Friday, March 29, 2013

A QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO DON'T SEE THE NIQAB AS NECESSARY IN ISLAM




There are differences in opinion as to whether Niqab is obligatory in Islam or not, so I thought of asking one small question.
Before we go further, please read these posts:



IS WEARING THE NIQAB OBLIGATORY IN ISLAM?
NIQAB IS NECESSARY IN ISLAM


Here's the question: Who understands the Qur'an better- us or the Sahabas at the time of Prophet Muhammad sallalahu alaihi wasallam? Obviously, the Sahaba understood the Qur'an much better than us. Which brings us to these 2 Qur'anic verses:

''O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks ("Jalabib") veils all over their bodies. That is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not molested: and Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful." (Surah Al-Ahzab: 59)

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; That they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what is apparent of it and that they should draw their veils over their bosoms.” (Surah Noor 24:31)

And this Hadith:

Narrated Safiya bint Shaiba:
‘Aisha used to say: “When (the Verse): “They should draw their veils over their necks and bosoms,” was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their faces with the cut pieces.” Volume 6, Book 60, Number 282: (Sahih Bukhari)

Aisha (RA) mentioned the women of Ansar, praised them and said good words about them. She then said: “When Surat an-Nur came down, they took the curtains, tore them and made veils from them.” [Sunan Abi Dawud Hadith No. 3577]

Now, just answer this question: if the Sahaba women covered the faces immediately after Surah Noor was revealed, what stops us? They covered their faces the moment that verse was revealed because they clearly understood that this verse implies to covering the face. If they had interpreted that verse to mean that it just implies to the Hijab (Head cover), why did they cover their faces?

Please leave a comment if you have any questions, and I'll try my best to reply it, In Sha Allah. Otherwise, you can send me an email on niqablovers@gmail.com if you want want any clarifications on this topic.


13 comments:

  1. as salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh dear sister,

    mashallah, perfect words. I told that to so much people, but they don't want to see... khayr inshallah

    barakallahu fiki wa djazakillahu khayr

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    1. Wa'alaykum salaam warahmatullahi wabarkatuhu and Jazakallah khair sis! :)

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  2. Salaam Alaykum! Phoenix always says to me as Muslim women we should strive to be like our mothers (RA). I think maybe a lot of people are ignorant. But then we have Muslims who think they don't need to follow the Hadith (astaghirfullah) when it says in the Qur'an to follow the Prophet (SAW) and follow Allah (SWT). I think a lot of people see the hadith by Abu Dawood and think that means we don't cover our faces. Maybe most Muslims don't understand the difference between Da'eef and Sahih.

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    1. Wa'alaykum salaam warahmtullahi wabarakatuhu sis! The moment we realize that emulating our Ummahatul Mu'mineen is what;s best for us, we'll come to love the Niqab In Sha Allah.
      A lot of people refer to the Abu Dawood Hadith and take it to mean that Niqab isnt necessary in Islam. What they fail to realize is that the Hadith mentioned would probably have occurred before the Niqab was made necessary in Islam. Asma ral would have, most obviously, been among those Sahaba women who covered their faces after the revelation of the verse about Hijab in Surah Noor.

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  3. JazakAllah khair, May Allah ta'ala reward you for this, really gets to me..

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    1. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu and Ameen to your Du'aa :) Jazakallah khair!

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  4. I truly do admire and respect all the sisters who wear niqab, they are so strong! However, i have small question. We can all agree that in terms of body, a woman's body is much more naturally attractive than a man's body, but that isn't neccessarily true for the face. So if niqab was obligatory, wouldn't it be for men too? And secondly, plucking the eyebrows is haram right, this is because it defines the face and makes it look more attractive. But if we had to cover our face then it wouldn't make a difference if we plucked our eyebrows or not.

    If you can, please clarify that for me.
    Jazakallah khayr sister! May Allah grant you a place in the most beautiful gardens of paradise :)<3

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    1. Assalamu Alaikum warahamtullahi wabarakatuhu.
      For your first question: Allah would have deemed women to be more attractive sis, which would be why He has prescribed the Hijab (as in covering) for women. The Hijaab for men is slightly different. The Hijab for them is that they lower their gaze. It's a matter of Allah's Order. We can't see the wisdom of it, and we also cannot question Allah's Orders :)
      Your second question about plucking the eyebrows- that is haraam sis, whether or not we cover our faces. Wearing the Niqab doesn't make something Haraam Halaal, so plucking the eyebrows is not allowed.
      Hope it's clear. If you have any other questions, do ask :)
      Jazakallah khair and Ameen to you lovely Du'aa!

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  5. subhanallah. what a good explanation :) me and my niqabis friends have a problem to make people understand. we told them the reason, but they were like, ignoring it. it make us sad :( may Allah give them and those who can't accept niqabis hidayah, and may Allah bless you

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    1. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu Ukty!
      Jazakallah khair and Aameen to you Duas! :)

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  6. Subhanallah! So true! I wish everyone could think like this! With pain in my heart I admit that most people dont.

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  7. I have a question for you too ... Who understood physics better Max Planck (Father of Quantum Physics) or Democritus (the person who named the atom)?

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  8. as salaam alaikum,

    In this hadith, what is the word for veil in Arabic? If it is related to khimaar, then it may not have covered the face. The evidence for this is the hadith that says "A woman's salaah is not accepted if she does not wear a khimaar".

    If the khimaar was required to cover the face during salaah, we'd be seeing a LOT of different rulings regarding women making salaah with their faces uncovered!

    This means that I disagree with Surah an Noor as being the verse that required women to cover their face. I do, however, agree that Surah al Ahzan ayah 59 requires it, and it's just a matter of which verse abrogated the other.

    Make duaa for me. I want to wear niqab but I am getting a lot of flack from my husband's family.

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