men and women. But on account of the differentiation of the sexes in nature, temperaments, and social life, a grater amount of privacy is required for women than for men, especially in the matter of dress and the uncovering of the bossom.
**(*2) **“Zinat” means both natural beauty and artificial ornaments. I think both are implied here, but chiefly the former. The woman is asked not to make a display of her figure except to the following classes of people: (1) her husband (2) her near relatives who would be living in the same house, and with whom a certain amount of neglige is permissible (3) her women i.e., her maid-servants, who would be constantly in attendance on her; some Commentators include all believing women; it is not good form in Muslim household for women to meet other women except when they are properly dressed (4) slaves, male and female, as they would be in constant attendace but this item would now to be blank, with the abolition of slavery (5) old or infirm men-servants and (6) infants or small children before they get a sense of sex (more explanation in Surah Ahzaab verses 59)
**(*3) **It is one of the tricks of showy or unchaste women to tinkle their ankle ornaments to draw attention to themselves.
**(*4) **While all these details of the purity and good form of domestic life are being brought to our attention, we are clearly reminded that the chief object we should hold in view in our spiritual welfare. All our brief life on this earth is a probation, and we must make our individual, domestic, and social life all contribute to ur holiness, so that we can get the real success and bliss which is the aim of our spiritual endeavour. Mystics understand the rule of decorum themselves to typify spiritual truths. Our soul, like a modest maiden, allow not her eyes to stray from the One True God. And her beauty is not for vulgar show, but for God.
and what does wearing high heels to do with covering your body? if a man feels attracted to high heels then he has some serious high heels fetish problems that need to be addressed.
^ women have low self esteem because they don’t dress like men. i like your logic, nomica. nonetheless, that’s apparently not the reason behind the fatwa made in this thread.
NomiCA, when I searched in Google about the “foot exhibition” you mentioned, I found loads and loads of discussions on how some women like to attract attention of men and men like to be attracted to it through nail polish, toe rings, anklets and even toe cleavage…etc. During cold weathers and at times even during snow, which is quite surprising. Those are all related to ‘watching’ which men need to control themselves and try to avoid, even though it is almost impossible because you don’t want to be hit by a street lamp, by further lowering your gaze. On the contrary, it was totally opposite in the times of the Prophet (saw). It was easy to find men without shoes due to lack of resources but still never ever a woman whose feet were exposed, as a precautionary measure not to attract stranger men. (Even though Muslim women at that time knew that all na-mehram suhabi wouldn’t look at their feet)
The point about high heels is that it makes a “tick tuck” announcement from a distance of about 20 feet at the arrival of a person. I remember this man used to wear shoes that made sound similar to high heels and the moment he used to enter the computer lab, a number of men immediately looked back in a flash, probably anticipating a woman. And of course, the second point in the Quranic verse seems to be directing towards the fact that the hips make a swinging motion when high heels are used.
These are different perspectives I found related to the topic, even some of them from a non-Islamic perspective. Please forgive me if anyone felt offended because the intention was only to show different aspects of the topic under discussion. it doesn’t need to be taken as criticism but self analysis.
^ Please speak your mind. Being a man, my point of view can be totally biased, and I might not even be aware of it. But I may realize my biasness after my attention is brought to it. That is the sole purpose of discussions. We learn from different perspectives. And I am sure I will learn if you kindly elaborate your views further. Even though it might seem to be so, but my intentions are not to impose my views against anyone but learn and discuss this issue with logical reasoning and keeping in view all the possible perspectives that could be related to it.
I understand that the foot exhibition part was off topic, but I thought it could be a branch of the main topic, because attraction can not only be gained through sound, but also through visual display. And I can be totally wrong. In that case may Allah (swt) bless me with the wisdom to be able to learn and correct my understanding.
It is of course very clear that most women don’t wear high heels with the intention of attracting stranger men, but either because of height or because in our society since childhood it is displayed to a girl (through different sources) to be something that beautify a woman. And unfortunately, very less education is given to them about the research works that concludes it to be harmful for the feet of a woman. If you google it, you would find a lot of information about how the stresses high heels generates on their feet could be harmful for the bones and muscles of their legs and feet.
i think you should consult brother CM, he seems to be very well informed about such issues.
i, myself, don’t even wear high heels nor have i ever felt attracted to someone’s shoes. so, i don’t know :-/ though i find the idea of ‘bush shoe attack’ kind of tempting…
