(iv) Wearing revealing and short clothes, and the limits of womens awrah in front of other women In response to this it might be said that it is reported in a saheeh hadeeth that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: There are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen yet. People with whips like the tails of cattle, with which they strike the people, and women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an enticing gait. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance, although its fragrance may be detected from such and such a distance. The scholars interpret clothed yet naked as referring to women who wear tight clothes or light clothing that does not cover what is beneath it, or short clothes. Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) mentioned that what women wore inside their houses at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) covered everything from the heel of the foot up to the palm of the hand. All of this was covered when they were inside the house, and when they went out to the market, it was known that the women of the Sahaabah used to wear loose garments which would drag along the ground. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) allowed them to let it trail up to a cubit, but no more than that. With regards to the doubts that some women have, concerning the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), Let no woman look at the awrah of another woman and let no man look at the awrah of another man; the awrah of a woman in front of another woman is from the navel to the knee, which they interpret as indicating that women may wear short clothes the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not say that it is sufficient for womens clothing to cover the area from the navel to the knee, so this cannot be used as evidence. What he did say was that no woman should look at the awrah of another woman, so he forbade them to look, because the awrah of the woman who is wearing loose clothing may sometimes be exposed when answering the call of nature or for some other reason, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade women to look at one anothers awrahs. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that no man should look at the awrah of another man, does this means that the Sahaabah wore izaars (waist wrappers) or trousers only between the navel and the knee? Does anyone think that women can go to meet other women wearing nothing but clothes that cover her from the navel to the knee? No one would say such a thing. That only happens among the kaafir women. The confusion that some women feel has no basis; what some women understand from this hadeeth is not correct. The meaning of the hadeeth is clear. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not say that women's clothing should cover only the area between the navel and the knee. Women have to fear Allaah and feel that sense of modesty which is part of the nature of women and which is part of faith, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: Modesty is a branch of faith. And it is said in the proverbial sense, more shy than the virgin in her seclusion. It was not even known among the women of the jaahiliyyah to cover only the area from the navel to the knee, such a thing was not known among either women or men; do these women want the Muslim women to be even worse in appearance than the women of the jaahiliyyah? In conclusion: the clothing is one thing and looking at the awrah is another thing. With regard to clothing and what a woman wears in front of other women, it is prescribed for her to cover everything from the palm of the hand to the heel of the foot, but if a woman needs to pull up her dress in order to do some work etc., she may pull it up to her knees, and if she needs to roll up her sleeves to the upper arms she may do that too, if she only does it as much as is necessary. But if this is the way she usually dresses, then that is not allowed. The hadeeth does not indicate this under any circumstances at all, hence it addresses the one who is looking, not the one who is looked at. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not referring to how women should dress; all he was referring to was the awrah. He did not say that womens dress may cover only the area between the navel and the knee, as these women mistakenly think. With regard to mahrams, they may see as much as another woman may see, i.e., it is permissible for a woman to uncover in front of a mahram what she uncovers in front of other women, so she may uncover her head, neck, feet, hands, forearms, calves, etc, but she should not wear short clothes. [From the Fatwas of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih ibn Uthaymeen for al-Dawah magazine, issue # 1765, page 55] v) Mens awrah and wearing pants with shirt tucked in The `awrah (private parts to be necessarily covered) for men includes what is between the navel and the knees as stated by the Prophet SAWS (peace be upon him), so covering it is obligatory according to Islamic law. Wearing shorts that disclose the thighs or show the shape of the buttocks, does not cover the `awrah. Neither does a dress that is transparent and displays skin complexion, nor a tight dress that shows the size, shape or bends of the `awrah. All of this is prohibited (haraam) in front of people whether the women are ashamed of looking at it or not (as asked in the question). If the trousers (or pants) are wide enough and not tight, then one may tuck his shirt in it as long as it does not display his `awrah. Covering the `awrah is obligatory during the prayer and outside it. What many people do is cover their `awrah while going to prayer but are negligent of it outside the prayer. This is a clear mistake and a wrong act which happens due to lack of understanding or as a result of a misunderstanding of the matter. May Allah cover our sins in this world and in the hereafter. (vi) Is it true that womens awrah in front of other women is from the navel to the knees? All of a woman is awrah in front of non-mahram men, and it is not permissible for her to appear before men even if she is covered, if there is there is the fear of fitnah (temptation) because of looking at her and seeing how tall she is and how she walks. Concerning what was said about a womans awrah in front of other women being from the navel to the knee, this applies only when she is in her house among her sisters and the women of her household. The basic principle is still that she should cover all of her body lest she be taken as an example and this evil practice become widespread among women. Similarly, she must also cover her charms in front of her mahrams and strange women lest some of her mahrams be tempted by her or lest some of the women describe her to others. It was reported in the hadeeth that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: No woman should describe another woman to her husband so that it is as if he can see her. What this means is that if her charms, such as her chest, her shoulders, her stomach, her back, her arms, her neck and her calves, become visible, whoever sees that will inevitably have an impression of her, and usually women talk about what they have seen to their families, male and female alike. So a woman may mention that in front of non-mahram men [i.e., men who are not mahrams of the woman being described] in a manner that may provoke them to pursue her, or which may cause bad people to form an attachment to her. For this reason, women have to cover their charms such as their chests, backs, arms, calves, etc., - even in front of mahrams and other women. This covering becomes even more essential in parties, leisure facilities, hospitals and schools, even if there are only women present, because some non-mahram men and adolescent boys may see them or take pictures of them naked which will be a cause of temptation to those who see them. A stern warning has been issued to those who make a wanton display of themselves and wear see-through or tight clothing, when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: There are two kinds of the people of Hell women who are clothed yet naked, walking with an enticing gait with something on their heads looking like the humps of camels, leaning to one side. They will not enter Paradise or even smell its fragrance. What this means is that they are wearing see-through or tight clothes which show the size of their frame, or there are openings cut in the fabric which show their chests, breasts and other charms. This is widespread in parties and in general gatherings.
>From Fataawa al-Shaykh Abd-Allaah ibn Abd al-Rahmaan al-Jibreen http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Islam_True/message/147 Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to post on Internet sites and to publish in full text and subject title in not-for-profit publications. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/ What Seperates our Group from the rest ? Only Authentic Information about Islam is passed backed by Quran or Hadith's. In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate "May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You" Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu The Awrah (2 of 2) Taken from www.islam-qa.comand other (authentic) sources orginally posted by Imran Ayub. read The Awrah (1 of 2) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/message/562 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ To subscribe send email to: [email protected] http://islammyreligion.wordpress.com What will you sacrifice this eid? 0800 520 0000 www.islamic-relief.org.uk Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muslim/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/muslim/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
