Woman's head covering....

Hayfa wrote: �I live in the woods of Maine.  It would be impossible for me to go through my day in a long gown.  I wear comfortable slacks or jeans (not tight ones) and usually a sweatshirt or warm, flannel shirt.�   Well nothing wrong with this by Islamic standard.. we are not required to wear gowns.. some of the most feminine women I see were in Pakistan and they generally do not wear skirts at all. One has to be practical, not sure too many people wear skirts in Alaska...lol   �I don't believe God created human beings so they could hide every dot of skin He created on them.  Human beings are beautiful.  And by that I do not mean sexy.  By nature, we are sexy......we are meant to be attractive to the opposite sex.  If we were not, the human race would disappear.�   This made me laugh as most Muslims really don't have problems with reproduction...definitely the are populating the planet... lol  Most Muslims don't see naked people of the opposite sex, touch people they are not related too and they certainly have lots of "private activity." upon marriage. lol    I don't think that women are necessarily "promiscuous" in the same sense that say prostitutes are. But it is quite common that people date, sleep with partners, both men and women do, on quite a regular basis. There is seen as nothing "wrong" to do so.  A friend who started dating this guy, her first boyfriend, was worried what her parents would think. They were "old school" Catholic. She was not. And she was shocked when her mom said it was better to date and sleep together before marriage so that you "know" if you are compatible.  I think for most people who "disapprove" you just end up "going with the flow" of the society.  I think it also happens to some Muslims in the US.

You're right Hayfa, in many places this is acceptable.  However, it reality it is not.  Its one thing I do still like about my Church.  They focus on modesty and chastity.  While, its important for couples to learn about each other and learn if they are compatible, its highly suggested that dates are done within groups and that couples avoid being in situations that can lead to breaking the Law of Chasity as it is called in our Church.

I think that our focus on Eternal Partnerships gives us a different view on courtship.  If you know you're stuck with the person for time and all eternity, you want to make sure you like the person.  That's why active mormons have a 75% success rate in marriage compared to the less than 50% for other Americans. 

And for "active" Mormons having a 24% divorce rate, Muslim men and women have about a 31% divorce rate. 

Covering oneself is only on aspect of a multi-faceted lifestyle.  Nur brings up Rebekkah...

In the time of Rebbekkah, if a man was found guilty of rape, his punishment was to marry the victim.  Women were not allowed to sit upon the furniture and had to sequester themselves during their period and priests could not marry divorcees or widows because they had to have a virgin.  These laws do not apply to Christians, only the ultra Orthodox Jews.

One part of Christianity that is not focused on by Muslims is the repentance of sinners.

In Islam, repentance does not matter except in the final judgement.  A fornicator will be lashed even if they repented or an adulterer stoned.  This is seen as a mercy because being punished in this life means they won't be punished in the next.

However, in Christianity, people can repent and turn away from sin.  With sincere repentence, your sin is forgiven and forgotten by the Lord.  Sincere repentence also carries a condition of not repeating the sin.  Thus, if a person falls into sinful behavior there is always hope they will repent and return to the fold of the obedient and believing.  

We also have the concept of freewill and freechoice.  If a Christian choses not to be Christian anymore, it is on their immortal soul.  The Christian community will pray for their return and for their soul, but there is no specific punishment (save shunning in certain communities like the Amish) for apostacy.  If they choose to return, this is a celebrated thing and they are in most cases accepted back with love and forgiveness.

The kind of stringent rules that require veiling and "purdah" go against these freewill and repentance concepts.  If a woman chooses to cover herself more or less, its her choice.  If a man chooses to honor his wife or cheat on her, its his choice.  They cannot choose the consequences of these choices.  A woman might be mocked for her revealing clothing or her frumpy clothing.  A many might be divorced by his wife for his infidelity.  But in the end, its their choice, responsibility and burden.

The largest problem with Western "society" is lack of active participation in religion and the control of fringe groups in the media.  People here don't even know their own religion and because of that, they do not understand what they profess to believe.

Patty and I are both active participants in our respective Churches.  Our Churches are also strict and heirarchical.  Her Pope and my Prophet give defined direction on what is and what is not a sin.  We have sources, books and scholars that we can refer to if we have questions.  Her priest can advise her like my bishop.  But, there are many "Christians" out there that were baptized as a baby, celebrate the holidays and their bibles sit on the shelf (if they own one) and it collects dust.

There are also the "born again" evangelical Christians that teach simply accepting Christ as your Savior and Redeemer is all that you need to do to get into heaven.  This is a false teaching but is very popular with people who don't want to have to think about what their actions will bring.

For these types of people, covering their head will not stop them.  It will only make them less brazen.  Sin never goes away, it just slinks back into the shadows and corrupts from there.


On a side note, Nur, I know you live in Singapore, but aren't you Egyptian by birth?

Got to go. Today is Sunday, I have a wedding to attend to.

Salam.

honeto wrote: Patty, with your writings you seem to be sincere in your efforts of being good and practical and I repect that. However I must say that what you have expressed so far seems to be your personal understanding and opinion of how you want to believe, that is not necessarily part of a belief.   Sticking with a belief and its original teachings without time in no way mean to freeze in time, neither staying upto the time in no way suggests that we ought to mold it so it fit in different times.    As a Mulsim, I believe that my belief in a system or way of life (as Islam is)should reflect and drive me and my life without the limit of time and location on this earth, it should shape me and how I live, and not I or time should shape and drive it.   I am not arguing about how difficult or struggling the fulfilling of this task of being a true believer is but rather with what intention we take on it. Because of difficulties and challanges we face, sometimes we are inclined to make concessions by ourselves and find excuses for them in order to satisfy ourselves that we are not deviating. I think in doing so we are simply amending the belief we profess to follow. Driffting away slowly still is not following the straight path. What we do or not to to simply accomodate and please our ownself and others should not be more important than being in line with the one who knows our heart more than we know it.   And by the way searching through I did find a verse in the OT that does command: 1 corinthians 11:6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.   Hasan

Edited by PattyaMainer - 16 November 2008 at 4:28pm