Muslim Men Pushing Muslim Women in the Wrong Direction
A video related to the problems faced by the Muslim women because of the Muslim men increasingly opting to marry non-Muslim women in the West. This is causing a decrease in the availability of suitable men the Muslimah can marry. This video addresses this issue and gives important advice along with a ruling of Hazrat Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (ra) where he forbade companions to marry from among the People of the Book as he feared that if everyone does that then who would marry the Muslim women:
The Hijab for the Men and Women
The Hijab for the Men and Women
By Ebrahim Saifuddin
It is important to first understand whether the hijab is a command from Allah (swt) or not. We should also have an idea of what is meant by the hijab and whether it is only the women who are given this command or not. When one reads the Quran it is seen that the women and men both are instructed to practice the Hijab. Men are given their specific instructions and women are given theirs. Prophet Muhammad (saw) taught his Ummah how to observe this Hijab. He told us what it includes and what it excludes. The order for hijab for the women is found in Surah Nur 24:31.
Hijab for the Women
The transliteration of the Ayah Surah Nur 24:31:
Wa qul li al-mu’minat yaghdudna min absarihinna wa yahfazna furujahunna wa laa yubdina zenatahunna illa maa zahara min haa wal-yadribna bi khumur ihinna ala juyubihinna; wa laa yubdina zenatahunna illa li bu’ulatihinna aw aba’ihinna aw aba’i bu’ulatihinna aw abna’ihinna aw abna’i bu’ulatihinna aw ikhwanihinna aw bani ikhwanihinna aw bani akhawatihinna aw nisa’ihinna aw maa malakat aymanu hunna aw at-tabi’ina ghayri ulu’l-irbat min ar-rijal aw at-tifl alladhina lam yazharu ala awrat an-nisa wa laa yadribna bi arjulihinna li yu’lama maa yukhfina min zenatahinna. Wa tubu ilaAllahi jami’an, ayyuha al-mu’minun la’allakum tuflihun
Translation is as follows:
And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss. – [Yusuf Ali 24:31]
Interfaith Marriages – Why can’t a Muslim Woman marry a non-Muslim Man?
Interfaith Marriages – Why can’t a Muslim Woman marry a non-Muslim Man?
By Ebrahim Saifuddin
People often ask the question that if Muslim men are allowed to marry non-Muslim women, why Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men. Firstly it is important to point out that Muslim men are not allowed to marry any non-Muslim women. The only people with whom the Muslim man is allowed to marry are from the People of the Book i.e. those who have faith in the previous revelations informed by Allah(swt).
“… (lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time, – when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).” – [Quran 5:5]
Hazrat Zainab (ra)
Hazrat Zainab (ra)
By Ebrahim Saifuddin
Hazrat Zainab was one of the most knowledgeable Muslim women. The daughter of the fourth Caliph Hazrat Ali (ra) was respected a lot for her knowledge. She obtained her knowledge from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and when Hazrat Ali (ra) moved to Kufa, the women there sought his permission through their husbands to allow them to acquire knowledge from Hazrat Zainab (ra). She became known as ‘The Wise Lady of the Hashim Clan’ (Aqeelat-al-Bani Hashim). This taught the Muslim world that Islam allows women to get education unlike the culture prevalent in those days which practiced the oppression of women and prevented them from getting any education. The life of Hazrat Zainab (ra) teaches the Muslims some very important lessons. Since times immemorial till present as is seen in many cultures, women are oppressed and normally parents do not wish to waste money on their education because they feel it is not important. However when examples are taken from the history of Islamic personalities, it becomes clear that women had full rights to obtain education and even impart that education i.e. become teachers. Fourteen hundred years ago when people would bury female babies, oppress women and consider them not to be wise, Hazrat Zainab (ra) was one of the Muslim women who proved that women were as intelligent and capable as any man. Her intelligence was without any comparison and no male could match up with her knowledge and wisdom. Imam Ali Zayn-ul-Abideen (ra) gave her the name ‘Alimah Ghair Mualimmah’ which would roughly mean ‘scholar without a teacher’. Her brothers Imam Hasan (ra) and Imam Hussain (ra) respected her and her knowledge a lot. She had an active role in society and would teach the women of Medina about Islam and imparted to them her knowledge of the Quran and Islam. Her ability to teach with clarity became well known for which she was further given the titles ‘Baligah’ and ‘Fasihah’ meaning ‘intensely eloquent’ and ‘skillfully fluent’. Her life was devoted to the Muslim community and she did not show any attachment to the material gains even though her husband was a wealthy man. She led a modest life without the luxuries and only the necessities.
