veiling

Praise be to Allaah.

Everyones favourite topic nowadays!

�O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e. screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.�

omen cover their hair because Allaah has commanded them to do so, and it is not permissible for them to go against what He says and disobey His command. Allaah has only commanded them to do this because there is great wisdom in it. !

Confirmation of this is to be found in the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):

�� That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed�� [al-Ahzaab 33:59]. If a woman covers herself, then immoral and corrupt men will know that this is not part of their prey, thus Allaah will protect them and take care of them.

Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have issued a stern warning to women who make a display of themselves. An example of this is:

Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: �There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen: a people with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they beat the people, and women who are clothed but naked, walking with an enticing gait and with their heads looking like the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will not enter Paradise and will not even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance can be detected from such and such a distance.�

(Narrated by Muslim, 2128).

When did not use to cover and I was researching hijaab I came across the above ayaah. The words shook me and struck a kind of fear in my heart that prompted me towards hijaab.

No doubt many will respond to your post with the excuse...." I don't wear hijab because.....blah blah blah."

however a woman [or a man] should not try to comprehend Islamic rulings with her reason � which is unable to encompass the wisdom of sharee�ah. She should know that whatever Allaah has enjoined upon her contains nothing but goodness and happiness for her, her family and society as a whole. It is known that a woman�s uncovering her hair makes her more attractive to men, which could lead to them forming hopes about her and committing immoral actions. Islam wants society to be clean, with no provocation of desires, outrage or uncovering of women�s charms � which include their hair � which can lead to others being tempted by her and which opens the door to evil and its people.

Islam means submitting to Allaah. The believer follows the command of Allaah even if he does not know the wisdom behind it or he does not find anything to convince his reason of it, because his obedience of his Lord and his submission to His command take priority over all other things, and worship is based on obedience and submission. The quran says wa sami'na wa' atana (we hear and we obey). There really does not need to be a discussion about whether hijab is fardh or not.

Also there are conditions to what a hijab should be. These are summarised by most scholars as

And Allaah knows best.

As-Salaam Alaikum,

I see women go around breast, buttocks, and stomach out.  I see them everyday.  I see women acting in seductive way.  All I have to do is look T.V. also.  There are women in college and universities sleeping with their professors so they can get A's. []  There women who carry this believe that they have to be seductive, and sleeping around in order to achieve things in life.  So yeah it does apply for today.  If you study the history also, you will learn that women conducted themselves in this manner.  All Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) was trying to do is teach women that they are more that just breast, booty, hair, and thighs.  That we are powerful, and let NO ONE take advantage of you.

Hakeema

Hakeema

Bishmillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem 

Assalmu Alaikum

queenie wrote:   �O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e. screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.�

Sister Queenie, out of all of the translations I have seen regarding Sura 33. Ayat 59, that is the only one that makes a statement about covering the entire body including the face.  I have researched a number of translations and the following appears to be the more appropriate way to translated Sura 33, Ayat 59

�O prophet! tell thy wives and daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not molested: and Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.�

This passage is a message about the need to protection ourselves from those who might molest us.  By covering our bodies from the eyes of onlookers, we identify ourselves as Muslimahs, and hence, by doing so we, inshallah, protect ourselves from the ways and acts of non-muslims.

In Ayat 59 of Sura 33, there is definitely no indication that one must use a face veil and it is even questionable if a head cover is even required.  To cover one�s �person� doesn�t necessary mean to cover one�s head.

In Sura 24, there are some ayats about how women (and men) should behave in public.  Both men and women should lower their gaze and guard their modesty (24,30-31).  Ayat 31 also says that women should �draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands� and others who are maharem (family members as ascribed in Islam) for them.  Furthermore, in Ayat 31 it say that they should not act in ways that will draw attention to what is hidden.  In these passages, we see there is a need for Muslimahs (and Muslims) to protect their modesty. However, there is no wording here that makes an explicit claim about covering the head and/or face.  It says, ��they should draw their veils over their bosoms�� not �they should draw their veils over their heads.�

There is a passage (Sura 33, Ayat 53) which many use as justification for saying that Muslimahs not only should but are commanded to cover both their heads and their faces.  It is as follows:

         �O ye who Believe! enter not the Prophet's houses until leave is given you for a meal (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation: but when ye are invited enter; and when ye have taken your meal disperse without seeking familiar talk. Such (behavior) annoys the Prophet: He is ashamed to dismiss you but Allah is not ashamed (to tell you) the truth. And when ye ask (his ladies) for anything ye want ask them from before a screen: that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs. Nor is it right for you that ye should annoy Allah's Apostle or that ye should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly such a thing is in Allah's sight an enormity.�

Many people take �And when ye ask (his ladies) for anything ye want ask them from before a screen� to mean the Prophet�s wives wore face veils while in the company of non-maharem, and therefore, so should or must all Muslimahs.  However, there are two points I want to make.  First and foremost, this is a passage about the Prophet�s (pbuh) home and how non-maharems should enter it and what they should and should not do while there.  Even if the Prophet�s (pbuh) wives were commanded to speak from behind a screen in the presence of non-maharem men doesn�t imply that all women were commanded to do so.  The Prophet�s (pbuh) wives had special roles in the development of Islam just as did the Prophet (pbuh).  That is why the Prophet (pbuh) was allowed to have more than 4 wives while other Muslims were not.  And why the Prophet�s (pbuh) were not allowed to remarry after the Prophet (pbuh) while other Muslimah widows could (see Sura 33,  Ayat 53  ��ye should not marry his widows after him at any time.�).  Hence, even if this passage delivers the message that the Prophet�s (pbuh) wives were commanded to wear face veils in the presence of non-maharems, it doesn�t explicitly entail that all Muslimahs must do so also.

Second, there is room to question whether the statement �from before a screen� refers to a face veil.  There is a possibility that it is not a face veil which is referred to in this particular ayat, but rather, a screen partition put up in the room at times when non-marahem(s) were invited over for dinner which is being referred to in this Ayat.  The screen would allow the women to be in the same room while allowing them not to be seen by the guest(s).  If the guest(s) needed something, they could simply ask before the screen which would afford the wives to hear the request without being seen.

If we turn to the hadiths it becomes even clearer that Ayat 53 of Sura 33 refers to the conduct that takes places in the home of the Prophet (pbuh).  We also see that it is highly probably that it was a room sceen (like a curtain) that was referred to in Ayat 59 of Sura 33 and not a veil covering the faces of the wives of the Prophet (pbuh).  There are many hadiths which make reference to the event which lead to the revealing of Sura 33.  The following are from Shahi Bukhair�s collection of Hadiths:

�At that time the Divine Verse of Al-Hijab was revealed, and the Prophet set a screen between me and him (his family).� from Hadith 255 of Vol 8, Book 74

�he [the Prophet] drew the curtain between me and him� from Hadith 316  of Vol 6, Book 60

�he [the Prophet] lowered the curtain between me and him� from Hadith 317 of Vol 6, Book 60

�the Prophet drew a curtain between me and him� from Hadith 095 of Vol 7, Book 62

�the Prophet hung a curtain between me and him� from Hadith 375 of Vol 7, Book 65

So, was it a face veil or a room divider (like a curtain) that was put up when the Prophet (pbuh) had guests in his house?  And even if face veils were required of the Prophet�s (pbuh) wives while outside of (or even inside) their homes, does this lead to it being obligatory for all Muslimahs?  I think not necessarily and certainly not explicitly.

I, personally, would argue that there are no ayats in the Qur�an which explicitly states a Muslimah (at least not one who is not a wife of the Prophet (pbuh)) must cover her head or her face.  What is explicit, however, is that she must protect her modesty.  If she cannot protect her modesty without covering either (or both) her head and her face, then she must do so.  It is really that simple.

Since we tend to make judgments about others based upon our own understanding of Islam, before I close, I will to turn to another ayat that I find most helpful in making decisions about what is �righteous� regarding our actions and behaviors in Islam.  Ayat 177 of Sura 2 states the following:

         �It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces toward East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him for your kin for orphans for the needy for the wayfarer for those who ask and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfill the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth the Allah-fearing.�

So, true righteousness is not about the way we turn our heads (or even the way we cover them), it�s the way we love Allah in our hearts and have faith in Him and hold fast to the Pillars of Islam.  As long as we do this while protecting our modesty, no one has the right to say if we are right or wrong except Allah.  I know some will be upset by my position on this issue but I truly believe it is that simple and we need not make Islam any harder than it needs to be in order to live righteous lives therein.

Allah Hafiz

PAZ,

Khadijah