By Zeenatuddeen Ibrahim
In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful. Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon the Holy Prophet and his pure Progenies. Hijab is the most important symbol of an Islamic struggle. A Lady in complete and lawful hijab is silently protesting against the jahili set up ruling the world. She is doing this even without speaking to anyone.
If you were to ask the oppressors about whom they dread most, they would almost definitely indicate that they dread women in their full and lawful hijab. But before further expatiating on this topic, I would want to explain what I mean by full and lawful hijab.
Allah the most High stated in the Noble Qur’an: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women of the Mumimun to draw their outer garments closely round themselves. This makes it more likely that they will be recognized and not be harmed. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Suratul- Ahzab- 59.
Also in Suratun-Nur- 51 "Say to the mumin women that they should lower their eyes and guard their private parts and not display their
adornments except for what normally shows. And draw their head-coverings across their chests. They should only display their
adornments to their husbands or their fathers or their husbands’ fathers or their sons or their husbands’ sons or their brothers or
their brothers’ sons or their sisters’ sons or other women or those they own as slaves or their male attendants who have no sexual desires or children who still have no awareness of women’s private parts. Nor should they stamp their feet so that their hidden ornaments are known. Turn to Allah every one of you, mumineen, so that hopefully you will have success.”
From the above verses of the Noble Qur’an, we understand that hijab has been made compulsory on Muslim women just like other obligations have been made compulsory on Muslims. For example, like salat, fasting in the month of Ramadan etc. And just as salat, zakat and fasting have specific ways of observing them, so also has hijab specific way of observing it. There are specific qualities which hijab must fulfill before it is considered lawful and full hijab. There are four qualities that hijab must fulfill:
a) It must cover all parts of the body, except the face and the palms
b) It must be loose to the extent that her shapes are not visible.
C) It must not be transparent.
d) It must be plain. That is, it must not itself be attractive or decorative.
We know that we as Muslims are supposed to be those who completely surrender to the will of Allah. So even without understanding the reason why hijab has been made obligatory on us, we are obliged to comply. But Allah in His Mercy has explained the reason to us in the above mentioned verse: “This makes it more likely that they be recognized and not be harmed.”
In other words, a lady is very precious, so precious that not all eyes are allowed to gaze at her. Take for example, when you posses a very
precious stone or gold, do you place it in a prominent place in your living room for all that enter to gaze on? Definitely, no and a big
NO! Indeed! Why? Because of its preciousness. You normally prepare a special box for your jewelries and place it in a much secured place in
the house. Dear honorable sisters should realize that you are more precious than those precious stones. You should realize that contrary
to what the enemies of Allah would want you to believe, observing the correct hijab guarantees your true freedom grants you the honor you
deserve.
At this point, I would want to warn us against the plots of the Shaitan. At all times, the Shaitan always tries to approach humans through the gate they would not suspect. For example, since the devil realize that most people are wise enough to realize that worshiping idols made of stones, wood, metals etc is worthless; he therefore created other forms of idols like man-made ideologies. Also, when the devil notices people’s love for religion, he brought them different false religions. Also when he notices that now, Muslim women are trying hard to regain their glorious identity by turning back to the Almighty and observing the hijab; he introduced many forms of fashion hijabs.
Unfortunately, some of our sisters have fallen into this trap. Although they want to observe hijab, but they end up observing the fashion hijab. They wear tight fitting and decorative attires; which in fact makes them more attractive. Another unfortunate thing is that some prominent Muslims promote such ‘hijab’, claiming that there is difference in culture and environment. Of course, there is difference in culture and environment and so hijab does not necessarily have to be uniform style, but it must fulfill the already mentioned qualities.
Honorable sisters! You should know that your hijab is only hijab when it fulfills the qualities of lawful hijab. And that only such hijab signifies opposition to the oppressors and the oppressive system ruling the world. And only such hijab dignifies you and gives you
special recognition; “This makes it more likely that they be recognized and not be harmed.”
I would conclude by thanking Allah The Almighty Who Has blessed us with the great Imam Khomeini (QS) who has revived Islam and along with it, revive the spirit of chastity and modesty in us. May Allah reward the Imam abundantly and make us amongst his true followers.
ZEENAH IBRAHEEM.
THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA
27th JANUARY 2013
16TH RABI’UL AWWAL 1434 AH