THE RIGHT OF A MUSLIMAH TO BE RESPECTED FOR HER MIND INSTEAD OF HER BODY
by Syarif Hidayat*
The right of a Muslim woman (Muslimah) is to be respected for her mind and for being her own person: A Muslim Woman is Required to Dress a Certain Way When She Goes Out in Public. For a Muslim woman, her modest dress is an expression of a universal sisterhood. An Islamic dress also liberates the Muslim woman, and she is then automatically respected for her mind instead of her body.
Simply put, she retains her dignity! It is like saying: I am a respectful woman. I am not for every man to look at, touch, or speak to. I am protected, exactly like a precious white pearl which, if touched by everyone, will become black and dirty.
A woman’s modest dress protects society from adultery and other forms of illegal sexual relations that lead to the breakup of families and corruption of society.
Backwardness: … Backwards are those who wear less clothes!
A Nobel prize-winner activist Tawakol Karman was asked by the people of the West, ‘How is it possible that an intelligent lady like yourself, well educated and incredible successful, can be so backwards in thought, which is shown by your ‘choice’ to cover yourself up [i.e. hijab]’.
The sister very intelligently, and rightly so, replied, ‘If you look back into history, you’d notice that the not-so-intelligent people barely covered. As intelligence increased, clothing was introduced. It is not I who is backward, for I am moving forward, with intelligence. Backwards are those who wear less clothes, like the ancestors did whence cohabitation in caves were a norm.’
Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Karman (Arabic: توكل عبد السلام خالد كرمان Tawakkul ‘Abd us-Salām Karmān; also Romanized Tawakul, Tawakel) (born 7 February 1979) is a Yemeni journalist, politician and senior member of the of Al-Islah political party, and human rights activist. She leads the group “Women Journalists Without Chains,” which she co-founded in 2005. She became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that is part of the Arab Spring uprisings. She has been called the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of the Revolution” by Yemenis, She is a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate to date.
Karman gained prominence in her country after 2005 in her roles as a Yemeni journalist and an advocate for a mobile phone news service denied a license in 2007, after which she led protests for press freedom. She organized weekly protests after May 2007 expanding the issues for reform. She redirected the Yemeni protests to support the “Jasmine Revolution,” as she calls the Arab Spring, after the Tunisian people overthrew the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. She has been a vocal opponent who has called for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime.
Naked in spite of being dressed!
Abu Hurairah (r.a.) reports that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) warned, “I have not seen two parties of the occupants of Hell (because they do not exist now; they will come into being later in time). One party will consist of those who will hold whips like the tails of oxen, with which they will slash the people (in a cruel manner). The other party will consist of women who will be dressed, yet naked. They will be those who tempt men and are tempted by them. They will have large heads like the bent humps of camels. They (the two parties) will neither enter Paradise nor smell its scent. And verily its scent can be smelled from such a large distance.” (Bukhari, Muslim)
The point of discussion here is the second party mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) i.e. women who will be naked in spite of being dressed. The implication is that they will wear clothes of such thin material which will not conceal their bodies. There may also be another implication: If the cloth is not thin, the dress will be so tight-fitting on the body that it will reveal the whole shape of the body and thus will eliminate the purpose of concealing the body.
Another meaning of being dressed and yet being naked is that there will be inadequate clothing on the body leaving a large part of it naked, especially those parts which modest women conceal from the view of men. Nowadays, Muslim women wear transparent clothing, or garments without sleeves or the sleeves are so short that their arms are visible. Their legs are naked, head bare and the neck of the dress is so large and open at the front and back that the upper part of the body is clearly exposed.
Thereafter Pprophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) continued that these women will tempt men and will be tempted by them. In other words the fashion of remaining naked will not arise out of poverty, but because women will want to expose their bodies to tempt men. Another means of temptation they will adopt is that, while walking, they will shake their heads (which will be without scarves) just like the hump of the fast running camel shakes and bends downwards. The comparison with the hump of the camel illustrates how the women will enlarge their heads by tying their head upwards in big knots.
At the end of the Hadith it is said that such women will neither enter Paradise nor smell its fragrance. Thereafter it is said that the scent of Paradise is smelled from a great distance. This Hadith does not mention the distance from which the fragrance of Paradise may be smelled. Some Ahadith, however, say that the scent of Paradise can be smelled from a distance of a hundred years’ journey. Just imagine what a misfortune it would be to be deprived of not only Paradise but even its fragrance.
How Muslim Women should dress in public
Jacob Poushter in his article titled “How should Muslim women dress?” published in www.pewresearch.org writes “An important issue in the Muslim world is how women should dress in public. A recent survey from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research conducted in seven Muslim-majority countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey), finds that most people prefer that a woman completely cover her hair, but not necessarily her face. Only in Turkey and Lebanon do more than one-in-four think it is appropriate for a woman to not cover her head at all in public.”
The survey treated the question of women’s dress as a visual preference. Each respondent was given a card depicting six styles of women’s headdress and asked to choose the woman most appropriately outfitted for a public place. Although no labels were included on the card, the styles ranged from a fully-hooded burqa (woman #1) and niqab (#2) to the less conservative hijab (women #4 and #5). There was also the option of a woman wearing no head covering of any type.
Overall, most respondents say woman #4, whose hair and ears are completely covered by a white hijab, is the most appropriately dressed for public. This includes 57% in Tunisia, 52% in Egypt, 46% in Turkey and 44% in Iraq. In Iraq and Egypt, woman #3, whose hair and ears are covered by a more conservative black hijab, is the second most popular choice.
In Pakistan, there is an even split (31% vs. 32%) between woman #3 and woman #2, who is wearing a niqab that exposes only her eyes, while nearly a quarter (24%) choose woman #4. In Saudi Arabia, a 63%-majority prefer woman #2, while an additional 11% say that the burqa worn by woman #1 is the most appropriate style of public dress for women.
In several countries, substantial minorities say it is acceptable for a woman to not cover her hair in public. Roughly a third (32%) of Turks take this view, as do 15% of Tunisians. Nearly half (49%) in Lebanon also agree that it is acceptable for a woman to appear in public without a head covering, although this may partly reflect the fact that the sample in Lebanon was 27% Christian. Demographic information, including results by gender, were not included in the public release of this survey.
Even as publics in many of the surveyed countries express a clear preference for women to dress conservatively, many also say women should be able to decide for themselves what to wear. This attitude is most prevalent in Tunisia (56%), Turkey (52%) and Lebanon (49%) – all countries where substantial percentages are open to women not covering their heads in public.
But nearly as many in Saudi Arabia (47%) also say a women should be free to choose how she dresses. Smaller, but sizable percentages agree in Iraq (27%), Pakistan (22%) and Egypt (14%). What the survey leaves unanswered is whether respondents think social or cultural norms will guide women in their choice to wear more conservative or less conservative attire in public. *(Jacob Poushter is a Research Associate at the Pew Global Attitudes Project).
May Allah give our women the ability and the correct guidance to cover their bodies according to the Shariah. Ameen!
(T/E1/P03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
*Editor of MINA (He can be reached via email: [email protected])
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