Tag: Aurat

  • JAIS Compares Women To Houses, Asserts That Women Should Cover Aurat To Prevent Rape And Other Form Of Harassment

    JAIS Compares Women To Houses, Asserts That Women Should Cover Aurat To Prevent Rape And Other Form Of Harassment

    KUALA LUMPUR ― Muslim women should cover up their “aurat” to prevent rape and other forms of sexual harassment, Selangor’s Islamic authority said in its Friday sermon today.

    The sermon, prepared by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and available to mosques statewide, also compared women who do not cover up to homes which are left unlocked, and therefore are liable to break-ins by robbers.

    “The easiest comparison we can take is a house which was left by its residents who returned to their hometown. House A was left with its windows and doors properly locked, its fences secured with padlocks. Meanwhile, House B was left open and carelessly abandoned.

    “Which house would robbers love and break into? Surely house B because it was exposed and made it easy for external elements to intrude. Therefore, that was a simple analogy for women who cover up their ‘aurat’,” said the sermon.

    “Aurat” in Malay refers to “intimate body parts” that Muslims must cover with clothing; exposing these is considered sinful.

    According to contemporary Muslim teachings, Muslim women’s “aurat” towards unrelated men is their whole body except their faces and both palms.

    Friday prayers are attended almost exclusively by Muslim men in Malaysia.

    Jais claimed covering up would help women to stop themselves from being harassed physically and mentally, in addition to preventing negative ills such as rape, illicit sex and incest.

    The sermon also refuted claims that the Islamic practice of covering up suppresses individual rights, blaming so-called “enemies of Islam” for perpetuating the notion.

    “Allah prohibits men and women from exposing their aurat not to restrict their freedom, but because Allah exalt and appreciate them. No man or woman are persecuted by covering their aurat, but exposing it means being cruel to themselves and destructing others,” it added.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Hukum Hijab Bagi Wanita Islam

    Hukum Hijab Bagi Wanita Islam

    Hijab, atau bertudung, merupakan satu amalan yang diterima sebagai sesuatu yang fardhu oleh kebanyakkan kita di Malaysia dan negara-negara Muslim lain.

    Anjuran untuk berhijab ini disokong oleh dalil-dalil daripada Al-Quran dan Hadith yang menurut saya tidak perlu dihuraikan dengan panjang lebar lagi.

    Namun saya tertarik untuk membawa perhatian kita kepada perbahasan alternatif seputar isu Hijab yang jarang sekali diketengahkan dalam wacana keislaman di Malaysia.

    Hijab dalam Al-Quran

    Anjuran untuk memakai Hijab dapat kita temui di dalam Surah Al-Nuur ayat 31 yang menyatakan:

    “Katakanlah kepada wanita-wanita mukminah hendaklah mereka menahan pandangan mereka dan memelihara kemaluan mereka dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka kecuali yang zahir daripadanya; dan hendaklah mereka menutup belahan leher bajunya dengan tudung kepala mereka; dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka melainkan kepada suami mereka, atau bapa mereka atau bapa mertua mereka atau anak-anak mereka, atau anak-anak tiri mereka, atau saudara-saudara mereka, atau anak bagi saudara-saudara mereka yang lelaki, atau anak bagi saudara-saudara mereka yang perempuan, atau perempuan-perempuan Islam, atau kepada lelaki yang tidak berkeinginan kepada perempuan, atau kanak-kanak yang belum mengerti lagi tentang aurat perempuan; dan janganlah mereka menghentakkan kaki untuk diketahui orang akan apa yang tersembunyi dari perhiasan mereka; dan bertaubatlah kamu sekalian kepada Allah, wahai orang-orang yang beriman, supaya kamu berjaya”

    Dan di dalam Surah Al-Ahzab ayat 59, Allah memerintahkan:

    “Wahai Nabi, suruhlah isteri-isterimu dan anak-anak perempuanmu serta perempuan-perempuan yang beriman, supaya melabuhkan pakaiannya bagi menutup seluruh tubuhnya (semasa mereka keluar); cara yang demikian lebih sesuai untuk mereka dikenal maka dengan itu mereka tidak diganggu. Dan (ingatlah) Allah adalah Maha Pengampun, lagi Maha Mengasihani.”

    Inilah dasar pijakan hukum yang menjadi asas kepada perintah agar perempuan-perempuan Muslimah untuk menutup rambutnya dan melabuhkan tudungnya sehingga menutupi dada.

    Aurat berdasarkan fiqh klasik

    Aurat ditakrifkan sebagai kekurangan atau sesuatu yang memalukan dan mengaibkan dari anggota tubuh badan sekiranya di dedahkan untuk tatapan umum.

    Menurut Imam Al-Nawawi di dalam Al-Majmu’ Syarh Al-Muhazzab, aurat diertikan sebagai anggota tubuh manusia yang menurut pandangan umum buruk atau mengaibkan sekiranya diperlihatkan kepada umum dan sekiranya dibiarkan terbuka akan menimbulkan fitnah.

    Fitnah yang dimaksudkan oleh Al-Nawawi adalah fitnah seksual, oleh yang demikian majoriti ulama’ berpendapat bahawa aurat wajib ditutup.

    Sekiranya kita meneliti perbahasan fiqh tentang aurat, terutamanya aurat perempuan. Kita akan menemui perbezaan di antara batas aurat perempuan merdeka (Al-Hurrah) dan batas aurat hamba (Al-Amah).

    Di dalam Mazhab Syafie, batas aurat perempuan merdeka adalah keseluruhan tubuh mereka kecuali muka dan tapak tangan.

    Bahkan Al-Muzani menambah bahawa tapak kaki perempuan juga bukan termasuk dalam batas aurat yang harus ditutup.

    Begitu juga pendapat tentang batas aurat perempuan merdeka menurut Mazhab Maliki, walaubagaimanapun menurut Muhammad Bin Abdullah Al-Maghribi sekiranya perempuan merdeka tersebut merasa bimbang terhadap fitnah, maka ia harus menutup muka dan tapak tangannya.

    Manakala menurut Ibnu Qudamah batas aurat perempuan menurut Mazhab Hanbali adalah keseluruhan tubuh badannya bahkan menurut Abu Bakr Al-Harits, keseluruhan tubuh perempuan adalah aurat termasuklah kukunya.

    Batas aurat perempuan merdeka dan perempuan hamba

    Manakala batasan aurat bagi perempuan hamba menurut Imam Al Nawawi boleh dibahagikan kepada tiga pendapat.

    Pertama, majoriti ulama’ Syafieyah menyatakan bahawa batas aurat bagi perempuan hamba adalah sama seperti batasan aurat lelaki merdeka, iaitu di antara pusat sehingga lutut.

    Kedua, menurut Al-Thabari batas aurat perempuan hamba sama seperti batas aurat perempuan merdeka kecuali kepala tidak wajib ditutupi.

    Ketiga, aurat perempuan hamba adalah sama dengan perempuan merdeka kecuali bahagian tubuh badan yang diperlukan untuk membuat kerja seperti kepala, leher dan lengan.

    Al-Marghinani dalam kitabnya Al-Hidayah Syarh Al-Bidayah menyatakan bahawa batas aurat lelaki adalah sama dengan batas aurat perempuan hamba, perut dan punggung perempuan hamba dan lelaki adalah aurat.

    Selain dari itu seluruh tubuhnya adalah bukan aurat. Kesimpulan ini dibuat berdasarkan kisah Umar Al Khatab yang telah memerintahkan agar Daffar (seorang hamba perempuan) untuk membuka tudung kepalanya. Umar bertanya kepada Daffar – “Adakah engkau ingin menyerupai perempuan merdeka?”

    Menurut Al-Marghinani lagi, aurat perempuan hamba tidak sama dengan perempuan merdeka kerana pada kebiasaannya hamba perempuan ini harus keluar dari rumah untuk melunaskan pekerjaan sebagaimana yang diarahkan oleh tuannya.

    Muhammad Ali Al-Shobuni di dalam Rawa’i Al-Bayan Tafsir Ayat Al Ahkam Min Al Quran senada dengan Al-Marghinani dalam hal aurat perempuan hamba.

    Menurut beliau perempuan hamba akan terbeban dengan urusan-urusan pekerjaan sehingga terpaksa keluar dari rumah, pergi ke pasar dan memenuhi segala keperluan tuannya. Sekiranya diperintahkan untuk berpakaian seperti perempuan Muslimah merdeka, sudah pasti ia akan menyusahkan dan membebankan hamba perempuan tersebut menyelesaikan urusan pekerjaannya.

    Sementara itu, Ibnu Hazm di dalam Al-Muhalla’ berpendapat bahawa batas aurat bagi perempuan merdeka dan perempuan hamba adalah sama dalam apa keadaan sekalipun kerana tidak ada dalil dari Al-Quran mahupun Hadith yang menyatakan perbezaan di antara batas aurat perempuan merdeka dan perempuan hamba.

    Makna aurat berbeza berdasar tafsiran

    Secara umumnya, sekiranya kita meneliti teks-teks klasik fiqh yang membahaskan tentang persoalan aurat kita pasti akan berjumpa dengan perbahasan-perbahasan tentang perbezaan aurat di antara perempuan merdeka dengan perempuan hamba.

    Dan perbezaan ini sangat ketara kerana para ulama menyatakan bahawa alasan perbezaan tersebut rata-ratanya adalah untuk memudahkan, keperluan dan mengelakkan kesulitan bagi perempuan hamba tersebut melakukan urusan kerja yang diarahkan oleh tuannya.

    Ibnu Hajar Al-Asqalani di dalam Fath-Al Bari menyatakan bahawa pakaian (Al-Malabis) adalah berbeza-beza di setiap negeri.

    Sekiranya kita meneliti dari sudut sejarah dan latar sosial masyarakat arab pada masa tersebut pakaian-pakaian seperti khimar dan jalabib sebagaimana yang disebutkan di dalam Surah Al Nuur ayat 31 merupakan pakaian kebudayaan bagi masyarakat Arab pada ketika itu.

    Muhammad Tahir Ibn Ashoor di dalam bukunya Maqasid Syariah Al Islamiyah menyatakan bahawa adat kebiasaan sesuatu kaum tidak boleh dipaksakan ke atas kaum lain atas nama agama.

    Beliau sewaktu menghuraikan Surah Al-Ahzab ayat 59 yang memerintahkan agar isteri-isteri Nabi dan perempuan beriman untuk melabuhkan jilbab mereka sehingga menutupi dada menyatakan – “Ini adalah ajaran yang mempertimbangkan adat orang-orang Arab sehingga bangsa-bangsa lain yang tidak menggunakan jilbab tidak diwajibkan atas syariat ini”.

    Makna “aurat” bergantung kepada budaya masyarakat dan zaman

    Tafsiran aurat sendiri begitu subjektif dan berbeza-beza di antara ulama’ walaupun objektif utama penutupan aurat adalah untuk mengelakkan berlakunya fitnah seksual (Khauf Al-Fitnah) terhadap perempuan.

    Pemahaman terhadap batas anggota tubuh yang membawa keaiban juga berbeza dari setiap tempat dan banyak dipengaruhi oleh keadaan budaya masyarakat setempat.

    Perempuan, sebagaimana lelaki, mempunyai hak yang sama ke atas tubuh badannya dan berhak diberikan kebebasan untuk memilih pakaian yang menurut pandangannya adalah sesuai dan mampu mengelakkan fitnah.

    Sekiranya dia memilih untuk bertudung, itu baik untuknya dan sekiranya dia memilih untuk tidak bertudung itu juga baik untuknya. Yang lebih penting ialah mereka memakai pakaian yang terhormat.

     

    Source: www.projekdialog.com

  • Man Charged For Slapping Muslim Bollywood Actress For Wearing Short Dress During Filming

    Man Charged For Slapping Muslim Bollywood Actress For Wearing Short Dress During Filming

    MUMBAI (AFP) – A man has appeared in court after slapping a Bollywood actress for wearing a short dress during the filming of a reality television show, police said Tuesday.

    The 24-year-old assaulted model and actress Gauhar Khan in Mumbai because “being a Muslim woman, she should not have worn such a short dress,” police quoted him as saying.

    He was wrested away by security guards at the shooting of “India’s Raw Star”, hosted by Khan, in north Mumbai on Sunday and then arrested.

    “The accused was produced in the court on Monday,” said assistant police inspector Sanjay Shinde at the Aarey Sub Police Station, without giving further details.

    “Since it is a matter associated with Bollywood, a senior officer is also following the progress of the probe,” he told AFP.

    Khan has appeared in several films and last year won “Big Boss”, India’s reality show equivalent to “Big Brother”.

    Treatment of women in the country has been the subject of much media attention over the past two years after a student was gang-raped and killed in the capital New Delhi.

    But people hoping for increased awareness of women’s rights would probably be sent “into the depths of despair” by the comments of the man who attacked Khan, the Mid Day newspaper said Tuesday.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • American Hijab: Donning The Hijab As a Socio-Political Statement Rather Than A symbol of Religiosity

    American Hijab: Donning The Hijab As a Socio-Political Statement Rather Than A symbol of Religiosity

    I remember donning the hijab for the first time three years ago. I say it was the first time, but really it was one of many times that I had slipped it on, standing in front of the mirror and adjusting the folds of fabric around my face. Yet this time was different. Rather than take it off after prayer or a visit to the local masjid (mosque), I was hoping to wear it regularly.

    It was sometime in winter during my freshman year of college at Northwestern, and I had spent my first three months of college searching for my place among thousands of students. Like any freshmen, I had several identifying factors that felt true, things that I felt could not go unmentioned as I sought out the people who would become my closest friends. These included everything from my taste in books and music to my leftist political stance, but also my religion.

    As a Muslim growing up in a post 9/11 world, I was accustomed to misconceptions about my religion, my race, and my identity. I was acutely aware of the way I navigated the world as a brown body, and how experiences of hate and injustice only magnified themselves when my mother (wearing hijab) or my sister (darker with characteristic African hair) accompanied me places. My body, in spite of its brown shade, was still in the liminal world of racial ambiguity, a place where I could pass into whiteness when it seemed convenient. There were few markers of my race and my religion. In spite of this, however, I had often felt that my religion was not something to be shed or stifled and hidden for the sake of others, for the sake of their comfort. I did not shy away from my heritage, my deeply Egyptian roots, the pride I felt for Africa and Arabia and Islam. They were the places that made me a blank-American, someone different.

    That day in winter, as a lonely and homesick freshman, I remembered that being different was far from wanting or choosing to be different. That, in fact, I was not in control of my narrative so long as I still sought the acceptance of those who might never want to understand me. My desire to wear hijab increased in that moment. Hijab became a symbol of my rejection of white-passing (or at the very least racial ambiguity), a privilege I was distinctly aware I had, and that I knew was not afforded to many of my fellow non-white Americans.

    While hijab has historically had a reputation of being a number of things to “the West,” rebellion has rarely been one of them. Certainly among many Muslims and in many Muslim nations it is often considered a sign of piety, or at the very least culture and respect. Yet rebellion, or perhaps a better word is resistance, is one of the many reasons many Muslims wear hijab.

    In fact, in the 1970s and ’80s, after a period of secularism, many Muslim majority countries were undergoing an Islamic revival, where the society (not the political regimes) responded to its conditions by adopting religion again. It was a reversal of the Westernisation approach, undermining the belief of my grandparents’ generation that the West was strengthening Muslim nations. My mother describes choosing the hijab in college during the ’80s, a little after this revival. Her parents, the previous generation, rejected her decision; theirs was an era where few women wore hijab, where much of the traditional clothing was left behind in favor of western attire, where alcohol was widely accepted rather than forbidden.

    Many American Muslims wear hijab much like the women of the Islamic revival, as a response to the changing times and a rejection of Western influence. While it seems counter-intuitive to wear hijab in a world that increasingly has a negative perception of Muslims, particularly when the consensus among many American Muslims is that one can be religious with our without it, there is a significant presence of American Muslim women wearing the hijab as a strong sense of identity. As one of these women, I know and have insight to a representation of hijab that is rarely portrayed — a representation that I call the American hijab, the antithesis and retaliation to whiteness and the American media, and a nod of solidarity to other people of color.

    In this sense, hijab, rather than strictly being a religious decision, is also a sociopolitical choice and representation. In spite of, or rather in response to, the negative portrayal of Muslims by those (Muslims and non-Muslims) who seek to define our narrative as one of barbaric killing and atrocity, women choose hijab — a piece of cloth that declares their identity as Muslims while simultaneously expressing their individual identity as smart, driven, successful, and independent. A simple yet powerful message. A way in which Muslim women can reclaim their narrative.

    In choosing to wear the hijab, American Muslim women reconstruct the narrative of Islam in America. More importantly, they define American Islam and celebrate its rich cultural treasures: Islamic songs by Cat Stevens after his conversion, legendary icons like Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, a deep sense of community that transcends immigrant heritage to become a new national heritage of its own, a style of hijab and clothing developed to bring together Islamic tradition from across the globe.

    This American Islam has blossomed in many forms: the Mipsters (Muslim hipsters), Muppies (Muslim Urban Professionals), IMAN (Inner-city Muslim Action Network), and many more coalitions of young Muslim Americans who bring together their cross-cultural heritage — their America and their Islam — and share it with the world on a daily basis, through creative productions, concerts, health clinics and activist movements. While each coalition and organization has its own goals, they share a young, vibrant population of men and women alike with a common religious ideology, but also a sociopolitical identity.

    In the same vein, American Muslim women have created communities for hijabi fashion. With blogs, magazines, a strong social media presence, conferences, and more, these women are the epitome of the American hijab as an intricate sociopolitical identity. Instagram is littered with photos of stylish, smart women redefining the traditional garment, following the lead of women like international popstar Yuna. In their defiance of social convention, American Muslim women wearing hijab have paved the way for others and developed a sense of social consciousness and social justice among themselves.

    While this story of resistance may seem new, it is not unique to Muslim women. It is a story that rings true for many individuals of color, whether it manifests itself as choosing to don an afro or to participate in the traditions of our non-American ancestors. It is the story of rejecting social pressure, of rejecting the influence of western media and the western world, and of choosing to openly and clearly declare our difference in a society that readily rejects us as part of its narrative.

    The choice is embracing that difference and declaring it before anyone else can. This often means representing entire worlds, but it also means liberation from the pressures that society imposes with respect to beauty, identity, race, and culture. At the end of the day when I have fears about continuing to represent my faith without trepidation, I remember that I wear my hijab for the empowerment it grants me in declaring where I stand in a world that — more often than not — is in opposition to all that I am.

    I remind myself of the power and privilege of having the choice to decide whether I am explicitly seen or unseen for my difference, and for the ability to pass. While hijab is important to me as both a religious and sociopolitical statement, it is not my skin. At the end of the day, it is a piece of fabric that can be shed. Yet it is my way of acknowledging the unique responsibility and burden that people of color share with respect to teaching others about their identities. To my brothers and sisters of color out there: solidarity

    The story first appeared on xoJane.com

    Source: http://time.com

  • MUIS Doing A Good Job – No Need To Set Up New Islamic Independent Body

    Nasiruddin Pungut
    Credit: Nasiruddin Pungut
    Credit: Nasiruddin Pungut
    Credit: Nasiruddin Pungut

    READ THIS ARTICLE FIRST TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED EARLIER ON

    The problem when you have an independent body to issue so called Islamic regulations or fatwa’s, disagreement/misunderstanding might arise, just look at our neighbouring Malaysia.

    What they face is something which Singaporeans should avoid, in their case, different states have different Muftis and sometimes their fatwas or religious opinion clash with one another. Now if Singapore has their own independent Islamic body to regulate all these issues, who exactly are the committee who will regulate all these issues? How do we know that these so called independent Ulamas come up with such regulations not for their own benefit? In fact it causes more mistrust because these so called ‘independent body’ think they are holier than thou.

     

    I think the author is just another sour-grape who has personal issues with MUIS. What MUIS has done for the Malay Muslim community in Singapore is commendable despite the lack of funding, support. The system is not perfect but it has serve its purpose bcos no system is perfect.

    Honestly if the author think covering Aurat is a major issue well think again. I would rather have a lady who never covers her aurat but yet contribute more to the society than a hijab lady who is hypocrite and and gossips too much with her fellow hijab frens. A hijab person doesnt also mean that she prays 5 times daily, in fact she just could have put on hijab out of family pressure. So focus on the main social issue first before coming up with such petty issues.

    Im sure Allah is forgiving. In fact we humans tend to judge others more… it’s also very stupid to actually declare Jihad on this or Jihad on that not everything has to be Jihad… Just use more common sense.

    If the author thinks that by having an independent body to regulate Islamic regulations and fatwas, then they need to come up with reasons and even flaws which MUIS has overlooked before we can consider having an independent body. Otherwise don’t waste other’s ppl time with such proposals, bcos then you are just like a ‘rebel without a cause’…

    Authored by Nasiruddin Pungut

     

    EDITOR’S NOTE

    Nasiruddin Pungut shares his view in reference to a previous letter written by R1C reader named Firdaus Abdul Samad who felt that there should be a new set up of an Independent Ulama Body to closely look into matters of Muslims in Singapore.

    Good to share opinion and exchange of ideas. What is your view about this matter? Do you think Singapore should have an Independent Ulama/Islamic Body or not? Share you opinion with us at Rilek1Corner.

    SEE MORE ARTICLES ON MUIS-RELATED ISSUES

     

    letters to R1C banner