Questions

[bananabrain]

Originally Posted by DIB

If a Muslim girl gives up wearing her scraf, then she will open the door for another source to determine her clothing. Accordingly, this girl gives up a divine source to submit to an egostic or human source.

hang on, though, DIB, are the precise measurements and material and style of wearing it, the way to put it on, whether you can take it off to swim, play sports, or in non-mixed environments, in front of family members etc defined in the Qur'an? i doubt it. in which case, it is a *human* source that you have to trust to *interpret* the Qur'an. this idea that the *practical codification* of a law derived from the Qur'an is *therefore* "divine" is a total fallacy and plays into the hands of those who wish to make themselves the conduits for G!D's Will - the case in point being below:

Originally Posted by Amica

I have never worn hijab in public. I do wear it when praying. It may take me some time. However, a brother recently scolded me really badly. He felt that I am on the verge of kufr/ubelief, that I am disobeying God's commandment and went on to say basically that I am a bad person.

amica, he had *no* right to do that. you should have smacked him one for showing you such disrespect. who the hell was he to take it upon himself to be the boss of you? ask him whether he plays sports. ask him if he swims. ask him if he wears modest MALE garments - no SHORTS? this is just typical male-chauvinist-PIG behaviour and a total lack of humility.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[farhan]

Originally Posted by bananabrain

are the precise measurements and material and style of wearing it, the way to put it on, whether you can take it off to swim, play sports, or in non-mixed environments, in front of family members etc defined in the Qur'an? i doubt it. in which case, it is a *human* source that you have to trust to *interpret* the Qur'an. this idea that the *practical codification* of a law derived from the Qur'an is *therefore* "divine" is a total fallacy and plays into the hands of those who wish to make themselves the conduits for G!D's Will - the case in point being below:

Well, Quran says that in front of non-family males (there is a long list of "family males" in Quran), there should be a loose clothing over a womam's bosom & ornaments, so thats pretty much specfic. Ornaments is usually interpreted by scholars as hair & jwellery or any other beautification. Measurement or material is obviously not that important, as it will vary according to personal preference & culture. Also, there is no point of wearing hijab in non-mixed environment (unless one is in lesbian environment )

[c0de]

Originally Posted by bananabrain

amica, he had *no* right to do that. you should have smacked him one for showing you such disrespect. who the hell was he to take it upon himself to be the boss of you?

LOL!!!

Now thats what im talkin' 'bout!

10 points!

[OFATMI]

Salamulykum

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I would like to bring to all of your attention to the following ruling of the entire Muslim Ummah, out of concern from what I have read from a few posters in this thread:

The Quran so overwhelmingly and decicively orders for the Sunnah to be followed/obeyed, that it is undeniable to any believer, hence the Umaah have concured on the followig ruling:

if someone were to say: "We do not take except what we find in the Qur'an," that person would be an apostate by consensus of the Community, and would not thereby be obligated to pray more than one rak`a between the going down of the sun and the dark of night, and another one at dawn [cf. 17:78]. For this is the least that has been called salat, and there is no limit (hadd) set for the most in that chapter. One who follows such a position is an idolatrous disbeliever (kafir mushrik) whose life and property are licit. The only ones to go that path are some of the extremist Rafidis upon whose apostasy consensus has formed in the Community. And success is from Allah Almighty and Exalted. Now, should someone follow only what the entire Community has agreed upon and nothing else, leaving all that they differed about with regard to what the texts mention: such a person is a transgressor (fasiq) by consensus of the Community. These two preliminaries make it obligatory to accept what is transmitted.7

ref: Shaykh Gibril Haddad, The Probativeness of the Sunna, Part X1V


Peace and blessings...

[Amica]

Salaam/Shalom/Peace--

Bananabrian, I agree with you. It was disrespectful to me. I decided not to fight a fight I cannot win, so all I said to him was to remind him that we are all not the same and that one person may get to achieve things slower than the other.

OFATMI, thank you for your reminder about the commandments and such, however I have an issue of taking hadith more seriously than the Holy Qur'an and I think that is what is happening in a lot of Muslim communities around the world. How can you call someone an apostate if they want to follow Qur'an only? Didn't Allah Almighty say in the Holy Qur'an that: it is detailed, clear and that we do not need a better hadith? It is as if He foretold something that is occuring today.
I am not saying that the whole hadith collections should be disregarded. All I am saying is that if something contradicts the Holy Qur'an, than it probably is not accurate and it should not be considered part of the Sharia Law. Prophet Muhammad pbuh would not contradict the Holy Qur'an and many forget that.

It will still take me time to put on a hijab.

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by Amica

Salaam--
Few questions:

as salam aleykum wr wb sister

Here is my personal opinion on your questions and situation.

Originally Posted by Amica

1)Do you support the idea that women should not go out of the house at all without male family member? Why (Qur'an reference only, please)?

No I do not support this but I do support that they should not travel to strange places without a male escort.

This is for our protection and the peace of mind of our men, if anything were to happen to us in a strange place how could our men protect us if they don't know where we are? I go out when I want to the local shops, my friends, etc but if I want to go somewhere new I would ask my husband to accompany me.

Originally Posted by Amica

2) Is hijab compulsory, or is it only recommendation from the Holy Qur'an?

I believe it is a Divine Instruction to dress modestly including covering our hair in public with only our face and hands showing.

Originally Posted by Amica

3) Why can't Muslims abide by the Noble Qur'an only rather than referring towards the collections of the hadiths for "explanations, clarifications" and such?

How would we know how many times to pray? But I confess this is such a contentious topic with me and one that causes many arguments in our house.

I know how difficult it is to get your head around .. if you are not ready for the hadith trail (I've been on it for months and still struggling) then concentrate on the Quran for now and only refer to hadith if it is something vital to our tenants, like how many times to pray or how to perform hajj.

The biggest problem is we read them in English without explanations. I read one a few months ago that in English could be taken no other way than an affront to women (it was about women, houses and horses being bad omens). I had a mini fit with my husband about it, ranting about how these misogynistic males have brought this in to a faith that provides such respect for women blah blah blah.

Off he trotted and looked up the meaning in arabic .. as to be honest he was a little shocked too and had never read that particular hadith.

It turns out, after all my tantrums, that the hadith is talking about the things that can make your life miserable if you pick a bad one .. so choose wisely. Even I have to agree with that, as women we are more than capable of making a mans life truely miserable.

The agreement I now have with my husband is when I read a hadith I am not sure about I simply put it to one side until we can find a scholars opinion we trust. If I still cannot accept it we reject it until we read more about the topic to see if it begins to fall into place. If it is one that has no bearing on my life (like whether the Prophet urinated standing up or sitting down) and I cannot accept it then we simply ignore it as it can bring no harm to my faith and maybe in time it will make sense to me.

Originally Posted by Amica

Salaam--
I have never worn hijab in public. I do wear it when praying. It may take me some time.

May I suggest if you are not comfortable wearing hijab in public yet that you look at wearing a hat to start off with. Many young girls here now wear hats and polo neck tops, they are modestly dressed their hair is covered and they could easily fit in to Western life without looking or feeling out of place.

Originally Posted by Amica

However, a brother recently scolded me really badly.

Totally agree with BB, tell him to go and boil his head. This has happened to me in the street, a man stopped his car to rant about my clothes not being loose enough (I was wearing a bloody tent at the time) ... I suggested he go take a cold shower and read the Quran for an hour.

Where in Islam does it say we have any right to do this? Nowhere.

We are told to teach our faith with kind words and patience .. I doubt that means only to non-Muslims.

I started by wearing a very loose pice of material draped on my head, in time I tightened it up and in time I started wearing it with confidence. After some time I added niqab .. that was scary but I love it now. Just work at your own pace and sod idiots that think they are the religious police.

Amica, dear sister, a better Islamic lifestyle is not about how we dress, it is about our belief and intention. I know Muslims with long beards and full Islamic dress (the men not the women LOL) and women that wear full niqab but some of them only go to mosque or pray when someone is there to see them .. it's just an outward show but meaningless in terms of faith.

Do you think on the Last Day Allah would say to you "you truly believed, you prayed regularly, your intentions were good but it's hell for you because you didn't wear hijab soon enough"?

Remember the story of the prostitute that was forgiven all her sins because she gave water to a dying dog. Allah (swt) knows what is in our hearts, He knows our fears and He knows them better than we do.

You aren't one of these converts that becomes a Muslim and suddenly changes your life totally, like me you are on a path, we know it is the the right path but we are taking tentative steps ... isn't that better than being on the wrong path??!! It is a slow process for some of us .. just take a step at a time, as you feel comfortable and remember on the Last Day you will answer to Allah (swt) and not the twit of a brother with nothing better to do with his time.

I shall pray for you ... big hugs sister.

[wolfgangguntherson]

Wikipedia actually has an interesting article on the topic, including direct quotes from the Qur'an.

Thanks,

Wolfgang

[Muslimwoman]

Originally Posted by farhan

I don't know how I missed that video Farhan .... it's brilliant thank you so much for sharing it.

I wish it was translated to Arabic, I'd like to share it with a few people