In the Arabic language, hijab means a barrier, a barrier between two things.
When we say hijab, many people think it's just a piece of cloth
on the heads of women covering their hair, not realizing it's an entire lifestyle,
The bare minimum, where nobody disputes is that in sha Allah, your hair is covered.
Allah says don't show everything that you have to everyone that is there.
Otherwise you will not be appreciated by those who are supposed to value you.
And you don't want people to only and simply judge you based on the shape of your butt
or based on what you look like, how well you've made yourself.
But hijab requires you to speak very respectfully to the opposite gender.
So many times is people pick on the women
and say, oh, you know, these women are not in hijab.
But my brother, you're worse sometimes.
It's a beautiful day. We thank Allah (swt) for giving us such an amazing day.
I wanted to speak about hijab
because hijab is something that is misunderstood even by some Muslims.
And what is very, very important for us to note is that
it's not Just about a piece of cloth.
In the Arabic language, hijab means a barrier.
A barrier between two things is known as a hijab
or a hajj is something that is a barrier between two things.
So that is called a hijab.
And the idea here is to create a barrier.
When a person wears clothing, the clothing needs to be such that it covers you.
What's the whole idea of wearing clothing when you are not covered?
What's the point?
In Islam, we believe that Allah Almighty has given us
a certain type of modest beautification through clothing and
yes, to cover your private parts,
to cover yourself in a nice way, to look presentable,
all of this is actually part and parcel of the gift of Allah Almighty upon us.
So when we say hijab, many people think it's just a piece of cloth
on the heads of women covering their hair, not realizing it's an entire lifestyle.
That's what it is.
It's a whole system that we tread upon and live by for the sake of Allah.
So men, for example, also have to observe a certain level of hijab.
They have to have a certain conduct.
The morality needs to be on a very high level.
It's very important because the difficulty we face,
people look at women and say, where's your hijab?
And I say, well, my brother, yes, what about your eyes?
Should you not be also practicing or.
Fulfilling a certain aspect of hijab, which is to lower your gaze?
So at times the problem is two fold or more
and you cannot just blame someone and say, you know what, where is your hijab?
Hijab, here is a hijab. And you throw a piece of cloth.
That'S only one small aspect of it.
But to dress in loose clothing is also part of the hijab for both men and women.
So if there is a man wearing tight jeans,
he is not fulfilling the rules and regulations of clothing in Islam,
even though he might claim that my private parts are covered.
But in actual fact, you've got to wear something slightly loose.
It's in the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh),
not to wear somthing that reveals the shape of your body parts.
Unless obviously, if the wind is blowing, you're excused.
Or if you're walking and something happens to
sometimes it shows a little bit here and there, that's your excused for,
but when you are wearing your clothing,
and you put on something that is very tight men and women,
I'm talking of men and women, and I've singled out men here
because I know that a lot of people say, well, men are excused from this.
That's not true.
You have to make sure that you've done the right thing.
You have to make sure that your clothing is slightly loose
and at the same time it's not see through
and It's not very thin.
So it's a reasonable material. It's nice, it's comfortable, it covers you.
And it's loose, so it doesn't show your organs or body parts.
That is part of hijab.
So hijab means to dress modestly in a way,
that pleases the Almighty for both men and women and to carry yourself
in a way that would not make the opposite gender uncomfortable,
and would not be displeasing to the Almighty
regarding the way you have carried yourself.
So if you see something, you're supposed to lower your gaze.
Lowering gazes for both male and female is part of the general rule of hijab,
where there is supposed to be a barrier.
What's the barrier? When I lowered my gaze and you just say
Subhanullah or Mashallah Tabarakallah or Astagfirullah, or whatever else it may be,
there is a cloth that you wear to cover your hair as a female.
That is a part of it.
It extends to where they would like to cover their faces.
That's a part of hijab and people get to that level.
There is a dispute amongst the scholars as
to whether it is compulsory or it is not compulsory, and it's a known dispute.
But the bare minimum where nobody disputes is that Insha'Allah, your hair is covered.
That doesn't allow you to just dress in anything after that.
So what happens is, because my hair is covered now,
I can put on something extremely tight,
something very revealing in terms of cleavages and so on.
We need to work on that as well.
That's also a part of our hijab.
Until we get to a point where we can dress with something loose,
we can dress with something not tight fitting
And the material is beautiful in the sense that I don't want to say thick,
because sometimes, depending on the weather.
You might want to wear something a little bit thinner.
I mean, if it's winter in Europe, and in Canada and so on,
yes, you wear something thick.
But when it comes to where it is warm and so on,
you can wear something that is not so thick.
But at the same time not see through and not tight, not very thin.
That everything is showing. That's the whole idea. It's an Islamic teaching.
Allah says don't show everything that you have to everyone that is there,
otherwise you will not be appreciated.
You will not be appreciated by those who are supposed to value you.
I may not understand you may not understand what exactly that might be referring to.
People argue, no, show it.
You want people to judge you based on who you are,
your performance is, the goodness is
and you don't want people to only and simply judge you based on the shape of your butt
or based on What you look like and how well you've made yourself up.
A lot of the times, the makeup that we have is actually not even us.
We ourselves wouldn't recognize ourselves
if we were shown a photo of ourselves with makeup
before we saw ourselves in the mirror, in cases today, that's how it's become
where we are so dissatisfied with our looks
and so on that we just don't want to admit
that I don't love myself the way Allah has made me.
Part of hijab is to love yourself the way Allah has made you,
to appreciate it, to thank Allah for it.
And guess what? To dress in a beautiful, modest way
whereby your body parts are not being revealed.
Now, I address the men.
Many men think that, well, it's okay.
I can wear these skinny jeans and I can have these tight shorts.
Nope, part of hijab is that you do not do that.
The rule applies to men as well,
where you're supposed to wear something that's not tight fitting.
You're supposed to wear something that's not very thin.
It's not supposed to be revealing of your organs and your body parts,
especially from the navel to the knee and subhanallah.
You should make sure that you adopt that.
So many times people pick on the women
and say, oh, you know, these women are not in hijab,
but my brother, you're worse sometimes.
And yes, I do know a lot of effort is required,
and a lot of work is required by all of us
when it comes to improving the way
we manage the hijab lifestyle, like lowering your gaze.
Similarly, part of hijab is the way you speak.
The Prophet, peace be upon him,
was instructed by Allah, and his wives were instructed by Allah Almighty,
when you speak to people,
speak in a certain way, with a certain barrier and so on.
The reality is, the way you speak also depicts
whether or not you live a lifestyle of hijab, both men and women.
If you're going to flirt, if you're going to, for example,
try and attract the opposite sex with your words or your voice and so on,
you are not bserving the hijab correctly.
Hijab should be such that you are respectfully speaking to the opposite gender,
when needed, and you may enquire about them
or their health and so on, or what maybe what they may need.
But hijab requires you to speak very respectfully
to the opposite gender with utmost respect.
They should see the character in you, of modesty, honesty, goodness and so on.
So that is really amazing.
I think all of us need to do better including myself,
when it comes to the way we live this lifestyle of hijab by the will of Allah.
So I need to be more conscious of the way I speak to the opposite gender.
I need to be more conscious as a male about how I lower my gaze
and how much pleasure I get by lowering the gaze for the sake of Allah.
I'm pleased because I've pleased Allah.
And you will find that element of respect will be so amazing.
And then when it comes to my dress code,
I need to make sure that I don't wear tight clothing.
That which is revealing, that which is very thin.
For me as a man and subhanallah, people say, Well, I'm wearing jeans.
It's quite thick. But, my brother, these are skinny jeans.
It is actually not on the ideal teachings for you as a Muslim,
you're supposed to be wearing something not as tight fitting.
But who is there to tell you? No one.
Because why?
You're a man and you think, well, hijab is for a woman.
There goes this is where we've gone wrong.
So, my brothers, my sisters, I've spoken About what I should be doing.
And let me say, the sisters too,
Inshallah by the will of Allah,
we can do better when it comes to the rest of our clothing,
after the scarf on the head inshallah, we can make sure that it's slightly looser.
We can make sure the material is a beautiful material
that's not revealing and not so tight fitting and so on.
And we will earn the pleasure and the mercy of Allah.
In this way, we will protect ourselves and others from a lot of evil and harm.
And Allah Almighty will indeed bless us.