Topic: Headscarf question

[John]

As a non-muslim, I have a question about the use of the full headscarf as worn by muslim women in the UK.  I work part-time in a university library, and supervise a reading room that is used by a wide variety of people, of many different ethnic and religious groups.  Among these are several muslim women who wear the head covering that allows only the eyes to be seen, but for the rest of their dress they are completely "western" - jeans and sweatshirts, for example.

This puzzles me.  If the purpose of the head covering is to preserve female modesty and keep men from having lustful thoughts about them, why are these women perfectly happy to allow men to see that their bodies are those of young, attractive women?

Is this acceptable behaviour for modern muslims, or would the parents of these students be shocked at what they might regard as double standards?

[ABDU]

As a non-muslim, I have a question about the use of the full headscarf as worn by muslim women in the UK.  I work part-time in a university library, and supervise a reading room that is used by a wide variety of people, of many different ethnic and religious groups.  Among these are several muslim women who wear the head covering that allows only the eyes to be seen, but for the rest of their dress they are completely "western" - jeans and sweatshirts, for example.

 

welcome John in TAI, we'll be happy to answer any question about Islam ..
First I would like to tell you that "wearing the headscarf" is an obligation on women, there are many proofs that shows this obligation (body cover) on women from Qura’an , Hadeeth, and Muslim scholars Ijma’, and there are some details follows that, I’ll mention one verse from the holy Qur’an:

The verse number 31 in Surat Annour / ( æáÇ íÈÏíä ÒíäÊåä ÅáÇ ãÇ ÙåÑ ãäåÇ þ) (wala yubdeena zeenatahunna illaa maa Thahara minhaa) which means that women should not show from their bodies except the face and the hands . And that is clear that everything else other than the face and the hands should be covered from the body.

This puzzles me.  If the purpose of the head covering is to preserve female modesty and keep men from having lustful thoughts about them, why are these women perfectly happy to allow men to see that their bodies are those of young, attractive women?

Is this acceptable behaviour for modern muslims, or would the parents of these students be shocked at what they might regard as double standards?

my friend, when a woman covers all her body except her face and hands, it means she is obeying her God, when men (sick men) look at her and has lustfull thoughts about her, then it is not her fault, it is his ... even if she is wearing modern clothes like jeans and sweatshirt, it is not islamically forbidden...
ok, now another proof that shows that woman should cover all her body except her face and hands... this example shows too that men should not look at her and have those bad thoughts ...
the wives of the prophet had to cover their faces, but that is a very special rule for them, for they are the mothers of all the believers.

muslim women, other than the honorable wives of the prophet, do not have to cover their faces, though it would not be a negative things if they do.

here is the story my friend John: the prophet was once with his cousin and his cousin was looking in the eyes of a nice woman passing by, and she was looking in his eyes. When the prophet saw that, he gently, turned the face of his cousin. and that was it.

The prophet did not tell that young woman to cover her face....

and it is well known that it is the duty of the prophet to order the good and blame the bad, so if that woman was doing something illegal in islam, the prophet would definitely tell her to cover her face.

but the prophet did not.

we conclude that it is not a sin for a woman in islam not to cover her face in public ..... and when he turned the face of the man, it means it is a sin on that man not hers .

ok my friend, if you have any questions please ask.
see you later

[TheLight]

Hello John,
The proper dress of a muslim woman (known as hijab) is not supposed to be made up of only a head scarf.  You are very keen in observing that the muslim women you saw (who cover their heads and faces but still wear form-fitting western clothes) are not correctly observing hijab.  Hijab is made up of the entire outfit that a muslim woman wears.  The requirement for proper hijab is that it be loose, non-tranparent, and not resemble the clothing of men.  We are also not supposed to dress as the non-muslims do, but Islam encourages that we look different from them.  The faith of a muslim should be apparent.  As an extra bit of info, you might be interested to know that there are requirements for the way that muslim men dress.  They too are supposed to look different from other people, their clothing must be loose, cover them from the navel to the knees at least, they should have facial hair, and their trousers should not be so long as to go below their ankles.  The above was the dress of our noble Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his companions, (may Allah be pleased with them), and their wives (may Allah be pleased with them).  I hope this was helpful.  And Allah knows best.

[ABDU]

welcome The light my friend in TAI, thanks for joining us in this great Forum where muslims and non-muslims are welcome ...

As an extra bit of info, you might be interested to know that there are requirements for the way that muslim men dress. They too are supposed to look different from other people, their clothing must be loose, cover them from the navel to the knees at least, they should have facial hair, and their trousers should not be so long as to go below their ankles. The above was the dress of our noble Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his companions, (may Allah be pleased with them), and their wives (may Allah be pleased with them).

thanks for these information, but if a man didn't wear the way our beloved Prophet  (may Allah raise his rank) was wearing, is not forbidden (not Haram) I mean he won't be punished by God, but if he did he will be rewarded by God (because it is sunnah to do so).

yes my friend,  I noticed very well that you said

there are requirements for the way that muslim men dress

you didn't say it is obligation on men .


My best supplications to you  :bro1

[Ismatudeen]

Hello John.

I think Abdu already gave you the information needed, but I would just like to add that Muslim women nowadays are criticized whatever they do.  Like Abdu said women cover to obey God.  Now people are attracted to different things, but we can't "please" everyone.  For example, I don't cover my face, but I wear the hijab.  I sometimes wear the traditional Abaya, which is a kind of long lose dress, and sometimes wear jeans and a sweater.  In both cases, I am criticized.  When I wear the abaya some people think I am not properly dressed for a job situation for example.  Now, when I wear jeans, people think it's not suitable for a Muslim woman.  What I personally want is not to disobey God, cover what I am supposed to cover, and still try to stay "practical" for the kind of busy days that I have.  If most westerners saw those same women covering their faces and still wearing long loose dark clothes, they'd say "Oh my God, they look like ghosts..."wouldn't they? :dazed .  Welcome again in the forum.  Hope we'll see you again for further questions  :wave2

[Zahedah]

Yes very true sister ^Ismatudeen.

Women, particularily veiled women are constantly criticized and always face severe scrutiny.

Bear in mind that our goal is to obey Allah.  We want the approval of Allah, not of the people.

[waelaziz]

Dear ABDU please let me understand this , did you mean the the women  wearing   the headscarf" with western jeans and sweat shirts is not forbidden in islam, yes she is covering all her budy . but in my life i didnot see ajeans didnot give us an idea about the details for women body.  . even if she is wearing along shirts .
may be i under stand you wrong. but blease clear this for me.

[sharke]

salam!!!
im new here but i want to add something about the jeans and stuff
a muslim women has to wear hijab not just the headscarf like the light said but also the rest of her clothings it shouldnt be seethru and it shouldnt give details about the womens body and if shes wearing pants or trousers the shirt or whatever should be till her knees her scarf should cover her chest and only her face and hands should show.....
now with jeans and short sweatshirts the womens body is detailed and that is wrong in islam.

In islam theres no such thing as the religion changes with time.  This the same religion from the days of  the prophet saw till now so theres no such thing as modern way of dressing about the men with their lustful looks thats not the womens fault if shes dressed and covered
its his fault !!!!!!!

You're confused bc not all the muslim ppl do what they;re suppossed to do and cover properly they dont all follow the rules as they should...
and this is something thats happening not only with the hijab but with alot of things

So don't be confused its just a difference in the level of faith thing
i hope i helped and didnt offend anyone.
 
JazakoAllah kheir
salam

[Zahedah]

salam!!!
im new here but i want to add something about the jeans and stuff
a muslim women has to wear hijab not just the headscarf like the light said but also the rest of her clothings it shouldnt be seethru and it shouldnt give details about the womens body and if shes wearing pants or trousers the shirt or whatever should be till her knees her scarf should cover her chest and only her face and hands should show.....
now with jeans and short sweatshirts the womens body is detailed and that is wrong in islam.

Welcome sharke to TalkAboutIslam :wave2

You are certainly right that the clothes can not be see-threw because she is not covering her skin as required.  She should wear material that is thick enough not to be able to see the skin color. A women must cover her entire body except for her face and hands according to the school and methadology of Imam Abi Hanifa radeya Allahu ^anhu.

As for wearing tight clothes or wearing jeans, it is not haram (forbidden).  It is disliked...meaning if she leaves it she gets reward but if she does it, she is not sinful.  She is sinful if she has the intent to make men desire her.  I personally like to wear jeans to school.  Not tight, but they are not baggy either.  However, if I am going to a religious class, I prefer to wear skirts.

The Prophet salla Allahu ^alayhi was salam (May Allah raise his rank and protect his nation from that which he fears for it), made a supplication for the women that wear pants even under their dresses when one women who was riding a horse fell off and the Prophet turned his face away afraid that her dress would have been pulled up and her skin would be revealed.  One of the companions told the Prophet that it is alright, for she is wearing pants underneath.  The Prophet smiled and made a supplication.  Why? Because the Prophet advised us to be cautious, and to be as conservative as possible.

The more a women exaggerates in her conservativeness, the more she is rewarded by Allah.      

In Islam theres no such thing as the religion changes with time.  This the same religion from the days of  the prophet saw till now so theres no such thing as modern way of dressing about the men with their lustful looks thats not the womens fault if shes dressed and covered
its his fault !!!!!!!

Again, you are also right that the religion does not change, of course we all agree.  However, it is not forbidden to wear the modern dress, such as jeans.  There is no proof.  There was no Internet at the time of the Prophet does that mean it is haram?  Also, if a man looks lustfully at a women he is sinful.  He only has the right to look at her hands and face without lust.  So even if he looks at her face or her hands with lust, HE is committing a sin.  

The sin of the man is seperate from the sin of the women.  She has the obligation to cover (if she does not she is sinful) and he has the obligation to not look at her with lust and desire (and if he does he is sinful).  She is not accountable for his sin, and he is not accountable for her sin.  

You're confused bc not all the muslim ppl do what they're suppossed to do and cover properly they dont all follow the rules as they should...
and this is something thats happening not only with the hijab but with alot of things

So don't be confused its just a difference in the level of faith thing
i hope i helped and didnt offend anyone.

JazakoAllah kheir
salam

Once again, may Allah reward you, you came across a very good point which is that not all Muslims do the obligations and avoid the sins . :notme We ask Allah to give us the strength to obey him and to be protected from committing sins.  May Allah grant you a high level of faith and grant you piety :rdg1.

And yes, not only did you help yourself, you helped others.  By corrected some of the religious statements in your posts, we will all learn in sha'a Allah because knowledge is power and a priceless treasure.  May Allah bless you and grant you Paradise.

I sincerely hope to read more of your posts soon :thumbsup

     
 [/B]

[waelaziz]

Welcome dear sharke