Islam Wants the Woman to Be a Well-Guarded Jewel

Islam Wants the Woman to Be a Well-Guarded Jewel

When Allaah The Almighty prescribed Hijaab for the woman, and commanded her to adhere to it, He wanted her to be a well-guarded jewel and a concealed pearl, kept far from playful hands, and screened from the poisonous arrows (of strangers' eyes). She achieves this when she abides by the Command of her Lord, and observes her Hijaab: {That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused.} [Quran 33:59]

When the Noble Verse of Hijaab (Islamic covering) was revealed, i.e. (the statement of Allaah The Almighty, what means): {…and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests} [Quran 24:31] ‘Aa'ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, said, I have never seen better [women], more trusting in the Book of Allaah, and more believing in the Divine revelation than the women of the Ansaar (Helpers). When that Noble Verse of Hijaab was revealed, there was no woman among them except that she got up and took hold of her sheet, and in the morning, they came to offer Morning Prayer wrapped in them.

 

 

They hastened to comply with the command of Allaah The Almighty. As they had no clothes fit to implement what they were ordered to do, they got up and cut their garments and made from them headcovers to screen themselves with.
Compare this behavior with the conduct of such women who claim to be "civilized", who consider that the Hijaab is [a manifestation of] extremism, or that she has not yet been convinced of the need to wear it, or many such excuses which will not avail her any benefit from Allaah The Almighty on the Day she will stand before Him.


Allaah The Almighty Says after forbidding a display of beauty: {…and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance.} [Quran 33:33] He further Says (what means): {It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.} [Quran 33:36]


Hijaab is no less obligatory than prayer, Zakaah (obligatory purifying alms) and fasting; and this is an indisputably established ruling of Islam. Who could dare to deny that it is obligatory in the following statement of Allaah The Almighty (what means): {O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments.} [Quran 33:59]

When our women from among the righteous predecessors understood that Hijaab is an obligation from Allaah The Almighty on them, and consequently, they adhered to it, goodness emerged in the form of illumination on the foreheads of the generation brought up at their hands. How excellent were those women as righteous daughters, sincere sisters, honorable wives guarding (their chastity), and nursing mothers!


Consequently, at that time, there was not much deviation in society. But today, when the women abstain from following the commands of Allaah The Almighty in all the affairs of life, the result is the outbreak in our societies of adultery, sexual perversion, rape, violation of honor even against children, increasing number of spinsters and divorce cases. On the other hand, the great effect of Hijaab on communities is not hidden, as regards the maintenance of honor, self-reassurance, chastity and the elevation of man to higher purposes.


The woman's Hijaab is her honor, dignity and freedom, and with these she is liberated from servitude to anyone (or anything) other than Allaah The Almighty; it means freedom from the servitude to the body, the self, the restrictions of fashion, the (futile) traditions of the community and the pressure applied by the West.


Consider the Statement of Allaah The Almighty (what means): {O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts} [Quran 7:27]

The enemies of this religion realize the danger of Hijaab, as it obstructs their plans of neutralizing the effect of Islam upon the Muslim world. Therefore, they do their best to remove it and replace it with unlawful exposure. In order to achieve this goal, they make their speech about it alluring (to women). They do not call directly for women to remove it, but they do so indirectly in the name of progress and civilization, personal freedom, and equality between men and women.


According to the Islamic concept, the woman has a pioneering role in the formation and advancement of society. Her Hijaab is not merely a set of clothes, rather, it is a set of concepts and morals. It is an act of worship, of higher thought, culture and civilization; and these are the real standards of evaluating women.