Friday, July 20, 2007

20 MCQAI (3)



kan ayu semua bila pakai tudung..nampak solehah ja..sejuk mata menengok..=)


Hijab for women

Question:
Why does Islam degrade(merendahkan) women by keeping them behind the veil(purdah)?

Answer:

1. The status of women in Islam is often the target of attacks by the secular media.

2. The hijab or the Islamic dress is cited by many as an example of the subjugation
(penaklukan) of women under Islamic law. Before we analyze the reasoning behind the religious mandate of ‘hijab’, let us first study the status of women in societies before advent of Islam.

In the past women were degraded and used as objects of lust (nafsu). The following examples from history illustrate the fact that the status of women in earlier civilization was very low to the extent that they were denied basic human dignity:

(i) Babyloniaan Civilization

Women were degraded and were denied all rights under the Babylonian law. If a man murdered another women/man, instead of him being punished, his wife was put to death.

(ii) Greek Civilization

Greek civilization is considered the most glorious of all ancient civilizations. Under this very ‘glorious’ system, women were deprived ( dilucutkan) of all rights and were looked down upon. In Greek methodology, an ‘imaginary woman’ called ‘Pandora’ is the root cause of misfortune of human beings. The Greeks considered women to be subhuman and inferior (bawahan) to men. Though chastity (kesucian) of women was precious, and women were held in high esteem, the Greeks were later overwhelmed (tumpas) by ego and sexual perversion (perbuatan tak wajar). Prostitution became a regular practice amongst all classes of Greek society.

(iii) Roman Civilization

When Roman Civilization was at the zenith (puncak) of its ‘glory’, a man even had the right to take the life of his wife. Prostitution and nudity (sensor, carik sendiri maknanya) were common amongst the Romans.

(iv) Egyptian Civilization

The Egyption (pre-Islam) considered women evil and as sign of the devil.

(v) Pre-Islam Arabia

Before Islam spread in Arabia, the Arabs looked down upon women and very often when a female child was born, she was buried alive!

Islam uplifted the status of women and granted then their rights 1400 years ago. Islam expects women to maintain their status.


Hijab for Men

People usually only discuss ‘hijab’ in the context of women. However, in the Glorious Quran Allah (swt) first mentions ‘hijab’ for men before ‘hijab’ for the women. The Quran mentions in Surah Noor:

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze (pandangan) and guard their modesty: that they will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted ( kenal terhadap) will all they do”

[An-Noor 24:30]

The moment a man looks at a woman and if any brazen (kurang ajar) or unashamed thought comes to his mind, he should lower his gaze.

Hijab for women

The next verse of Surah An-Noor, says:

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments (perhiasan) except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof that they should dram veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons…”

[An-Noor 24:31]

3. Six criteria for Hijab.

According to Quran and Sunnah there are basically six criteria for observing hijab:

(i) Extent

The first criterion is the extent of the body that should be covered. This is different for men and women. The extent of covering obligatory on the male is to cover the body at least from the navel (pusat) to the knees. For women, the extent of covering obligatory is to cover the complete body except the face and hands up to the wrist (pergelangan tangan). If they wish to, they can cover even these parts of the body. Some scholars (ilmuan) of Islam insist (menyatakan dgn tegas) that the face and the hands are part of the obligatory extent of ‘hijab’.

All the remaining five criteria are the same for men and women.

(ii) The clothes worn should be loose and should not reveal the figure.

(iii) The clothes worn should not be transparent such that one can see through them.
(iv) The clothes worn should not be so glamorous as to attract the opposite sex.

(v) The clothes worn should not resemble (menyamai) those of the opposite sex.

(vi) The clothes worn should not resemble those of the unbeliever i.e. they should not wear clothes or symbols of unbelievers’s religions.

4. Hijab includes conduct and behaviour among other things. Complete ‘hijab’ besides the six criteria of clothing, also includes the moral conduct, behaviour, attitude and intention of the individual. A person fulfilling only the criteria of ‘hijab’ of the clothes is observing ‘hijab’ in a limited sense. ‘Hijab’ of the clothes should be accompanied by ‘hijab’ of the eyes, ‘hijab’ of the heart, ‘hijab’ of thought and ‘hijab’ of intention. It also includes the way a person walks, talks, behaves, etc.

5. Hijab prevents molestation.

The reason hijab is prescribed for women is mentioned in the Quran in the following verses of Surah Al-Ahzab:

“O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad); that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
[Al-Ahzab 33:59]

The Quran says that Hijab has been prescribed for the women so that they are recognized as modest women and this will also prevent them from being molested.

6. Examples of twin sisters.

Suppose two sisters who are twins, and who are equally beautiful, walk down the street. One of them is attired (berpakaian) in the Islamic hijab i.e. the complete body is covered, except for the face and hands up to the wrists. The other sister is wearing western clothes, a mini skirts or shorts. Just around the corner there is a hooligan (buaya darat) or ruffian (samseng) who is waiting for a catch, to tease (mengganggu) a girl. Whom will he tease? The girl wearing the Islamic Hijab or the girl wearing the mini skirt or the shorts? Naturally he will tease the girl wearing the skirt or the short one. Such dresses are an indirect invitation to the opposite sex for teasing and molestation. The Quran rightly says that hijab prevents women from being molested.

7. Capital punishment for the rapist.

Under Islamic shariah, a man convicted of having raped a woman, is given capital punishment. Many are astonished at this ‘harsh’ sentence. Some even say that Islam is a ruthless, barbaric religion! I have asked a simple question to hundreds of non-Muslim men. Suppose, God forbid, someone rapes your wife, your mother or your sister. You are made the judge and the rapist is brought in front of you. What punishment would you give him? All of them said they would put him to death. Some went to the extent of saying they would torture him to death. To them I ask, if someone rapes your wife or your mother, you want him to death. But if the same crime is committed on somebody else’s wife or daughter you say capital punishment is barbaric. Why should there be double standard?

8. Western society falsely claims to have uplifted women.

Western talk of women’s liberation is nothing but a disguised (samara) form of exploitation of her body, degradation of her soul, and deprivation (pencabutan) of her honour. Western society claims to have ‘uplifted’ women. On the contrary, it has actually degraded them to the status of kept-women and mistresses (gundik) and society’s butterflies who are mere tools in the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketers, hidden behind the colourful screen of ‘art’ and ‘culture’.

9. USA has one of the highest rates of rape. United States of America is supposed to be one of the most advanced countries in the world. It also has one of the highest rate of rape in any country in the world. According to a FBI report, in the year 1990, everyday on an average 1756 cases of rape were committed in USA alone. Later another rapes said that on average 1900 cases of rapes are committed daily in USA. The year was not mentioned. Maybe the Americans got ‘bolder’ in the following years.

Consider a scenario where the Islamic hijab is followed in America. Whenever a man lokks at a woman and any brazen or unashamed thought comes to his mind, he lowers his gaze. Every woman wears the Islamic hijab, that is the complete body covered except the face and the hands up to the wrist. After this if any man commits rape he is given capital punishment. I ask you, in such scenario, will the rate of rape cases in America increase, will it remain the same, or will it decrease.

10. Implementation of Islamic Shariah will reduce the rate of rapes cases.

Naturally as soon as Islamic Shariah is implemented positive results will be inevitable (tak dapat dielakkan). If Islamic Shariah is implemented in any part of the world, whether it is America or Europe, society will breathe easier. Hijab does not degrade a woman but uplifts a woman and protects her modesty and chastity (kegadisan).

retyper,
bintubahariyah,
lama dah taip tp takdan nak post..=)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tudung 2 come dh tapi lagi come kalo kaki tu 'disarungkan' =)

Siti Rogayah Bahari said...

ya..btoi2..sgt2la comey kalo kaki pun ditudungkan..=)