Bismillah [hidayahnet] FOR MUSLIM SISTERS

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FOR MUSLIM SISTERS Articles extracted from the monthly journal - Riyadul Jannah Exactly whom do we dress for? Ask any woman who dresses up before leaving home who she has dressed up for. Her answer will be, "for myself of course". The question is, are we being honest with ourselves? Have we searched deep within our hearts to ascertain the truth? If not, then let us not waste any more time because tomorrow may be too late. Sisters, let's not be deceived by the enemy, Shayt�n. In order to divert us from the path of Truth he will lead us into believing we are at the height of piety by merely covering our hair with a flimsy scarf. Not only are the scarves pretty and colourful, nowadays they even carry designer names! And the scarf is worn in such fashionable ways that in actual fact it enhances the face and leaves the throat and chest uncovered. Even if it was worn in such a way that the throat and chest were not exposed, use of make-up does nothing but make the face attractive, and use of scents emanate sweet fragrances that catch the attention of even those who, out of the Fear of Allah, keep their gazes lowered. We need to question ourselves, whom are we making ourselves attractive for? Shayt�n has led us into believing it is 'for my self-confidence', but it is in fact a green light for any man on the street, young and old, to look. The ever changing fashions has brought in tight, short dresses which leaves little to the imagination and which makes the fathers and brothers look away in shame, unable to say much in this dangerous Western environment. As if this wasn't enough, we arrogantly try to change what Allah ta'�l� has granted us. Plucking eyebrows and the recent fashion of wearing coloured contact lenses that changes the colour of the eyes is surely a cause of His Wrath coming down on us. All this for whom? If the answer is 'for myself', one needs to ask oneself if one is always dressed in this manner, whether at home or out, in private or in public, in the morning or at night. If the answer is 'for my husband', one needs to ask oneself if it is only for the husband, or does it include his brothers, friends and other non-mahram men. If the answer is 'for Allah', one needs to ask oneself if the manner of dressing is indeed according to the laws laid down by Allah. If one goes out to school, college or work dressed in this manner then the question, "Exactly whom do we dress for?" applies even more. A short time of quiet reflection will reveal that we are showing ingratitude to Allah ta'�l� who has blessed us with beauty and has made us special. Are precious gems not hidden away safely? Are they left unattended and paraded around for anyone to steal? Today the made-up face lights up the eyes of every male, young and old, but on the Day of Qiy�mah, only those faces kept pure with wudhoo will glow with light so that our beloved Prophet S, who fought for us, cried for us and prayed for us all night will recognise us as his followers. We all claim to love Allah and His Messenger S, but that claim will be a false one if we dress in a manner that displeases them. Let's not forget the words of our beloved Prophet S, "A woman who applies perfume and passes by a (male) gathering has a doubtful character (the narrator mentions that by that he meant that she is like an adulteress)." (Aboo D�wood, Tirmizi) And let's take heed of the dire warning given in the Hadeeth: "Those women who appear naked even though they are wearing clothes, who allure and are allured by others, . . .will never enter Paradise, or even smell its fragrance and the scent of Paradise can be perceived from a very great distance." (Bukh�ri, Muslim) We claim to be Muslim women. Let us then become true Muslim women and submit to our Lord. Let us dress to please Him Alone and not "ourselves" or anyone else. Designer eyebrows In a world, which has been illuminated by the light of technology, we find our everyday environment speeding up in the race to keep up with the times. But amidst this cloak of modernism, can be found the ancient traits of the age of J�hiliyyah (ignorance) that have been cleverly disguised into society. The essence of which affects all, especially our sisters in the Isl�mic world. Allah, the All-knowing, has given the Muslim Ummah a guide to which they can refer to and has also provided an exegesis (tafseer) to this guide. The guidebook is the Qur'�n and the exegesis to this is the Ah�deeth of the Final Messenger Muhammad S. Allah has mentioned in the glorious Qur'�n: "(Shayt�n had said). . . And indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah.  (Allah says) And whoever takes Shayt�n as a Protector (or helper) instead of Allah, has surely suffered a manifest lost." (4:119) Women of the modern age are accustomed to wearing make-up and other cosmetics. Beautifying themselves with methods that change the very nature of their creation has become the norm of the day even for Muslim females. The above verse states that those people who change the Creation of Allah are, as it were, helping Shayt�n to fulfil what he had promised Allah of his evil intentions. It is them who are making Shayt�n a protector other than Allah. Muslim sisters are in the strange habit of shaping out their eyebrows. This is done by various means, such as shaving, trimming or even plucking out. Other means are also used which result in the removal of eyebrows until a thin 'designer' line above the eye remains. This habit of designing the eyebrows is totally forbidden in Isl�m. The aforementioned verse refers to this fact that we are not to change the nature of Allah's Creation. In a Hadeeth narrated by 'Abdullah Ibne Mas'ood R the Prophet S has stated: "Allah has cursed the ladies who tattoo others and those who have themselves tattooed and the women who remove the eye brows and the women who have the eyebrows removed. And the women who artificially place partition between their teeth for the sake of beautification are the ones who change the Creation of Allah." (Muslim) Im�m Nawawi rahmatullahi alayh has written in his commentary (to the famous Hadeeth compilation of 'Muslim') that to remove the hair of the face is har�m. 'However', he adds, 'for a lady to remove facial hair besides her eyebrows is permissible.' It is stated in Fat�w� Raheemiyyah that it would be desirable for a lady to remove the facial hair other than those of the eyebrows. This above Hadeeth refers to the Arabian women at the time of the Prophet S who used to trim their eyebrows in order to look more attractive. The ladies of those times also used to have a small gap artificially placed between their two front teeth, which was also regarded as an attractive feature for a lady at the time. The Prophet S saw this habit in the women of Arabia and forbade the Muslim ladies from doing the same. He mentioned that such practices invited the Anger and Wrath of Allah. Our Muslim sisters too should take heed from such advices and warnings. But alas, it is all too sad to see this evil habit prevailing even in the Muslim societies today. From university students to housewives and mothers, we see numerous Muslim females spending vast amounts of time and money in making themselves up to look more beautiful. However if the woman wishes to beautify herself (remaining within the boundaries) for the sake of her husband (and totally conceals herself from non-mahram males) then it would be permissible, or rather desirable.  It is also worth mentioning that for a lady to cut or remove the hair of the head is also har�m. And that for men to remove or trim their beards or eyebrows is har�m as well. The only time when it is permissible for a lady to remove the hair of her head is in Hajj or 'umrah, the limit of which has been prescribed as well. May Allah give us all the ability to abstain from such evil habits and follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet S. �meen. You are the best community (Ummah) raised up for (the benefit of) humanity; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah [AL QUR'AN 3:110] From: ARSLAN JAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of Hidayahnet unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from Hidayahnet, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hidayahnet/   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.