BISMILLAAHIR RAHMAANIR RAHEEM
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By Ayub A. Hamid |
This is the third part that clarifies the concept of Khimaar.
The
Second Major Reform
Although Muslims by now had been well trained in Islamic
values of modesty, decency and avoiding any sexual interactions between
non-spouses, some more refinement was needed to ensure optimal purity and to
eliminate any opportunity that may put people into tempting or testing
situations. The second major pronouncement
in this regard came in the 6th year of
Hijrah in soorah Noor:
"Tell the believing men that they
should lower some of their gazes and guard their private parts. That is purer
for them. Indeed Allaah is well aware of what they do.
And say to the believing women that they
should lower some of their gazes and guard their private parts; that they should
not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear
thereof; that they should draw their head-coverings over their bosoms and not
display their beauty and ornaments except to their husbands, their fathers[1],
their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or
their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom
their right hands possess, or feeble dependents having no need (of women), or
children who did not have any exposure to what is hidden of women; and that they
should not stamp their feet so that their hidden adornments are not known.
And O you Believers! Turn all together towards Allaah, so that you may be
successful." (An-Noor 24:30-31)
The context of this verse is the
following:
At the very outset, the
soorah declares sexual activity between non-spouses (zinaa), a publicly
indictable offence that must be prosecuted by the
state even if it is by mutual consent of the
parties or no party affected by the
behaviour presses charges. It takes similar severe measures against accusations
of bad conduct. Then, it gives instructions about the
etiquette of visiting one's friends and relatives. In that context, it gives the
instructions contained in the above-quoted
verses. These verses are then followed by instruction for the
unmarried people to get married; thus completing the
comprehensive solution for eradication of zinaa and indecency in the
society[2].
According to the context, these verses
provide a code of conduct to be adopted by
relatives and close family friends when they are visiting each other's residence
and the dress
code to be observed by women inside the
house in their presence; as compared to the
instructions given in soorah Ahzaab for dealing with outsiders and strangers,
and dressing for outdoors.
Lowering the
Gaze
Both Muslim men and women have been commanded to lower their gaze. It is general
command to apply whenever and wherever males and females come across each other.
But it is also made specific by the context
indicating that when visiting each other's homes, lower your gaze.
Lowering the gaze does not mean that
Muslims should always keep their head down and should not look up. Actually, the
words used are "they should lower some of their gazes", indicating
that only certain type of looks are being talked about. It means that they
should not look intently at someone of an opposite sex, exchange lustful eye
contact or look intentionally after an initial inadvertent look. People are not
accountable for the first, inadvertent
look, but the second look is sinful. The
look becomes "second" as soon as the
person makes it intentional instead of inadvertent, starts assessing the
attractiveness of the subject or starts
enjoying the look.
Following are some of the teachings in this
respect:
"O Ali! Do not follow up with another look after the
(inadvertent) first look. The first is
forgiven but not the second." (Ahmad,
Tirmidzee, Aboo Dawood)
The Prophet, Sall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam
was asked about a sudden, unintentional glance. He said, "Move your glance
away." (Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidzee, Aboo Dawood)
"The fornication of the
eyes is the sight (to gaze at a person of
opposite sex), the fornication of the
tongue is the talk, and the
heart (inner self) lusts and desires and the
private parts testify all this or deny it." (Aboo Hurayrah, Bukhaaree)
"Eyes fornicate and their fornication is the
look, ears' fornication is listening, tongue's fornication is talking, hands'
fornication is touching and feet's fornication is walking (for that purpose). The
heart lusts and desires and the private
parts either confirm it or deny it." (Muslim)
The Messenger, Sall Allaahu`alayhi wa
sallam quoted Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala saying, "The
look is one of the poisonous arrows of
Iblees. Who removes it because of My fear, I will give him such a faith, the
sweetness of which he will find in his heart." (Tabaraani from 'Abdullah
bin Mas'ood)
"If a Muslim encounters a glimpse of the
attractions of a woman but removes his glance, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta`aala
makes his subsequent 'Ibaadah such that he enjoys its sweetness." (Aboo
Umaamah in Musnad Ahmad)
This Qur-aanic command of being careful with one's sight also applies to looking
at the private parts of other people of
one's own sex:
"No man should cast an eye on the
private parts of a man and no woman should cast an eye on the
private parts of a woman." (Reported by Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidzee and Aboo
Dawood)
"Do not look at the thigh of a living
person or dead." (Reported by 'Ali in Aboo Dawood and Ibn Maajah)
Guarding oneself from committing fornication of gaze is extremely important for the
purity of heart and mind of people. In fact, almost all bad ideas, fantasies,
affairs and relationships start with a look. Those who control their sight are
rewarded by sweetness in their worship.
Although this command is for both sexes, the
severest warnings are for men because the
looking of men at women is far more serious than looking of women at men.
Because of this difference in nature and the
applicability of command, women are required to cover when stepping out, but men
are not. While the men are not allowed a
second look at all, women are allowed to look at men in normal affairs of life
as long as the look remains pure and does
not carry any intent of a sexual nature. They can also watch men's sport
activities or skill demonstrations, as the
Prophet, Sall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam facilitated the
sight for 'Aaishah radhiallahu`anha in watching a men's performance on the
occasion of an Eed. Relaxed rules for a woman looking at a man are not only
needed for day to day matters but may also be needed for some special
circumstances. An example of special circumstances was the
situation of Faatimah bint Qais who did not have a place to spend her 'Iddah[3]
and the Prophet, Sall Allaahu`alayhi wa
sallam suggested that she spend it at the
house of Ibn Maktoom who was blind.
Protecting Private
Parts
Protecting private parts not only implies protecting them from zinaa[4], but it
also means protecting them from others' view and sight. This protection goes
beyond the sex organs and extends to 'owrah
or satar, as described in the beginning. The
protection of the private parts in every
sense of these words can never be overemphasized because it is a critical mean
for the Islamic
goal of purity of character and behaviour.
With satar covered, men can appear in front of others. Similarly, if satar is
covered, a woman can appear in front of her mahrams, her female friends or
relatives, those feeble dependent males who do not have any sexual inclinations,
and children who do not have exposure to sexual matters. She can do so even if
she is wearing her adornments, make up, fragrance and jewellery, as long as
satar or 'owrah is appropriately covered except for hands, feet and
head-face-neck.
Mahrams are the relatives who cannot marry
a woman: Her fathers including grandfathers and uncles, fathers of the
husband, her own or her husband's sons, her brothers, and her nephews (sons of
sisters and brothers).
Hiding the
Zeenah
The first two commands (lowering of gaze
and protection of private parts) were common for all Muslims - males and
females. The third command is especially
for women requiring them to hide their zeenah from everyone except for the
people mentioned in the previous section -
her fathers including grandfathers and uncles, fathers of the
husband, her own or her husband's sons, her brothers, and her nephews (sons of
sisters and brothers), her female friends or relatives, those feeble dependent
males who do not have any sexual inclinations, and children who do not have
exposure to sexual matters. She must hide her zeenah from everyone else.
Zeenah includes natural physical beauty of a woman as well as all beautification
aids and adornments used to increase her attractiveness such as hairstyle,
make-up and jewellery. To hide it, they must wear Khimaar in such a way that it
covers their chests as well as adornments. Because Khimaar does not cover the
face, to avoid displaying their beautification (zeenah), she must not wear any
facial makeup if there are any males at home who are not in the
list of the people to whom zeenah can be
shown.
Khimaar (also called dopatta) is a cloth to be worn or wrapped that must be big
enough to cover head, neck and upper body and must not be sheer so that it can
truly cover up or hide Zeenah. Obviously, hanging a piece of cloth or dopatta on
one's shoulder does not fulfill this command nor does using a small scarf that
just covers head and neck, leaving chest or bosom covered by shirt or blouse
only. Similarly, using a cloth which is not thick enough to hide zeenah[5] will
not be in compliance with this command.
It should not be construed that women are not allowed to use makeup at all. In
fact, women are encouraged to use makeup and beautification within
"reasonable"[6] limits to beautify themselves for enjoying themselves
with their spouses in married life. That is why the
verse does not order them to avoid zeenah, but commands them to hide it from
others than those mentioned.
In addition to covering themselves with khimaar, they should walk and move
around gracefully without stamping their feet lest they attract attention of
people because of the sounds produced by
such walking and by jingle or clink of jewellery.
In addition to khimaar, it must be remembered that, the
rest of the clothes must also be thick and
loose to hide the body and its figure
properly:
"There will be women in the Fire who
remain naked despite wearing clothes, are inclined towards men and attract men
to themselves. They will not go to the
Jannah and will not even smell its scent, though its scent will be experienced
from great distances." (Reported from Aboo Hurayrah by Tabaraani and
Muattaa)
If these precautions are carefully taken, women are absolved of the
responsibility for any zeenah that cannot be covered such as:
a.
Jewellery like bangles and rings;
b. Khimaar and clothes themselves; or,
c. Zeenah that is accidentally exposed.
'Aaishah radhiallahu`anha reported that when these verses were revealed, every
believing woman found some thick cloth and started using it as their khimaar. The
next morning every woman who came for Fajr Salaah to the
masjid was covered with a khimaar[7].
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[2] For details on Islamic marriage please
refer to the author's book "Muslim
Youth, Sex and Marriage".
[3] 'Iddah is the period a woman has to
wait before she can re-marry after a divorce or death of her husband.
[4] Any sexual activity with a non-spouse.
[5] Dihyah Kalby reported that the Prophet,
Sall Allaahu`alayhi wa sallam gave him some fine cotton cloth and said,
"Make yourself a shirt and give the
rest to your wife to make her khimaar, but tell her to join another cloth
underneath so that it does not show the
body." (Reported by Aboo Dawood) 'Aaishah radhiallahu`anha saw a bride who
was wearing khimaar made of thin and transparent kind of cloth. She told her,
"Anyone who wears clothes like this, disbelieves soorah An-Noor."
[6] What are "reasonable" limits of beautification in Islam is a
separate topic. As a general rule, no physical changes to the
body are allowed
for beautification.
[7] Tafheemul Qur-aan, vol. 3, page 386, with reference from Ibn Katheer.
Part-1
Part-2
Part 4: Clarifications and Concluding Comments
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