Before Islam and before Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) received revelation the people of Makkah would bury their daughters alive. A woman would have sexual intercourse with more than one man and then amoung the men she had intercourse with one would be the father. Most women didn't have rights but from what we know by reading the life of the Prophet(Peace be upon him) is that his first wife Khadijah did as she was a business woman. This time period is known as the time of ignorance. Islam changed all of this. Within 23 years the way people thought changed, the way they did business, the way they used the washroom, the way they ate, the way they treated women and children and the elderly The second Caliph and the close friend and companion of the Prophet(Peace be upon him) named 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab stated: "We were the most humiliated people on earth and Allah gave us honour through Islam. If we ever seek honour through anything else, Allah will humiliate us again." I will speak much more on him in later posts, his rule spread Islam to many lands, he cared much for the women and the people and he established justice in the land. 'Umar was the one who invented social policy.
After Islam the women were given respect and dignity and they had rights. The status of women was such that before Islam they would be buried alive to after Islam the woman would complete the man's religion. His faith is incomplete without a woman. The wife of the Prophet named A'isha stated that Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) would help with house duties and so from this we understand that he would not treat his wives as slaves but as women. He did not hurt her and he once made her so happy that she kept smiling until she put her head in his lap. He was not a harsh man towards women and when he passed away he was resting against her and she had taken a siwaak (used as toothbrush) and moistened it with her saliva and he used it to brush his teeth with it. After he passed some people asked her about him and she loved him so much that she began to cry.
The media today takes Muslim women and puts them in a negative light as a means to try and make Islam look bad. In reality Islam gave women rights from her property, to her wealth and so much more. Before Islam people wouldn't sleep in the same bed with their wives and they would treat her as if she was diseased when she was on her menstrual cycle but the Prophet(Peace be upon him) would embrace his wives and show kindness and not scorn them. Many Non-Muslim women who have become Muslim have said they feel empowered after having accepted Islam.
Would you find it offensive or think of it as not right if a non-Muslim wore a hijab for the same reasons Muslim women wear them, but didn't believe in any other aspect of muslin culture?
ReplyDelete"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not show of their adornment except only that which is apparent, and draw their veils over their (necks and) bosoms and not reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no knowledge of women's private parts. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn you all to Allah in repentance, O believers, that you may be successful." (Surah An-Nur:31)
DeleteIn this Ayah it's stated that to tell the believing women and it did not say to tell the non-believing women. In Islam there is no compulsion in religion and so if you do not believe then you don't need to and nobody will force you to. If you can? I'd have to ask a scholar and see the response he gives based on authentic proof and based on the proof he gives would shape my feelings toward it.
I like that you included a video with this blog post!
ReplyDeleteDo you think that there is some turmoil between women who wear the hijab and those who do not?
ReplyDelete