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Tag: gymnast

  • Quran Doesn’t Specify Women’s Hair As Aurat, Muslim NGOs Insists As Concervative Islam Digs In

    Quran Doesn’t Specify Women’s Hair As Aurat, Muslim NGOs Insists As Concervative Islam Digs In

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 – The Quran does not specifically mention hair as part of a woman’s “aurat”, Sisters in Islam (SIS) has said amid rising religious conservatism in Malaysia.

    The Muslim women’s rights group said the perception that a woman’s “aurat” covers her entire body except for the face and hands came from a hadith narrated by Asma Abu Bakar. A hadith is a collection of sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad.

    “However, this hadith has been greatly contested by Islamic scholars, such as Thariq Iwadullah and Sheikh Nasiruddin Al-Abani, on the grounds of its authenticity in the chain of message as the ‘rawi’ (transmitter of hadith) was renowned for being dishonest,” SIS told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.

    “SIS is of the opinion that hair is not part of a woman’s ‘aurat’. In fact, the Quran has never mentioned hair as being specifically a woman’s ‘aurat’.

    “When reading Surah an-Nur (24:31) on covering one’s modesty, it is important to understand the context of when the verse was introduced,” the women’s rights group added.

    SIS said that the verse which states that women should “draw their khimar (head covering) over their bosoms” was made in reference to the culture of 7th century Arabia, in which women traditionally already wore the khimar.

    “The message of this verse is to advocate modesty by calling on women to cover their bosoms with the khimar, as bosoms traditionally did not constitute body parts which was (sic) already visible.

    “If hair was also considered a woman’s private part, the Quran would have clearly specified it in 24:31 when women were instructed to cover their bosoms,” said the group.

    The increasingly conservative stance of Islamic authorities and figures in Malaysia has been reflected in the way Muslim women are told to wear the tudung and are harshly criticised if they do not so, even though most Malay-Muslim women in the 1950s and 1960s, before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, did not cover their heads.

    Tudung brands in Malaysia have boomed since the Iranian Revolution started the popularisation of the tudung in the country, with one company estimating about 80 to 90 per cent of Muslim women aged between 25 and 50 years now wear headscarves.

    Women’s rights activist Norhayati Kaprawi, who had made a documentary titled Aku Siapa (Who Am I?) about why women wear the tudung, told Malay Mail Onlinerecently that she found that some Muslim women in both villages and cities in Malaysia were ostracised for not covering their heads.

    Following the uproar over several Muslims who had recently accused artistic gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, who did not wear a tudung, of exposing her “aurat” and the “shape of her vagina” in a leotard, some Twitter users have insisted that Muslim women should wear the tudung even when playing sports.

    Twitter user Ar.Zainur tweeted via the handle @ibnzainal95 last Sunday a picture of women athletes wearing headscarves, track bottoms and long-sleeved shirts.

    A tweet by HanyaTweet @TapiUntuk Semua on May 31 that lists body parts like hair, arms, legs, and the chest as “aurat” that must be covered, or “wajib tutup”, has been retweeted over 3,000 times.

    SIS told Malay Mail Online that the interpretation of the “aurat” in Malaysia has become increasingly influenced by Arab culture since the 1980s, noting that most Malay-Muslim women did not wear the tudung during the 1950s and 1960s, including the wife of the Kelantan mufti then and the spouse of Indonesian ulama, Prof Dr Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, better known as Hamka.

    “This very narrow and conservative interpretation of ‘aurat’ has also been directed mainly to women and as a result, the growing obsession with controlling women’s bodies by making wearing the hijab compulsory,” said SIS.

    Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria told Malay Mail Online recently that Muslim women must cover their entire bodies except for their face and hands.

    Malaysians have come to Farah Ann’s defence, with a Facebook page even set up to support the 21-year-old athlete, who had won a gold medal in floor exercise during the recent SEA Games.

    Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin also said last week that the authorities should come out with guidelines for “perverts” instead of trying to regulate sportswear.

    Khairy’s remark follows his Cabinet colleague Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, minister in charge of Islamic affairs, who told Parliament last Monday that the federal government will carry out an in-depth study on Islamic compliance for clothing used for sports and other fields, amid the uproar over Farah Ann’s outfit at the SEA Games in Singapore.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Of Muftis And Gymnast

    Of Muftis And Gymnast

    This letter stems off the recent Gold Medal achievement of national gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi.

    But the weight of this letter is for those in Malaysia who think that they have the right to ridicule others and judge whether one’s actions are properly Islamic.

    Recently, the Mufti of Perak Tan Sri Dr Harussani Zakaria claimed that gymnastics is not for Muslim women because of its attire. Alongside him, plenty others condemned Farah for her outfit, evidently incapable of comprehending the amount of hard work and practice required to achieve what Farah did.

    The irony of it all comes back to the lost condemners, the ones who think they have the authority to judge other Muslims.

    No matter who you are, no matter your family or your political authority, as Muslims, no one has the right to tell others whether Allah will accept you.

    As Muslims, we are taught to focus primarily on our own connection with Allah and not to be running around wagging our fingers.

    I may not be an Islamic scholar, but as a Muslim, I know that the basic truth of Islam is its non-compulsion.

    As stated in Surah Al-Baqarah, “Let there be no compulsion in religion,” (2: 256) meaning that Islam comes from within; it is a personal decision and a faith that can only be developed when the individual decides to engage with the Quran.

    Similarly, in Surah Yunus, the Quran asks rhetorically: “Can you compel people to believe against their will?” (10: 100).

    Islam’s very definition is “submission to God”.

    No one has the authority to make you submit, no one is allowed to push your forehead to the ground when praying.

    During the time of prophet Muhammad (SAW), Islam represented a belief that empowered the poor and the oppressed of Mecca, the prophet’s first revelation was concerned on aiding the poor. Today Islam is being used by old men to maintain control of a society where women are increasingly taking roles of leadership.

    In specific regards to Harussani, it is inadvisable to take your recommendations and advice seriously considering how, just this April, you proclaimed that wives are unable to refuse when the husband asks for sex, that apparently women lose their right to decline intercourse after the dowry has been paid: “Once she got married…she can’t refuse unless when she’s [on her] period.”

    What perhaps makes this statement more alarming is how you cite Prophet Muhammad SAW to justify this rapist assertion. Let it be clear, Prophet Muhammad SAW, who had even been criticized by his fellow companions for giving equality to women in Medina, would never condone such an animalistic behavior from any man, let alone a Mufti of Perak.

    Stepping back, its easy to recognize that the ignorant criticisms on Farah’s gold medal success is just another chapter in the extending story of Malaysia’s skewed and wrongfully authoritarian view of Islam, but ignoring or even allowing individuals such as the Mufti of Perak to spread false rumors about Islam is detrimental to our national societal maturity.

    It is dangerous to our democracy.

    The example of South Africa’s apartheid is a case in point. In one of the most morally corrupt regimes in world history, it is vital to note that apartheid held its strength from the state Church, from—now very clearly false—interpretations of Christianity.

    In the 1960’s and 70’s, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa upheld the belief that God had made man of distinct color so each would have his own way of life, they proclaimed: “God had established nations as cultural communities, each having its own identities and man dare not misinterpret God’s will in a manner which would upset the order which he established.”

    As a result, the church ensured that the different ethnicities in South Africa would maintain segregation. Church’s were built separate for whites, for coloureds and for Africans.

    Eventually, South African apartheid leaders used the Church to justify their rule of segregation and oppression of the African community. Eventually, the apartheid government invaded school books to ensure that children of South Africa had no conception of a world without division.

    The point here is not that Malaysia lies vulnerable to be an apartheid state but that it is important to comprehend religious “authorities” as individuals who hold their own personal beliefs: if you are a racist and a Christian, you’re a Christian racist, if you’re a sexist and a Muslim, then you’re a Muslim sexist who uses Islam and the Quran to justify your beliefs.

    There are plenty of religious leaders today — and especially in Malaysia — who make outlandish statements then cowardly hide behind Islam to justify their claims.

    As a growing and maturing society, it is pivotal for us to remember that when religious leaders say, “the Quran says,” part of the “saying” comes through their interpretation, you don’t listen to the Quran speak, you have to read it.

    And when you read it, it is up to you on how you comprehend the message. This is the miracle and empowerment that the Quran gives to its readers, that everyone has the ability to pick it up and make your own conclusions through your own interpretations.

    It is a direct connection with Allah SWT.

    Last week, I attended the Friday prayer at New York University and listened to their Islamic Chaplain, Khalid Latif talk about the troubling feature of Muslims today; how Muslims now are too focused on the do’s and don’ts, on what’s haram and what’s not, that we’ve forgotten to focus on the primary message of Prophet Muhammad SAW of showing unrelenting love to all peoples.

    It is from the Prophet that we must remember to not cast judgment on those we disagree with, it is through the Prophet that we should remember to always respect the person in front of us, no matter if they’re Muslim or non-Muslim, man or woman.

    “Kita manusia sama saja. Tiada tinggi, tiada rendah.”

    Congratulations Farah on your success in gold!

    Your passion for gymnastics is and should rightfully be an inspiration to all in Malaysia.

    * This is the personal opinion of the writer, Shamil Norshidi, and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com