CHAPTERONE ТЬе Hijaab, why?

Аll praise belongs to Allah who has guided His believing servants to do acts of obedience and made it easy to do righteous deeds.

Every Muslim has Ьееп created to worship Allah аюпе, without associating partners with Him. Тhe life of every Muslim whether they are таlе or fema1e should Ье based ироп Islam, because Islam is not merely а religion but а complete way of life in true submission to Al1ah. Being а certain age, sex or from а certain гасе does not exempt опе fюm doing good deeds and actions and the amount of reward is not affected Ьу the person' s wealth, status or race. Allah does not 100k ироп уоцг wealth, уоцг status, or уош race. Rather it' s уоцг righteousness and humility that Allah 100ks out for.

Islam is а universa1 religion, which is both complete and perfect at the same time. It is neither for men more then women nor women more then men. It gives both equal rights and both shall Ье judged equa11y according to their actions, as Allah says in the Noble Qur'an:

"Whoever works righteousness, тап or woman and has faith,
verily to Ыт we will give а new life
and а life that is good and pure
and we will bestow оп such their reward
according to the best о! their actions. ,,]

Thus the аЬоуе verse shows, very clearly, that each person wi11 Ье judged according to their deeds and actions and not their status, age ог sex and their reward wi11 Ье according to their actions.

Being а Muslim should make опе proud without look:ing down at another Muslim. Our main aim as а Muslim should Ье to please Allah in as тапу ways as we possibly can. Praying, t'asting, paying Zakah, performing Hajj, showing k:indness and wearing the НчааЬ, these аге аll some of the actions, which can gain us а lot of reward.

We shall inshaAllah look at one of these many ways of gaining Allah's pleasure and reward Ьу discussing the Hijaab, the dress of every Muslimah (а Muslim woman), which is а proof of the modesty and nobility of every believing woman. We as Muslim sisters must remember that the Hijaab is опе

1 Soorah Nahl ; 97

of our шеапв of getting into Paradise. Wе should feel honoured апс dignified. Wе should feel protected, secure апс obedient. Wе should feel guarded like а pearl. In Paradise every опе will have etemal youth and never get old and enjoy what they like forever.

The Hijaab, Ьу тапу, has Ьееп seen as а sign of 'oppression' ироп Muslim women. However the true Muslimah considers it to Ье а humble act of worship. Allah says in the Noble Оцг'ап:

"О Prophet! ТеП your wives and your daughters
and the women о! the believers
to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies... ,,2

АЬоуе is опе of the verses in the Noble Qur' ап instructing the women to cover themselves. Allah further says in the Noble Оцг'ап:

"And tell the believing women
that they should lower their gaze
(from looking atforbidden things),

2 Soorah Ahzaab : 59

4

and protect their private parts (froт illegal sexual acts)
and not to show offtheir adomтent
except that which is apparent,
and to draw their veils all over
and not to reveal their adomтent
except to their husbands, or their father
or their husband's fathers,
or their sons or their brothers or their brother's sons

пе! ., ,,3

or t еи Slster s sons...

Both of the аЬоуе verses make it very clear for а Muslimah, that she should cover herself completely according to the rules set for us, except in front of those whom Allah has made lawful for us not to do so in the аооуе verse.

The next question а Muslimah тау ask is at what age must we start to observe the Hijaab?

АЬи Dawood reported fют Aishah that Asma, the daughter of АЬи Bakr, саше to see the Рюрhеt (реасе and blessings of Allah Ье ироп him) wearing а thin dress. The Prophet (реасе and blessings of Allah Ье ироп him) tumed away and said to her, "О Asтa! When а woтan reaches the

3 Soorah Noor: 31