Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Veiling UnIslamic

Veiling may be cultural or traditional in certain parts of the world, but it certainly has nothing to do with Islam.—Clerics of zeal invented it to control women and now it has become a symbol of Islam for Muslim women and for everyone else in the whole wide world.— Hijab and veiling is not Islamic, though many believe it to be so, including Muslim men and Muslim women who question not the veracity of such customs imposed by the so-called men of learning since centuries.— Such customs have become solid beliefs, repeated so often by so many with such passion and persistency that they have assumed the aura of truth.— Yet it is possible to shatter this false aura of truth by chiseling away layers upon layers of lies where the purity of expression still breathes love and radiance within the pages of the Quran and the Hadith.— There is not a single verse in the Quran with any injunction of veil or hijab.— Below are verses from the Quran prone to misinterpretation by the arbiters of Islam. – Though a couple of those cited here, neglected by Muslims, are for men to be modest.— Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest.—This is purer for them. Lo! –Allah is aware of what they do. (Quran 24:30)—And men who guard their modesty and women who guard their modesty, and men who remember Allah and women who remember--Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward. (Quran 33:35)— And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display their adornments only that which is apparent, and to draw their scarves over their bosoms. (Quran 24:31) – This verse above was revealed in response to pagan women going around Kaaba, wearing low-neck dresses with their bosoms revealed.— O ye who believe! Enter not the dwellings of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time, unless permission is granted you.— But if you are invited, enter, and when your meal is ended, then disperse.— Lingering not for conversation.—Lo, that would cause annoyance to the Prophet and he would be shy of asking you to go, but Allah is not shy of the truth.—And when ye ask of the wives of the Prophet anything, ask it from them from behind a curtain. (Quran 33:53)— This verse above was revealed after the Prophet’s marriage with Zainab. The wedding guests lingered over the feast and didn’t leave until it was very late in the night. – The wearing of a veil was pre-Islamic custom observed by the women of the Sasanian society.— The segregation of the sexes was also pre-Islamic, practiced in the regions of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. – No evidence of veiling is in the Quran or Sunnah.— During the lifetime of the Prophet, Muslim women participated in the public life and didn’t wear hijab. – The pagan women as well as women from the Judeo-Christian background wore veil and hijab as a mark of wealth, status and distinction.—To instill the virtue of equality amongst Muslims the Prophet Muhammad forbade the Muslim women to wear veils.—The pearls of Hadith below attest to this fact.— [Abu Dawud 11:29] The veil was worn in Arabia as a mark of rank: and it was therefore disallowed, as pilgrimage required obliteration of all differences of rank— Forbidding a veil in a pilgrimage is a further conclusive proof that Holy Quran did not enjoin the wearing of veil, as in that case the prohibition here stated would be a contradiction of the Holy Quran.— Gloves are not allowed because like the veil they are a mark of rank.— Ornaments are allowed because they are not a mark of rank, and are worn by even ordinary people and laboring classes.—Excerpt from Sharia Exposed— Hazrat Inayat Khan’s explanation on such customs:-- ‘The custom of the seclusion of the mystics remains only in the mystical Orders, but one finds the seclusion of women prevalent in the East.— When a custom takes root in a section of society certainly it can be used and abused as people may choose. No doubt jealousy, which is in human nature, is a proof of love, but jealousy can be the source of a great many crimes.—Man has always guarded the treasures that he values most in all sorts of coverings, and since that which man can love most is woman he has often ignorantly tried to guard her in the same way as all things of value and importance.— And the custom of seclusion has been in his hand a means that has enabled him to control his household in the manner he likes. –However, it is not true that this custom was the outcome of the teaching of the Prophet. –There are only two places in the records where an utterance of the Prophet on the subject is to be found.— In one place it is told that when some coarse dances were going on among the peasants of his land, he said that women must be clad properly.— In the other place that when the ladies of the Prophet's household were returning home after taking care of the Prophet and his army during a battle, they were disinclined to look at the battle-field and to show themselves to their enemies, and the only thing that could be advised by the Prophet was that now that peace had been made if they did not like to show themselves they might veil their faces.— In India one sees the custom that an aged woman covers her face, a widow covers her face and a bride veils her face.— There is some little psychological meaning in it.— It is the nature of every soul to wish to hide its sorrow, and by veiling her face the widow veils her sorrow from others.— And the veil that one sees on the face of an aged woman is there for the reason that in age the emotions become more visible and one has little control so as to hide them from; others, and when the heart has become softened at every little touch, however gentle, it is easily moved, and the covering is as a shield over it.— On the face of a bride the veil is for the preservation of her charm, of the magnetism; at the same time the finest beauty in human nature is modesty, in whatever form it appears.’— ‘There is freedom waiting for you/On the heavens of the sky/And you ask if I fall/Oh, but my darling/What if you fly.’/Erin Hanson// Niqab, Burqa, Abeya designed by Wahhabi zealots, forcing women to wear death shrouds while living, are totally and absolutely unIslamic.