The Hijab .. Why?
Dr: Muhammad Ismail
Translation & Comments
Dr: Saleh As-Saleh
&
"A View Through Hijab"
A Japanese Woman
INTRODUCTION
ALL praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Most
Merciful, the Beneficent, and the Master of the Day of
Judgment. O Allah! Have Your Salat(1)and Salam (peace) and
blessing upon Your slave and Messenger Muhammad and
upon all of his companions.
Extraordinary consideration has been given by the Islamic
Law to women's affairs. Such consideration is sufficient to
protect her chastity, to honor her and to secure her position in
life. The "restrictions" placed upon her regarding her dress and
the display of her beauty and ornament is only to guard
against all ways of corruption arising from such dazzling
displays. What Islam has established is not a restriction on
the freedom of women but is a firm protection for her from
falling down to the lowest levels of humility.
In this work, we mention the virtues of a critical aspect of this
protection: the HIJAB. The characteristics of the Hijab are
discussed, bringing the glad tidings promised (by Allah) to
those women adhering to it. We also point out the danger of
dazzling displays of ornaments and beauty as well as the
terrible repercussions in this life and in the hereafter for those
who practice Tabar'roj.
This is the second edition of this book. It comes at a time
when more women are throwing away their revealing clothes,
and wearing the Hijab. It goes to print when Muslim women
are being raped and tom in their Hijabs in "civilized" Europe(2)!
and when France(3) prevents Muslim women from wearing the
Hijab at school. These are times of trials for Muslims and
particularly for Muslim women. We all have to remember the
path of the Prophets: endurance, patience, holding on, and
aiming high by keeping the way of Allah above everything.
Allah knows our intentions and He is Sufficient to Us and He
is the Best Guardian.
Shayekh - Dr. Muhammad Bin Ismail
Translator and Commentator: Dr. Saleh As-Saleh
13/6/ 1414 Hj. Nov.26, 1993
ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ__________
(1) The Salat of Allah upon prophet Muhammad is His Praise and
mentioning of the Prophet to the angels in the Most High place in
Heaven
(2) Bosnia is a testimony against the "civility" of Europe and the West.
Civility stops at the word: Muslim or Islam!
(3) The country that raises the banner of: equality, brotherhood, and
freedom.!!!
THE VIRTUES OF HIJAB
(1) AN ACT OF OBEDIENCE
The Hijab is an act of obedience to Allah SW(4) and to His
Messenger Muhammad (SAAW(5)). He (SW) says:
} وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ
وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُبِينًا{[الأحزاب، 36]
"It is not for a believer, man or woman,
when Allah and His Messenger have
decreed a matter that they should have
an option in their decision. And
whoever disobeys Allah and His
Messenger, has indeed strayed in a
plain error." (Qur'an 33:36)
Allah (SW) also says:
} فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ
بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ
وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا{[ النساء، 65 ]
"But no by your Lord, they can have no
Faith, until they make you
(Muhammad (SAAW)) a judge in all
disputes between them, and find in
themselves no resistance against your
decisions, and accept (them) with full
submission."(Qur'an 4:65)
Indeed,, Allah ordered that women must put on the Hijab(6).
He (SW) says:
} وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ
فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ
بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ {[النور،31]
"And tell the believing women to lower
their gaze (from looking at forbidden
things) and protect their private parts
(from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not
to show off their adornment except
what must (ordinarily) appear thereof,
that they should draw their veils over
their Juyubihinna(7)." (Qur'an 24:31).
Allah considered the dazzling display of beauty an act of ignorance:
} وَقَرْنَ فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ وَلَا تَبَرَّجْنَ تَبَرُّجَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ الْأُولَى{[الأحزاب،33]
"And stay in your houses and do not
display yourselves like that of the times
of Jahiliyeeyah(8) (ignorance). "(Qur'an 33:33)
He, Most Glorified, says:
} وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ
ذَلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّ{[الأحزاب، 53 ]
"And when you ask the Prophet's wives
for anything you want, ask them from
behind a screen."(Qur'an 33:53)
The above Ayah (verse) does not apply only to the Prophet's
wives but to all of the believing women. Carefully read the
following saying of Allah (SW):
} يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ {[الأحزاب،59]
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your
daughters and the women of the
believers to draw their cloaks (veils)
over their bodies (when outdoors). That
is most convenient that they should be
known and not molested."(9)(Qur'an 33:59)
The Prophet (SAAW) said:
" المَرأة عَوْرةَ "
"The woman (i.e. any woman) is A'wrah (10)", that is she must be covered.
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(4) SW: Subhanahu Wata'ala, Most Glorified and Most High is He.
(5) SAAW: Salla Allahu Aleihi Wassalam: May the Salat and Salaam
(Peace) of Allah be upon His Prophet Muhammad
(6)This is not something cultural. It is Allah's order. Its conditions are not
Arabian, Egyptian, Pakistani, Black or White American, etc. Its
conditions are specified in the Qur'an and Sunnah to provide a protection
and safeguarding of women. No one knows about what is good for men
and women more than their Creator, Allah. His laws are Wise as it is the
case with all of His actions.
(7) Juyubihinna: The respected scholars from As-Salaf As-Saleh (righteous
predecessors) differed whether the veil cover of the body must include
the hands and face or not. Today, respected scholars say that the hands
and face must be covered. Other respected scholars say it is preferable
for women to cover their whole bodies.
(8) Jahilyeeyah: The days of ignorance prior to the Revelation of the Qur'an.
(9) No one can ignore the molestation of women that exists in the so called
"open" societies. The question is: why it is happening? The answer
begins to shape up when people think about the purpose behind
creation. Allah created us for the single purpose of worshipping Him
alone. He detailed all the ways to fulfill this purpose in the Last
Revelation to all mankind, the Qur'an. In it we can find how women and
men can safeguard their dignity, honor, and morality. The worship of
Allah is manifested in the following of His orders. Allah orders that
men and women must avoid all the roads that lead to animalistic ways of
living. The Hijab is one of Allah's commands. It is an honor and
protection for women as well as a true freedom for her body from the
hands and eyes of aggressors and molesters.
(l0) This hadeeth is narrated by Abdullah bin Masoud and collected by
At-Tirmidhi who said it is Hassan-Ghareeb i.e. good and Ghareeb (The
Ghareeb is a narration by one narrator either in each level of the levels
of the chain of narrators or in some levels of the chain). Also As-Siyouti
hinted that it is authentic.
(2) THE HIJAB IS IFFAH (MODESTY):
Allah (SW) made the adherence to the Hijab a manifestation
for chastity and modesty:
} يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَنْ يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا
يُؤْذَيْنَ {[الأحزاب،59]
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your
daughters and the women of the
believers to draw their cloaks (veils)
over their bodies (when outdoors). That
is most convenient that they should be
known and not molested." (Qur'an 33: 59)
In the above Ayah there is an evidence that the recognition of
the apparent beauty of the woman is harmful to her. When the
cause of attraction ends, the restriction is removed. This is
illustrated in the case of elderly women who may have lost
every aspect of attraction. Allah (SW) made it permissible for
them to lay aside their outer garments and expose their faces
and hands reminding, however, that it is still better for them to
keep their modesty:
} وَالْقَوَاعِدُ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ اللَّاتِي لَا يَرْجُونَ نِكَاحًا
فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْهِنَّ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ يَضَعْنَ ثِيَابَهُنَّ غَيْرَ مُتَبَرِّجَاتٍ
بِزِينَةٍ وَأَنْ يَسْتَعْفِفْنَ خَيْرٌ لَهُنَّ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ {[النور،60 ]
"And as for women past child-bearing
who do not expect wed-lock, it is no sin
for them if they discard their (outer) in
such a way as not to show their
adornment; but it is best to be modest
and Allah knows and sees all things
provided they do not make a display of
their beauty; but it is best to be modest
and Allah knows and sees all
things." (Qur'an 24:60)
So how about young women? Clearly they must stay modest
find not display their beauty.
(3) THE HIJAB IS TAHARA (PURITY)
Allah (SW) had shown us the Hikma (Wisdom) behind the
legislation of the Hijab:
} وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ
ذَلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّ{[الأحزاب، 53]
"And when you ask them (the Prophet's
wives) for anything you want, ask them
from behind a screen, that is purer for
your hearts and their hearts." (Qur'an 33:53)
The Hijab makes for greater purity for the hearts of believing
men and women because it screens against the desire of the
heart. Without the Hijab, the heart may or may not desire.
That is why the heart is more pure when the sight is blocked
(by Hijab) and thus the prevention of fitna (evil actions) is
very much manifested. The Hijab cuts off the ill thoughts and
the greed of the sick hearts:
} فَلَا تَخْضَعْنَ بِالْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ الَّذِي فِي قَلْبِهِ مَرَضٌ
وَقُلْنَ قَوْلًا مَعْرُوفًا {[الأحزاب، 32]
"Be not soft in speech, lest he in whose
heart is a disease (of hypocrisy or evil
desire for adultery, etc.) should be
moved with desire, but speak in an
honorable manner." (Qur'an 33:32)
