The
Virtues of Hijaab
1.An act of obedience.
The hijab is an act of obedience to
Allah and to his prophet (pbuh),
Allah says in the Qur'an: `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.' (S33:36).
Allah also
said: '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.'(S24:31).
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.
2.The Hijab is IFFAH (Modesty).
Allah
(subhana wa'atala) made the adherence to the hijab a
manifestation
for chastity and modesty. Allah says: '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.'
(S33:59). In the above Ayaah 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 (swt) made it
permissible for them to lay aside their outer garments and expose
their faces and hands reminding, however, that is still better
for
them to keep their modesty.
3.The hijab is Tahara (Purity)
Allah (swt) had shown us the
hikma (wisdom) behind the legislation
of the hijab: `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.' (S33:53).
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:
`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.'
(S33:32)
4.The hijab is a Shield
The prophet (pbuh) said:
"Allah, Most High, is Heaven, is Ha'yeii
(Bashful), Sit'teer
(Shielder). He loves Haya' (Bashfulness) and Sitr
(Shielding;
Covering)." The Prophet (pbuh) also said: "Any woman who
takes off her clothes in other than her husband's house (to show
off
for unlawful purposes), has broken Allah's shield upon her.
"The
hadith demonstrates that depending upon the kind of
action committed
there will be either reward (if good) or
punishment (if bad).
5. The hijab is Taqwah (Righteousness)
Allah (swt) says in
the Qur'an: `O children of Adam! We have
bestowed raiment upon
you to cover yourselves (screen your private
parts, etc) and as
an adornment. But the raiment of righteousness,
that is
better.'(S7:26). The widespread forms of dresses in
the
world today are mostly for show off and hardly taken as a cover
and
shield of the woman's body. To the believing women, however the
purpose is to safeguard their bodies and cover their private
parts as
a manifestation of the order of Allah. It is an act of
Taqwah
(righteousness).
6.The hijab is Eemaan (Belief or Faith)
Allah (swt) did not
address His words about the hijab except to the
believing women,
Al-Mo'minat. In many cases in the Qur'an Allah
refers to the "the
believing women". Aisha (RA), the wife of the
prophet
(pbuh), addressed some women from the tribe of
Banu Tameem who came to visit her and had light clothes on them,
they were improperly dressed: "If indeed you are believing
women,
then truly this is not the dress of the believing women,
and if you
are not believing women, then enjoy it."
7. The hijab is Haya' (Bashfulness)
There are
two authentic hadith which state: "Each religion has a
morality
and the morality of Islam is haya'" AND "Bashfulness is
from
belief, and belief is in Al-Jannah (paradise)". The
hijab fits the
natural bashfulness which is a part of the nature
of women.
8.The hijab is Gheerah
The hijab fits the natural
feeling of Gheerah, which is intrinsic
in the straight man who
does not like people to look at his wife or
daughters. Gheerah is
a driving emotion that drives the straight man
to safeguard women
who are related to him from
strangers. The
straight MUSLIM man has Gheerah for ALL MUSLIM
women In response
to lust and desire, men look (with desire) at other
women while
they do not mind that other men do the same to their
wives or
daughters. The mixing of sexes and absence of hijab destroys
the
Gheera in men. Islam considers Gheerah an integral
part of faith.
The dignity of the wife or daughter or any other
Muslim woman
must be highly respected and defended.
'At
the Battle of Badr the Muslim's flag was made from the 'coif' of
Aisha'
[Seerah Jallia, Vol II]
But what else can we
learn about the Prophet's wives? All extracts are from
'Mercy for
the World Vol II...
Between the ages of 25 and 50, Prophet
Muhammad had only 1 wife, Khadija.
Between the ages of 50 and 55
he married again.
The Prophet said,
'Mali fin nisa min
hajatin' (I do not desire women)
[Darimi]
And so it
is shown that he married for other reasons, for example:
-
Marriage with Safia: after this the Jews did not rise against Islam,
as
they had done so previously
- Marriage with Habeeba:
after this Abu Sufyan the martial chief of the
Quraish did not
participate in any war against Islam
- Marriage with Juveira:
her father was an avowed enemy of Islam, after her
marriage to the
Prophet her entire tribe stopped robbing and stealing and
became a
peaceful people
- Marriage with Maumina: her sister was
married to a chief of the Najdis,
after marriage there were no
more clashes between the Najdis and Muslims
But we must not
forget the Prophet's statement:
'Khairukum Khairukum li ahlihee wa
ana khairu kumliahli' - (Best in allis
one who is good to his wife
(family) and I am good to me wives (family)
excelling you).
The
Prophet advised men to treat their wives with good behaviour such
that
upon entering the house, he advised them to say 'assalam
alaikum' i.e. to
greet the family with good words. In fact his
advice extended to state that
if a man entered his home late at
night to make the greetingly quietly so
that if she is awake she
can reply and if she is asleep she is not
disturbed.
After
Asr prayer he would meet each of his wives in her own home to see
if
there was anything she needed.
After Maghrib prayer, he
would often meet them all in one place.
Just for note,
the Bible states:
- Prophet Abraham had 3 wives: (A) Hajra;
(B) Sara; (C) Qatura Khatoon
[Genesis 16/4, 18/15, 25/10]
-
Prophet Moses had 4 wives: (A) Safura Khatoon; (B) Jabshia; (C)
daughter
of Qeeni; (D) daughter of Habab [Kazion 1/16; 4/16]
-
Prophet David had 9 wives: (A) Akhomam; (B) Abi Jeeli; (C) Meekal
bint
Saval; (D) Makka bint Talmi; (E) Hajeet; (F) Abi Taal; (G)
Ajlab; (H) Bint
Sabaa; (I) Abi Shaag [Samuel 26/23, 18/27, 2
Samuel 3, 2 Samuel 11/3.26, 2
Samuel 20/30]
- Prophet
Solomon had 1000 wives: [2 Samuel 5/13]
- At time of Prophet
Jesus a man married 5 virgins [Matthew 25]
NB: While the
Muslims may not accept the account of the Bible, the
Christians
do. If any Christian then criticises polygamy, ask them to refer
to
their own bible and see what their bible says about their Prophets.
Home - Quran & Hadith – Charity - Family & Health – Islam – Miscellaneous – Matrimonials
Human Rights - Women – Newscenter – Boycott – Chechnya – Palestine - Links