Don't you think it is rather extreme to leave school completely only for not being allowed to wear the jilbab. Especially as many scholars do not consider jilbab obligatory.
I agree that people should be allowed to wear their preferred religious dress but I also think that leaving school alltogether is not the right way to deal with the problem, especially when there are alternative options.
Answer
Wassalam
First of all, I am not an Islamic scholar, but I will give you my personal opinion, which is based on the opinions of scholars I respect:
There are many misunderstandings about the Muslim woman's dress.
With regards to the public life, there is a specific dress code ordered by Islam for the woman. When the woman leaves her home and enters the public arena, e.g.education, work, etc, she has been commanded to wear the khimar (a head cover that covers the entire head, neck, and the opening of the garment on the chest) and the jilbab (a one piece dress that covers her (home) clothes, is loose and baggy, and drapes down to the floor). A verse in Surah An-Nur discusses the obligation (fard) of the khimar,
“Let them draw their head-coverings (khumur) over their necks and bosoms (juyub).” [An-Nur:31]
A verse in Surah Al-Ahzab, discusses the obligation (fard) of the jilbab,
“Oh Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (Jalabeeb) all over their bodies.” [Al-Ahzab:59]
In addition, there is a hadith narrated by Umm Atiyya(ra), she said, “The Messenger of Allah(saw) ordered us to bring out the young women, the menstruating women and veiled women for the two Eid festivals. The menstruating women were to keep away from prayer, yet witnessing the goodness and the dawa(address) to the Muslims. I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what about the one who does not have a Jilbab?’. He said, ‘Let her use the Jilbab of her sister.’” So the Prophet(saw) made the wearing of the jilbab one of the conditions for the woman entering the public life.
It is not sufficient that she wears the khimar accompanied by a skirt and blouse or shirt and trousers.
The classical scholars were all agreed upon this. Ibn Abbas, a classical scholar says, “jilbab means a long and loose gown which covered a woman’s body from her neck to feet.”
So if the khimar and jilbab are obligations then as with any obligations, we cannot compromise this action or leave it as Muslim women. So we see that the Prophet(saw) never left the action of carrying the message of Islam to the people in Makkah even though he was attacked for it.
I read your reaction after you won your case. You were quite negative about the rights for Muslims in Britain.
Don't you think that its actually a positive sign that the British legal system actually grants us our rights when we demand them. Don't you see your victory as a positive step forward that we should thank the British government for? You cannot expect these kind of freedoms in many other places in the world.
Thank you.
Answer
Wassalam
The result was a very positive result and victory for the Muslim community in Britain and all those Muslims who wish to maintain their Islamic identity living in the West.
However, it seems that within secular states, the rights that every citizen should have such as the right to practice our religious beliefs is not always protected. So for example, I lost the High court ruling 1 year ago which allowed my school to continue to ban the wearing of the jilbab. Also sometimes it seems that the protection of these rights can change from time to time. So for example, with the recent terrorist bill, people can be held under house arrest with no charge while before the system said that everyone should be "innocent until proven guilty".
So the situation in secular states such as Briatin is a little unpredicatable. But I feel that by explaining more about Islam to the general society, many of the fears and misunderstandings about Islam as a way of life, that I believe led to my school banning me from wearing the jilbab, can be removed.
Name
Muslim brother
-
Profession
Student
Question
Wearing the Hijab is not an obligation.... Why do you have to go court and do all this nonsense? You give the Muslim community a bad name.
Answer
There are many evidences from the Islamic texts that describe what the Muslim woman's dress is and what she needs to cover in front of someone who is a non-mahrem man (a man whom she can marry). Allah(swt) says,
“They should not show their Zeenah (charms) in public beyond what may (decently) be apparent thereof; hence let them draw their head-coverings (khumur) over their necks and bosoms (juyub). And let them not display (more of) their charms to any but their husbands, their fathers, their husbands fathers, their sons, their husbands sons, their brothers, their brothers sons, their sisters sons, their womenfolk, their concubines, such male attendants as are beyond all sexual desire, or children that are as yet unaware of women’s nakedness; and let them not swing their legs (in walking) so as to draw attention to their hidden charms.” [An-Nur:31]
Ibn Abbas, a classical scholar explained the words, “...beyond what may (decently) be apparent thereof” to mean the face and hands. This is agreed upon by the majority of the classical scholars such as Imam Malik, Imam Shafi, and Ibn Hazm.
In one hadith reported by Aisha(ra), she said that Asmaa bint Abu Bakr entered the quarters of the Messenger of Allah(saw) wearing thin clothes. The Messenger(saw) turned his face away and said, “Oh Asmaa, if the woman reaches puberty, it is not allowed to be seen from her except this and this”, and he pointed to his face and hands.
Abu Bakr narrated on the authority of Ibn Jurayj who said that Aisha (RA) said, "My cousin came while she was wearing her ornaments. The Prophet (SAW) came in and turned away from her (when he saw her). So I said: "Oh Messenger of Allah! She is only my cousin, a mere maiden". He (SAW) said: "Oh Aisha, when a woman reaches puberty then it is not permitted that any part of her body should be seen (by non-mahrams) except her face and what is below this”. So he clenched his arm just above the joint of the hand leaving a space in-between for another fist to be clenched, meaning the hands.
As is clear in the evidences above, in the presence of all non-mahrem men, all parts of the body of the woman should be covered except her face and hands.
If an action has been commanded by Islam, how can we leave it? Allah(swt) says,
"It is not befitting for a believing man or woman that when a matter has been decided by Allah and his Messenger, that they should have any say in the issue" [33:36]
As for giving the Muslims a bad name, how can living by the laws of the Creator(swt) ever give the Muslims a bad name? What has given the Muslim a bad name is all the propaganda and misconceptions about Islam that have been spread by the media, certain politicians, and even certain Muslims who compromise the values of Islam to please others. It is these misconceptions that we should deal with.
For a fatwa on hijab for Muslim women please redirect your question to the IslamOnline.net .
Your school said it would not change the uniform. What do you have to say about this?
They should change the uniform because they lost.
Answer
Currently this is true because I do not attend this school anymore. However, the situation is that if other Muslim girls at the school also want to wear the jilbab and are prevented from doing so, they just have to make a formal complaint to the school and they should be allowed to do so.
However, there are many other Muslim girls across the UK who are going through a similar situation to myself. They are also struggling with their schools to be able to wear the khimar (headscarf) and jilbab. I hope this case will encourage other schools to consider carefully their current uniform policies and make sure that it conforms to the religious obligations of Islam. I hope there are more discussions between schools, the Muslim community, students and parents Insha Allah.
Also I hope my case will encourage other girls not to give up their fight to wear the Islamic dress to school or to compromise their Islamic values. Allah(swt) says, "They wish that you should compromise (in deen out of courtesy) with them, so they (too would compromise with you)." [Al-Qalam:9]
Thank you.
Name
Sarah Mostafa
-
Profession
Student
Question
On what basis did the School adminstration deny your right to wear the jilbab?
Answer
Initially, the school denied my right to wear the jilbab because of health and safety and because it might cause a division among other Muslim students who did not wear the jilbab because they may be seen as lesser Muslims.
However, both these reasons were refuted. For example, if the issue was health and safety then what about the fact that other schools, Muslim and some non-Muslim, allow the jilbab with no problems. Also how many cases of jilbab-caused injuries do hospitals deal with each year? This did not make sense.
With respect to the division argument, the school already allows girls to wear the headscarf. So if they were concerned about division, then what about the division between those girls who do wear it and those who don't.
I feel that the real reason for banning the jilbab is the fear that has been created around Islam and specifically ideological Islam since September 11th. So the head teacher actually admitted that she did not want the jilbab in school because it might cause girls to be affected by religious extremism. But my question is how can the jilbab, which is just a piece of cloth, be described as extreme. Wearing the jilbab is an Islamic obligation just like prayer or fasting, no different.
Maybe what needs to be changed are all the fears and misunderstandings around Islam, women, and the Muslim woman's dress that leads to people describing the Islamic values or practices as extreme.
Name
Mohamed Zaki Sahad
-
Profession
student
Question
assalamoalaikum sister Shabina;
I have read about your case in some newspapers in my country which appraised your victory against the school, but i am confused why you brought the case to court since the headmistress of the school (a Muslim woman) allows Muslim students to dress according to the Shari`ah. As far as I'm concerned, the
school uniforms are suitable and enough to cover the awrah. futhermore, 80% of the students are Muslim.
I would like to know your real motive since some people are inclined to think that you are trying to promote
extremisme and to please your own ego.
Personally, I am amazed with your struggle and
endurance.
regards.
Answer
Wa'alaikum Salam brother,
Once again I have to emphasise that I am not qualified to issue fatwas, so I will give you my personal opinion which is based on what I know:
The uniform policy that was set by the school was either trousers and a shirt or a shalwar kameez which is like a tunic that comes to the knees and trousers. they did not allow the jilbab.
There is a difference in Islam between the obligation that women have to cover their awrah (those parts of the body that cannot be seen by non-mahrem men) and what the woman has to wear in the public arena.
Within the house, the woman can wear the headscarf and trousers and a shirt or the shalwar kameez as long as they cover everything except the hands and face and as long as they are not see through. However, when she leaves the house, she must wear the jilbab which is a long loose outer garment that drops from the neck to the feet. this is confirmed in the evidences that I mentioned before, by classical scholars, and even by the many scholars in the UK and abroad.
As for my motives for wearing the jilbab, it is simply because it is an obligation like prayer. Some people may think that it is extreme to leave a class to do your prayer or for a brother to go to jumma but these are simply obligations. We cannot take part of Islam and leave the rest. As Allah(swt) says, "But do you take part of the book and reject the rest. What is the reward for those who do this but disgrace in this life and a grievous punishment in the next." [2:85]
For a scholarly fatwa on what and how Muslim women are supposed to cover, please visit the IslamOnline.net .
It is an honor to speak with you sister, anyhow, I have read about some issues which are being kept in the news here among right-wing circles in the states with regard to your case, specifically:
1. That you could not possibly have brought this case on your own and that you were put up to it as some sort of a plot by Islamic groups and the UK government.
2. What do you say to "feminist" writers such as Mona ElTahawy who have attacked you saying that your victory is a victory for fundamentalism and will lead to more exploitation and suppression of girls in the UK?
Answer
Wa'alaikum salam
(1) This has also been claimed by certain media in the UK. Why is it that people can understand why girls in this society can wear a short skirt and tank top and make their own decision about how to dress or live life but find it so difficult to understand why young Muslims are coming back to islam from their own reading and thinking about life?
I came back to Islam through my own reading of Islamic books. I understood about the obligation of the jilbab from this reading and I made the decision to wear the jilbab after understanding that it was an obligation. No one pressurised me or forced me to do anything. In fact if I was being forced to do anything, there are many organisations that I could have gone to in the UK to get help. So all this is a lie and I feel that it belittles me and other Muslim girls by suggesting that I cannot think for myself. Islam is the truth and anyone who spends a little time thinking about the Islamic belief can come to this conclusion for themselves.
I was supported by many Islamic groups and the Muslim community in general but I made the decisions for myself.
(2) It seems that just practicing the basic obligations of Islam is described as being fundamentalist or extreme nowadays. As for the suppression of girls. How can wearing a piece of cloth be oppressive any more than showing your flesh be liberating. If people are talking about opression, maybe they should be discussing the amount of rape, violence against women, teenage pregnancies, drug abuse, etc that affect the general societies in the west due to ideas such as freedom.
Thank you.
Name
imrana
-
Profession
daudi
Question
Why do you think that the Jilbab has become such a topic of debate in the world, more than any other form of dress?
Answer
The jilbab is not simply about a piece of cloth, it represents Islam as way of life rather than Islam as a few personal rituals and actions. It is a public expression of Islam as a way of life or ideology. In the West, those girls or women who wear it are seen as women who have rejected the Western secular way of life and embraced Islam as the alternative way of life. This is even though they have been given all the so-called benefits, luxuries, and freedoms of the West.
Today, because of the fear of the return of Islam as a political ideology in the world, there is a fear of anything that is seen as a public expression of Islam as an ideology.
Rather than claiming that the Muslim woman's dress is oppressive or backward, I feel that people should ask the question why so many women in the West are wearing the khimar and jilbab and rejecting the Western way of life and why so many women in the west are converting to islam and also wearing it.
The answer is simple: women in the West are oppressed by the secular way of life while Islam truly liberates her because it views her as an honour and makes her a slave to the Creator and not to man or her desires.
Thank you.
Name
Ajmal
- United Kingdom
Profession
Student
Question
Assalamualaykum sister,
May Allah (swt) reward you for intention and actions and guide you ever closer to the truth.
I was just wondering how you feel about the constant interactions you will be facing with the male population in the public sphere?
Answer
Wa'alaikum salam
Wearing the jilbab does not mean that I will not be able to interact with men in the society.
Islam has a very specific social system that allows men and women to interact in society but in a regulated way that protects their honour and where the sexual instinct is not triggered in an unrestricted way.
So I can trade with a man, work with men, study with men, etc., but I cannot have a free relationship with him. So I cannot freely socialise with men or be alone with him.
In the past, under the Islamic system, Muslim women would work, study, and engage in society but always be viewed as an honour.
Thank you.
Name
Leila
- Norway
Profession
student
Question
Assalaamu aleikum dear sister,
I just want to use this opportunity to congratulate to on your courage and iman. I was myself the first girl ever to wear (even) hijab in my school when I was fifteen. Now I am a mother of two girls myself, and see the value of young women like you standing up for your islamic opinions even clearer. Please remember, dear sister, that it doesn't matter what people say or think about you. The only important thing is the final outcome of our lives on earth - Heaven or Hell.
How are your days at school now, after all of this taking place?
You are in my du'a and my heart, sister.
Wasalaam.
Answer
Assalamu Alaikum
Jazakallah khair sister for your words of encouragement. I really appreciate it.
At the moment, I am attending a different school. I lost 2 years of my education due to not being allowed to wear the jilbab at my previous school. Naturally it has affected my studies and at the moment I am studying for my GCSE exams.
However, when people ask me was it all worth it - my answer is always ABSOLUTELY. How can we leave the order of our Creator for a few benefits of this life. Of course, we should try and study hard and be productive in this society as Muslim girls and women but not sell out our deen because of pressures. I just hope my case will Insha Allah help other Muslim girls and women to never give up their Islam no matter how difficult the sitution becomes. This is one of the tests that Allah(swt) has given us as Muslims living in the West. Will we keep our Islamic identity or integrate into the society and leave our Islamic values for the sake of a few interests? Allah(swt) says,
"Judge only by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their vain desires or let them seduce you from even part of what We have revealed to you." [Maidah]
Name
Farah
- United Kingdom
Profession
Student
Question
As salaamu alaykum sister, pray you are well. I am wondering what you think of the Muslims who condemn you for going ahead with the court case? Do you think this could be due to your political views? Finally, did you have full support from your family during the whole case? I also wear jilbab and hope that if the same happened to me, I would also fight for my rights. JazakAllahu Khayr
Answer
Wa'alaikum salam
Unfortunately, there are a few Muslims who have been affected by some of the ideas and claims that have been pushed by the western media and certain politicians.
It saddens me that they did not support me in my attempt to maintain my Islamic identity and follow this Islamic obligation.
I believe that as a Muslim community, we need to unite together, especially at this time when Islam is being attacked from all sides. We should not turn on one another or fall into the trap that many western institutions have laid for us, which is for the Muslims to condemn Islam from their own mouths.
Name
Junaid
- United States
Profession
Question
Sister,
I want to congratulate you on your case. I was very happy to hear what has happend. I pray to Allah that your srength and courage will be a seed for other brother and sisters throughout the world.
Answer
Jazakallah khair for your support brother.
Alhamdulillah, I have received a lot of support from brothers and sisters throughout the UK and from many parts of the world.
It seems that there is such a rapid awakening of Islam globally by Allah's (swt) mercy. May Allah(swt) keep us all strong Insha Allah in the deen.
Name
Amna
- United Kingdom
Profession
STUDEN
Question
Is it fard to wear khimar and jilbab? Also Muslims in the west should they be compromising their values?
Answer
As I am not a scholar I am not qualified to pass a fatwa on this topic, however I have given my opinion on the matter in my previous answers:
The khimar and jilbab are fard (obligations). I have mentioned the evidences in some of my previous anwers.
Muslims living in the West as Muslims living anywhere should never compromise their Islamic values. In one hadith, the Prophet(saw) said, "Each of you guards a thaghrah(opening) of Islam, so do not let the enmies attack Islam via you".
So eack one of us, no matter where we live has the responsibility of protecting and spreading Islam. We can protect Islam firstly by making sure that we do not leave our Islamic values and identity.
We might face difficult situations. but a famous scholar, Imam Ahmed once said, "If your belief is correct, you should fear no-one".
Thank you.
Name
Mariam
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
Assalamou Alaikoum,
I think that, as Muslims living in the UK, we enjoy much religious freedom and therefore we should not abuse this freedom and push the authorities to restrict this freedom. Certainly, Hijab is an obligation, but Islam does not specify a certain form of dress as long as what you are wearing does not show you body shape. Dress can vary over time and over space. So as Muslim women living in a European country, the best for us is to wear the headscarf and respectable European outfits rather than Jilbab which is rather a national dress in certain Muslim countries. We should be proud of our religion but at the same time seek to integrate in our European society.
Mariam
Answer
Wa'alaikum salam
See my previous answers for an elaborate explanation of my views on the jilbab. I will elaborate a bit further here but keep in mind that I am not an Islamic scholar and thus not qualified to pass fatawa.
Muslim women do not wear the jilbab out of a choice of modesty or culture but because it is an obligation. Islam has given specific conditions to the Muslim woman's dress in public. So for example, Islam does not make the prayer an obligation then leave it to the Muslim to decide when or how to pray - there are specific rules. In the same way, Islam has not obliged the jilbab and then left it to the woman to decide how this should be but laid specific rules for this.
Secondly, the Islamic rules do not change according to time and place. Can we pray three times a day instead of 5 because the life in the west is more busy than in the Muslim world? There is no Islamic evidences to say that the Islamic rules can change according to local customs or culture, in fact there are many evidences that reject this. So, for example, Allah(swt) says, "It is not befitting for a believing man or woman that once Allah and His messenger have decided upon a matter that they should have any say in that matter" [33:36]
As for integrating into the European societies - we should try and be productive members within the countries that we live but not at the expense of leaving our Islamic values. Surely one of the ways that we can fulfil our responsibility as Muslims in the society is to spread the correct understanding of Islam to the society rather than a form of Islam that caters to European taste. As the Prophet(saw) said, "Any action not based upon our order is rejected".
Thank you.
For a fatwa on the requirements of hijab, please see the IslamOnline.net Fatwa Bank.
Name
hamzah
- United Kingdom
Profession
student
Question
Do you think shalwar kameez is an unislamic dress as Shabina Begum's case has led me to believe. My family is Pakistani and all our women wear shalwar kameez. thank you once again dear scholars for spreading the light of Islam to us.
Answer
The shalwar kameez itself is not an unislamic dress but it depends upon when and where it is worn.
In the house, in front of non-mahrem men(men whom the woman can marry), the woman needs to cover everything except the face and hands. If the shalwar kameez and the headscarf fulfil this, she can wear it as long as it is loose, not see-through and does not show the shape of her body.
I have given my view on the jilbab in my previous answers.
