Hijab

Assalamualaikum.

Dear Hijabi,

There are different stages of Islamic faith. First of all like you,a New Muslim,  it is Aqidah � Basic Faith � that there is no God worthy of being worshipped but Allah Subhanahuwataala. And Muhammad is His Last Messenger � The Most Perfect example of a human being that was sent by Allah.

And the second stage is the Shariah � Laws of Allah derived from The Quran. And wearing hijab is part of the Shariah.

The meaning of Islam is to submit to the will of Allah. We must put Allah�s desire first before ours.  He created us and He knows what is best for us.  Let�s quote the Quran �

Surah an-Nur ayah 31 says:

And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their private parts, and not to display their beauty except what is apparent of it, and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs), and not to display their beauty except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful

Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 says:

O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their outergarments (jilbabs) close around themselves; that is better that they will be recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle.

These ayahs or sentences clearly states that wearing hijab is not only for the wives of the Prophet but to ALL FAITHFUL OR BELIEVING WOMEN.

Aqidah always comes first. As long as your Aqidah or faith in Allah never falters and that wearing Hijab is a threat to your life, then Allah is Al-Aleem Most Knowing. Leave it to Him.  If ever you were attacked by non=Muslims because of you wearing your Hijab, InshaAllah, you would be assured of a place in Jannah because you die holding tight to your faith. Subhanallah!

There is always a wisdom in Allah�s Law. He created us and he knows what is best for us.

Basically wearing a hijab is not only to protect our modesty as an individual, but also to protect our family and the society around us against molest, rape and fornication because these ills would definitely affect the individual, family and the society. That is how wise Allah is.

The reason behind is, men�s lust start from the eyes, while women start from the touch. Some men love to see the beauty of a woman�s hair, while some aim the neck, some love the sight of a woman�s curves and bumps while most men love to ogle the breast. Their sexual desire or lust easily get aroused with the sights of these sexy women. While for a woman, we got easily roused just by a touch or a caress from the opposite sex. Hence the reason why Allah command that we obey His law by donning a hijab for woman and lowering the sight for men.

As a Muslim, we have to believe in the Quran from Allah and the Hadiths from Rasulullah because Muhammad never speak from his own will but Allah�s. Then we can deservedly say that we are Muslims � Believing in Allah and believing in His Prophet Muhammad

Edited by Nur_Ilahi - 17 July 2010 at 8:32am

martha wrote: Salam UmmFatima, Thanks for your reply. I appreciate what you say about compulsion in religion and that it does not apply to the hijab. But nowhere in the Quran does the term hijab apply to anyone else other than the Prophets wives(pbut). Then, they complained that they felt uncovered when men came to visit the prophet,(pbuh)and a curtain was put up so the men could not see them. This is how it originally started. Over time, with hadiths and so on, the hijab has evolved and information is unreliable. I have no problem what any sister chooses to do. ANd you have taken it out of context when I said I felt uncomfortable weearing it. It did not feel physically uncomfortable at all. It looked rather beautiful tbh, but my heart told me something else. I did not and do not associate with any fundamentalist muslim, and it seems that the only women suicide bombers are veiled. It doesn't give the right impression to the rest of the world, so I disassociated myself from it. That was my choice and I will be judged by Allah and not anyone else. Wearing hijab originally posed a threat to myself and my family and I lost my home and my children. That was before anything else that happened. I just tell it as it happened. You are new here and don;t know much of my circumstances, so that's ok in that sense. You might think I sound rather cold with my reply today? BUt I am not, not at all. I just don't sugar coat everything and I relate stuff as it is. I don;t trust hadiths so I rely on Quran only. Enough people have told me to be a proper muslim I have to rely on hadiths. I don;t agree. Hadith means 'hearsay', am I right? If there is any doubt then I don't use it.So I don;t follow hadiths. The Quran is true, I need nothing else other than my God. Hope you understand that sister. Hope you are well sister. Salams

Assalaamu alaykum

You're right I don't know your story. Inshallah I'll understand you better with time.

If you only rely on Quran, then how did you determine the context for the ayahs about hijab?

Hadith also means event - like if you break your wudu it's called a hadith asghar like a smaller event. Relying on your own knowledge can be treacherous, especially when you haven't studied Islam, or even just the Quran, very thoroughly.

I didn't mean that you were uncomfortable physically, I meant socially. I think we've all felt in danger at times, with or without hijab, and the best thing to do is to just remove yourself from your situation. Sometimes the way you wear hijab will have an effect, like if I wear black I get dirty stares but if I wear white or tan I get confused stares. A lot of people don't even know that I'm Muslim.

I really don't know your story but as far as I do know if hijab doesn't pose a threat to your life or entire livelihood it's required. Often people will blame hijab for other people's intolerance, if you know what I mean. Like I used to think that I couldn't get work because of my hijab, so I thought briefly of taking it off. Then I realized that I could work in a different field and it would be no problem. And my husband's last name is Islamic so he can't get work. Will he change his last name? Doesn't that sound silly? We're planning to move to a more open-minded area as a solution.

Wearing hijab in itself doesn't associate you with extremists. If you wore a big black tent and covered your face (no offense to those who do this, some of my dearest friends dress like that!) you might get confused with a terrorist. But a pink or polka dotted hijab shouldn't be a problem, no? I have a friend in LA who looks totally fashionable but still covers herself 100% Islamically at the same time and everyone thinks she looks so cute. I don't really encourage this kind of dress for other reasons, but it does follow Islamic law as per most Islamic scholars. Hijab isn't the problem.

wa salaam

I have a friend who wears pink and she has no problem at all with people...

That would be a good study to do! I wonder what we would find...

I like wearing a long loose jean coat and white hijab to fit in... it works pretty well.

My daughter when she goes to teach at school, most of the time would be wearing a pair of pants, with loose long sleeved blouse matching it with a suitable coloured scarf. Sometimes she would be wearing a light, long sleeved t-shirt and the outer layer would be a sleeveless loose dress that reach before the knees with a pair of pants.  And once in a while she would be wearing our tradisional baju kurung again with a suitable coloured scarf. The scarf would  cover the bosom and pinned with a brooch below the face and another brooch on the shoulders. That's how the younger generation of Muslimah in Singapore and this part of the world are wearing.

I most of the time am very comfortable with my tradisional baju kurung and scarf to work or any where. Only the material and the colour would be different for different occasions. Once in a while I do wear a simple pant suit.

Actually wearing hijab is not difficult at all. It is whether we want or not.

 

Edited by Nur_Ilahi - 24 July 2010 at 9:57pm