I was listening to a person who was explaining the causes of decline of ‘Muslims’ in the present age. (Of course that can’t be related to western culture because unlike them, the success of a Muslim Society is in the lifestyle of our Prophet (saw) and his wives). He then mentioned many commonly known and discussed qualities of the companions (Suhabas) of the Prophet (saw) that can not be found in present age MEN!
What I found surprising and unexpected was the difference he mentioned between the women of the present and the past. First he mentioned how strong was the relationship our role models among women had with Allah (swt), like Hazrat Khadija (r.a), Hazrat Fatima (r.a)…etc. that their prayers were accepted even before they raised their hands. How most of their time was spent in remembrance of Allah (swt), teaching and learning of Quran, character development of the new generation (as children were mostly influenced by mothers than fathers) and all the things that were ‘mostly’ related to the benefits of the hereafter. But then he mentioned something very common in todays women that rarely used to consume so much time of our role models:
**“Aaj kal ki auraton ko bannanay sawarney ke ilawa kuch sujhta hi nahin” **
Translation: Todays women don’t seem to think much about anything more than beautifying themselves.
Do you think that this attitude of few women to spend ‘most’ of their time in physical presentation and watching the stuff (fashion shows, dramas,…etc.) that promotes their advertisement as a sexual object/decoration piece (sorry, but thats what media is promoting) has led to the decrease of their degree in a society that used to previously respect and honor her more because of her stronger personality and contribution in development of the character of the next generation ?
p.s. Please let us share our views with logical reasonings and respect. There is no need for us to get overly emotional and attack the ones who don’t agree with us.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
I think there is a point in that...a lot of us do care about our appearances more than anything else...or trying to look better than the next woman is more important.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
Do you think that this attitude of few women to spend 'most' of their time in physical presentation and watching the stuff (fashion shows, dramas,...etc.) that promotes their advertisement as a sexual object/decoration piece (sorry, but thats what media is promoting) has led to the decrease of their degree in a society that used to previously respect and honor her more because of their stronger personality and contribution in development of the character of the next generation ?
I agree with this statement, there seems to be too much distraction from religion, TV, internet etc. There is the other side though, some women just don't have the time. They have to work full time jobs and are not able to dedicate all of their time to educating and empowering the future generations.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
True but I think its not too hard to strike a balance. Women are also entitled to enjoy their life, if they want to look good and dress fashionably then so be it, as long as they put in the effort to raise their kids with good religious and moral values.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
It's one thing to look reasonably attractive with decent clothes and a healthy diet/exercise/beauty regime....it's another when you put all your time/energy into looking like a supermodel and neglect your kids in the meantime. And yes, the latter happens.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
Islam certainly doesn't forbid physical beautification, but as is the mafhoom of a hadith: Allah (swt) doesn't look at your face & worldly possessions but your heart & deeds. The point is that one should dress up oneself with Taqwa to face Allah with a stainless heart (washed with make up of repentance), because sensible is the one who beautifies himself more for Allah (swt) and the Prophet (saw) than for anyone else. And the cosmetics for the soul is the beautification of every part of one's body through its right use. Like, beautification of eyes is less with the eyeliner and more with its prevention from a lustful gaze/ tears that fall in fear of Allah's punishment & reciting Quran to be used as lipstick...etc. and so on. I might be totally wrong. In that case Allah (swt) may forgive me and guide me towards the right path. Allah (swt) knows best!
For some, Allah (swt) reward them even in this life with the makeup of noor on their face, for their good deeds. May be those who protect their eyes from sins might be able to see that noor. I am not that good but i am sure there are many on this forum, by the grace and mercy of Allah (swt).
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
I think that every group (women, men, children, teenagers etc) have been distracted from their role. Women have been told to focus on beautifying themselves, in looking a certain way, fitting a certain image. Every group have been made to focus on something else. Women have been distracted to the extent that some of them fit into the stereotype they are given.
There are some cases where the whole society is responsible to enforce such acts. When it comes to marriage for example, even men expect a certain image, they expect their 'wife' to fit the typical stereotype which society has given women. They too have been influenced so that expectation they have, makes some muslim women feel the need to fill that image.
So we've all been influenced and the cycle seems to be going around. Until those who realise what Islam is and disregard these stereotypes etc and change in their focus come into the picture.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
Well then internet is something that can distract people heavily. It's about finding the right balance between chores rather than criticizing a particular chore itself. We're told to stay nice and clean, comb and wear kajal etc in Islam.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
There needs to be a balance. Yes, it's important to raise your kids properly.....and pay attention to religious practices like namaaz, etc.......but it's also emphasized in Islam that one's **body **has rights over them as well. Among the many things that Allah has blessed us with....our bodies are among them....and it's important to take of care of it.
Being well-groomed (and this includes BOTH genders....not just women) is important in a marriage. Taking care of yourself, for example staying fit, is a part of being healthy. And your self-image also connects with your self-esteem....which in turn affects your attitude/how you interact with others, etc. All these aspects can't be ignored either. It's not only about worship. There should be a balance of deen and duniya. Our religion is not the kind to advocate only worship and to totally disregard every other aspect of life. Everything has it's place ....everything in moderation.....and these two points are also mentioned in Islam.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
^ Well, no one denies the importance of health and even to make oneself presentable. When we talk of keeping a 'balance', I guess we mean to say that we should give only as much time, energy and wealth to each activity as much it holds value in our belief system and in our hereafter life. Keeping oneself healthy plus physically fit is very good, even though it is not directly related to the over use of cosmetics/fashion/beautifying treatments...etc. What might be alarming is the adoption of every latest beautifying research & development to such an extent that one goes too deep into it, unlike our ideals, that it starts to consume too much of our wealth, energy and time, also at times at the cost of the time plus energy which was meant for our soul beautification, which certainly deserves relatively a lot more time, as evident from the lives of the wives and daughters of the Prophet (saw).
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
^ Keeping oneself healthy plus physically fit is very good, even though it is not directly related to the over use of cosmetics/fashion/beautifying treatments...etc.
They're all interconnected. Keeping physically fit impacts how your clothes fit....therefore it does have to do with fashion. Makeup looks better when skin is in good condition....and diet and exercise play a role in that. Same thing with the beautifying treatments....they work better in conjunction with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They're connected. What is considered "over use" is subjective.
I never said that one should completely disregard their "spiritual beautification." The point that there should be balance and moderation has already been mentioned. Excess or too much of anything.....even a "good" thing isn't good. Now, I'm not saying that one should make physical beautification their first and foremost priority in life and ignore their family/relationships/spiritual development. There needs to a healthy use of time and energy, I get that.
I don't think there's anything wrong in learning about and implementing the latest beauty treatments. As long as it's not the be-all/end-all of your existence.....fine. I don't think there's anything wrong with one spending money on beauty treatments. If they can afford to do so......great. It's their business. As long as that money is also being spent on their family....and on the needy....etc....that's fine. Again, moderation.
I've seen women who are soo into makeup and fashion that it does make me wonder if that's all they care about. And I have thought that it looks overdone or even ridiculous. BUt....I have to realize that I don't live under the same roof with them. While it might appear (from the way they're dressed) that beauty is all that consumes them.......unwitnessed by me.....they might also be using their time for their families and for spiritual development. It might look like they spend a lot of money on makeup and fashion........and one might be quick to judge them.....but then you don't know all the details about how one spends their money. For all we know....a woman more into fashion might be more generous with her pursestrings (spending it in charity).....compared to one in a nikaab with not the slightest hint of makeup and the least interest in fashion. Appearances can sometimes be deceptive. Only Allah knows what is in someone's heart....and ultimate judgment belongs to him....and that's a good thing......because it's a complicated thing to do.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
^ hmm,...makes sense. Well, about the 'excess of even a good thing isn't good' is a relative thinking. For us what is excess of good was 'nothing' for our ideals. So many example. From where should I start and where should I finish. For us what is balanced use of time for physical beautification was way too much 'wastage of time' for our ideals. Hazrat Ayesha (r.a) weeping her heart out at the time of leaving this world, that she hasn't done enough to please her Allah (swt), while throughout her life she always buried all her desires of her physical beautification inside her heart only to give more and more and more time for spiritual beautification....I read about the lives of Hazrat Fatima (r.a), Hazrat Asma (r.a), Hazrat Zainab (r.a),...etc. and I don't remember anywhere anything about their time spent on themselves. They must have taken care of their health and appearance, but never ever I read about their spending money on that...Sorry, but this is the truth. Of course I am not judging anyone in present age or calling them wrong, but just to mention the level of dedication of our role models for their spiritual beautification.
Of course, we can't reach the dust of their feet, but their example just gives us a direction, a path to follow even if we are able to achieve 1 % of that. They didn't follow the trend. Even if the whole worlds follow a fashion, they used to give way to much time, energy and wealth to deeds that would benefit them 'more' in the hereafter, Not talking of our time (which is way to much), someone just after the times of the Suhaba (r.a) asked a Taba'iyi (who has seen a Suhabi) about Suhabas. He replied, " If you see a Suhabi in real life, you would think of him to be a 'Diwana', who is not thinking of himself but only about fulfilling the orders of the Almighty, but if they see us in real life, they would certainly be forced to consider us as devils, because of the low level of our dedication towards the Almighty and way too much to ourselves..
Sorry for going off topic, just felt like sharing my limited understanding of the perspective of 'excess' of physical and spiritual beautification of our ideal. Rest I totally agree with all what you have said, that we can't judge anyone, a fashionable woman can be a lot better than one wearing niqab....and so on.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
Life functions in a loop.
There is always a cause-effect relationship that brings about the changes we see. I don't think we can measure the deviation of men and women independent of one another. It's true that society (made up of men and other women) gives less respect and honor to a woman today because women have started to focus more on the superficial. But it's also true that women focus on this superficial glorification because society expects them to.
According to religious standards of piety, both genders have faltered- one not independent of the other.
Re: Do you think this statement is true about women of present age ?
Is this true?
Lets analyze it, west the developed societies where every one has access to all the opportunities ( compare to muslim world) have given the women everything she demands, infact women is treated as commodity in west...still the societies ( even in this era of decline ) are ten times better than the muslim societies over the globe... even muslims living in these societies are different in their attitude.... no women and other so-called fashion items may have 1% effect in bringing muslim society down ( if it have any to start with)...
It is the behavior of general muslims which have brought them to the level where once JEWS were..in fact we went well below that level and created new records... the reasons
1) Justice is rare commodity in Muslim world..
2) Lying is first thing muslim do when he start talking
3) cheating have become norm in muslim society, the one who do not cheat is considered dumb
4) Kindness and Honesty has been banned and the threat is it may vanish from the dictionary of muslim world...
above are the main reason for Fall of Muslims... not the make-up of Women..
