How to do the work of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils in the way done by our Prophet Muhammad saw? Our Prophet Muhammad saw was doing the work of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils by going out to the houses of the peoples. Our ulama must also invite the non-Muslims to recite the Great Kalimah, and to remind the Muslims about the meaning of the Great Kalimah and to invite the Muslims to obey the orders of Allah starting with the work of inviting the non-Muslims to Islam and reminding the Muslims in the way of Prophet Muhammad saw, until Allah is pleased with our ulama. When Allah is pleased with our ulama then only, Allah will make our ulama to become believers. Allah has created both men and women to be equal. Men and women are only different in term of their actions or in term of their taqwa towards Allah. Allah does not make men to become superior to women or to make women to become superior to men. Men will only become superior to women when men have more good actions than women. In Islam a person will only become honored or dishonored on the basis of their actions and not on the basis of their gender, race or country. Men or women will have to bear their own wrong actions. In Islam there is no one who will bear the wrong actions of the others. Men should not blame the women for their wrong actions. Women should not blame the men for their wrong actions. When the evils action of fornication, adultery and prostitutions are more rampant in the societies both men and the women are to be blamed.
When such evil actions such as fornication, adultery and prostitutions are rampant in our societies, men often like to put the blame on the women. When men are blaming only the women it means men are not making the correct judgment and conclusion about the whole situation. The evil actions such as fornication, adultery and prostitutions will not exist in our societies when there is no demand among the men in the societies to have sexual activities with other than their own wives. When there is an increase in demand from among the men in the societies to have sexual activities with other than their own wives, evil actions such as fornication, adultery and prostitutions will become rampant in the societies. When there is a demand then only there will be a supply. When there are many from among men in the societies who desire to have sexual activities with other than their own wives then only the activities of fornication, adultery and prostitutions will become rampant in the societies. Men who desire to have sexual activities with other than their own wives are the men who are not believers. Similarly the women who desire to have sexual activities with other than their own husbands are the women who are not believers. Men and the women who are not believers are the men and women who are not doing the work of inviting mankind to good and preventing men from evils and who are not performing the five daily prayers.
In my opinion, men have always been very cruel toward women, because many men believe that Allah has created women in order to serve men or to become the slaves of men. Many men also believe that women are created only for the fulfillment of men’s sexual desire. Women are often used by men to become their slaves, whose main works, according to men, were only to serve men and to fulfill men’s sexual desire. Many men from among the many tribes of the Arabs used to kill their baby girls alive. They buried their baby girls alive because they believe; the birth of baby girls will only bring calamities to their tribes. During the time before the coming of Islam, the Arabs used to become very ashamed on receiving the news of the birth of baby girls. It was the custom at that time, when there were wars, the women from the tribes who lost the wars, will become the slaves of the tribes who won the wars. The actions of making their women to become the slaves of other tribes were actions which according to the Arabs at that time were the calamities to their tribes. Because of this wrong belief, they believed that it was wiser to bury their daughters alive rather than to let them to become alive and grow to become the slaves of other tribes.
When men and women are not believers, men and women will have behaviours similar to the animals. What are the desires of men and women when they are not believers? The desires of men and women when they are not believers are to have a life which will be able to fulfill their desires in this world, such desires are; to have good foods, to marry beautiful women, to marry with handsome and rich men, to live in beautiful houses and to drive good vehicles. Men who are not believers will always desire to have sexual intercourse with beautiful women and women who are not believers will always desire to have sexual intercourse with handsome and rich men. Women who are not believers will always try to deceive men into doing actions which are forbidden by Allah. It is the nature of men to become attracted to beautiful women. It is the nature of women wanting to look beautiful. Women desire to look beautiful because they want to attract many handsome and rich men to become their companions. Which parts of the body of women that are attracted to men? According to many scholars, the parts of the body of women that are most attracted to men are the women hairs, the women bosoms and the shape of the women bodies. According to many scholars of sexual sciences, the face of women are not sexually attracted to men and Allah orders women to cover only their hairs, bosoms and their body but not their faces. Why Allah orders the women to cover their hairs, their bosoms and the shape of their bodies but not their faces? Because men are sexually attracted only to women hairs, bosoms and the shape of women’s body. Who have order the women to cover their faces, to wear Hijab and Burkah? It is the Ulama who have ordered women to wear Hijab or Burkah so that the whole bodies of the women including the faces and the eyes of the women are covered. Why the ulama order our women to cover their whole bodies including the faces and eyes of women? I think our ulama order our women to cover their whole bodies including their faces and eyes because our ulama believe it will prevent men from becoming attracted to women. Our ulama believe when men are not attracted to women then only the evils actions such as fornication, adultery and prostitutions will be reduced in the communities.
In my opinion, it is wrong to believe that the wearing of Hijab and Burkah will prevent men and women from having the desires to commit fornication, adultery and prostitutions. What will prevent men and women from having the desires to commit fornication, adultery and prostitutions? Men and women will only be prevented from having the desire to commit fornication, adultery and prostitutions when both men and women are believers. When men and women are believers then only they will not have desires to commit fornication, adultery and prostitutions. The order for Muslims women to cover their faces is the order of our ulama and not the order of Allah. In my opinion it is not Sunnah for Muslims women to cover their faces or to wear Purdah or Burkah. In my opinion, it is not fardu for Muslims women to cover their faces or to wear Purdah or Burkah because the orders come from our Ulama and not from Allah. In my opinion the order to cover the faces of the women is Makruh Tahrimi or Makruh which is near to Haram. The order for women to cover their faces, to wear Purdah or Burkah is Makruh Tahrimi or Makruh which is near to Haram. There is no reward and no sins for those who are observing or practicing the order which is Makruh. Actions which are not ordered by Allah are not Sunnah and are known as Bid’ah. Actions which are Bid’ah can either be forbidden or Haram or it can also be Makruh. Actions which are Makruh are of two types; Makruh Tahrimi and Makruh Tanzih. Makruh Tahrimi is actions which are near to Haram. Makruh Tanzih is actions which are not very near to Haram. In my opinion the wearing of Hijab and Burkah is Makruh Tahrimi that is very near to Haram. The persons who practice the actions which are Makruh Tahrimi will not obtain any reward or any sins but according to the opinion of many ulama, it is better for Muslims not to practice the order which is Makruh Tahrimi. In my opinion it is wise for all Muslims women not to cover their faces, to wear Purdah or Burkah but to cover only those parts of the body which are ordered by Allah. Allah orders Muslims women when they are outside of their own houses to cover only their hairs, bosoms and the shape of their bodies.
In my opinions, women should not be ordered to remain only within the four walls of their houses, but Muslims women should be ordered to be active with the work of inviting other women to good and forbidding other women from evils. In my opinion, the work of inviting other women to good and forbidding other women from evils should become the main work of all the Muslims women in this world. The order to invite others to good and to forbid others from evil is the first order of Allah to all Muslims men and women. The order of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils is fardu not only to all men but also to all women. With the permission of Allah, in my opinion, the work of inviting other women to good and forbidding other women from evils will increase the iman of the women. When the iman of the women have reached to the level which Allah is pleased with the women, Allah will make the women to become believers. In my opinion, it would be cumbersome for women who are wearing Hijab or Burkah to interact with other women and do the work of inviting other women to good and forbidding other women from evils. Wearing Purdah and Burkah are Makruh Tahrimi or actions which are near to Haram but the work of inviting other women to good and forbidding other women from evils are actions which is Fardu. When women are doing the orders of Allah which is Fardu with the intention to please Allah then only the iman of the Muslims women will become strong. The iman of Muslims women will not become strong by practicing the orders which is Makruh Tahrimi or orders which are near to Haram and leaving the order which is Fardu.
Both the orders of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils and the order to perform five times daily prayers are Fardu on all women. The order to cover the whole body of the women including to cover the faces and the eyes of the women does not come from Allah. The order to cover the whole body of the women including to cover the faces and the eyes of the women comes from the ulama. Muslims women are only fardu to cover their hairs, their bosoms and the shape of their bodies. Muslims women are not fardu to cover their faces. The action of covering the faces of the women is Makruh Tahrimi or actions which are near to Haram. There are many women particularly those in Jemaah Tabligh who believe, the wearing of the Purdah or Burkah is Fardu on women when in reality the order is only Makruh Tahrimi or action which is very near to Haram. In many countries in the Arab worlds, as well in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, there are many Muslims women who are wearing Purdah and Burkah. Many Muslims women in those countries believe that the orders to wear Hijab and Burkah come from Allah when actually the order comes from the ulama. The practice of wearing Purdah or Burkah was only introduced to the Muslims world during the time of Imam Shafie.
What is zina in Islam? zina is defined in Islam as when the man’s genital organ penetrates into the vagina of a woman or into the anus of a man or a woman. In Islam the action of zina is forbidden and the actions which will lead to zina are also forbidden or Haram in Islam. When I was in Jemaah Tabligh we were told not to look at the women. According to the belief of the ulama of Jemaah Tabligh, the action of looking at the faces of any woman is the actions which will lead men to zina. Therefore, according to them, the action of looking at the faces of women who are not muhrim is Haram or forbidden in Islam. When I was in Jemaah Tabligh, I was told by the ulama of Jemaah Tabligh to always lower my gaze whenever I walk on the street or whenever I was on my visit to any of the houses of the Muslims. During the time when we were visiting the houses of Muslims we were also told by the ulama of Jemaah Tabligh, when there are women who come out of the houses to greet us we must immediately lower our gaze. In Jemaah Tabligh we were told not to look at the faces of women and not to shake hand with any women because the actions will lead men to zina. All actions which will lead men to zina are Haram in Islam. Therefore Jemaah Tabligh defined that the actions of looking at the faces of the women, shaking hands with the women, talking to the women are all actions which may lead men to zina and therefore the actions are forbidden in Islam.
In Jemaah Tabligh men are not allowed to talk to the women and women are not allowed to talk to the men. When a man is giving lecture to a group of women, the lecture must be given behind a curtain and the women are only allowed to ask questions to that man in writing. In Jemaah Tabligh, the names of the wives of any men are not to be mentioned to other men who are not her muhrim. In Jemaah Tabligh even the voices, the shoes and the names of the women are regarded as an aurat, which means the names, the voices and the shoes of the women are not to be exposed to other men who are not her muhrim. In other words, the work of Jemaah Tabligh is trying to separate the women from the men. Why the work of Jemaah Tabligh is trying to separate the women from the men? In my opinion, the work of Jemaah Tabligh is trying to separate the women from the men because they believe women are the sources of evils. Who gives the fatwa that the action of seeing at the faces of women is an action which will lead men to zina? It is the ulama of Jemaah Tabligh who give the fatwa that the action of seeing at the faces of women is an action that will lead men to zina. Allah has never forbidden men from seeing the faces of women. If Allah has forbidden men from seeing the faces of women, certainly Allah will order the women to cover their faces. Ulama are the ones who order women to cover their faces by ordering the women to wear Purdah or Burkah. Ulama of Jemaah Tabligh are the ones who order men to lower their gaze whenever they see the women. Ulama of Jemaah Tabligh are the ones who order men not to look at the faces of the women, not to talk with the women and not to look even at the shoes of the women.
Allah has never ordered the women to cover their faces. Allah has never forbid men from looking at the faces of the women and also to talk to the women, to look at the shoes of the women and to know the names of the women. Who gives these fatwa? Who gives the fatwa that even the names of the women and the voices of the women are aurat? In my opinion, all these fatwa were given only by the ulama of Jemaah Tabligh. The followers of Jemaah Tabligh who obey their ulama blindly spread these wrong practices to the whole world. The followers of Jemaah Tabligh obey their ulama blindly. The followers of Jemaah Tabligh obey the orders of their ulama more strictly than even they obey the orders of Allah and Muhammad saw. In my opinion, the followers of Jemaah Tabligh are being brain washed by their ulama so that they will obey the order of their ulama blindly. What are the teachings of Islam? In Islam, Muslims are thought to obey only the orders of Allah and Muhammad saw blindly but the followers of Jemaah Tabligh are thought to obey the orders of their ulama blindly. It is the belief of the followers of Jemaah Tabligh that to obey the orders of their ulama blindly is the path of their success in this world and in the hereafter. The followers of Jemaah Tabligh believe their ulama are the only persons in this world who know the wishes of Allah and therefore to follow the wishes of their ulama mean to follow the wishes of Allah.
Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
October 2013
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre