Assalamualaikum.
Sabba jee, I fully agree with you but people
like the Jewel always like to find excuses to justify their position. I found some interesting topic about hijab and would like to share with all:
The Obligatory Conditions For An Islamic Hijab
- Covering ALL Of The Body
It is an agreed position by many respected scholars that the face and hands of the woman must be covered. Some scholars say it is permissible to uncover the face and the hands of the woman as long as there is no fitna (infatuation) caused by this action. Two things must be taken into consideration
a) if she is beautiful and beautifies her face and hands with external substances, or
b) the society around her is corrupt where men do not lower their gaze, then it is prohibited for her to uncover her face and hands.
On the authority of the wife of the prophet (pbuh), Umm Salama (RA) said:
"When the verse was revealed that they should cast their outer garments over their bodies' was revealed, the women of Ansar came out as if they had crows over their heads by wearing outer garments.
2.The hijab must not be a display
The hijab itself must not be a display. Allah ordained it so as to cover the beauty of women and not for showing off. Allah (swt) says `And not show of their adornment except only that which is apparent.' (S24:31).
AND
`And stay in your houses and do not display yourselves like that of the times of ignorance.' (S33:33).
It is in no way logical that the hijab itself be a source of display.
- The hijab must not be transparent The purpose of wearing hijab must be achieved. In order for the hijab to be a cover, it must not be made of transparent material making the woman covered only by name, while in reality she is naked. The prophet (pbuh) is quoted as saying: "In the latest part of my Ummah (nation of Muslims) there shall be women who would be naked in spite of being dressed, they have their hair high like the humps of the Bukht camel, curse them, for they are cursed. They will not enter Al-Jannah and would not even perceive its odour, although it's fragrance can be perceived from a distance of 500 years travelling by camel" This indicates that a woman could cause herself a grave and destructive sin if she puts on a garment that is thin and transparent and which clearly shapes her body's features.
4.Hijab must be roomy, and not tight.
The hijab is a safeguard against fitna. If it is tight, it will be descriptive of the woman's body and this violates and defeats the whole purpose of hijab.
5.The hijab must not be perfumed
On the authority of Ad'Diya Al-Maqdisi, the prophet (pbuh) said:
"Any woman who perfumes herself and passes by some people that they smell her scent, then she is a Zaniyah (adulteress)."
- The hijab shouldn't resemble the dress of a man
Imam Ahmed, an-Nissa'ee reported the prophet (pbuh) to have said: "Women who assume the manners of men are not from us and also those of men who assume the manners of women." Abu Huraira narrated that: "The Prophet (pbuh) CURSED the man who wears the dress of a woman and the woman who wears the dress of a man."
7.The hijab must not resemble the garments of the kuffar
Abu Dawoud and Ahmed have related the prophet (pbuh) said: "The one who take the similitude (manner) of a certain people, then he/she becomes one of them."
Abdullah bin Ummar (RA) said: "The Prophet (pbuh) saw me wearing two garments dyed in saffron (orange), whereupon he said: these are the clothes (usually worn) by the kuffar, so do not wear them."
8.The hijab should not be for fame
Abu Dawoud and Ibn Majah have related the prophet to saying: "The one who wears a garment designed for a worldly fame, Allah will make them wear a garment of humility on the Day Of Resurrection then he will be set ablaze." The garment of fame is any garment a person wears to make themselves look famous. This applies whether the garment is highly precious and shows admiration to the life of this world or if it is chosen of a low quality to show lack of interest to this worldly life. The person may put on clothes with distinct colours so as to draw attention, act proudly and/or arrogantly.
9.Concealed ways of display
Examining the various conditions about the hijab one can clearly recognise that many of the young Muslim women are not fulfilling these conditions. Many just take "half-way" measures, which not only mocks the community in which she lives, but also mocks the commands of Allah (swt). They consider what they put on now wrongly as "hijab" So, O muslimoon, be mindful to Allah (swt) and His Messenger (pbuh), and do not deceived by those who "bless" this action of yours and conceal their true intentions. Do not be deceived, and there is no excuse to follow the evil.
If you are sincere in achieving Al-Jannah, then be mindful of these things, insha'allah
Wassalaamu aleikum warahmuthullahi wabarakatahu.
Part 2:
Hijab (Veil) and Muslim Women
Ms.Naheed Mustafa
"My body is my own business."
MULTICULTURAL VOICES
A Canadian-born Muslim woman has taken to wearing the traditional hijab scarf. It tends to make people see her as either a terrorist or a symbol of oppressed womanhood, but she finds the experience liberating.
I often wonder whether people see me as a radical, fundamentalist Muslim terrorist packing an AK-47 assault rifle inside my jean jacket. Or may be they see me as the poster girl for oppressed womanhood everywhere. I'm not sure which it is.
I get the whole gamut of strange looks, stares, and covert glances. You see, I wear the hijab, a scarf that covers my head, neck, and throat. I do this because I am a Muslim woman who believes her body is her own private concern.
Young Muslim women are reclaiming the hijab, reinterpreting it in light of its original purpose -- to give back to women ultimate control of their own bodies.
The Qur'an teaches us that men and women are equal, that individuals should not be judged according to gender, beauty, wealth, or privilege. The only thing that makes one person better than another is her or his character.
Nonetheless, people have a difficult time relating to me. After all, I'm young, Canadian born and raised, university-educated -- why would I do this to myself, they ask.
Strangers speak to me in loud, slow English and often appear to be playing charades. They politely inquire how I like living in Canada and whether or not the cold bothers me. If I'm in the right mood, it can be very amusing.
But, why would I, a woman with all the advantages of a North American upbringing, suddenly, at 21, want to cover myself so that with the hijab and the other clothes I choose to wear, only my face and hands show?
Because it gives me freedom.
WOMEN are taught from early childhood that their worth is proportional to their attractiveness. We feel compelled to pursue abstract notions of beauty, half realizing that such a pursuit is futile.
When women reject this form of oppression, they face ridicule and contempt. Whether it's women who refuse to wear makeup or to shave their legs, or to expose their bodies, society, both men and women, have trouble dealing with them.
In the Western world, the hijab has come to symbolize either forced silence or radical, unconscionable militancy. Actually, it's neither. It is simply a woman's assertion that judgment of her physical person is to play no role whatsoever in social interaction.
Wearing the hijab has given me freedom from constant attention to my physical self. Because my appearance is not subjected to public scrutiny, my beauty, or perhaps lack of it, has been removed from the realm of what can legitimately be discussed.
No one knows whether my hair looks as if I just stepped out of a salon, whether or not I can pinch an inch, or even if I have unsightly stretch marks. And because no one knows, no one cares.
Feeling that one has to meet the impossible male standards of beauty is tiring and often humiliating. I should know, I spent my entire teen-age years trying to do it. It was a borderline bulimic and spent a lot of money I didn't have on potions and lotions in hopes of becoming the next Cindy Crawford.
The definition of beauty is ever-changing; waifish is good, waifish is bad, athletic is good -- sorry, athletic is bad. Narrow hips? Great. Narrow hips? Too bad.
Women are not going to achieve equality with the right to bear their breasts in public, as some people would like to have you believe. That would only make us party to our own objectification. True equality will be had only when women don't need to display themselves to get attention and won't need to defend their decision to keep their bodies to themselves.
Naheed Mustafa graduated from the University of Toronto in 1992 with an honours degree in political and history. She is currently studying journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic University