In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon the Holy Prophet and his pure progenies. ...
In
the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. Peace and Blessings of Allah be
upon the Holy Prophet and his pure progenies.
Hijab
is the most important symbol of an Islamic struggle. A Lady in complete and
lawful hijab is silently protesting against the Jahili set up ruling the world.
She is doing this even without speaking to anyone. If you were to ask the
oppressors about whom they dread most, they would almost definitely indicate
that they dread women in their full and lawful hijab. But before further
expatiating on this topic, I would want to explain what I mean by full and
lawful hijab.
Allah
the most High stated in the Noble Qur’an: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and
daughters and the women of the Mumimun to draw their outer garments closely
round themselves. This makes it more likely that they will be recognized and
not be harmed. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Suratul- Ahzab- 59.
Also
in Suratun-Nur- 51:
"Say
to the mumin women that they should lower their eyes and guard their private
parts and not display their adornments except for what normally shows. And draw
their head-coverings across their chests. They should only display their
adornments to their husbands or their fathers or their husbands’ fathers or
their sons or their husbands’ sons or their brothers or their brothers’ sons or
their sisters’ sons or other women or those they own as slaves or their male attendants
who have no sexual desires or children who still have no awareness of women’s
private parts. Nor should they stamp their feet so that their hidden ornaments
are known. Turn to Allah every one of you, mumineen, so that hopefully you will
have success.”
From
the above verses of the Noble Qur’an, we understand that hijab has been made
compulsory on Muslim women just like other obligations have been made
compulsory on Muslims. For example, like salat, fasting in the month of Ramadan
etc. And just as salat, zakat and fasting have specific ways of observing them,
so also has hijab specific way of observing it. There are specific qualities
which hijab must fulfill before it is considered lawful and full hijab. There
are four qualities that hijab must fulfill:
a)
It must cover all parts of the body, except the face and the palms
b)
It must be loose to the extent that her shapes are not visible.
c) It must not be transparent.
c) It must not be transparent.
d)
It must be plain. That is, it must not itself be attractive or decorative.
We
know that we as Muslims are supposed to be those who completely surrender to
the will of Allah. So even without understanding the reason why hijab has been
made obligatory on us, we are obliged to comply. But Allah in His Mercy has
explained the reason to us in the above mentioned verse: “This makes it more
likely that they be recognized and not be harmed.”
In
other words, a lady is very precious, so precious that not all eyes are allowed
to gaze at her. Take for example, when you posses a very precious stone or
gold, do you place it in a prominent place in your living room for all that
enter to gaze on? Definitely, no and a big NO! Indeed! Why? Because of its
preciousness. You normally prepare a special box for your jewelries and place
it in a much secured place in the house. Dear honorable sisters should realize
that you are more precious than those precious stones. You should realize that
contrary to what the enemies of Allah would want you to believe, observing the
correct hijab guarantees your true freedom grants you the honor you deserve.
At
this point, I would want to warn us against the plots of the Shaitan.
At all
times, the Shaitan always tries to approach humans through the gate they would
not suspect. For example, since the devil realize that most people are wise
enough to realize that worshiping idols made of stones, wood, metals etc is
worthless; he therefore created other forms of idols like man-made ideologies.
Also, when the devil notices people’s love for religion, he brought them
different false religions. Also when he notices that now, Muslim women are
trying hard to regain their glorious identity by turning back to the Almighty
and observing the hijab; he introduced many forms of fashion hijabs.
Unfortunately, some of our sisters have fallen into this trap. Although they
want to observe hijab, but they end up observing the fashion hijab. They wear
tight fitting and decorative attires; which in fact makes them more attractive.
Another unfortunate thing is that some prominent Muslims promote such ‘hijab’,
claiming that there is difference in culture and environment. Of course, there
is difference in culture and environment and so hijab does not necessarily have
to be uniform style, but it must fulfill the already mentioned qualities.
Honorable
sisters! You should know that your hijab is only hijab when it fulfills the
qualities of lawful hijab. And that only such hijab signifies opposition to the
oppressors and the oppressive system ruling the world. And only such hijab
dignifies you and gives you special recognition; “This makes it more likely
that they be recognized and not be harmed.”
I
would conclude by thanking Allah The Almighty Who Has blessed us with the great
Imam Khomeini (QS) who has revived Islam and along with it, revive the spirit
of chastity and modesty in us. May Allah reward the Imam abundantly and make us
amongst his true followers.
ZEENAH IBRAHEEM
THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA
27th JANUARY 2013
16TH RABI’UL AWWAL 1434 AH
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