Jamal Badawi – Moral Teachings of Islam 18 – Dress Code Cont
AI: Summary ©
The importance of dress in Islam is a joint responsibility between male and female individuals, and the need for regular dress code is a fundamental requirement for all Muslims. The speakers discuss the requirements for men and women to wear, including covering their bodies, wearing face coverings, and praying without covering their faces. The importance of privacy and worship is emphasized, and the use of clothing for pride and vanity and color is discussed. The segment concludes with a reminder to watch upcoming programs and subscribe to the channel.AI: Transcript ©
In the Name of God, the beneficence, the Merciful, the creator and Sustainer of the universe, peace and blessings upon his servant and messenger Muhammad forever. I mean, I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except the one true God. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger, his slave servant, I greet you all of the viewers of the Islamic focus program, with the universal greeting of peace, the greeting that has been used by all of the profits from Abraham, through to Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon them all. Assalamu Aleikum, which means peace be unto you. I'm your host Hama Rashid. Today we have our 18th program in our series dealing with the moral
teachings of Islam. More specifically, today we'll be continuing our discussion of the safeguarding of honor in Islam,
finalizing our program dealing with the dress code in Islam. I have joining me, as usual on the program, Dr. Jamal Badawi of St. Mary's University, brother, Jamal assalamu, alaikum.
Brother, I wonder if perhaps you could just very quickly summarize the main points that we talked about in our last program? Sure. I think the main point we try to emphasize last time
was to address the question as to why does Islam include the matter of dress in its code of behavior. And we indicated that Islam does not look at the question of dress as simply the core type of thing or something that relates only to protection from weather conditions. But in Islam, that risk also, according to the Quran, does have also a moral function. The question of dressing or not dressing properly, does have some relevance in Islam to the moral standards in society and to the promotion of decency within the community. A second point was to clarify that the dress code and Islam is not a matter that should not as many people think, be limited only to females or
restrictions or code that apply to females only. And that according to Islam, and we have given various evidences of this, that the responsibility for maintaining moral standards and society is a joint responsibility of both males and females. And that in both cases, they are required to follow the path of God. It's not that males are making laws for females or females are making laws for, for males, but rather that both males and females in a truly Islamic Society, follow the commands and directions that God has revealed for the benefits of odd concern.
Within this joint responsibility or the framework of this joint responsibility, we have indicated that there may be some differences in terms of the extent or nature of requirement of Islamic dress for males and females, obviously, because of difference in the * of both sides. But this does not mean necessarily that one of them only has to follow all the rules, others should be totally loose of that. And then we refer to the chart in which we have a division of the various acts as they apply to male and female or both of them in the matter of dress codes. And just to refresh your memory.
We mentioned that the various acts in Islam relating to dress and otherwise fall within five basic categories required, commendable, permissible, detestable and forbidden. And then we said that for each of these acts, there are sets of requirements that apply to men and women alike. Others that applies specifically to males. How does that apply to females? Most of our discussion, if not all last time focused on this
First category of x. And we said for both Muslim males and females, the basic requirement is to cover our and we said our is not exactly Private First, but it means the parts of the body that should be covered in the presence of other people from the other * with the exception of certain categories.
And we said that the definition of our four means is from the navel to the knees, there have been some discussion about decide whether that should also be covered. And for female and Islamic jurisprudence, the whole body should be covered except for the face and hands again, in the presence of other
people from the other *
provided that the dress is not so transparent, so as to show the color of the skin behind it, and not too tight as to show the shape of the body. And as such, allows the temptation.
We indicated also, in addition to this, that this code
is not required to be observed at all times, even in the privacy of one's own home, in fact, in one's own home, or, if the person only is in the presence of his or her spouse, there's no such restriction, they can feel relaxed as they wish.
We indicated also that there are certain categories of very close relatives, before whom Muslim woman, for example, does not have to observe the complete code, which covers the entire body example of this where Father, Son, brother, nephew, stepfather, because all of these categories are people to whom a person would not look at in a sexual sense at all. And also, these are categories where a person can never get married to even if they were not married, just the natural, instinctive
matter. And we said that this relaxation does not mean that a woman can wear anything, but simply that instead of covering her hair, she can leave it arms and legs, she doesn't have to fall to follow the complete cover, except when she goes out in the presence of others. So this is basically the focus of last time the absolute minimum required
code of
AI in dealing with the requirements of the Muslim females dress, there's one particular area that's Of particular interest to me, and I'm sure will be of interest to a number of other people that you didn't touch on and that has to do with the veil for the female in a lot of the literature that has written about Islam and a lot of the comment that is made about Islam, people, especially people who are non Muslims,
sometimes one is left with the impression that the wearing of the veil is a religious requirement.
Could you clarify this issue? For for us, there's no evidence in terms of the original sources of Islam, the Quran, the Word of God and the saying of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, that shows that covering of the face is a universal mandatory requirements of all Muslims. In fact, we find evidence to the contrary.
One of which is the very famous saying of the Prophet known as Hadith asmat. That when ismat, which was the sister of Ayesha, the wife of the Prophet, entered the house of the Prophet and she had clothing that was not properly concealing, her body was to light.
And Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was angry, and he turned his face and he said,
when a woman reaches maturity, which means when the woman starts becoming an adult,
it is not appropriate for her, that anything of her body would be shown that in the presence of others, except for this and that and he pointed to his face, and hence, so by the text of this Hadith, which is narrated in a Buddha would prefer to have a peace be upon him made the clear exception of the face and hence that the woman does not have to wear gloves or cover her face when she she goes out.
The other evidence is even clearer is that all Muslim jurists agree that a woman can have valid prayers without covering her face. It is a requirement when a person goes to prayer, that is our or the parts of the body that should be covered must be covered or if the prayers would be invalid. You can just pray in any clothes. So if a woman or if a woman's prayer is accepted, when her face and hands are not covered, which is a worship of God, how come it would be
forbidden for her to uncover. So you cannot really remove it in a matter of worship. So this is a clear evidence.
Thirdly, it is well known also that in the fulfillment of one of the basic Pillars of Islam pilgrimage, that neither male or female should cover the face. In other words, a woman is not supposed to cover her face while she's doing pedrycz. Now, if covering of the face is a requirement, how could that requirement be released or relieved in the matter of worship, which is even more worthy of observance.
In addition to this, there are numerous sayings of the Prophet peace be upon him, that indirectly shows that or show that the covenant of the face was not a requirement and was not a universal practice of Muslim woman. For example, in some settings, it says the Prophet sallallahu Sallam was seeing such and such an A girl whose face looked like this ask the question, some describe the complexion of the face. If it were a universal practice to cover the face, how could the narrator of this saying of the Prophet, for example, recognize the color or the complexion? of the girl who asked the question or the woman who asked the specific question.
Many of these sayings are found in the most authentic collections of the saying of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him like Bukhari Muslim,
a Buddha would be happy.
In fact, in the Quran, even when it says, tend to believing women tend to be leading men to lower their gaze and tend to believe in going into lower the gaze, that itself assumes also that there must be something to look at and if the whole body is covered totally like a tent. Then
what, what kind of gazing should the person avoid, unless it means the face also is permissible to be uncovered. In fact, one of the good defenses for further discussion of this
documented evidence is found in a very nice book by Mohammed Nasir Dean and abahani. It's an Arabic it's called hijab in modern Western Africa persona, which means the Muslim woman dressed according to the Quran, and the tradition of the Prophet peace be upon is the evidence is quite overwhelming that it is not a universal requirement.
Or just like to, perhaps to touch one more area on this particular question. I think you've shown quite clearly that there's very strong and sufficient evidence that indicates that the veil is not a requirement. However,
there are Muslim women who some Muslim women do wear the veil.
Is this something that could be considered as being wrong? Or is it unduly strict on their part, in your opinion, okay, perhaps the earliest division of the various deeds in Islam or various acts might be helpful.
And the distinction here can be made or referred to between things which are forbidden or detestable, and things that are simply permissible or maybe even commendable. covering of the face cannot fall in the categories of forbidden or detestable it's something permissible even though it's not, as I said before, a mandatory universal requirements, it does not mean that a woman should not it's permissible to if he prefers that and feel comfortable with it fine. In some cases, even it could be commendable like this, the case where there is lots of corruption, and the woman feels that this is a better protection for herself or for society. And she wish to do that, as she made some
jurists even say that might be more than recommended even or commendable in case of really the clear evidence of corruption if this is not done in some exceptional circumstances. Now, the only case where covering of the face is forbidden. Clearly, in the case of a female isn't the case of pilgrimage, because as I said before, in pilgrimage, a woman is not supposed to cover her face neither male or female, but other than that, if she feels comfortable doing so,
by all means, in fact, I have seen some Muslim women even North America here who feel comfortable this way they might be driving their cars this way or going places. One cannot blame them for that actually, they could be commended for further additional self imposed
type of, you know, reservation on what goes on in society.
How about I maybe I should add one thing here that one should not really over.
emphasize this for Muslim women who are trying to practice Islam and Muslim woman for example, who might have not been practicing Islam before, fully and she used to wear the normal everyday type of dress.
As you started to become more committed, she should be commended for her courage to wear or to meet even the minimum requirements, accepting the face and hand. And once she's doing that one should not emphasize the covenant of the face because she's really meeting the minimum requirements and that's quite commendable considering the pressures and values surrounding society.
I want to pressure you to go back to your chart that you referred to earlier in the program. In effect, you could develop for us some of the other issues related to this the question of dress code and Islam particularly those things that are commendable acts related to, to dress, okay, perhaps I can just refer to this particular category, the second category here,
the commendable acts, just go through them and then get some elaboration. Again, for both males and females, it is commendable to observe cleanliness, both bodily and as well as the cleanliness of the of the dress,
tidiness and modesty.
for males, it is commendable to wear some kind of headcovers particularly the turban
and for women, it is also commendable to have
a clock or overcome it.
I would like before I detail these things to indicate again that by definition, commendable acts means things that are not required, they are not compulsory or mandatory, but they are praiseworthy type of Acts.
To start with cleanliness, for example, is one highly commendable act that is emphasized in the Quran as well as the sake of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, for example, in the Quran, in chapter nine, verse one or eight, it says Allah who worship Allah,
Allah or God loves those who try to keep themselves pure.
In another verse also in the second chapter of the Quran, verse 222.
It says in the webinar, where you have been matahari, that is, Allah loves those who turned to him constantly that is independence. And he loves also those who keep themselves pure and clean. And as we indicated in a previous series, dealing with prayers and preparation for prayers, that cleanliness in Islam or purity carries several meanings, which include both moral purity spiritual purity as well as physical purity and purity also cleanliness of the clothes.
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him also said that cleanliness is half of the faith. So, this is further evidence to the same effect.
The second item that we had on the charts also is the tidiness
by the time by virtue of observing the dress code in Islam does not mean that the person should wear clumsy things, or should be a clumsy type of, of appearance. In fact, something happened during the days of the Prophet peace be upon him, as narrated in Abuja with it said that
the Prophet peace be upon him said, whoever got his or whoever has got here, let him honor it, that is by tightening it. That is if you have hairs don't just come.
You know, untidy. another occasion also, it's said that a man came to meet the Prophet, peace be upon him and his hair and be it were all fuzzy him unmanaged. And the Prophet peace be upon him said
to him or pointed to him that you know, you're going to do yourself. So the man went, use the convent, got himself needs and came back. And the Prophet peace be upon him praise that he said, Isn't that better for you, than a man if one of you comes with his hairs and beard fuzzy as if he is a Satan? So he emphasized also neatness even though you have to be modest and cover but still neatness is not necessarily contradictory with that. Indeed, in several a collection of hobbies like Timothy Smith and the
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said that Allah loves to see the effect of his blessing on his servant, that is, if God has given you a means and facilities to have nice and neat clothes, let you use it. Don't be too
overly strict with yourself so long as you observe the minimum requirements.
The other thing also, that we included under requirements for both males and females is the question of modesty.
modesty in a sense also that the cover should be in such a way that does not stimulate fit.
Feelings of sexual feelings between both sexes. For example, we mentioned earlier that the minimum requirement for men is from naval Tunis. But that doesn't mean that men should just go exposing his hairy chests and something like that. Even though it's not a minimum requirement, it is a matter that is consistent also with the decency required in
Islamic law.
Then moving on to commendable acts for man's is the use of turban. And that can take a variety of forms some kinds of hair cover, of course, hair cover, as you said before, 40 minutes is mandatory when she's in the company of other people from other sectors other than facilities. But for me, it is also highly commendable, even though it's not requirements might take a variety of forms. This is a light type of head cover, you know can be knitted by hand, this is knitted by hand, and it can just be worn like this,
that that could do the job. In some other cases. Also, you can use a turban like having a wide,
sort of narrow and lengthy piece of cloth and just turn it several times around it with the tail or the end of it, you know, getting down between the shoulders.
There are all kinds of styles. This is another one. Again, locally knitted. This is made of synthetic, so it could be warmer in winter, I think you had one of these a call.
Or you could wear the turban without the without this cover just without anything, just wrapping things around the head. This is something that the Prophet recommended for men and he said that this kind of covers are the appearance of angels. In other words, when we do it, we are really
emulating angels.
This was narrated in by hockey intermitting.
for females, one of the commendable things also is the use of the clock. A clock is just like a kind of overcoat, it could take the form of something like an overcoat, not too tight, of course as not to show the body or just a white piece of cloth that is designed such as it could covers the entire body over the regular clothes. Again, this is not required because there was one incident when almost Elena the wife of the Prophet peace be upon him asked him Can the woman pray in her regular clothes without this clock? He said yes, if the clothes is long enough so as to cover and conceal her body. But some women find the cloth quite convenient also, because she can put anything
underneath, even though it doesn't cover the whole body and then wear the cloth over it when she goes out. And then when she's in a company of other women in the privacy of their living room or something, she can take it off and when she goes out she can put it on again. So this is the catch the categories of commentable acts related to chess. What about the other categories? Now, for example, permissible and detestable? Could you perhaps
develop those for us? Okay, in principle, the permissible things in dress, include all others, and by all by all others, we mean all other things that are not classified as required. commendable, detestable or forbidden. In other words, the basic rule in Islamic law is that if any act is not classified into other four categories, it is permissible you don't have to have special text to take to say that you can do this.
This includes all types of colors. Some people think that you must,
must, must not wear certain colors, there is no restriction on specific colors can wear anything so long as it is not overly flashy or attract too much attention.
to yourself, this is permissible, there's no problem. The other thing that relates to this is that there is nothing wrong also avoiding any type of design. Some people think that you must wear certain designs that are limited or restricted to certain countries or cultures. That's not true.
For example, in the in the male dress, this is one of the
styles that you could wear, for example, there's nothing wrong with it, the prophets recommended something similar to that he used to wear and garment that just goes all the way down and you can wear something like a pair of pants, like pants underneath. And it could go either to the heels or it could just be up to the middle of the legs. You can do that. So anything is any design for male or female that meets the requirements for
forest sanitizes permits, but there's nothing wrong with it. As far as the detestable acts, I included here at least two major items vanity and
imitation. vanity, in fact, could be either detestable or even forbidden, depending on the degree, which means a person who's wearing something for the purpose of show off, you know, trying to be overly flashy, because that relates to pride. Pride is really
of great degree, it could be actually in the category of forbidden even other than the festival.
imitation also can be either detestable or even forbidden. If the person
imitate, for example, others non believers in their dress, for the purpose of just losing his or her own identity, this would not be acceptable. But if it's a matter of general idea, or good design or good material, that does not contradict a standard requirement, then there is nothing wrong with it.
So it depends on the degree of
the act itself.
We have one more category left that we haven't touched upon, that's the category of the forbidden. Could you develop that for us? Okay, perhaps the most conclusive, forbidden act most conclusive very clearly, is the imitation of other sexes. Indeed, the prophet peace be upon him, according to narration of if not best, cursed. Those men who behave and act like women are dressed like women, like for example, man, putting wearing earrings, for example, something that's known or whatever brass or whatever. That's, you know, there are some people who do that.
That this is not only the festival, it's forbidden, it's, it's cursed act. By the same token, also women who behave and act like men
are also in the same category, because this is a kind of rebellion against the pure nature that God has created them. And there's nothing wrong with being male, or female. Another aspect of imitation I mentioned before, which could be more than detestable, if the imitation of other people in this dress contradicts Islamic rules or for the purpose of expressing weak identity, then it becomes forbidden. And then there is one more category which is forbidden.
Yeah, maybe I should add also that vanity could also be forbidden. If it reflects pride on the part of the individual, for example, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said that if a person wears a dress of fame for the purpose of pride in this life, God will dress him or cloth him in a dress of humidity, or humiliation, and the in the Day of Judgment. And another saying he said that the person who have very long dress after him like people carrying your dress after you just because you're here, comfort prints and all this stuff. This is absolutely erroneous, because again, it reflects pride and vanity and person should be humble, should be neat and nice and clean. But it should also
be humble.
It does not mean that the person would have to unfold his pants or anything like that, because I bobak the companions of Prophet once asked him, Do I have to unfold my dress? He said, No, you're not doing that for the purpose of vanity. So you can have a long dress but not really overly long or something that you could draw behind you. In addition to this, there is another restriction that applies only to males, but not to females. And Muslim men is forbidden from wearing gold or silk. And there are different differences to that, for example, in both Bukhari and Muslim, the prophet said that whoever wears silky meant males in this life, you will not wear it in the hereafter. And
another thing also, he said that gold and silk are permissible to the females of mine, on my on my followers, and it is not permissible for its means. And that was narrated in Timothy and I say, except, of course, in the case where a person has to use simply because of some skin disease or something of that sort.
Well, we see that we've given the signal that we've exhausted our time for today's program. So I want to thank you by the tomorrow. I want to thank you for watching. invite you back for our program next week. Thank you for watching Assalamu alaikum peace
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