Bigotry is a
big, evil wound on the brow of Islam carved by the zealots since centuries of
lies and distortions of Quranic verses to oppress and tyrannize women. Manmade
laws invented by extremists who have imprisoned women in hijabs, burqas, abayas
and have been torturing them in the name of Islam and now turning shamelessly
violent against girls in Century 21 is vile, tragic, horrifying. Hijab has
nothing to do with Islam, if Muslim men and women just open their eyes to study
Quran and try to understand true precepts of Islam by sloughing off the veils
of hypocrisy, ignorance, intolerance. Lies have been told by so many, so often,
with such persistence that even now if someone tried to tell truth, it would
sound like a lie. It is disgraceful that Muslim leaders all over the world,
time and time again, have failed to condemn violence against women. Yet again,
women themselves deceived by hateful clerics staunchly believe that hijab is
Islamic. Maybe this brutal murder of young Masha Amina will jolt them to
awareness how insufferably oppressed they have been since centuries, mistaking
pagan customs as Islamic injunctions. It’s time they stand up against mindless control
of so-called Muslim men and join their Iranian sisters in burning hijabs, to
redeem the dignity of womanhood in Islam.
Prophet
Muhammad made women integral to his plan for Muslim education and learning when
he proclaimed: Acquisition of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim, male
and female.
Fact is,
Prophet Muhammad was a modern-day activist in that age and time, liberating
women from the shackles of injustice and inequality.
Prophet
Muhammad’s Sayings:
What a
Muslim must never do is to raise his hand against women. Treat each woman with
respect and kindness.
The greatest
crimes are: to tell lies, to assault women, to murder your own species, to
commit suicide.
God enjoins
you to treat women well, for they are your aunts, wives, mothers and daughters.
The rights
of women are sacred, see that women are maintained in the rights assigned to
them.
The most
perfect man of religion who excels in character is the one who gives best
treatment to his womenfolk.
Only a man
of noble character can honor women and only a man of base intention will
dishonor women.
Paradise
lies under the feet of mother.
You are all
the children of Adam and Adam was created from dust.
God hath
treasuries beneath the Throne, the keys whereof are the tongues of poets, he
who knows his own self knows God.
Omar used to
say to the Prophet, let your wives be veiled, but Allah’s Messenger did not do
so. Al Bukhari [1:148-O.B]
Ibn Umar reported: He heard the Messenger of
Allah forbidding women in a state of ihram wearing gloves and veil and garments
dyed with wars and saying that they might wear besides this what they liked of
garments colored with safflower or made of silk or wool, or ornaments or
trousers or shirt. Al-Bukhari (AD 11:29)
During the
lifetime of Prophet, men and women used to perform ablution together. Al
Bukhari [1:45-O.B]
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 lies 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 The Messenger of Allah forbade women pilgrims from
wearing gloves, veils, and clothes dyed with saffron or wars (a sweet-smelling
plant that was used to dye clothes yellow). Besides these, they may wear
anything else, any color, silk clothes, ornaments, trousers or shirt or shoes
(Abu Dawud, Al Baihaqi and Al-Hakim).
Bukhari reported that Aisha put on a garment
that was dyed with usfur while she was in a state of ihram and she said,
“A woman must neither wear a veil to cover her face, nor clothes dyed with
saffron or other fragrant dying material.” Aisha is of the opinion that there
is no harm for women pilgrims in wearing ornaments, black or rose-colored
clothes and shoes.
Bukhari and Ahmad reported, “A pilgrim woman
must neither cover her face, nor wear gloves.”
A later
verse just for the protection of the ladies of the Prophet’s household is
subject to misinterpretation.
O Prophet, tell thy wives to draw their cloaks
round them when they go abroad. That will be better so that they may be
recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. (Quran 33:59)
Even after this revelation, the women-companions
of the Prophet did not wear hijab as they knew that the Quranic directive was
addressed only to the Prophet’s wives. The Muslim women’s participation in the
life of the community during this time was dignified and social encounters took
place at the initiative of the men and women, when the occasion arose. Mohammad
Hashim Kamali
Women shall
have the same rights over men as men have over them. (Quran 2:228)
And whoso
doeth good works, whether male or female and he or she is a believer, such will
enter Paradise and they will not be wronged the dint in a date-stone. (Quran
4:124)
“We entreat
God to deliver the light of equity and the sun of justice from the thick clouds
of waywardness, and cause them to shine forth upon men.” Baha’ ‘ulla’h
“The outward
Kaaba Ibrahim built. The inward Kaaba was as Lord Almighty willed.” Abdullah al-Ansari
“Harm shall
never be inflicted nor reciprocated in Islam.” Hadith
Mockery of Islam begins with bigots, spreads with extremists, multiplies with terrorists.
May we all strive toward intellect, knowledge, understanding.
May there be peace in the world, especially in Ukraine against brutal war of aggression by Putin.
Amin, Amin, Amin
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