What is Hijab? by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

INTRODUCTION
Now religion has become a more personal thing, I CHOOSE my religion, anyone can only suggest to me but I will make my own decisions. We may be in the same religion but we don't see it the same way

And now because of the Internet, every and all kinds of info are available, in past times everybody was living in their own bubble nobody knew a different opinion from theirs

We don't really question culture usually,we don't really ask why we eat certain kinds of food in certain countries,why we have certain festivals etc.

Now we dare to question religion and ask so many questions that our ancestors would be shocked with

Countries like Pakistan really used to protect their religion and stay within it,but the next generation called for freedom and drew the line of religion for themselves, and some of them moved to countries like America, and they assumed that their children would also be muslims but their children ended up experiencing a new kind of religious freedom,so these societies only have traces have religion left

Now some of them may want to come back to religion, and they have no roots because their forefathers never really understood islam,they just followed it as a culture without questioning,so now this generation will make its own religion according to their personal understanding,they will  be experimental,that is a fact

First thing first, we have to accept reality,and then we have to figure out how to deal with it

Purpose is not to convince others to wear Hijab, you should just try to strengthen their imaan and convinctions and then these things will fall into place on their own so don't stress about hijab in particular, build the foundation first

Going easy in religion does not mean that you change the quran for them,or you keep things from them,they are not babies, going easy means that you give them time to change

OVERALL CONTEXT

In this Surah we find out what light is and what are the elements of darkness
This Surah has a lot of ehkaamat, if we dont abide by these rules it will have spiritual consequences

In Badr, Makkans got beaten,Uhud went their way a bit,and then in Ahzaab they wanted to annihilate madinah and they gathered reports from neutral tribes and a lesion of tribes and told them they would win and get lots of booty,but then they lost although they had to spend weeks and weeks ,this really demoralized them

And now in Hudaiybiya they went unarmed to them for Hajj, the makkans could have killed them,but they were so afraid after the ahzaab,that they signed a treaty with muslims,and when you make a treaty then you admit that the other group is a serious party,and not someone you can ignore,now they became a force to reckon with

They decided to use 3 strategies to cripple the muslims strength and morale

1)Hypocrites raised a scandal that the prophet SAWW married Hazrat Zainab because he liked her and he got her divorced from hazrat zaid(his so called son)
2)There was a servant of Hazrat Umar RA,his name was jahja,and he got into a fight with an ansari Sanaan bin jahni over some water,Sanaan called out the Ansaar,Sanaan called out to the Ansaaris..Jahja called out the Muhajiroon,so it was a rift between Muhajiroon and Ansaar, Abdullah ibn ubay said that look hoe generous we have been and how they thanks us, and he tried to ruin their unity
3)hazrat ayesha RA got lost and forgot her necklace and had to go back for it and there was a whole scandal about it

Surah noor and ahzaab treat with problem 1 and 3 very extensively
Surah noor is extremely important to shape the personality of women,and Prophet SAWW especially said that we should teach women surah noor
Whoever reads Surah noor will get the reward 10-fold of every believing man and woman that lived or will live

Laws are the worst case scenarios, Morals are for the best case scenarios
When Allah mentions laws its for the worst people to remember their place,and when he mentions morals they are for the best of people

BREAKDOWN OF SURAH NOOR:
Hadh us zina 1-3
Hadh ul qazaf 4-5
Hadh ul liaan 6-10
Case study 11-26
Manners of seeking permission 27-29
Protective measures for oneself 30-31
Call for one getting married 32-34
Light versus darkness 35-40
Allahs creative powers  41-46



Now this is a transition from laws to moral codes,worst to the best

KHIMAAR PART 1

Sahih International

Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do.

24:31

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Sahih International

And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers 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.

Women should cover themselves because men cant help themselves is not a true statement in the Quran,Quran doesnt use this rationale when it talks about Hijaab

Allah says tell the believing men, he is instructing through the Prophet SAWW because its very important to obey the messenger
>Allah used the noun momin here and not yaa ayyahulazeena aamanoo the word,because momin is a noun and its a permnanent sift as compared to a verb,so Allah is saying that if you do it then you will be a momin

>Then ghada is used,which means keeping a soft eye, we shouldn't stare around,we become conscious of the fact that there is a lot of evil around us so we don't look here and there for no reason
And in the previous ayah,it was about going to someones house and seeking permission,so this is especially relevant when going to someones house,and also a general principle,so this ayah is about social settings,what your behavior should be in social settings
Allah knows the cheating of the eye and whats hidden in the heart,so dont think that nobodys looking at you so you can keep staring and gawking

>Basar is different from taraf,basar is to have full view of something,taraf is just to have a side view of something
Allah is saying that you have the full view of it but then you guard your gaze and don't look

>Guard your privates, if you do not guard your gaze you cannot guard your privates,thats even proven through research and psychology now

>You make schemes to get the perfect girl,You don't just do it abruptly, You cook plans, and theres a lot of planning involved between yaguddoo and protecting privates, thats why Allah says he is acquainted with what you do, Sun-aa is the word used for manufacturing,whatever excuses you manufacture

>That is purer for them..zaalika azkaa lahum, so this is a way to get tazkiya,what we see affects us deeply..what kind of movies you are watching,what kind of things you are watching in the mall, in public, everything will affect your imaan

>Allah used the same ayah for women,but he uses zaalika azkaa lahum for men because its even more important for men and its a greater problem for them

KHIMAAR PART 2

Women begin to look for appreciation,they develop Ujub when they think they look beautiful, thats why Allah said twice to not expose their adornment
Now women generally dress provocatively,they dress in mini clothes in freezing cold, why do they do that? because they want to look beautiful,they want to explore their physical beautyell
Prophet SAWW described it as a sign of judgement day: dressed but naked/not clothed

Allah first mentioned Jilbaab in Surah ehzaab then Khimaar in Surah noor, Jilbaab is for covering the rest of the body,and Khimaar is for the headcover, so first we need to cover the body
This hukm came much later in Quran, while shame was mentioned countless times,because once we develop shame we truly appreciate khimaar and jilbaab

When you become obsessed with yourself, you don't have time left for Allah, you think too much about yourself, you become impressed with yourself and feeling the urge to express your physical beauty, and feeling worthless if you think others dont appreciate your beauty,you become so obsessed with your body that you forget your soul

If somebody tells you that you are not beautiful then it ruins your sense of self worth,so Allah says that dont expose your beauty except what appears itself,so Allah is telling you that everyone is beautiful, if everyone wasnt beautiful then everyone wouldn't need to hide their beauty,but all of this takes imaan

Allah didnt use 2nd person amar but Allah used 3rd person amar,in fact he asked the Prophet SAWW to communicate it,what was the point? Allah said that they should do it,so it means that this applies when you will be on your own,the Prophet SAWW won't be watching you all the time,your parents will not be watching you, your positively influencing company wont be with you all the time, you have to fulfill that AMAR and hukm there! there will be lack of supervision, 2nd person amar in contrast is used to order when the person is present with you(don't do xyz) and it shows supervision

>Zaahir means whats obvious e.g. the height,the basic physique,her presence,hands etc

>KHIMAAR...
CONCEALING
khaa maa raa means to conceal something/hide something/completely envelop

khammara wajhuhu means to cover the face
khammara inaa-ak means to cover the lid
khammara baiytuhu means to hide your home/where you live
akhmaral qaum when an entire group is hiding or camouflaged
khammara shahadatahu means to conceal evidence/testimony
khamira anni iilal khabar means the news was hidden from me completely
khamara is also used for a place where wolves hide
khamar is also used in the sense of secrecy,keeping a secret,or hiding something
khamara also has the meaning of shyness

INTOXICATION
the 2nd meaning it is used in is that it conceals your mind and your ability to think,so the same root words are used for drinking
It covers up the intellect

khamira means when your head is full of some emotion or something

Khumra is a smell that makes you high, it is also used for women who have an intoxicating smell,because of intense perfume for e.g.

MIXING
because the headcover and the pardah we use mixes with us,it becomes a part of us that we are associated with it

SOMETHING TO INVADE OR TAKE OVER
e.g. the disease infected and took over him

CHANGE
it also means to change,one who puts khimaar on also changes,he changes
Ikhtimaar is used for maturity and change,it is also used for maturity of wine

khumra is used for make up,which is something to beautify us,hence khimaar is also a beautification and it changes us

Istikhmaar means to make someone a slave,its a radical transformation from changing someone who was free to someone who is a slave

Khimaar by definition covers your head,just like a sock is used to cover your feet,you dont need to mention that the sock is for the foot,just like that you dont need to mention that the khimaar covers the head

Khumr also refers to a turban,that covers the mans head

Khimaars length is linguistically till the stomach..the women of jahiliyyah used to throw the khimaar on their backs instead of over their chests

>ghufaarata= a scarf that goes up to chest
>Naseef=up to waist
>Miqna=up to knee
>Mijar=below knee
>Rida al jilbaab=head to toe
Ghitaa means any of these
Hijaab does not mean any of these,it means a barrier
Burqa means something that covers everything except eyes
Niqabs purpose is to not let people know who you are, niqab covers the soft part of the nose
Ligaam is when it covers the edge of the nose
waswasa is the niqab which is right at the eye
Lisaam means to cover the lips

>Hazrat abdullah bin masood  is of the view that khimaar includes face

Surah Baqarah 86-87

2:86

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Sahih International

Those are the ones who have bought the life of this world [in exchange] for the Hereafter, so the punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be aided.

2:87

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Sahih International

And We did certainly give Moses the Torah and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed.

You do one thing in deen really well and complete ignore another aspect of deen,and you think you're doing great,suppose somebody is really regular in salaah but is not a responsible father and husband..this is called taking one part of deen and ignoring others,OR you could be really particular about eating halal meat,and not worrying about the money from which you are getting that meat

Instead of using deen to serve Allah,we want the deen to serve us

For such people,there will no takhfeef and the punishment will not be made lighter for them

Allah has said in the Quran that the purpose of religious principles is to lighten your burden and not to make it hard,but you have chosen to have difficulty in both this life and the next,now you are not going to be helped

The first messenger to bani israel was MUSA AS and the last messenger was Hazrat ISA AS, Allah mentioned the first and the last to imply the whole chain,its like a string of beads which Allah fortified

Every time we sent a messenger,you became arrogant and sought your own arrogance,you felt your preference was greater than what was taught by the messenger

Every time there came a messenger they lied against them,they said i am not going to obey what you said,this is just you talking,im not going to take you seriously,they even killed prophets
our legacy is very similar to bani israel like two shoes, we follow bani israel by rejecting out ulema because ulema are the wurasa of the anbiya,ulema are also here to renew the spirit of islam,some of the greatest ulema of history were tortured,enslaved,publicly humiliated and killed at the hands of muslims

Surah Baqarah 65-72

Sahih International: And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."

Sahih International: And We made it a deterrent punishment for those who were present and those who succeeded [them] and a lesson for those who fear Allah.

Quran tells a story that is not retained in the Biblical account.  Jews violated Allah's laws in the matter of the sabbath. Allah turned them into apes. Khaashieen means that they turned into the kind of animals that people want to turn away from(despised).
They used to violate the matters of sabbath. it is sabt in urdu. It comes from the word subaat which means to cut. When we sleep we are cut off from all activity (so it is said in the quran we made your sleep into a subaat). This day sabt is called sabt because they were supposed to discontinue all financial activity on this day and just worship Allah azza wa jal. It is similar to the concept (Cut yourself off from everything else and turn to Allah exclusively) which was said to Prophet SAWW to pray Tahajjud/ do zika etc.

The primary economy of jews was fishing so it was important for them.  The Sabbath was for jews just as the time of jumah is for us ( in which Allah SWT asks us to leave trade behind). Some people pray only jumah or EID prayer and gradually lose contact with deen. They didn't think it was a big deal to fish on sabbath. The fish would literally be jumping out of the water on the day of sabbath just to tempt them. There was not enough fish on other days. This was a trial for them. Allah made Saturday the juiciest for them to test them. They were corrupt since a long time so that is why Allah gave them such difficult tests. Whoever wants to be corrupt, Allah increases them in corruption by opening doors for them. Allah only does this to those who are always addicted to sins.

And ask them about the town that was by the sea - when they transgressed in [the matter of] the sabbath - when their fish came to them openly on their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient.

And when a community among them said, "Why do you advise [or warn] a people whom Allah is [about] to destroy or to punish with a severe punishment?" they [the advisors] said, "To be absolved before your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him."

And when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who wronged, with a wretched punishment, because they were defiantly disobeying.

So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, "Be apes, despised."

(Surah aria 163 onwards)

There were 3 groups of Jews. One who were involved in this sin. One who didn't care. One who were trying to stop the jews from this disobedience. A group from them said that why do you even give advice to them, they are a lost cause do don't bother about them as Allah has destined punishment for them. The people who gave advice said at least we will have some excuse before your RABB. A similar attitude is found in muslims who sometimes give up on people and don't bother enjoining good and forbidding evil. Our job is to advise people but we don't have to force anyone as a reminder is enough. WE HAVE NO right to lose people who are sinning. We never know when they make taubah. We should NOT be judgemental.  The people who sinned were reminded that they were sinning and the people who didn't care were reminded that they should care. Allah only rescued that group who used to speak out against people. The one who sees sin and remains silent is part of the group who is on the wrong path. Passive attitude is not acceptable in our deen as we are supposed to think and care about everyone. They became like apes because apes have no shame and they have no control over their appetite and they apparently stand like humans but are very wild.

The people who invite people to good should not do it out of a superiority complex and they should not talk down to people. They should take this as a heavy responsibility and they should do it because they know they will be held answerable for it.  We shouldn't tell people to do things we are not doing ourselves. But we should invite people to that which we are trying to do ourselves and we should clarify that we are not perfect ourselves. We are just trying to be better collectively. Don't wait till you are perfect to give advice. That day will never come. Religion is all about struggling to do what's right and trying your best.

Some tafaseer say they were literally transformed into apes and that's more authentic. Some mufassir said that it is an expression to describe that they became wild. Just like we say gadhay,bandy etc.

2:67

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Sahih International

And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."

2:68

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Sahih International

They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[ Allah ] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor virgin, but median between that,' so do what you are commanded."

2:69

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Sahih International

They said, "Call upon your Lord to show us what is her color." He said, "He says, 'It is a yellow cow, bright in color - pleasing to the observers.' "

2:70

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Sahih International

They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is. Indeed, [all] cows look alike to us. And indeed we, if Allah wills, will be guided."

2:71

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Sahih International

He said, "He says, 'It is a cow neither trained to plow the earth nor to irrigate the field, one free from fault with no spot upon her.' " They said, "Now you have come with the truth." So they slaughtered her, but they could hardly do it.

2:72

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Sahih International

And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but Allah was to bring out that which you were concealing.

It is for sure Allah who commands you that you should slaughter a cow,this is to make it obvious that the messenger does not ask anything on his own,it is a command from Allah

among the israelities there was a dispute and someone was killed and nobody knew for sure who the murderer was and this issue was becoming so big that there was going to be a civil outbreak,then they went to hazrat musa AS for a solution and hazrat musa AS was told by Allah to slaughter a cow,thats why they said are you making a mockery of us?messengers dont make jokes in matters related to commandments and this question was actually questioning Allah Himself,thats why hazrat Musa was overwhelmed and said that I seek refuge that I become Jahill/ignorant(Jahil means someone who has no control over their emotions and no self restraint, and it also means someone who has no knowledge, this is the opposite of Aaqil).

Now we have started to make jokes about things that are essential in religion,if we can joke about something then it means we have started to take it non seriously,we should not encourage such jokes which are a mockery of deen. We are not supposed to ask the rationale behind every revelation God gave. We can ask questions regarding why to believe n Quran, Allah, Messenger SAWW. We are not supposed to question everything e.g. why are there 3 rajah in maghreb and not 4. We are not supposed to try to question Allah's decisions. We are supposed to SAMINA WA ATANA. We can only ask how to do something.

Allah simply asked them to slaughter a cow,but they just tried to make a joke out of it, and they didnt even want to do it,just ask a lot of questions and then he will say forget it i will do it myself,or they wanted to have fun by mocking it. They found it funny so that is why they asked such questions.

He went back to Allah and ALLAH said that it should not be too young ,not too old, everytime they asked a question Musa AS had to go to toor and have a conversation with Allah and ask. Allah just let Musa AS play along and increase them in misguidance. Too old cow does not have enough milk and vigour. Too young a cow cannot really plough the fields. If Allah has kept something simple, we should not complicate it for ourselves by asking stupid questions in deen. Such a cow was more expensive and harder to find.

FAIL means something you dont think about,you just do it..Musa AS used this word here that stop asking questions,stop overthinking and just do as you are told
AMAL is something that you first think about and you consciously do it e.g. when you are driving

Allah tells that the cow should be yellow in colour,which is not a very common colour

The more questions you ask about something that was meant to be simple,the  more you end up complicating it,and secondly the questions were not asked with the niyyah of understanding it,you arent asking the messenger,rather you are questioning the messenger,the question tellls about the psychology of the questioner,it is questioning the integrity of our prophet SAWW

it is especially brilliant and pleases those who look at it for a long time,meaning it catches the attention of people for a long time,eye catching

now they ask how should it be?it is becoming confusing for us,we need more guidance so that we can get to the cow, now they have some speck of sincerity because now they actually want the answer thats why Allah eventually let them get to the cow

Allah says its a cow that hasnt been milked,not put to work ,not tilledd the soil,it should also be spotless. Why would such a cow never be put to use? Allah made it more and more difficult for them.

they eventually found this cow with a boy who had gotten it in inheritance,he refused to give it and then they had to pay a lot of gold to get it,so it cost them so much more than it would have had they not questioned
they were almost not going to slaughter but then they actually had to do it because the situation was so bad

Now Allah says when all of you killed the man,why did Allah say ALL of you?because all of them were involved in the injustice,the whole society was responsible,they were going to fight over it and even end up killing one another,so Allah says that he solved it,and cleared what they were hiding

Allah says that the things you have been hiding,Allah continues to reveal them and bring them out,this shows that Allah didnt just do it in this particular case but he continues to do it in the future,it is also a warning for us

Sahih International: So, We said, "Strike the slain man with part of it." Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason.

Sahih International: Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.