This article has been published on August 13, 2012 at iluvislam.com with the title
'For The Sake of Him'. Acknowledge that this is the original version. Thank you.
Salam'alayk and greetings to all.
Situation One
''Adibah, why are you not covering your aurah and wear hijab?''
''Oh dear Amirah, come on lah. To wear a hijab in our country which is so hot and humid does not make sense''
''Really? [tangan di dada mata ke atas]. So, hang baca kat mana yang kata kalau duduk kat negara yang panas ni tak payah pakai tudung?''
Situation Two
''Zahirah, what is the reason you cover your aurah and wear hijab?''
''Thing is, the hottest fashion trend in Malaysia nowadays is about hijab you know and I need to follow the trend because I am a true fashionista''
''So you are a hijabista-fashionista-until the boys terketar-ketar lah? I see...''
Still in dilemma whether you need to cover your aurah or not? Or are you still don't know why you have to wear hijab? This is what Allah said in the Quran;
Surah an-Nur [24;31]
And tell the believing women to
reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their head covers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
-Sahih International-
Dan katakanlah kepada perempuan-perempuan yang beriman supaya
menyekat pandangan mereka [daripada memandang yang haram], dan memelihara kehormatan mereka; dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka kecuali yang zahir daripadanya; dan hendaklah mereka menutup belahan leher bajunya dengan tudung kepala mereka; dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka melainkan kepada suami mereka, atau bapa mereka atau bapa metua mereka atau anak-anak mereka, atau anak-anak tiri mereka, atau saudara-saudara mereka, atau anak bagi saudara-saudara mereka yang lelaki, atau anak bagi saudara-saudara mereka yang perempuan, atau perempuan-perempuan Islam, atau hamba-hamba mereka, atau orang gaji dari orang-orang lelaki yang telah tua dan tidak berkeinginan kepada perempuan, atau kanak-kanak yang belum mengerti lagi tentang aurat perempuan; dan janganlah mereka menghentakkan kaki untuk diketahui orang akan apa yang tersembunyi dari perhiasan mereka; dan bertaubatlah kamu sekalian kepada Allah, wahai orang-orang yang beriman, agar kamu berjaya.
First of all, I want to emphasize that as a believer, we have to try our best to please Him everyday because we are now living on the earth, a place that is created by Allah swt so please follow Allah's rules. Even if you said that you are living on the Mars, or Venus, or Neptune, you are still living on the place that is created by Allah swt. Allah provides all of us a brain with mind per person for us to think, understand and practice amar makruf and nahi mungkar. Our iman might be up and down, I understand but as long as we keep reminding ourselves and others that we live in the defense of the Quran and the Sunnah, and live for Jannah, insha-Allah we will istiqamah to walk on the right path towards Allah swt.
Hijab is one of the way for us to respect the revelation from Him. The revelation for women wearing hijab is not a lie. It is written clearly in Surah an-Nur. Not only in Surah an-Nur, we need to look upon Surah al-Ahzab, Surah an-Nisa'and so forth. As in Surah an-Nur, it circulates the area of public-gendered space, gaze and aesthetic value. Through tumblr, I see that many women from western countries like US and UK has converted into Islam because they see the beauty of Islam. They wear hijab and cover their aurah beautifully and modestly. At the same token, I am wondering on why muslim women in Malaysia are heading towards western culture? The only reason that appears in my mind is because women in Malaysia are muslim by default and that make us take for granted about our religion itself and comfortably thinking that it is enough to have the title 'Islam' only in our ID card. Truly, this is really disappointing.
Dear sisters that I love dearly for the sake of Allah to no end,
I know that sometimes, it been so hard on us to cover our aurah completely. I understand the desire to appear as a beautiful lady in front others. I get the fact that we like it if others praise our beauty. Sometimes it is really irritated to wear hijab in a hot sunny day but the scholars say,
''Every drop of sweat in your body is the heaviest on the scale. You've shaded yourself here, Allah will shade you on the Judgement Day where there is no shade except His shade''. Be proud of being a muslimah because we are the core of the ummah, we are the back bone of the ummah so that is why Islam elevates our status. Besides, we do not wear hijab because of the pressure from our peers, nor the pressure from the community. It is the command from Allah.
''Take some trouble on the way to Allah. Allah will not leave us unpaid, if not in this world, then in the next He will reward you. If aside from Him, you have no reward in this world, what could be better. This world is nothing. This pomp and these personalities will come to an end after a few days, like a dream passes before the eyes of man but the other worldly reward is infinite and never ending''
-Imam Khomeini-
As intelligent women, we got a choice to choose to obey Him or to ignore His command and I as a 19-year-old muslim woman would advise you to never doubt His existence. I have spit out all the words but the choice is in your hand. As Allah speaks that if a human disobey Him, He did not lose anything but that human will lose everything. Refresh our mind and say to our soul, ''I must cover up because I am a daughter of Islam. I am Islam's Dignity''
Something to ponder; a true muslimah is the one who is never forget that Islam, which encourage her to look attractive under the permitted limits is also the religion that is warns her against extravagance. Keep holding on and be proud to say
'la ilaha illallah, muhammadur rasulullah' even though we might live in an environment that is full with mischief, transgression, evil deeds and acts. Let us learn and understand more about the 'iffah, the honour and the dignity of women and practice to be among al-hayaa' [modesty] ladies. Don't be fooled by dunya, please. May Allah rewards all of us with Jannatul Feerdaus, ameen.
Mood - I am really thankful to iluvislam.com for publishing my previous article,
Stop Searching For A Prince. One percentage of appreciation goes to Syahimi, haha. Thank you to Kak Anis because invited me to IIUM Kuantan for iftar jami'e and taraweeh and happy 19th birthday to ze amazing friend, Aflah Sabri.
Belajar rajin-rajin.
12th of August 2012. Ramadhan 23, 1433.