Posted by Umm Sahl in Hijab | 15 Comments
Reflections-Hijab
By Khadijah Sadiq
What is the first thing that comes to your mind about hijab and the person who wears it?
An extremist?
A religious symbol?
A bit to hard on yourself?
A religion being hard on girls depriving them of their right of freedom?
Some people just wonder what exactly it is. So let me explain my personal view about hijab.
Hijab for me is a sign of purity and the way to preserve our beauty and purity for only one man. We wait all our lives till we find that one guy which Allah the Almighty has chosen for us. What a beautiful and refreshing feeling! Allah has made things easy for us by blessing us with the gift of hijab and by helping us follow the steps of how we can secure our inner and outer beauty which prevents us from being harassed and manipulated by society.
Wearing hijab enables one to do anything one likes as it is a medium to move about in a respected circle. Allah has made things easier for us and that is why women are given a high rank due to the desires they control for the sake of Allah.
Allah says: “He has not laid upon you in religion any hardship.” (Al-Hajj: 78)
“Allah wishes to lighten the burden for you; for certainly man has been created weak!” (An-Nisa’: 28)
Muslim women observe hijab (covering the head and the body) because Allah has told them to do so.
“Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed.” (Al-Ahzab:59)
This clearly shows us that by wearing hijab we are given an identity. Just ask those who do not have an identity – they are like a soul without a shadow.
Hijab is not merely a dress that covers but more importantly, it is behavior, manners, speech and appearance in public. Dress is only one aspect of the total being and it also includes the hijab of the heart and the tongue which make you praise Allah, hands which make you give charity, feet which make you walk to the mosque, and above all intentions on which all your deeds depend.
If you wear hijab and do things which are prohibited then you will surely be deprived of your reward in the Hereafter. Let us just think on the bases that this world in temporary and the permanent world is yet to come, so why should we waste our time contemplating issues that Allah has made so clear and simple for us to follow?
May Allah make us understand the role we are to play in this world, the transient nature of life, and the blessings of Divine guidance.
Source: www.islamonline.net
Umm Sahl, your sister in Islam, a wife and mother of 3 beautiful blessed babies
"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; [b]that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty [/b][u]except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex;[/u] and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah that ye may attain Bliss." (24:31)
"O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known (to be Muslims) and not annoyed…" (33:59)
"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do." (24:30)
"It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allâh and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allâh and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error." (33:36).
For all the sisters who are not wearing it, let us make duaa for them that Allah fill their heart with the love of hijab.
As a working woman in a place where I am the only one who wears the hijab and the the only other muslim sister feels that her husband won’t like her in it and that she has to meet clients and wearing it is not appropriate. So therefore I have become an extremist in my religious values at work. Giving the non muslims a confused picture as to whether it’s even important to wear it, so most of my discussion about hijab land up to then why is the other muslim woman not wearing it???
My last conversation today with a non muslim was few minutes back where she said that if people have prejudices(about hijabis) especially during the interview of a job process then just don’t wear the hijab at that time so you can get teh job, and why can’t you’ll just wear it daily to work and remove the hijab when you go for meetings with clients?
What is wrong with this picture………. what mixed signals as muslimas are we giving the non muslims
PS: another thing to add that one day I wore a black hijab and black abaya to work , the non muslims didn’t say anything, but a Muslim brother asked me if I was mourning cause I was wearing all black
Subhan Allah
Subhan Allah sister Caroline…
May Allah give Hidaya to all our muslim sisters and muslim brothers who are stopping their wife from wearing Hijab. Ameen.
How can we ever disobey Allah at the cost of pleasing the creations of Allah.
"Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah at the risk of displeasing the people, Allah will take care of him and protect him from them. But whoever seeks the pleasure of the people at the risk of displeasing Allah, Allah will abandon him to the care of the people"
(Tirmidhi)
was caught by surprise one day when I went to grab something to eat from a store and the lady there asked me if I recently got married? And I said no not yet and shes like cause you never wore the hijab before, (I didnt know she was muslim)and I told her cause I had not mentioned to my parents then that I was muslim and shes like ohk.
She questioned if my employer had an issue with it and I said well I didn’t give them an option I didn’t ask them if I could wear the hijab I just informed them and she said that when she asked her employer they said the don’t recognise religious commitments and so she hasn’t been able to wear it.
Questions to ponder on:
– Are we giving people a wrong picture that we have to wear the hijab after we get married? I can’t believe a muslim woman would ask me that!
– Are we asking our employers (who are non muslim) if it’s ok to wear the hijab to work (maybe giving them the wrong picture that they have a choice to agree to it or not) rather then just telling them that it’s obligatory?
– Do you really want to work in a place where someone is judging you by your looks?
"We need to educate ourselves first about our religion before educating the non muslims"
Subhan Allah sister Caroline, Your comments are just amazing..Alhamdulillah..
Really we need to think on what picture we are giving to the non-muslims about Islam.
ASSALAMUALYEKUM!!
JazakiAllah khair sis caroline for sharing your nice comments, MashaAllah.
Its a great pity that even some members of our muslim community have so consevative views concerning hijab. But at the same time we should be firm in our commitment towards pleasing ALLAH Subhana wata Ala in all our affairs so as to provide a wider picture of the benefits of wearing hijab to thenon-muslims.This can only be achieved by gaining knowledge of quran saheeh sunnah.
May Allah strengthen the emaan of our muslim sisters,Ameen.
Sorry, Its Quran and saheeh sunnah. I was a bit hurry in writing it.
subhanAllah sis caroline you face much more prejudices then us living in an Islamic country…but even than living in an islamic country with muslims all around us, we have to face similar situations….most of the muslim women if they rarely see any hijabi girl doing something wrong even though they do it as well and in regular basis but here they get the opportunity to defend themselves that hijab is not an ‘important’ thing….and utimately starts saying these word, ‘religion is all about your internal connection with Allah even if you wear hijab or not’….hijab is one of the most important step to internal happiness and a way to purify yourself….such statement by our muslim sisters really gives a confused picture to the non muslims and here steroetyping begins us and for all….so who did it in the beginning we MUSLIMS…WHY because of lack of knowledge and faith in Allah..
we have improve ourselves before our time in this worlds comes to an end.
Assalamualiakkum !felt really inspired by al your comments.JazakAllah Khairan:)2 years back i started with scarf,which was quite annoying for my family and relatives.That was the time i was entering into my college life just after passing out of my school life…Alhamdulillah ….My close friends,my greatest support in pleasing Allah, helped me to face those trials and tests of Allah with much patience and understanding.If not for those tests i would not have understood the beauty of hijab…and during those times i reliased the value of having righteous friends to hold your hand to strengthen you each time you feel weak:)Alhamdulilllah…
[i]Assalamualaikkum Warahmutullah!
When i read this story i felt like sharing it with you all:).I actually read it in a book,so typed it
The Jews used to live side by side with the Muslims in Madinah.They hated the fact that Allah had revealed the order of hijab and that thereafter the Muslim women were covered.They tried to plant the seeds of corruption,and attempted to unveil the Muslim women,but failed.
One day,a Muslim woman went to a marketplace owned by the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa’.She was a chaste and modest woman.She visited a jeweller amonst them.The Jews saw her and disliked the fact that she was chaste and covered.They wanted to have a glimpse at her,molest her or flirt with her,as they would do before Islam honoured woman.
They wanted her to uncover her face and take off her hijab,but she refused. The jeweller therefore took an end of her garment and attached it to the end of her Khimaar,while she was unaware.When she stood up,her garment was raised ,revealing her body parts.The jews began to laugh.The muslim woman cried out,wishing they had killed her rather than uncovering her body.
A muslim man saw this happen, so he brandished his sword and attacked the jeweller,killing him.In turn, the jews attacked the muslim and killed him.When the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wassalam) came to know about this, and the fact that the jews had violated their pledge with him,and molested a woman,he surrounded the Jews until they all surrendered and conceded to his judgement.
When the Prophet (saw) decided to punish them in revenge for the honour of a chaste Muslim Woman being violated,one of the devil’s helpers stood up – those who have no concern for the honour of Muslim woman and only care about satisfying their stomachs and private parts.This leader of the hypocrites,’Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, stood up and said,"O Muhammad!Please treat my allies with kindness!"
He said this because they had been allied to him during the days of pre-Islamic ignorance.The Prophet (saw) turned away from him and refused to concede, for how could he forgive a people who wished to spread corruption amongst the Believers?!
The hypocrite said again, "O Muhammad,treat them with kindness!"But the Prophet (saw) , turned away from him,again,in favour of defending the honour of the chaste Muslim woman.The hypocrite then became angry.He placed his hand in the pocket of the Prophet’s shirt and pulled him saying,"Be kind to my allies!"The Prophet (saw) became angry.He turned around and began to beg the Prophet (saw) to prevent their execution.
The Prophet (saw) turnd to him and said , "They are yours,then", and decided not to execute them.However, he did expel them from their dwellings in Madinah.Yes,a chaste Muslim woman deserves no less!
[i]SubhanaAllah!How much importance and respect is given for a woman in Islam!:)[/i]
what sister caroline told is very true.We have to educate ourselves about our religion.
i remember, during my college farewell function my classmate asked me "why dont you remove your hijab,its not suiting your dress" and of course he was a muslim!And no wonder he told me that because except for me and a friend of mine rest of the muslim girls were not wearing hijab.Some of them who usually wears it, removed it just for that day because its party time!Wearing hijab only earns you reward when we do it for pleasing allah.I too had non muslim classmates in school who used to ask me why we muslims are wearing it,why cant we remove it and be ‘normal’ like them.But alhamdulillah i could overcome all these and yet be good friends with them.
But have we ever thought why others question us about our hijab?Will anyone ask a christian nun to remove her headscarf or a sikh man to remove his turban,then why only ours?This shows the weakness of our emaan.They think hijab is just an option for us.They think we muslim women are ready to listen them and its very true!!We remove it for pleasing our friends,to get a good job and even to get a school admission!
Its high time to keep up our faith.If anyone ask us about our hijab,just tell them we are wearing this to please allah and not others.He asked us to do it and v r doing it.then there is no point in them asking us to remove it.the plus points of hijab can be explained to them after this.
The dignity of any human being is to be modest. Hijab wearing women should be proud of what they have been able to achieve. Nudity is the basic cause of the current moral decadence in the Society. So Muslim women, I encourage you to continue the good work. May Allah (swt) strengthen you and In-sha-Allah, you will continue to win the women folk into accepting and joining you, soon. Bi-Isni-Tahala.