By Humairah Habib
œIslam is the way of life
The above quote perfectly says the idea that we have to do things according to Islam. It includes our daily activities such as eating, drinking, way of clothing, sleeping, etc. There are certain non-Muslims who misunderstood Islam as a religion that is oppressive and sexist while in Islam, we emphasised about equality according to what Allah has stated in Quran. It does not matter about the skin colour race, sex or creed.
As we can see women who wear hijab have been discriminated and been oppressed just because they bring identity as Muslims. We can see this kind of situation in countries where Muslims are the minorities. In addition, it does not only happened outside of the country, even in Malaysia there are few restrictions for hijab women to be working in a company. There are cases where these hijab women were asked to open their hijab in order to be accepted as a worker. Unfortunately, a few of them follow the instructions without any hesitation just because they fear of not getting the job.
Islam asked women to cover themselves not because of tradition or just mere identity of Muslims but there are a lot of wisdom behind it. One of them is to protect women itself. As we can see nowadays there are lot of rape cases happening around us. Some of the women said that men are at fault for such cases. In fact, we should put the blame on both men and women. When women wear such revealing and tight attire, surely it will attract men. Therefore, Islam has the guidelines for women in attire.
Furthermore, Allah already stated in the Quran in Surah Al-Ahzab, verse 59:
œO Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughter and the women of the believers that they let down upon them their over-garment; this will be more proper.
Also, in Surah An-Nur, verse 31:
œAnd let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms
This proves that Allah has made it important for women to cover themselves. Besides, the main principle of hijab is modesty which has been neglected by women nowadays. Modesty means that you should wear attire appropriately and not revealing the shape of your body. There are lots of Muslim women who wrap their body with such tight clothes. As a wise woman, you should wear something loose and covering, not wrapping yourself tightly.
In terms of marriage and engagement, the womans side should be the one who is receiving rather than giving. It is the duty of the man to pay for marital gift. The Quran calls it as a gift and it belongs to the women not men. Also, if the woman has any earnings during the marital life, it belongs exclusively to her. Even if the wife is richer than the husband, the duty of giving support and maintenance belongs to him. The wife does not have to spend any money.
Last but not least, Islam emphasises the rights of women in almost every aspect. We ought to respect women in every single thing. Even the Prophet who had great honour and fame still respected women no matter where it was.
Allah has raised the women level in every aspect in life, therefore, as women, we should keep it raising and not doing things that will make us at the bottom. ***