Islaam & The Battle Between Extremism and Neglect 2

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2. "The face veil and outer cloak worn by the Muslim female is intimidating and unnecessary, so women should not wear it". This is another statement that falls short of the balanced legislation. As for the outer cloak or Jilbaab, then the female has been commanded with it in the Qur'aan where Allaah sates, "O Prophet! Tell the your wives and your daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments (Jilbaabs) around the whole of their bodies. That will be better so they are known so as not to be annoyed." (Qur'aan 33:59). So the outer garment has been commanded by Allaah, so it is not permissible to disobey Him due to prevalent culture or tribal traditions or in the name of integration! As for the face veil, then at the very least it is recommended by the legislation. It was stated by A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, that when one of the companions approached her, "I covered my face with my garment from him."(Reported by Al-Bukhaaree) . She also stated that whilst at Hajj, when male riders would pass by, "She would drop the garment from her head over her face." (Reported by Abu Dawood). And similarly has been related by the sister-in-law of the Prophet, Asmaa during Hajj, when she stated, "We used to cover our faces from the men." (Reported Al-Haakim). So it is strange that we find Muslim community leaders claiming that there is no mention of the niqaab (face veil) in the Qur'aan and therefore it is not from Islaam, but merely an old desert-Arab tradition! Whereas, we find from the above narrations that the face veil was the practice of the believing women. So those Muslims who reject the legitimacy of the face veil have fallen into neglect of the religious texts, and are not to be considered as balanced, but instead we say they are negligent. What is even worse is that they call to these ignorant views.

3. "If a Muslim male does not shake the hand of a female, the non-Muslims will think this demeans women, so let's take the ease and shake hands with the opposite sex". This statement is a negligent approach that falls short of the middle path. The Prophet (salallaahu alaihi wassallam) said, "I do not shake the hands of women." (Reported by Ibn Maajah) And A'isha the wife of the Messenger, stated, "By Allaah, the hand of Allaah's Messenger never touched another woman [other than his wives]. He used to take the pledge of allegiance of women verbally only." Shaking hands with the opposite sex is a means to temptation that may eventually lead to fornication. However, there is no harm in exchanging greetings without shaking hands, as long as alluring speech is avoided. And there is no harm in women shaking hands with immediate relatives such as their fathers, husbands and brothers. The Prophet was never disrespectful towards his female disciples, yet he never shook their hands, so this is a respectful act towards women. Most non-Muslims are very understanding once this matter is explained to them, so more Muslims should make effort in explaining this affair rather than giving in, and thereby opposing the Prophetic texts and falling short. In truth a Muslim can be a responsible member of the community, without comprimising the obligations of his religion and without breaking the laws of the host country. Indeed good, upright practising Muslims become role models of good character in communities.

Modernist thinkers and preachers deliver verdicts claiming that the religion allows for this ease wherein Allaah is disobeyed. If it was the case that that the Messenger was giving license to his Companions to disobey the clear commands of the Qur'aan and Prophetic Sunnah, then we would find clear examples from the Companions themselves opposing the commands contained in the texts, yet no such narrations are found in the huge body of hadeeth literature. We never find for example the Companions shaving their beards, or the women removing their hijaabs, or men shaking hands with women and other than that! The textual proofs related to ease revolve around concessions that are established also by textual evidences for example: It is stated in text that if one is not able to pray standing due to illness, or difficulty, then he prays whilst seated, if he is not able to do that, then he prays lying down; If one has no water nearby, or has an illness that prevents him from utilising water to make an ablution (wudhoo) for prayer or take a bath from sexual intercourse, then he is given the allowance to make a dry purification (tayamum) by simply striking the earth, wiping the hands and face; When one is upon a journey, then he shortens his prayer from four to two units and he may combine between some of the prayers and he may break his fast if he wishes, even if it is in the month of Ramadhaan, and so on. So these are just some examples of conessions and the removal of hardship contained within the wise, divine legislation.

You can see clearly, that the legislated ease does not entail disobedience to Allaah. In these times we find those who claim to represent the 'moderate Islamic viewpoint', yet in truth, they oppose the Islamic texts and speak about the Religion ignorantly, and from the most ignorant of their statements is, "We do not find this ruling in the Qur'aan, therefore we are not obligated with it," whilst it is established that the Islamic leglistation is take from the Qur'aan, the Prophetic Tradition and the concensus of the Companions. The danger with these viewpoints is that small sections of muslim communities fall prey to the extremists as a backlash to these 'new age' modernist thinkers who are negligent in implementation of the Islamic legislation. So on the other side of the spectrum we have the extremists who lurk in the shadows, waiting for their prey. They indoctrinate the youth with false doctrines that call to violence and false notions of 'Jihaad'. So they encourage with suicide attacks and terrorist acts, that are forbidden by the Qur'aan and the Pure Prophetic Sunnah. We refer to our leaflet entitled, "The Corruption of Terrorism & Suicide Bombing - Exposing the Perpetrators of Evil."

So in summary, the middle path lies in adhering to Qur'aan and the Prophetic Sunnah upon the understanding of the Companions.

Sources:

Fatawa Arkaan al-Islaam of Shaikh Muhammad bin Saaleh al-Uthaimeen,

Sharh al-Mumtee' of Shaikh Muhammad bin Saaleh al-Uthaimeen