abuahmed
05-06-06, 09:19 AM
I have been studying a lot about Islamic Hijab as I try to live in my incredibly lustful and half-naked society where men and women are encouraged to be sexual objects for one another. I am Catholic and American so you can imagine how hijab is a new subject for me!
Before I ever went to the Middle East I thought that Islamic hijab was an evil way for men to oppress women. Now I think in a very opposite way: the disgusting sex-soaked society I live in oppresses women by making them half-naked objects of desire.
Oh Muslim women you are blessed to be given the ability to observe hijab! Trust me, if it was safe to do here I would don full hijab myself because...it makes so much SENSE.
How does a non-Muslim woman observe hijab? I haven't found that out yet. But mean while I have been very busy adjusting my own rather modest wardrobe to be even more modest: baggy clothes, long sleeves, long skirts, long pants, etc. Just today I ordered two pairs of very baggy jeans so that when I am at work I can still be modest. I have also begun to lower my gaze when I walk in mixed company and I'm seeing many of the "normal" immodest things I do every day now that I'm more aware of modesty! And the more I see half-naked women strutting around my college campus or parading themselves on TV the more I feel sorry for them.
These "perfect women" are setting unrealistic and unhealthy ideals that young women are relentlessly pressured to achieve. This leads to so much depression and self-hatred. It truly is sad.
Here is a wonderful article sent to me by a friend of mine who is a Turkish Muslim in Istanbul. We speak about Islam almost every day through email. I'm always talking about hijab and how I wish that my country would be more modest - and less naked. I wanted to share it all with you just because it's very blunt and truthful. I figured you might enjoy it. Personally this article made me thinks even harder about other things in my life that are immodest.
-------------------------------------------------- "What’s Wrong With A Lustful Gaze?"
Many of us who are used to watching The Bachelor, SINbad or Temptation Island, or are addicted to Bollywood movies, or enjoy the company of people of the opposite gender, may wonder what’s wrong with lustfully staring at the attractive features of the opposite gender? Perhaps one saying of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sums it all up:
“The unrestrained glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Shaytan"
Therefore, a secret lustful look at a person of opposite gender has been compared by the Prophet to an arrow from Shaytan that:
• It poisons our hearts (what exactly do you gain out if it apart from the momentary thrill of having sinned? Is there anything worse than enjoying what Allah hates?)
• It ruins our intentions (am I doing it for Allah or to check out the crowd?)
• It gives rise to false hopes and desires ("I wish I could...", "Maybe she'll...", "I think he does..." when you know you can't, she won't, and he doesn't!)
• It distorts our perception of 'reality' (love is not 'at first sight' but lust is, a wife is not picked up off streets, real men don't have to flirt to be noticed, and there is nothing 'casual' about sex)
• It deprives us from enjoying and concentrating in Prayers (it's very hard to remember Allah while replaying last night's activities in one's head)
• It gives rise to constant feeling of guilt and depression (have you ever actually felt better about yourself after you did it than before?)
• It sometimes leads to sleepless nights (when fantasies seem so 'real'...)
• It renders our heart weak for continuous Shaytanic attacks (through addictions to music, fashion, self-image, explicit sights and sounds, etc)
• It promotes hypocrisy (does the 'shell' match the 'core'?)
• It eventually leads to Zina (unlawful intimacy: the darkness that draws one deeper and deeper until one is incapable of escaping even if willing, except he/she who Allah guides)
• Above all, it diminishes our love for and fear of Allah (you wouldn't be doing it if you thought about how Great and Loving the One you are turning away from, instead if how 'small' or 'innocent' your sin)
Allah commands us: "Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that will make for greater purity for them..." [24:30]. In the verse following this one, Allah commands “the believing women” in the similar manner.
Before I ever went to the Middle East I thought that Islamic hijab was an evil way for men to oppress women. Now I think in a very opposite way: the disgusting sex-soaked society I live in oppresses women by making them half-naked objects of desire.
Oh Muslim women you are blessed to be given the ability to observe hijab! Trust me, if it was safe to do here I would don full hijab myself because...it makes so much SENSE.
How does a non-Muslim woman observe hijab? I haven't found that out yet. But mean while I have been very busy adjusting my own rather modest wardrobe to be even more modest: baggy clothes, long sleeves, long skirts, long pants, etc. Just today I ordered two pairs of very baggy jeans so that when I am at work I can still be modest. I have also begun to lower my gaze when I walk in mixed company and I'm seeing many of the "normal" immodest things I do every day now that I'm more aware of modesty! And the more I see half-naked women strutting around my college campus or parading themselves on TV the more I feel sorry for them.
These "perfect women" are setting unrealistic and unhealthy ideals that young women are relentlessly pressured to achieve. This leads to so much depression and self-hatred. It truly is sad.
Here is a wonderful article sent to me by a friend of mine who is a Turkish Muslim in Istanbul. We speak about Islam almost every day through email. I'm always talking about hijab and how I wish that my country would be more modest - and less naked. I wanted to share it all with you just because it's very blunt and truthful. I figured you might enjoy it. Personally this article made me thinks even harder about other things in my life that are immodest.
-------------------------------------------------- "What’s Wrong With A Lustful Gaze?"
Many of us who are used to watching The Bachelor, SINbad or Temptation Island, or are addicted to Bollywood movies, or enjoy the company of people of the opposite gender, may wonder what’s wrong with lustfully staring at the attractive features of the opposite gender? Perhaps one saying of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sums it all up:
“The unrestrained glance is one of the poisoned arrows of Shaytan"
Therefore, a secret lustful look at a person of opposite gender has been compared by the Prophet to an arrow from Shaytan that:
• It poisons our hearts (what exactly do you gain out if it apart from the momentary thrill of having sinned? Is there anything worse than enjoying what Allah hates?)
• It ruins our intentions (am I doing it for Allah or to check out the crowd?)
• It gives rise to false hopes and desires ("I wish I could...", "Maybe she'll...", "I think he does..." when you know you can't, she won't, and he doesn't!)
• It distorts our perception of 'reality' (love is not 'at first sight' but lust is, a wife is not picked up off streets, real men don't have to flirt to be noticed, and there is nothing 'casual' about sex)
• It deprives us from enjoying and concentrating in Prayers (it's very hard to remember Allah while replaying last night's activities in one's head)
• It gives rise to constant feeling of guilt and depression (have you ever actually felt better about yourself after you did it than before?)
• It sometimes leads to sleepless nights (when fantasies seem so 'real'...)
• It renders our heart weak for continuous Shaytanic attacks (through addictions to music, fashion, self-image, explicit sights and sounds, etc)
• It promotes hypocrisy (does the 'shell' match the 'core'?)
• It eventually leads to Zina (unlawful intimacy: the darkness that draws one deeper and deeper until one is incapable of escaping even if willing, except he/she who Allah guides)
• Above all, it diminishes our love for and fear of Allah (you wouldn't be doing it if you thought about how Great and Loving the One you are turning away from, instead if how 'small' or 'innocent' your sin)
Allah commands us: "Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that will make for greater purity for them..." [24:30]. In the verse following this one, Allah commands “the believing women” in the similar manner.