I think I could never live a life being covered really.
I don’t see disrespectful to appreciate beautiful women.
When you woke up this morning
and you applied your makeup and your beautiful dress and you did your hair,
what was the first thing on your mind?
Are you doing it for yourself or you're doing it for the society?
Doing...
Men and women are differnt.
Yeah, but they've both got their good quality.
So what we believe is we don't believe
that there is a competition between men and women.
Men and women complete each other, if that makes sense.
Yes.
So we don't we don't see that competition between between the male and the female
or men and women, because I don't think that would be fair to start with.
I mean, there are certain, what do you say, strengths that men have been given.
And there are all the strengths which women have been given.
Yes.
And this is where we say that the men and women complete each other.
In that sense.
I like it
I could never live a life being covered really.
It comes end up..
and I've listened to a couple of guys debating it,
but the argument there for me is not strong enough..
Right. So why do you think women cover?
And by the way, it's not only in Islam.
I think in many faiths, they cover.
For example, in the Catholics, the nuns cover.
Yes. From head to toe.
In Islam. The women cover.
Yes. And these are believing women.
And by the way, there are a lot of Muslims who don't cover.
Yeah, we don't say that they are outside the fold of Islam
They are still Muslims. Okay.
They need to improve, just like many men need to improve in their ways,
in the way they lead their life, in the way they dress, even.
yeah..maybe it is too much of a focus on that. Yes.
So don't what I'm saying is,
like so don't make that as a means for you to stop you learning about Islam.
Because the reason
Muslim women cover is first and foremost, it is what the God has told them to do.
But that's not the only thing.
The other thing is... it is like an identity for them that they are believing women.
So there are Muslim women and there are believing Muslim women.
Yes. And this is how you distinguish them.
Now, imagine if there is a woman who is not dressed appropriately
and she's walking by a building site,
construction site, and there are men working there
and they both whistle her and they make some nasty remarks.
What is she going to do? She's just going to walk by, isn't it?
Now, they see a nun walking past or a Muslim woman covered from head to toe,
Trust me, the same men, when they look at them, they will show them respect.
Why do you think is that and in both cases, it can be the same woman?
It can be the exact same woman going once without being covered,
going again with being covered.
And in both cases, she's treated differently.
Yeah, I see your point.. I don't see disrespectufl to appreciate beautiful woman
Know when I was talking to one of the other men who were saying,
and you really don't want men to be looking at women basically,
and I said but why? I mean if a woman, she's got a dress on or a skirt,
she's got skin exposed, and it's summer time she looks beautiful
Don’t you appreciate beautiful?
When you woke up this morning and you applied your makeup and your beautiful dress
and you did your hair, what was the first thing on your mind?
Are you doing it for yourself or are you doing it for the society?
Doing...
I would say doing it for myself but because we are social beings
Let's be real. Come on, let's be real.
no.. honestly, I would say that..
are there any other women here?
I have given a lot of thought about tattoos about makeup
and the thing is when you look at ancient man, they have always decorated..
are you saying it was really shallow..?
I'm not saying.. you're right.
We are social animals. You're right.
What's your name, by the way? Hazel.
I'm Hashim. Look, Hazel, if you were there in the Victorian era,
you would dress like a Victorian.
Why?
It is not because you wanted to dress like a Victorian.
It is what the fashion dictates at that time.
Yeah, we want to fit in...
And guess who has always been the leaders in fashion?
What if I say religion?
No. Is it men or women?
Who are the gucci?
Who are the Versace?
Who rules all these empires, the fashion empires, even today?
It has always been men.
The men have been dictating to you since ages without even knowing what to wear
and what not to wear, what kind of makeup to apply,
what kind of hair to fashion yourself with, what kind of dress to wear.
They have been dictating to you since time immemorial.
You see what I mean?
Now, I'll tell you why you dress like that.
It is not for yourself, it is not even for the people around.
It is for those fashion gurus.
They wanted to dictate how you should dress,
even though those heels, which many women wear.
You are not wearing that, Alhamdulillah.
Many women wear them and they all know that it is the most what do you say?
It is something that is so uncomfortable
that many of them, by the evening, they have already got it in their hands.
You know why? Because that's not natural.
No, why would that be an argument for women?
No, I'm just telling you the reality of society.
If you don't want to do it for God, you'll do it for men.
And this is what's happening in every fashion world.
So everyone who adopts fashion of that particular time and era,
if you're not going to do it for God, you'll definitely do it for someone else.
And that, trust me, at the end, will not be for yourself.
See what I mean?
So then shouldn't we be thinking that women should dress for themselves
rather than oh don't dress for men.. So dress for God instead
No. Look, God is not saying to dress for Him.
God is telling you what is good for you,
what is good for you and for your family and for the environment and everything.
By the way.
God has also told the men to lower the gaze and to lower the gaze,
not to look at something which is harmful or something which harms you spiritually.
And God has also told the women to lower the case.
In both cases, it's an equal responsibility.
Yes, and there are things that God has told men.
Like, for example,
the financial responsibility in Islam is always of the men, never of the women.
Even if the woman is earning more than the man, then it is still his responsibility.
And by the way, it doesn't mean that the wife,
if she wants to help out in the family, she can, she has to.
But for her, it's voluntary, for the man is mandatory.
Would you say that is something which is discriminatory for the men?
If they are the ones given the financial responsibility all the time?
No, I would like that..
Of course you would like that.
You would like them to pay your bill at the restaurant even if you were dating them,
if you were not even married to them.
Because this is how the society yeah, this is the society that we live in.
It drives us in this manner
it feels to me the wedge women are pushed into how they should dress
No, but what are you doing is,
why don't you ask those women who are covering maybe?
I'm a man, I'm not going to do this
because, Marshallah, there's a sister behind you.
Sister, did somebody force you to wear hijab?
nope..
That man has got his hands up,
so he's saying no, but I want to know from yourself.
Yes. So ask them if they are forced to do it.
Because what many Western women,
and even Eastern, they think that the Muslim women are in this regressive state
where they cannot perform well in their life.
My wife is a doctor and she still covers at her work.
Yes, and the thing is that it doesn't stop them doing the things
that you would be doing normally in your life.
I mean, obviously, there are things like parting in the clubs and all that.
Even the men are told not to do that.
Not only women.
Oh, I'll tell you I experienced something the other day we went to a Somali restaurant,
Nice food. Yeah.
and we've got ushered to sit in a booth with curtains around there..
because I am woman
I had no problem with that because I have freedom outside of the restaurant.
But if that was my life to sit behind a curtain...
we could hear the men chatting.. speaking to the staff.. having a big talk....
No, I totally agree.
You come from a culture and a tradition which is different.
Let me ask you this if you were given a place, let's say in a cinema, yes.
And you are given this exclusive place
where only you and your husband are with you yes.
Would you feel special even if there was a curtain?
Even if there was a curtain there where nobody can see you,
you can only see the screen, would you not feel special?
In fact, people would pay premium to be in that situation.
They would pay extra money.
So you should go and thank that Somali.
Give them extra tip next time, in sha Allah..
Look, it's how we perceive the world.
If you're going to think that this is something which demeans you, then
then everything you will see around you, you will interpret it as such.
Just put a positive spin on certain things.
.. the more people you speak to I think ...life is richer..
Look, nobody stops you speaking, even if you're in a hijab.
But unnecessary flotation is something that Islam prohibits.
So this is what we are saying.
Look, end of the day, when your husband or your wife, when they are alone at home,
And you are away from them either at work or somewhere else..
You wouldn't expect them to bring some stranger to your home and get busy with them.
You wouldn't want that.
Because that shows that you respect her even when she's alone,
or when you will respect him when he's alone at home.
And this is what Islam is telling us, to respect each other.
You're not a competition, you help out each other.
So what Islam does by telling the women to cover
and for the men to lower the gaze, is that this evil that we find in the society,
it is something that can get us quite easily.
Yes. Today, our youngsters have been exposed to videos and pictures,
even though they might be doing it behind our backs.
It's so easy to do that through the Internet.
Pornography has become like mainstream today.
And there's no laws against this.
Nobody stops anyone anymore. Yes.
It's become so common that people even stop talking about it as being something evil.
Whereas back in the days, when our parents and grandparents were around,
they would go to lengths to stop such thing..
Yes.
They would question, who is your boyfriend?
Why would they do that?
They were still nonmuslims.
Yes. Why would they do that?
Or not today?
Today it's like, oh, I need my freedom of speech, my freedom of space.
Yes. Have that within boundaries.
But if you go beyond that means and that is what Islam does,
there are many things which are prohibited in Islam;
drinking alcohol, gambling, fornication, adultery,
even eating food which is harmful to you.
Smoking cigarettes, taking drugs and all these things which harm you,
All these things are prohibited. Why is that?
It's not because God doesn't want you to have fun.
He wants you to have fun.
But not at the expense of your body which we believe is a gift from God.
God has given you this gift.
So use it and not misuse it, don't abuse it.
Yeah, no problem.
So Inshallah, read that Quran that you guys have
and you got any question on Islam please come and ask..
But it's a pleasure talking to you.
Take care guys.
Don't forget to subscribe to Darwise. Inshallah.