Truth Behind The Veil

There is a growing Islamic movement today, in the Muslim Community; to revive the
Muslims intellectually back to Islam as their source of guidance. This is marked by
the number of sisters wearing the hijaab (veil). The hijaab has been the focus of
western propaganda against Islam for centuries. It was labelled as “extremist”,
“fundamentalist”, and “oppressive”. However this is not the case in reality today,
the veil is not usually forced on the woman she chooses to wear it herself. What
comes as a shock to the western media is that so many young women are turning to
Islam despite such negativity surrounding the matter. It was shown that 2 out of 3
converts to Islam are young women aged between the ages 17-21. The figure is
estimated at 20-30,000 over the last few years. The sad thing is that we find many
women, Muslim by birth, claiming to believe in Islam, but making numerous excuses
for not wearing the hijaab in fact some sisters go as far as forcefully stopping their
own daughters from wearing the veil! Some “Muslim” women even deny that it is a
religious duty!!

The excuses number many, some say it does not matter what is on the outside, it
only matters what is in the heart. Some say it is not practical for various reasons
(work, education, etc.). There are other Muslims who are so affected by the western
media that they themselves do the job for them by calling it extreme etc. And say
that Islam promotes being moderate, in the middle, therefore the veil not necessary
as it seems too radical. Some Muslim women are just worried what people in
general will say about them wearing the hijaab. We as Muslims are looking for an
answer to this issue. As we are Muslim and we believe in Allah, we should refer to
Allah (swt) and consider what really matters to Him alone. At the end of the day, if
we all had good thoughts inside our hearts to please Allah, but never actually put
what is in our hearts into action, we would be of no value. In Islam you can have
goodness in your heart, but if you do not put it into action then it is worthless, as
actions are part of Eemaan. Goodness is not enough, what may be good to one
person may not be good to another, so goodness in the heart is not only the issue,
but what defines good and bad, how we rule our lives is:

“Those who do not rule by what Allah has revealed, they are the wrong-doers.”
(EMQ 5: 45)

We can see that Allah is the one who decides what is best for us, as he created us
and the whole universe, he knows us more than anything else, so anything he
prescribes for us should be taken without question, that is why He is the Lord and
we are the servants. Even if it may seem ‘extreme’ to some people, you can call
Allah’s law extreme as much as you like, but He is still your creator, who should be
obeyed. We have not been created to ‘think’ this is good or that is ok. Allah (swt)
has set everything out for us and has given us a framework, Islam, to define all
those issues for us. ‘Extreme’ is a word which has no real meaning, as what may
seem extreme to one society may not be extreme to another. Therefore we should
not call what Allah has revealed extreme, as He wanted us Muslims to build a
society where the laws of Islam are normal and without to think Allah is asking too
much of us and to exhaust utmost effort to be obedient to Allah is ‘extreme’. What
is meant by “do not be extremist in Islam” is do not go over the top in one thing in
Islam e.g. if you are told to pray 5 times a day, you are not asked to pray all day and
ignore all other duties in life, or you do not fast 48 hours continuously, only fast or
pray the recommended and compulsory amounts. “Do not be extremist” did not
mean judge according to a non-Islamic society that views Islamic rules as extreme,
if this was the case then if praying was seen as extreme by the society in which we
live, do you stop praying? So what is the prescribed amount for covering a woman
in Islam? Is a veil really considered ‘extreme’ in Islam?

“O prophet, tell your wives and daughters and all other believing women that they
should draw their veils close round them. That is proper, so that they may be
recognised (as decent women) and not be molested.” (EMQ 33: 59)

It is narrated by ‘Aa-ishah (ra) that Asmaa; (daughter of Abu Bakr [ra]) came to see
the prophet wearing a thin dress. The prophet (saw) turned away from her and said,
“O Asmaa! When a woman reaches puberty she cannot reveal any part of her body
except this and this (pointing to his hands and face).” [Narrated by Abou Daawood]

“Tell all the believing women to turn their eyes away from temptation and to
preserve their chastity; to cover their adornments (except what is normally
displayed: hands and face); to draw their veil over their bosoms and not to reveal
their finery except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands fathers, their
sisters sons, their women servants, and their slave-girls; male attendants lacking in
natural vigour, and their children who have no carnal knowledge of women.” (EMQ
24: 31)

It is clear that the wearing of the veil is fard (a religious obligation and a must) and
Muslims should not fear anyone when it comes to their duties, even if it means
losing their job or friends. What kind of boss/friend do you have if they can not
accept the right to practice your belief? Only Allah should be feared, not anyone
else:

“O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared” (EMQ 3: 102)

“O you who believe! you obey those who disbelieve, they will cause you to turn
back on your heals, so you shall turn about as losers.” (EMQ 3: 149)

“If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your tribes, the property you
have acquired, the merchandise you fear may not be sold, and the homes you love,
are dearer to you than Allah, His apostle and the struggle for His cause, then wait
until Allah fulfils His decree. Allah does not guide the evil doers” (EMQ 9: 24)

The west always boasts about its ‘freedom’, and ‘equality’ but where does it go
when it comes to Islam? Where does this ‘freedom’ go when a man and woman
want to walk down the street topless; the man would be okay, but the woman
arrested for indecent exposure (not that I am saying the woman has the right to go
out topless!). Islam does not contradict itself, we know we are restricted by Islam
but we know the rules come from our creator, not the limited mind of a man. If we
look at anything in creation, we see that it always has something to protect it from
harm or decay e.g. fruit skin, pearls, shells. Even human beings protect valuable
things like diamond, away from the sight and touch of others. Is it not natural that
the beauty of a woman should be protected from the gaze of foreign men? Consider
the rape reported every 17 minuets in Britain. The plan of men in power is to exploit
women’s beauty to sell their commercial products e.g., girl in Flake ad and super-
models (on average 1/3rd under the recommended weight) are used to exploit
women to help the fashion and beauty industry make money. Plastic surgery is the
fastest growing branch of surgery in the world! The results are clear: Anorexia,
Bulimia, suicide and constant worry about your figure etc. The veil protects women
from this onslaught. If a doctor were to order a woman to cover herself from the sun
she would do it, but why not when Allah gives the orders? Allah knows more about
us than the doctor! If you are working for a particular company, which requires a
certain dress, surely people would wear the dress for that job, why not when you are
ordered by Allah?

“It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and love a thing which is
bad for you. Allah knows you know not” (EMQ 2: 216)
“It is not for true believers men or women to take a choice in their affairs, if Allah
and His apostle decree otherwise.” (EMQ 33: 36)