Current Social, Moral and Political Challenges of Muslims

and their Solutions in the Light of Islamic Teachings

Sub-topic: The importance of vail in Islam and why Parda lost his dignity these days.

Subject: Islamic Studies

Submitted to: Ma’am Iffat Khalid

Submitted by: Name Reg #

Muhammad Affan Mashhood SP20-BBA-045

Mohammad Ibrahim Chaudhary SP20-BBA-027
Laiba Iqbal FA19-BBA-140

Class & Section: BBA-C

Department: Management Sciences

Date: 8th November, 2021

 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS.............................................................................................................3
MEANING OF HIJAB:........................................................................................................................3
HIJAB IN ISLAM:...........................................................................................................................3
IMPORTANCE OF HIJAB IN ISLAM.............................................................................................3
HIJAB FOR WOMEN..................................................................................................................4
Types of Veils in Islam for Women..........................................................................................4
BARRIERS OF HIJAB................................................................................................................5
OBLIGATIONS OF HIJAB.........................................................................................................5
HIJAB ACTS AS A PROTECTION............................................................................................6
Hijab for man.............................................................................................................................6
Why Parda lost its dignity these days............................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION
Islam being one of the most fastest growing religion in the world which has almost about 2 billion
followers all around the world who have devoted their lives to following the righteous path of Allah
Almighty and his last and only Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬. Just like any other religion, Islam also has
its own set of curriculum which a Muslim has to follow in order to receive the ultimate blessings
and gratitude of Allah Almighty on the day of Judgement. In this prescribed curriculum, one of the
most important rules for a woman is to dress modestly, Allah Almighty himself and his Prophets
have laid great stress in the Holy Quran on the topic of wearing a “Hijab” or “Veil” by a woman.
For a Muslim covering themselves is a part of their Sunnah and religion. Therefore, a Muslim
woman must abide by the teachings and rules which are mentioned in the mighty Holy Quran.

FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS

MEANING OF HIJAB:
“Hijab” is an Arabic word which literally means a barrier or curtain. Hijab is defined as a
principle of modesty for both males and females. According to Islamic terminology, Hijab mostly
refers to women and it means to “cover oneself” from unrelated males. The main purpose of
wearing a Hijab or a Veil is for a woman to maintain modesty and refrain from unwanted male
attention.

HIJAB IN ISLAM:
In Islam, Hijab refers to the complete covering of the human body except the hands, face and feet
and garments. The concept of Hijab is for both man and women. The word Hijab mostly refers to a
woman. According to the Islamic terminology Muslim women are required to wear hijab in front of
a man who is unrelated to her or is considered a “NA-MEHRAM”. As a result, a Muslim woman is
not obligatory to wear a hijab in front of the father, brothers, grandfathers and etc.
 IMPORTANCE OF HIJAB IN ISLAM

Islam being a very respectable and modest religion has always strongly emphasized on the
concept of modesty and decency in between the opposite genders. In many authentic hadiths of
Holy Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, it has been mentioned that "modesty is a part of faith" The Holy Quran
commands both Muslim genders to dress in a modest way. Wearing a Veil or Hijab is first and
foremost a commandment from Allah. Thus the importance of Hijab in Islam can be judged from
the fact that Allah Almighty commands the Muslims women in Surah Al-Ahzaab to showcase
modesty by wearing Hijab whenever they are in the presence of men.
“TELL THE BELIEVING WOMEN TO DRAW THEIR OUTER GARMENTS AROUND THEM.”
(Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:59)

In Quran Allah himself refers specifically to the way a woman should dress and walk in public.
Although there are many benefits of Hijab, it is first and foremost a commandment from God.
The history of the hijab spans to 1600 A.D., to the city of Medina, when the Prophet Muhammad
was tasked with finding a solution for sexual abuse of women within the city. When a woman had
to urinate, and awoke in the middle of the night to relieve herself, she had to walk to the outskirts
of the city into the woods. Many men saw this as an opportunity, waiting to attack these women
once they were isolated and vulnerable. However, if a woman wore a jilbab (a long coat
symbolizing wealth and power) they left her alone, because they knew she came from a
prestigious family and would have no trouble speaking out and bringing her attacker to justice. If
the woman was not wearing a jilbab, if she was dressed more liberally, the men knew she was a
slave, and they attacked her.

In response to these incidents, God revealed three verses from the Quran to mankind, instructing
women on how to dress. The first one read,

“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring
down over themselves part of their garments. That is more suitable [so that] they not be
known and not be abused” (Quran, 33:59).

This verse basically states that all women should dress alike so that they cannot be picked out
amongst others, and be attacked. The second verse draws heavily on the first, and the third tells
women to use their khimar, a traditional scarf many women wore, or any other garment of clothing
to cover their breasts. These verses were put into place to protect women, not to explicitly tell
them which parts of their bodies to cover. That is all the Quran says concerning how a woman
should dress.
 HIJAB FOR WOMEN

A Muslim woman who wears a Hijab is called Muhaajaba. For a women wearing a hijab is not
obligatory but it is considered a personal preference. Therefore, it is not considered compulsory for
an Islamic woman to wear a Hijab whoever if a woman who wears hijab is seen as far greater in
the eyes of Allah Almighty than those who do not wear a veil. The main purpose for a women
wearing a veil or a hijab firstly is to dress modestly according to the divine teachings of Islam and
secondly to refrain from unwanted attention form unrelated males.

Types of Veils in Islam for Women

Hijab Niqab Chador Burqa

Majority women in Islam wear a headscarf, while others wear a burka or niqab or a chador to
abide by the rules of modesty mentioned in the Holy Quran. Hijab is the most common type of
covering worn by Muslim women, it basically covers the whole head, neck and only exposes the
face. A Niqab is mixture of covering of the head and scarf that covers all of the face except for
eyes of a person. Whereas Chador is a long piece of cloth, which covers the head to toes leaving
the face exposed, and the Burqa covers the entire face, including the eyes and the body.

Hijab is most widely used Veil which is worn by Muslim women to showcase modesty. In Pakistan
women mostly wear Hijab’s but in some strict and conservative households in Pakistan wear
Burqa’s as well as Chador. In Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq women
usually prefer to wear Burqa as well as Niqab as the rules and regulations in these countries are
very strict when it comes to women, therefore it is also considered a taboo for women not to wear
a veil in public in these countries and severe punishments are also given to women if they don’t
abide by these rules. Therefore, a practicing Islamic women should always consider covering
herself with a veil as it protects here from unwanted attention and showcases her commitment to
Allah Almighty.
 BARRIERS OF HIJAB

The term ‘Hijab or Veil’ for women can be mentioned in three different ways:

1.Visual Barrier

It’s about to hide something from site. It allows women to retain their freedom, their modesty and
morals.

2.Physical Barrier

It’s about to creates space that provides privacy and comfort for females.

3.Ethical Barrier

It’s to do right things and to maintain modesty.

OBLIGATIONS OF HIJAB

As hijab is a religious duty. However, there are certain conditions that should be fulfilled otherwise
the covering wouldn’t be considered hijab or would be considered improper. The obligatory
conditions for an Islamic Hijab are enlisted below.

1. The Hijab should cover all of the body.

2. It must not be transparent.
3. Hijab must be roomy, and not tight.
4. It should not resemble the dress of a man.
5. It should conceal the ways of display.

HIJAB ACTS AS A PROTECTION

Wearing a Hijab does not suppress a woman rather than its shows their modesty and encourages
their firm belief in Islam. Hijab grants a women dignity and self-respect in a society as compared to
a woman who fully exposes herself to the whole world. It protects men and women from many bad
deeds and having which are mentioned below:

1. Shields from unwanted advances.

2. Shields women from perverted looks
3. Protects from male Harassment
4. Eliminates completion against women
5. Shields from temptations and harmful desires.

Hijab for man

Mostly whenever the word “Hijab or Veil” is mentioned it’s for women but in Islam Allah Almighty
has also commanded man to abide by the rules of hijab. Hijab not only means to wear a cloth
around your body but also means to have the characteristics of Hijab in yourself. In Surah Al-Nur,
in verse 30, Allah commands Prophet Muhammad as follows: “Say to the believing men that:
they should cast down their glances and guard their private parts (by being chaste). This is
better for them.”

This is a command to Muslim men that they should not lustfully look at women other than their
own wives and in order to prevent any possibility of temptation, they are required to cast their
glances downwards. This is known as “hijab of the eyes”. The Muslim man must not let his ego
and desires get the best of him, must not wear clothing that is referred to as "Shuhrah" or clothing
that is not commonly worn which would make him stand out in a crowd.
 Why Parda lost its dignity these days

Western Culture and Parda

Western Societies believe that Islam suppresses or oppresses a woman by making here wear a
hijab, veil or simply by doing parda. As Muslims of today give great attention to the thoughts of
Westerners and their culture. As a result of this western propaganda, Muslim women prefer not to
do parda and they purposely wear revealing and short clothes thus bringing unwanted attention
towards themselves which leads to harassment and in some cases leads to rape. Therefore, due
to these types of false propaganda’s spread by the western world, Muslims women believe that
they don’t simply do want to do parda anymore and thus want to live their lives according to
western culture and as a result of all of this parda loses its dignity.

Modernization

As the World is progressing day by day, Muslims are constantly forgetting the fundamental
teachings of Islam as a result of this Muslim women believe that they are not evolving themselves
as fast as the modern world. Thus they believe that doing parda is not a modern concept and also
believe that those women who abide by the rules of Islam by doing parda are backward thinking
women. Thus this type of belief leads a woman to believe that parda has lost its dignity and they
don’t do parda anymore to modernize themselves.

Attention Seeking

Nowadays Women of all cultures want continuous attention towards themselves. As a result of this
attitude Muslim women are also starting to crave for attention themselves. They believe that parda
doesn’t bring the required attention towards them and thus refrain from doing parda.

Social Acceptance

A woman who does parda but is living a society which does think that the concept of doing parda
is wrong and does not promote women to do parda, with time the women believes that she will not
be accepted in the society thus she starts to refrain from doing parda to get social acceptance in a
society. This type of situation typical occurs in modern societies thus parda loses its dignity.

Islamophobia and Parda

Islamophobia is also one of the major reasons why Muslim women living in western countries don’t
do parda. They are constantly harassed and subjugated to violence, torture and bullied by the
local radical people of these countries which leads a Muslim woman to turn her back on the rightful
teachings of Islam as a result of these wrongdoings they stop doing parda and as a result of the
concept of doing parda in western countries is constantly losing its dignity day by day.

Solution in the Light of Islamic Teaching

Majority Muslims of today are unaware of the correct teachings of Allah Almighty
and the Holy Quran therefore Muslims of today succumb to the worldly desires and
stray themselves away from the true and righteous blessings of Allah Almighty
therefore they must come to the realization that Islamic culture is far more superior
than the western culture. Western culture is widely known for creating fake
propaganda against the Muslims because of their sheer dedication towards Allah
Almighty and his beloved Prophets. Therefore, one of the great goals of western
civilization is to create chaos and disparities between the solidarity and unity of
Islamic Civilization and Countries. Therefore, to overcome this ill propaganda of the
Western nations, Muslims nations must come together in unity and strength and to
raise their combined voices at the highest level in the world.

Those who support the ban on religious apparels say that hijab is oppression and is
binding the Muslim women however the truth is nothing close and those who are
against the ban argue that wearing religious clothing is a matter of personal choice.
Muslim women must come to realization that the concept of parda or wearing a hijab
is not suppressing them in any form or way therefore it is only protecting themselves
from all the evil around them as stated in the Holy Quran itself. They should also
learn that with modernization they cannot compromise on the concepts of Allah
Almighty which he has clearly mentioned in the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran is a
message for all times. Therefore, the teachings of the Quran will always be correct
ahead of the time of this world.

Therefore, Muslim women should wear hijabs with full pride and zeal. And always
know that Allah Almighty is protecting them from all evil doers.

As far as the ban is concerned by certain biased countries on wearing hijab’s,

Muslims of these countries must take this action against them as a direct violation of
their fundamental rights and raise their voices against this prejudice and unjust
violation against them. As mentioned in the Holy Quran and it is a part of the
Sunnah, if these countries do not correct their wrongdoings the Muslims of these
countries can unify and do Jihad against them as they are permitted to do it in times
of difficulty when they cannot practice the fundamental teachings of Islam therefore
they must adhere to Jihad as the final solution towards tyranny and injustice.

As most Muslims are aware, the life of the Holy Prophet ( ‫ )ﷺ‬serves as the
foundation for Islam's beliefs and rules. And Holy Prophet ( ‫ )ﷺ‬teachings are the
whole rule of life, as well as the ultimate remedies to today's challenges. All of the
Muslim Ummah must follow the guidelines of the great life of Holy Prophet ( ‫ )ﷺ‬and
always remember the one true creator and sustainer of this world and the entire
universe which Allah Almighty.

Conclusion:

Hijab is a part of Islam and is an act of obedience between the Muslim woman and
her Creator. Hijab is not oppressing woman but is empowering them, as millions of
Muslim women around the world choose to wear the Hijab as part of their faith
despite the backlash and challenges. So instead of removing or banning hijab we
should praise the people following the commandments of God, spread peace and
love among its creation and respect each other’s religion.
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