Improper dress for women and intermingling between sexes
I bear Witness that there is no deity but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad if His Messenger
The greatest and most important of all the favors and blessings bestowed by
Allaah is Islam and the honorable Islamic law, which is derived from the
Book of Allaah and the Prophetic Sunnah. This Law has outlined all that
which is beneficial for mankind in this life and the Hereafter.
One of the virtues of this Law is that its rules and regulations have
clearly laid out preventions of all evil and immorality, and all the roads
that lead to it which is a protection of the truth and morality. There are
many issues for which this Law has laid out preventative measures so that
people will not fall into evil, for example on some of the issues of faith,
acts of worship and transactions.
However, the most obvious of all of these preventative measures are those
related to women and the limits that Allaah has defined for them not to
exceed. Islam has clearly laid the guidelines for the Muslim woman to adhere
to so that her personality remains distinct and her safety, purity, and good
conduct are assured.
The correct dress and covering for women and the prohibition of them
intermixing with men are the two most important interconnected preventative
measures that Islam has laid out. Muslims must submit to the rulings which
oblige women to properly cover in order to protect their chastity and
purity, maintain shyness and protect them from being harassed or bothered,
as Allaah says (what means): {O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters
and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their
outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known [as chaste
believing women] and not be abused. And ever is Allaah Forgiving and
Merciful} [Quran 33: 59].
In this verse, Allaah addressed the wives of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi
wa sallam, who were the furthest from immorality and evil actions; they were
purest and most pious women ever and were honored by the virtue of being
married to the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.
Muslims must also adhere and submit to the rulings which prohibit
intermixing mixing between men and women. There are many Islamic texts in
this regard, such as the Hadeeth which is narrated by 'Uqbah Ibn 'Aamir
that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said: "Do not enter into the
presence of women." A man from the Ansaar then retorted: 'What about our
in-laws' - referring to the relatives of a woman's husband such as his
brothers, cousins, and their children, so the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam, replied: "The in-laws are death" [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim] which means
that they are more harmful to women than death is to the soul. The previous
evidence came from the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, whose words
were nothing but revelation. So how could anybody ever accept anyone else's
opinion over this?
Why is it that the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam lined up the rows
of men for prayers in the mosque separate from the women, and described the
rows, as narrated by Abu Hurayrah by saying: "The best rows [in the mosque]
are the first rows, and the worst are the last, and the best rows [in the
mosque] for women are last the rows, and the worst are the first." [Muslim].
This affirms the obligation of separating men from women, and keeping them
far apart. If this is the way believing men and women should be during an
act of worship inside the mosque, then how much more so is it necessary in
places outside the mosques, where gatherings might include evil and sinful
people along with the good people?
The Muslim nation must not slight these texts because the evil consequences
which these texts are aiming to prevent society from still very much exist,
and there is nothing that would prevent such evils from occurring in our
time which did not exist at the time of the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam
Moreover, the people whom the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam
addressed in these narrations were the best generation of the Muslim nation
according to his own testimony, as was mentioned in many narrations. So, has
the need for such texts and their warnings vanished in our time? Is it not a
clear fact that in fact we need these texts and warnings even more than that
generation did? This is especially so because of the dangers of evil in our
time becoming more widespread and its means being more diverse.
It is usually the case that people honor any set of laws which they perceive
as being beneficial to them, especially when these laws prevent evil or harm
from befalling them when applied; moreover, people do not mind if these laws
include certain restrictions on their freedom and impose penalties for those
who disobey or transgress the defined limits. Why is it the case that some
of those who believe in Allaah and His Messenger deal with Islamic Law with
suspicion and uncertainty. Some of these people even go as far as to demand
that it should be abolished, despite the fact that this Law includes all
that which is beneficial to mankind and prevents, or at least reduces, all
that which brings harm?
It is not permitted for anyone to discuss and pass judgment regarding this
issue without having the proper Islamic knowledge to be able to do so. Nor
should they base their discussion and opinion on unfounded claims with no
evidence, or simply argue on the basis of their base desires. Rather, one
should be sincere and free themselves from their base desires which will
divert them far away from the truth. In addition, one must have a broad
knowledge of Islam and possess the ability to differentiate between
authentic and weak evidences, possess a clear understanding of the relevant
evidences as well as the ability to properly extract Islamic rulings from
these evidences; only then can a person become eligible to discuss this
issue.
The outcome of what we say or write is the matter which we must fear the
most, and are extremely wary of its consequence, as the Prophet sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam, clarified to Mu'aath Ibn Jabal after he had asked with
astonishment: "Will we be held responsible for all that we say?" The Prophet
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, replied: "What do you think makes people land
on their faces or noses into the Hellfire more than the product of their
tongues?" [Ahmad, Abu Daawood & At-Tirmithi].
http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=135819