Peace be unto you, OutlawMuscle.
In the Name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.
Originally Posted by
outlawmuscle
why the hell won't you guys let ur women go to school or go out if they're not covered???
I've already answered your question about women and education. I will now (God-Willing) answer your question about why women must cover in Islam.
The first human being was Prophet Adam [as], who was a monotheist. He worshiped God alone. Mankind continued to worship God alone, until the accursed Satan convinced some of them to join gods in worship with God. And so paganism was born.
Satan used paganism to corrupt the nature of humankind, and to encourage them in evil. One of the salient features of paganism is its sexual corruption. Satan convinced the pagans to not only worship their idols, but to do so naked. Satan encouraged them to engage in all sorts of sexual depravity. So you will see that all pagan religions have this salient feature to them.
Pagan religions exalt themselves in sexual "freedom", as evidenced by this pro-pagan website, which says:
Old Traditions Live Today!
Pagans like me who believe in, talk about and practice sexual freedom are protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
As individuals, and as Americans, we pagans have the freedom to choose the manner in which we express our personal eroticism and sexuality. For example, some sexually free individual pagans believe in a tolerant alternative worldview...In the purest pagan tradition, a sexually free individual leads a lifestyle that "...harms none, it is permissible."
Old pagan traditions demystify, celebrate and revere sensuality and sexuality as sacred, divine and natural whereas younger, patriarchal religions [the Abrahamic faiths] condemn paganism's freedom to celebrate eroticism and sexuality as "irresponsible", "promiscuous", "licentious", "evil" or "satanic"...
Old nature-based pagan traditions are sensitive to the sacred meaning of human eroticism and sexuality. They recognize and acknowledge these primordial biological forces -- symbolically, spiritually, and physically. Ancient pagan faiths honor and celebrate the eroto-sexual dimensions of human expression not only as divine but also as essential and pleasurable. In the Old Celtic Tradition, May is recognized as the month of Sexual Freedom. Saxons cast magickal love spells on poppet dolls. Wiccans worship the natural cycles of female sexuality. In general, old pagan traditions balance female and male aspects of eroto-sexual expression in nature, in art, in rituals, in festivals and much more.
Historically -- long before Christianity, Judaism and Islam were established -- innumerable pagan love goddesses, sex goddesses, fertility goddesses, and partner & affection goddesses were revered as deities of sexual love, fertility & procreation. They represented the myriad of divine spiritual and physical aspects of female love, sexuality and pleasure...
source: http://www.realmagick.com/articles/55/155.html
Wherever there are pagan religions, sexual corruption follows it. God dispatched His Noble Prophets to rectify the affairs of the people, to call them back to pure monotheism...and back to sexual modesty, as ordained by God. And so Prophet Moses [as] called the Children of Israel to the path of monotheism and modesty, and Prophet Jesus [as] followed him. Prophet Muhammad [s] was the Seal of the Prophets, who affirmed the message that came before him.
The pagan women were known for the way they dressed. In the time of Prophet Muhammad [s], the pagan women of Arabia used to expose their cleavage, dress in very thin clothes, and were under-dressed in general. So the Prophet of Islam, as the seal and perfection of monotheism, called the people towards monotheism, and away from the sexual depravity of the pagan religions.
God says in the Quran:
“Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit sexual depravity; whereas God promises you Forgiveness from Himself and Bounty, and God is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower.” (Quran, 2:268)
God says further in the Quran:
"Say to the believing men that they should cast down their gaze and guard their modesty; that is purer for them! And God is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should cast down their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what is necessary; that they should draw their headscarves over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands...and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. O you believers! Turn you altogether towards God, that you may attain bliss." (Quran, 24:30-31)
The first command is to "cast down one's gaze", which means it is forbidden to "check out" women. Then believers are told to guard their modesty. And the women are told to "draw their headscarves over their bosoms". So not only is this a command to wear the headscarf, but God commands the women to throw the ends of it over their breasts, in order to cover any cleavage--in fact, it must cover the shape of the breasts. This was to differentiate the monotheistic women from the pagan women.
Then God says that women should not "strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments"...Ornaments is a nice way of referring to a woman's breasts and other "assets". So women are forbidden from walking in a coquettish and seductive manner, which was the way that the pagan women used to walk.
In another verse of the Quran, God commands:
"O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over themselves: that will be more proper, that they should be recognized and not molested. And God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Quran, 33:59)
The outer garment here refers to a loose overcoat which should hide the figure of a woman. Notice the reason that God gives: so that the women may "be recognized and not molested." It has nothing to do with oppressing women. Rather, it is meant as a symbol of honor and recognition, that they may be known as women of God, and not molested like harlots.
The woman's headscarf and overcoat are to protect her honor and dignity...so that she is RECOGNIZED as an honorable woman who does not tolerate being molested or annoyed.
We believe that headscarf and modest dressing has been commanded by all the Abrahamic faiths, since they all originate from God. We believe that the Jews and Christians abandoned the Word of God (even though the commands are there in their books), and that is why God sent Prophet Muhammad [s], i.e. to rectify their affairs.
The headscarf (hijab) is commanded in the New Testament of the Bible:
"Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is the same as if she were shaven. For if a woman is not covered, let her be shaven. But if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head." (Corinthians, 11:3-10)
And it is well-known that Mary, the Mother of Jesus and example to women for all time, wore the headscarf (hijab):
As for Jewish women, they too were commanded by God to cover their hair. But they instead would shave their heads and wear wigs to get around this prohibition. The New York Times says:
Like many other Orthodox women who follow
Halakha, Jewish law, Mrs. Berkowitz has worn a wig since her wedding day. Women's hair exudes sensual energy, the Talmud teaches, and covering it insures a married woman's modesty...Wearing a wig is a fairly modern Jewish practice.
Before the 19th century, proper Jewish women covered their hair with shawls or veils... Many young Orthodox brides insist on wigs that match their hair in style, texture and color.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...57C0A961958260
This is why the Quran commands Muslims to say to God:
"Show us the Straight Path, the path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not those whom earn Your Anger, nor of those who go astray." (Quran, 1:6-7)
It is said that some of the Jews are the ones being referred to who have earned God's Anger, and it is some of the Christians who have went astray. The Jews earned God's Anger by always finding loopholes so that they would follow the letter of the law technically, but they would abandon the spirit of the law. God forbade their women from showing their hair, so they found a loophole which was to wear wigs that looked exactly like their hair. What exactly is the point of the prohibition if the hair is replaced with that which looks exactly the same? As for the Christians, the Islamic criticism of them is that they are heedless to the Laws of God and have simply gone astray. Most of them do not even know that the headscarf is commanded in their Bible.
God says that the Jews and Christians worshiped their rabbis and priests:"They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords besides God...None has the right to be worshiped but He--Praise and Glory to Him: Exalted is He above having the partners they associate with Him." (Quran, 9:31)
When this verse was revealed, a person from the People of the Book said: "We don't worship them!"
Prophet Muhammad [s] replied by saying: "Do they not forbid what God has permitted and do you not then forbid it to yourselves, and do they not make permissible for you what God has forbidden, and do you not then make it permissible to yourselves?" And then Prophet Muhammad [s] said: "That is worshipping them." (Sunan at-Tirmidhi)
We Muslims say that since God commanded a certain Law (such as the command for women to cover their hair), we must follow it. We believe that those who say 'nay' to this--or who try to neutralize God's Commands with complicated explanations--are claiming that they are the legislators, whereas we believe that God is the Legislator. Whoever claims the position of God is therefore committing polytheism.
So God sent His Final Prophet with the Final Testament (the Quran) to rectify the affairs of the People of the Book and to make everything clear to the people. So we are Muslims who submit to the Will of God, and our women submit to God as we submit to God. They obey God's Command to cover their hair and guard their modesty.
Prophet Muhammad [s] commanded:“I give my acknowledgment that you must not set partners to worship besides God, that you do not steal, commit fornication or adultery, that you do not kill your child, that you do not commit any falsehood before your hands and between your legs, that you do not wail and that you do not make a wanton display of a woman's beauty like that of the Age of Ignorant Barbarism." (Musnad Ahmad)
The Age of Ignorant Barbarism refers to the pre-Islamic era of paganism.
We Muslims believe that we have a role in calling the people towards sexual modesty, which has been lost in today's society. The women are dressing like the pagan women, so this is not a matter of peripheral nature. Rather, it is a matter of monotheism. The headscarf and modest dressing is the uniform of the monotheistic women.
Prophet Muhammad [s] warned:“There shall be--in the latter times of my people--women who are dressed but are in fact naked...they are surely cursed.” (at-Tabaaranee)
"[Of the people of hell-fire are] the women who would be naked in spite of their being dressed, who are seduced to wrong paths and seduce others...These women would not get into Paradise and they would not even smell it, although its fragrance can be perceived from such (a great) distance.” (Sahih Muslim)
"The most evil of your women are those who make a wanton display of their beauty, those who strut (in a seductive way)." (Sunan al-Bayhaqi)
“Any woman who takes off her clothes in other than her husband’s home has broken the shield between her and God.” (Musnad Ahmad)
And this is all mentioned in the scriptures of the Jews and Christians:
“Moreover, the LORD said: ‘Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk with heads held high and seductive eyes, and go along with mincing steps, and tinkle the bangles on their feet. Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare’.” (Isaiah, Chapter 3, V.16-17)
“In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, finger rings, nose rings, festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils.” (Isaiah, Chapter 3, V.18-23)
That is why we Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad [s] was sent to remind the People of the Book (the Jews and Christians) what is already in their books. God says to Prophet Muhammad:
"So remind them! You are only one who reminds." (Quran, 88:21-22)
And all praise is due to God alone.
In the Care of the Lord,
-Saladin.
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Surely, you got that. If not, I can see how you have a very negative impression of Islam, lol. I don't blame you. Please read this thread and you may learn a thing or two, God-Willing. 