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 Pinnacle Papers
volume 4

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To Every Young Woman
Who Believes in Allah

Imam Muhammad Sacid Ramadan al-Bufi

Translated by
Mahdi Lock

WKVJK BOOKS
 We at Nawabooks would like to express our appreciation to everybody who contributed in
making this book a reality. Especially Ustadh Mahdi Lock, Brother I lazem, Brother Iskandar,
Brother Taufik, Sister Nur Aisyah Arshad and Ustazah Siti Syariati. We pray that Allah &
bestow His blessings upon it by guiding readers of this book closer towards Allah & and His

beloved Prophet Muhammad $?.

Pinnacle Papers: A Collection of Masterpieces by Imam Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti

/ <4
To Every Young Woman Who Believes In Allah

© Nawabooks, 2022

Originally Published by. Dar Al Fikr 2020

Published by: Nawabooks
Published in: July 2022
Website: www.nawabooks.com
Email: nawabooks(S)gmail com
Author: Imam Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti

Translated by: Mahdi Lock

All rights reserved. Aside from fair use, meaning a few pages or less for non-profit educational
purposes, review, or scholarly citation, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN: 978-981-18-4907-7
Cover by: Muhammadan Press
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author

I

Translator’s Introduction and Acknowledgements

III

About the Translator

VI

Foreword by Dr Muhammad Tawfiq Ramadan al-Buti

VI

Foreword by Dr Muhammad Tawfiq Ramadan al-Buti (translated)

IX

Introduction to the Second Edition

3

To Every Young Woman Who Believes In Allah

7

This is Islam’s Ruling

21

Fabricated Scientific Sophisms

43

Worthless Remarks
65

Final Word
77
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Imam Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan Al-Buti

is one of the foremost Muslim theolo­
gians and legal scholars of this age. Bom
in 1929 in the village of Ayn Dewar in
northern Syria, the imam moved to Da­
mascus at the age of four with his father,
the great scholar Mulla Ramadan al-Buti
where he received his primary and
secondary education. In 1953, he joined the Faculty of ShaiTah at the
University of al-Azhar in Cairo, Egypt, graduating with a first class in
1 955. The following year he obtained a Diploma in Education from the
Faculty of Arabic Language at the same University.

In 1958, the Imam was appointed as a teacher at the secondary

school in Homs and in 1961, he was appointed as a lecturer in the
Faculty of Sharfah at the University of Damascus. In 1965, at the
University of al-Azhar once again, he obtained his doctorate with
high distinction and a recommendation for a teaching post. That
same year, he was appointed as a teacher in the Faculty of Shartah
at the University of Damascus, then an assistant professor and finally
a full professor. He became the vice dean of that college in 1975
and then the dean in 1977. A few years later, he was appointed
head of the department of Theology and Comparative Religion.

In addition to his lecturing, Imam al-Buti wrote around sixty

books covering various Islamic sciences and subjects, the most prom-

i
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

inent ones being Fiqh al-Slrah (The Jurisprudence of the Prophetic

Biography), Kubrd al-Yaqiniyyat al-Kawniyyah (The Greatest Universal
Sureties) and his four-volume commentary' on the spiritual aphorisms
of Imam Ibn ‘Ata’illah al-Askandari. He was also very active in teaching
common believers in local masjids, especially Masjid al-Iman in Da­
mascus, and on television, recordings of which can be found online and
especially on the site www.naseemalsham.com. He also served as the
imam at the Umayyad Grand Masjid in Damascus for Friday prayers, a
post he held for decades.

On March 21, 2013, Imam al-Buti, along with approximately

fifty students, was murdered by terrorists while teaching Qur’anic
commentary in Masjid al-Iman. Despite the immense trials and tribu­
lations that Syria was and is still enduring, Imam al-Buti was never
dissuaded from his dedicated service to knowledge. After a funeral
prayer that was attended by thousands of people, the Imam was buried
next to Imam Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi ,<> in Bab al-Saghir graveyard in
Damascus. May the Lord bless and have mercy on him and all of us.

II
 TRANSLATORS INTRODUCTION &
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A 11 praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all creation, who forgives

L Jlsins and with Him alone is every success. There is no power or
strength except in Him. As Allah has honoured this miserable slave
with the completion of such a task, all 1 ask is that He increase the
blessings He has already bestowed upon me and to make me a better
believer, cleanse my heart and grant me further strength to serve Him
and the Ummah of His Beloved, salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

As for the creation, I begin by thanking Ustadh Muhammad Jala-

luddeen of Nawa Books, once again, for taking on the beautiful project
of translating and publishing the Pinnacle Papers into English, this book
being the forth volume in the series. May Allah reward him immensely
in this life and the next, protect him from harm, and grant him a long,
healthy life full of worship and righteousness, amln!

I must also thank Dr Mahmud Ramadan for his constant support

and for always being on hand to answer questions May Allah reward
him, his father, his grandfather, and his entire family in abundance in
this life and the next, amln!

For proofreading, I ask Allah to reward my dear friend Hazem

Mahdy who, as I have mentioned before, speaks both Arabic and
English like a native. Again, he read both the Arabic text and the trans­
lation and made sure that everything was not only correct but also
readable. May Allah reward him repeatedly in this life and in the Here-

Ill
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

after, amin! Ustadh Jalaluddeen has also read over the text and made
crucial recommendations, but I must stress, however, that any errors or
shortcomings that still remain are solely my responsibility. We praise
Allah the Exalted for any benefit that comes out of this work. Only the
mistakes are mine.

Lastly, I thank my wife for her patience, serenity and encourage­

ment throughout the translation process. May Allah reward her and her
parents immensely, amln!

The book stands apart. It first came to my attention in the summer

of 1441 (2020), and I started translating the first few pages after ob­
taining permission from the Imam’s family. Other projects then took
up my time, such as the publication of The Opening of the Hearts, and it
was not long before Ustadh Jalaluddeen had reached an agreement with
Dar al-Fikr to translate the entire Pinnacle Papers series, and this book
was the fourth in the queue. Allah is Most Kind to His slaves.

Why does this book stand apart? The Imam does a remarkable job
of discussing this topic with not only the seriousness that it deserves
but also the requisite compassion and empathy. In the Anglosphere
and other parts of Dar al-Kufr, it is often the case that when men
speak on these issues, there is harshness and a distinct lack of empathy,
especially when considering that many Muslim men, in many or even
most circumstances, do not wear anything that would distinguish them
as Muslims. That does not mean the immense benefit of this book is
limited to those regions of the world; the benefit is there to be had from
those in the East as well as in the West.

The benefit is indeed immense because the Imam, may Allah have
mercy on him, takes the discussion much deeper: one’s personal rela­
tionship with Allah. This is the core. Outward appearance and conduct

IV
 TRANSISTOR'S INTRODUCTION A ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

can only reflect what is on the inside. A heart that is well-nurtured and
remote from corruption, a heart that is attached to Allah, will shine
through the willing obedience of the limbs.

And with Allah alone is every success.

V
 ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Mahdi Lock is a professional freelance

translator of classical Arabic Islamic texts
into English. He has a BA in Arabic and
History from the University of Leeds, an
MA in Arabic Linguistics from King Abdul
Aziz University in Jeddah, and a Diploma
in Translation from the Chartered Institute
of Linguists in London, of which he is also
a Member (MCIL). He has been studying
theology, law and other Islamic sciences
for several years with teachers in England,
North Africa and the Middle East. To date, his translated works in­
clude Kitab al-Haldl wa al-Haram by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Kitab
al-Waqf from al-Mughni al-Muhtdj by al-Khatib al-Shirbim, the intro­
duction to al-Majmtf by Imam Yahya al-Nawaw! and Sharh al-Sudur by
Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti.

VI
 FOREWORD - ARABIC

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VII!
 FOREWORD - ENGLISH

In the Name of Allah, the All Merciful, the Most Merciful

11 praise be to Allah, Lord of all Creation, and blessings and peace

be upon our master Muhammad, the one sent as a mercy to all
of creation, and upon his Family, his Companions, and those who have
followed them in excellence until the Day of Repayment.

To proceed:

The woman has always been and continues to be the man’s part­
ner in building life: she is his wife, mother, daughter, sister, and aunt.
She is the one who has a delicate nature, who is gentle in her physical
and psychical constitution. At the same time, there are demons among
mankind who have used her as a means of seduction and corruption,
even though she is the softest in nature, the most affectionate, and the
friendliest. The West has regarded her as a means of achieving its de­
sires uncontrollably, using her for seduction and corruption, and she
has become the victim first and the means of seduction second.

Islam wants her to be a mother who raises an upright generation,

and a wife who shares her husband’s responsibility to build a happy, co­
hesive family, and she has been an excellent partner in taking on heavy
responsibilities. The West regards her as nothing more than a means to
promote some commodity. In fact, they have made her a commodity,
and when they noticed the blessing of family cohesion and how she im-

!X
I O EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN Al LUI

pacts the upbringing of the next generation, they targeted her in order
to divert her from her sacred mission, and to entice her in ail kinds
of ways towards deviation, and the deviation of the society as a result.

This is why my father, may Allah have mercy on him, directed this
book, which is small in its size but great in its subject and purpose, to
the young woman who believes in Allah, to save her from these ma­
licious snares, and to save society by saving her. This book has been
widely accepted, and has had a positive effect, may Allah be praised.

My brother, Ustadh Mahdi Lock, thought it would be good to

translate it into English, because of its importance for human societies
in general. A woman is a woman, whether in the East or in the West,
but the woman is most harmed in the societies in which the current of
libertinism is widespread, a current that has made her nothing more
than a commodity and a means of gratification, there to serve the man’s
selfishness and meet his unbridled desires. Instead of being his partner
in sharing the responsibility of building the society from its smallest
unit, she must, according to western, material civilisation, be at the beck
and call of man’s physical and material desires and aspirations.

I thank my brother, Ustadh Mahdi, for his keenness, awareness and

sincerity, and I hope that he will succeed in achieving a social aware­
ness that will restore Western society’s life and well-being, and this
gratitude is extended to those at Nawa Books, at the head of whom is
Brother Jalaluddeen, for their efforts in spreading beneficial knowledge,
and for their striving for reliability and trustworthiness in knowledge,
and that is by coordinating with the original publisher, Dar al-Fikr.

I ask Allah the Exalted to place goodness and benefit in these

blessed works for the Muslims in the East and in the West.

Muhammad Tawflq Ramadan al-Buti

X
 IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE ALL-MERCIFUL,
THE MOST MERCIFUL

A 11 praise is due to Allah, praise that complies with His blessings and
XjLcompensates His abundance. Glory be to You, O Allah, I cannot
sufficiently enumerate praises upon You; You are as You have praised
Yourself. O Allah, shower your greatest blessings upon the seal of Your
Prophets and Messengers, our Master Muhammad, and upon all his
family and Companions.

O Allah, expand my heart, facilitate my affair, grant me the blessing

of sincerity, save me from the tribulations of the ego and base desires,
and protect me from Shaytan s traps; You are the best master, You are
the best helper.

1
2
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

TT IS OFTEN THE CASE that something harmful is beneficial, and

JL someone does something for some reason and it produces the
opposite!

In a widely circulated magazine, a well-known writer called for the

destruction of what the Islamic Revealed Law has established between
men and women, namely the barriers against free-mixing and the veils
that cover and protect modesty. To that end, he started hunting for
the evidences that he hoped would contain ambiguity and obscurity,
and would turn people away from the evidences of the truth that they
actually contain.

What happened was something that this writer never expected, nor
the magazine that published it and circulated it.

Indeed, as a result, most Muslims became aware of their immense

shortcoming and negligence before Allah regarding this weighty
matter. A great multitude of sincere Muslim women, young and old,
turned their attention towards the established, divine laws concerning
women: those concerning her covering herself, her modesty, and her
relationships with men. Then they started pondering - in alarm and
dread - her current state and how far removed she was from Islam
and Islamic etiquettes.

3
 IO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

Muslim writers - may Allah increase them in success and reward

them in abundance - in the majority of Arab countries, wrote research
papers and treatises explaining the truth that has been laid down in Al­
lah’s Book, and which was clarified by the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger
The imams of the Muslims also met regarding this matter, and this
treatise of mine is nothing more than a simple contribution.

How quickly do the effects of a sincere call to the truth appear:

reacting to the truth, submitting to it, and inclining towards it.

The truth always has a sign by which it is known, and it becomes

clear to everyone who sincerely seeks it and honestly wants to under­
stand it, while falsehood always has an unsteadiness and crookedness
that become clear to anyone who can look and understand, regardless
of whatever veils of truth and guidance it might be cloaked in.

The truth always confides in the intellect. As for falsehood, it only

attempts to infiltrate the intellect and lead it towards the base desires
of the soul.

The truth deals with people based on genuine evidences and

proofs. As for falsehood, it uses mocking caricatures, or defamation, or
repugnant images in order to penetrate people’s souls.

The truth might come as a heavy load that is hard for the soul to
bear, but, as compensation, it bears the stamp of being above any hid­
den objective or concealed need. As for falsehood, it might be light on
the soul, but in return, it is engrossed in a hidden objective that it seeks
by way of deceit and deception.

The owner of the aforementioned magazine, defending his friend

for what he wrote and called for, and analysing the reasons behind so
many responses that refuted his strange positions and understandings,

4
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION

said: '...such stories, by their nature, are difficult for those who grew
up amongst thick veils, and for those who believe in the precedence
of the veil.’

The man said this as if he did not know the opposite as well, which
is that stories that tell of the legitimacy of the veil are difficult for those
who grew up in an atmosphere of shameless free-mixing, and believed
in its preference and precedence!

The man did not forget to support this defence of his with an art­
ist’s brush, who helped him illustrate the most prominent ideas in his
articles. He thus extracted from his imagination the image of a young
woman who was wearing the most repugnant forms of covering and
protection, such that one’s soul recoils from it and it is offensive to
normal taste. He knows, just as every intelligent person knows, that the
artist who did this could have just as easily pulled an image from his
imagination that showed a young woman in the most beautiful forms
of covering, that which is pleasant to one’s natural disposition and
agrees with normal taste.

Dear reader, the one who has such an eloquent tongue that he can
make you think that honey (which is the sweetest and most beneficial
of gustatory delights that we know of) is something repugnant, dis­
gusting, and loathsome is definitely a master of eloquence and rhetoric,
but there is no doubt that he is turning you away from the truth and
towards the opposite.

The one who is sincere towards you and can alert you to the fact
that the wonderful cup containing a pure, sweet drink is actually a
stagnant poison that will kill you is, without doubt, denying you some
immediate gratification, but, without doubt, he is a sincere friend who
deserves absolute love and appreciation.

5
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

To proceed, it suffices in giving victory to the truth that the thou­

sands of copies that were printed of this book have sold out in just
four months, and that there is a genuine desire insisting that it be
republished. Furthermore, every just, young woman who believes in
Allah and His Messenger has acknowledged the truth that it contains,
even if she was not bothering with it beforehand, and has refuted that
falsehood, even if she was held captive by it.

Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-But!

6
 To Every Young Woman Who Believes In Allah

nd I only mean the young woman who believes in Allah, the young
woman who is firmly convinced of His existence and that He is
one god, with no partners, in His Essence and Attributes. She is certain
that it is He who confers benefit and no one else, and that it is He who
causes harm and no one else. Unto Him all of mankind shall return,
on an immense day in which there is no doubt. The veil will be lifted
from everything unseen and concealed and from every hidden truth. It
is a day of grief and regret for the one who was dazzled by his worldly
life felt short regarding Allah, while it is a day of rapture and delight
for the one who truly understood this worldly life, and used it to attain
Allah’s pleasure.

I certainly do not mean the young woman who has heard about
Allah but understands nothing about Him, or has inherited the word
Iman2 as a slogan and but is not convinced of its contents as a creed that
she bears in her soul. The name ‘Allah’ might be repeated on her tongue
twenty times a day, but she never becomes aware of its profound power
and authority, not even once a month or once a year.

If she is reminded of Him or if she thinks about Him, she does

not know anything about Him other than that He is - as they say - a
great hidden reality, like that which they used to call ether. They do not
know anything about it other than that it is one of the hidden secrets
of this cosmos.
2 (tn): i.e. faith.

7
 IO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BElIEVES IN ALLAH

If her faith in ether had some sway over her conduct and lifestyle,
her faith in Allah would have a similar sway over her.

This type of faith is only called faith by way of metonymy or

metaphor.

This type of faith does not produce any fearful awe in the heart,
nor does it lead a person in any specific direction or rectify any aspect
of one’s life or conduct.

This type of cheap faith is scattered abundantly in European soci­

eties and in large parts of America. You can see it moving side by side
with everything that those societies are overflowing with: moral cor­
ruption, psychological complications, and complete immersion in the
intoxication of deviant, material life.

In this treatise, I am only directing my discussion at every young

woman who believes in Allah wilfully and freely, with faith that ema­
nates from contentment in her heart and the cognizance of her soul. I
am certain that our community is abundantly overflowing with women
who savour this faith.

I direct it towards every young woman who has this faith in Allah
in the depths of her heart, and I say to her:

Our existence in this life is a matter of the utmost seriousness.

Therefore, do not let any of its temptations prevent you from con­
ceiving of its outcome. Do not let the great number of things that are

8
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BEl IEVES IN ALLAH

attached to this world make you forget the lowliness of it all. Do not
forget that in this world, mankind is being tested and is then going
back to Allah - regardless of whether they know it or are ignorant of
it - and maybe this test will be long and maybe it will be short. Never­
theless, it is nothing more than a test.

’Traversing this test is something that men and women have in

common and to equal measure, but the woman is distinguished from
the man in that she carries another vastly important burden in this life,
and it is of immense consequence in the next.

In addition to traversing this test just as the man does, the woman
is considered one of the most important components of that same test!

This is because passions and desires, however they may vary, are
where people slip while doing this test that Allah has laid out in this
world. The woman - as Allah has confirmed and it is in His unequivo­
cal exposition - is the first of these passions and desires.

Has He not said:

^^5)
r = _-

“To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in

glowing colours: women and children, and heaped-up
mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine markings,
and livestock and fertile farmland. All that is merely the
enjoyment of this world. The best homecoming is in the
presence of Allah.” [Al ‘Imran 3:14]

9
 IO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Out of all the passions and temptations that Allah has placed as an
adornment and test for people, He put women first. If she did not take
precedence over the rest in gravity and importance, He would not have
mentioned her before all the rest.

The woman, therefore, is absolutely the greatest test in this life.

The secret behind this is that all the sins that Allah the Exalted
has declared unlawful for His slaves, man has no natural inclination
towards them. Oppression, in all its varying types, is unlawful, and man
is assisted in avoiding it by the fact that his natural disposition recoils
from it. Drinking wine is unlawful, and it’s being unlawful is facilitated
by the fact that man’s natural, original disposition has an aversion to
it. The same goes for stealing, cheating, backbiting, slandering, and
all other unlawful matters. All of them are inconsistent with a sound
natural disposition. No one inclines towards any of them unless he has
been tested with an anomaly or deviation in his nature and disposition,
because of something that happened to him at some point in his life.

Out of all these sins, there is only one exception, and it is the sexual
impulse that is found in both the man and the woman. This impulse,
even though it pushes people towards something unlawful - it is one
of the worst sins in the Revealed Law if it is not controlled by specific
boundaries and limits - it is considered one of the most important
necessities and requirements of man’s nature. There is no way for any
human - as long as he is sound and bearing no abnormality - to detach
himself from it or rise above it.

By way of this comparison, you3 are able to grasp that sexual de­
sire is a human’s gravest religious test in this life. Just as man’s natural
disposition helps him obey Allah’s ruling regarding all other acts of

3 (tn): When using the second person, the author is addressing the young woman who
believes in Allah.

10
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

disobedience and wrongdoing, when it comes to sexual desire, it stim­

ulates it, or - in the best of circumstances - it is incapable of reining it
in or mitigating any of its excitement.

Accordingly, the Islamic treatment for all other acts of disobedience

lies in moving further away from them and rising above them. As for
the matter of sex in particular, the treatment is to satiate one’s desire
and satisfy one’s impulse, but within specific, decreed bounds and not
transgress them.

This is what we mean when we say that the woman is absolutely

the gravest component of the man’s worldly test.

Maybe you will ask: Why is not the man likewise considered
the gravest component of the woman’s worldly test; they both have
sexual desire and therefore the man and woman should share the
burden equally?

The answer is that the All-Wise Originator established the

woman’s natural disposition upon psychical foundations that make her
sought after more than she seeks. Because of her own primal psychical
factors, whenever she feels an urgent impulse within herself, she can
continue to incline towards protecting herself by waiting patiently and
rising above that impulse. This puts the man in a situation that makes
him desire her more and want to chase after her, and this is how the
woman is a greater temptation for the man than the man is a tempta­
tion for the woman.

The Messenger of Allah affirmed and summarised this fact

when he said: jl have left behind no tribulation that is more harmful to
men than women.!4

4 Agreed upon.

11
 1'0 EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Now that we have finished clarifying that fact, you must know that
this temptation that the man is tested with - whether it is more difficult
or easier lor him - goes back to you.

If she wants, the woman can, by her very nature, make herself a
destnictive trial for the man, a trial from which he will find almost no
way to save himself. At the same time, by her very nature, she is also
able to help him attain safety and salvation.

How many nations have had power and influence over all other
nations, and then their influence diminished and their power collapsed
while licentiousness and moral degeneration were pervasive among
them? The underlying factor was nothing other than the woman. The
stories of how the Roman Empire, the Sassanian Empire, and Indian
civilisation were all eradicated are there for everyone to see.

Therefore, the most important Islamic duty that Allah has charged
the woman with is to sheathe the sword of her temptation in the pres­
ence of men as much as she is able to, so that they are not overtaken
by this trial and test.

Consensus has been made that the woman does not maintain
Allah the Exalted’s pleasure by way of any righteous action the way
that she maintains it by striving to help the man be morally upright
and to control his lustful inclinations, and she does nothing that brings
about Allah’s anger more than striving towards stimulating man’s lust­
ful inclinations and driving him away from the means of uprightness
and moral virtue.

Women are only the majority of the people of the Fire - as we have
been informed by the Prophet in the authentic hadith - because
of a collection of factors, the most important of which is that they do
not have taqwa of Allah in this grave task that Allah the Exalted has
entrusted them with.

12
 1

TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO HE I IEVES IN ALLAH

You know - my sister who believes in Allah - that what the

West - i.e. Europe and America - fears the most from the Muslims
is their Islam!

Its leaders knew, as a result of exhaustive, objective studies, that

Europe would never rise to the top until Islam’s efficacy and its power
over the Muslims had waned.

If the Islamic world had not fallen into the darkness of being re­
moved from Islam and its rule, not a single science or knowledge would
have come out of Europe and it would not have been able to seize the
opportunity and benefit from it.

Because of this certainty that is deeply engrained within them, they

do not strive to maintain what they have gained from this advancement
of theirs with anything that is more important and significant than per­
sistently working, with whatever means are available, towards ensuring
that the Muslims remain far removed from their Islam. They strive to
make sure that they are perplexed about their history and the source of
their glories, and that they are distracted from the essence of Islam and
its wisdoms with anything that could be an adequate substitute.

I do not think you need to see evidence for the veracity of this
fact. The whisperings of western leaders and thinkers regarding this
can be heard everywhere. Indeed, and fortunately, they have turned
into loud screams that can be heard by anyone with the slightest bit of
education in this age.

Despite that, maybe it would be worth reminding you of an ex­

ample of these whisperings that eventually became a loud, clear voice,
critically examined by people who have insight into the nature of the
age they live in.

13
 ,O EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Here are some excerpts from the book Whither Islam?, which is
co-authored by a group of orientalists from various backgrounds and
edited, with an introduction and notes, by the English orientalist HAR
Gibb, who was an advisor to the British Foreign Office.

In the momentous introduction5 that Gibb writes to this book -

and it is long, reaching one hundred pages - he affirms that various
regional factors had not been able to affect the unity of Islamic civiliza­
tion or detract from it, despite the passage of time and differing regions,
which thus makes the Islamic world a significant political bloc, and
makes it a vast world that thoroughly encompasses Europe and cuts it
off from the world.

Then he explains how the West succeeded in breaking this power,

fragmenting Islamic civilization, and putting an end to its unity.

Following that, he says: ‘It is not so much that any new factual ele­
ment has been introduced, as that by laying new stress on some points
and thrusting others into a less prominent position the whole balance
of doctrine and ethical teaching is shifting, and shifting in a direction
which brings it nearer to the modem western ethic, represented also in
the current ethical teaching of the Christian church.’6

After that, Gibb confirms that the education and cultural activity
via modem schools and the press had made its mark on the Muslims -
without their being aware of it - such that they were very much secular
in their general outlook. He then follows that by saying: ‘This, and this
almost exclusively, is at the heart of all effective westernisation in the
Islamic world.'7

5 (tn): as well as a lengthy conclusion.

6 (tn): Whither Islam? (London: Victor Gollancz, 1932), p.371-372.
7 (tn): Ibid., 334-335.

14
 1

TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Gibb then gleefully determines that: ‘...within a very short time,

unless some new factor intervenes to deflect the existing currents into
another channel, the greater part of Islam will have definitely adopt a
secularist outlook.’8

He goes back, however, and expresses his fear of the possibility

of a new Islamic movement emerging that would nullify the fruits of
these western efforts. He says: ‘Not that the time factor should be over­
stressed; it is a too neglected feature of movements of all kinds in
Islamic society that they mature with astonishing rapidity...their exis­
tence is scarcely suspected before they blaze up and take the world by
surprise. The crucial question is that of leadership. When Islam finds
a new Saladin, a man who combines exquisite political insight with a
deep consciousness of his religious mission, the rest will solve itself.’0 10

So what was the first weapon that the westerners used to frag­
ment Islamic civilization and shift its morals away from Islam?

The most effective weapon that the west unsheathed to achieve this
was the element of the woman.

They knew what we know today, which is that sophisms can only
do to Muslims’ minds a tenth of what sexual arousal can do to their
souls. If there was inevitably a sophism that they were presenting, it
was unavoidable that they would use the woman to place lustful entice­
ments all around it.

It is because of this that the ideological attack on the Muslims -

however it may manifest itself - is based on one important element and

8 (tn): Ibid., 338.

9 (tn): Ibid., 365.
10 See the second volume of the book al-Ittijdhdt al-Wafaniyyah ft al-Adab al-Mudsir by Dr
Muhammad Husayn, p. 197-213.

15
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

no other. It is the woman and every way that she can be exploited for
the sake of temptation, enticement, and seduction while being removed
from taking care of her family and the next generation.

Again, I do not think that you need me to present detailed evidences

of this. The evidences have become undisclosed and clear; whoever has
a basic education in this age and is aware of its nature knows them and
connects them to other evidences.

Nevertheless, 1 shall give you this quote from the well-known mis­
sionary and orientalist Henry Jessup:

He says: ‘The Beirut School for Girls was as the apple of my eye.
I felt that the future of Syria depended on the education of its
girls and women. Our school had started, but it had no build­
ing and already had to turn away applicants for want of room.’11

I do not think any sane person is able to imagine that girls’ schools
were the apple of Jessup’s eyes because he was so keen to protect the
interests of Islamic and Arab countries, or because he was so concerned
about them and sincerely wanted what was best for them!

They were the apple of his eye because he understood the extent
to which the woman could have an effect on rectifying or corrupt­
ing the upcoming generation. It was therefore necessary to rely on
girls’ schools and use them to control their education and guide their
conduct.

1 1 (tn): Fifty-Three Years in Syria (London and New York, Fleming U. Revell Company,
1910), 1:280. The author also refers to the book at-Tabshlr wa al-’Isti'nuir by Mustafa al-
Khalidi and 'Umar Farukh.

16
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

However, how did the leaders of the ideological attack, adopt the
element of the woman as a means to achieve the goal that they were,
and still are, aiming for?

The short answer is that they took an opposing stance to every

ruling that Islam had decreed regarding the woman.

Thus, since Islam had decreed that the woman be protected and
covered and that she not display any of her charms to foreign men,
these people worked to remove her as far as possible from the fetters
of protection and covering, and pushed her as far as possible towards
exposing her various charms wherever she may be, markets, gatherings,
etc. To achieve this, they sought the assistance of every hypocrite12 who
had a silver tongue, and was prepared to change Allah’s Speech and His
ruling in exchange for a tiny portion of this world.

Since Islam had decreed that the Muslim woman not adorn herself
the way women were known to adorn themselves in the Age of Ig­
norance, and that she remain in her home and exert the utmost effort
towards producing a righteous family and raising good children, these
people worked to promote the idea that a woman is not able to remain
in her home, and that she should bear the various tasks and burdens
of life, so that she would not be able to look after her home or raise
her children.

To achieve this, they focussed on the weakest point that the Mus­
lims suffer from and their gravest knot. They started promoting the
idea that the secret behind the Muslims’ backwardness - and this is
what most concerned them - was their incapacity to manufacture.
Manufacturing cannot take off unless it has the greatest numbers of
workers, and that can only happen if women are part of the workforce.
They started repeating and reiterating to the Muslims that the West had

12 Ar. tnunafiq.

17
 1'0 EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

only surpassed them for one reason, which is this secret. They were
utilising all of their human capacity while the Muslims were neglecting
half of theirs!

This stratagem, which, today, has become old and exposed, was
applied to a large group of young Muslims and their leaders, such that
they started thinking that the secret behind the Muslims’ backwardness
was hidden behind this hijab that the woman hangs down over her face,
or flows over her charms. Therefore, the only thing lying between us
and catching up with modern civilization and being equal to the peo­
ples of the advancing world all around us is to make sure that there are
just as many women working as there are men working.

After that, the discussion about Islam s rulings regarding the wom­
an’s dress, her working, and her learning started stirring up disapproval
and distrust. Indeed, it became an evidence for these people that Islam
was holding its people back instead of pushing them towards upward
development and progress.

The tribulation became even graver. All around those people

emerged those who distort the texts of the Islamic Revealed Law and
its ruling, out of a desire to attain some worldly end, or to avoid losing
some post, position, or office. It was as if the texts of the Revealed Law
were the same as the words of manmade laws. Thus, just like the law­
yer who has some financial objective is not prevented in any way from
interpreting legal articles and playing around with their words and
their referents, the scholar who is not worried about Allah the Exalted’s

18
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

wrath and His painful punishment is not prevented in any way from
interpreting the texts of the Revealed Law and playing around with its
words and their referents.

The consequence of this tribulation was that it increased the evil

that the West had planned, by way of those who had been led astray by
the fatwas of those who distort the texts. These people deviated from
the divine way with a good intention. They strayed from the path of
truth by following these influential people. They thought that they were
guiding them to Allah’s path when they were actually leading them to
the depths of eternal wretchedness and misery.

This, then, is the problem. I have summarised it for you in this

introduction, which was absolutely necessary. After that, the objective
is to move towards a logical and feasible way of solving it.

The only way to do so is to elucidate Allah the Exalted’s ruling re­

garding the woman’s clothes, her working, and her learning, and to do
it in a way that is free of what others have added and of the blemishes
of those who make changes or distort the texts. As I have said, the pre­
sumption in this treatise is that I am addressing every young woman
who enjoys true faith in Allah, and therefore she desires nothing more
than to know Allah’s & ruling regarding the matter accurately and
with certainty.

When we have finished with that, we will look at the various prob­
lems and obstacles that have been created and placed in the way of
implementing this serious divine ruling.

19
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

Arc they actually problems? Is it true that adhering to Allah’s

ruling in this matter leads to there being a barrier between us
and our ascending towards advancement and development?

We shall treat this subject - if Allah so wills - with sincere im­

partiality and absolute freedom from any type of partisanship, so that
when the truth manifests itself, there will be nothing stopping us from
following it.

Once we know Allah the Exalted’s ruling, there is nothing wrong

with our seeking to know the outcomes of applying this ruling in terms
of both benefit and harm. Discovering beneficial outcomes will lead to
more faith and certainty, and will give us a beneficial lesson regarding
all the other divine rulings. Likewise, discovering harmful outcomes -
assuming that were to happen - would allow us to look at the matter
properly and employ juridical reasoning,’3 for Allah the Exalted’s ruling
can never be involved in any real harm or cause of corruption. One of
the greatest legislative maxims is the words of Allah’s Messenger
[There is to be no harm and no reciprocating of harm.j

My hope, O believing sister, is that you will take what I am saying

to you with a measure of sound intellectual awareness and a rational
outlook that has been freed from any lustful burden or motive - it is
not for lusts and passions to have control over research - as well as
with a measure of constant awareness of your faith in Allah

We ask Allah to protect us from the evils of our own souls, to give
us the success to use our intellects, to keep us away from all the pitfalls
of the shayat in, and to judge between us and our people with truth.. He
is the Best of Judges.’4

13 Ar. ijtihcld.
14 (tn): See Surat al-’A’raf 7:89.

20
 This is Islam’s Ruling

TSEEK REFUGE IN ALLAH that I should say ‘Islam’s ruling’ and

A then mix it with anything that is my opinion, or something that my
soul desires.

I seek refuge in Allah that I should deceive people with that which
cannot possibly deceive Allah, and thus embellish a position that my
soul inclines towards and present it as being of the Religion when my
Lord is, in fact, not pleased with it!

If a writer wants, he is perfectly capable of mixing a baseless opin­

ion that his soul desires with a clear truth that his Lord has decreed,
but he can only get away with it in the eyes of people, or some of them.

As for what is in Allah’s ££ knowledge - and He is the One who

watches over everything - the truth is never altered or different. If a
writer engages in deception, he bears responsibility for whatever sins
people commit as a result of that deception, i.e. if they rely on the
false ruling they are given and which they were made to think was
Allah’s ruling.

The writer who believes in Allah and the Last Day is not safe from
bearing the sins of the other people and their consequences. Fie is not
safe from leading people away from the teachings of the divine truth,
such that when the people have gathered on the Day in which there

21
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

is no doubt and those that were misguided realise the enormity of the
deception that took them away from the truth, they will turn to their
Lord and blame their leaders:

“And they will say, ‘Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders and
our great men and they misguided us from the Way. Our
Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them
many times over.” [al-Ahzab 33:67-68]

Yes, I seek refuge in Allah that I should claim to people that I am

telling them Islam’s ruling regarding anything to do with women and
then I lead them to some inclination of the soul or some objective con­
nected to worldly interests. I would thus be one of those “great men”
who will be standing in Allah’s court tomorrow while those whom
they had deceived and led astray will be asking Allah to increase their
torment and increase their curses and punishment.

Exceptional circumstances are not evidence for any ruling in the

Revealed Law:

The rulings of Islam are only taken from the texts of Allah the
Exalted’s Book, an authentic hadith from the Sunnah of His Messen­
ger Muhammad a valid analogy (t/iyas sahlli) based on the two
aforementioned, or a consensus that has been made by the imams and
scholars of the Muslims.

Of course, anomalous actions done by certain individuals - or what

the scholars of jurisprudence15 called waqa’i' al-dhwdl16 - are not con-
15 Ar. ufiil al-Jiqh.
16 Waqd’i1 al-ahwdl wa Qaddyd al-’A'ydn [i.e. Exceptional Circumstances and Notable Issues]
is an expression that refers to anomalous situations that happened in the age of legislation and

22
 1

Illis IS ISLAMS RUl ING

sidered a foundation or evidence for any valid ruling in the Revealed

Law. This is regardless of whether these individuals are Companions,
Followers, or those who come after that. Instead, what is settled accord­
ing to all Muslims is that actions are weighed - whether valid or invalid
- according to the scale of the Islamic ruling; the Islamic ruling is not
weighed according to their actions and their exceptional circumstances.

If the actions of individual Companions or Followers - for ex­

ample - had the force to give proof of a ruling in the Revealed Law,
without the need to rely on another proof, it would nullify their being
subjected to sins and disobedience and they would be like the Mes­
senger of Allah infallible and protected against falling into any sin
or deviation.

We know intuitively that only the Prophets and Messengers are in­
fallible and protected against slips and sins. As for the rest of humanity,
all of them refute and are refuted, and Allah’s resolution truly applies
to them: j All of the Children of Adam commit sins. J

Therefore, the only way to know Allah the Exalted’s rulings re­
garding the woman is to look at what has been decided in Allah the
Exalted’s Book and in the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger When we
have found this decision and we can see that it is supported by the
understanding of the scholars who act according to the Book and the
contradicted what the general evidences necessitated. For example, the Messenger of Allah
said to Abu Burdah when he wanted to sacrifice a young she-goat ('anaq): |It is sufficient for
you but it is not sufficient for anyone after you < Likewise, he married one of his Companions
to a young woman with what he had memorised of the Quran, i.e. the dowry did not consist
of any material wealth. Another example is that he considered the testimony of Khuzaymah to
be equivalent to the testimony of two witnesses. Furthermore, he wiped over his 'amamah
in wudu’. General rulings are not built on these examples, because they were brought about by
exceptional and exclusive causes. Thus, they remain confined to the scope of the circumstances
in which they occurred. It is not permissible to derive general legislation that goes beyond
the nature of those circumstances. One of the most prominent characteristics of waqdT al-
ahwdl is that they contradict the generality of an overall ruling (fiufeni kuUi) in which there
is no doubt, because of an exceptional reason, and if you were to look for it, you would find
it. (Refer to al-Ahkdin by al-Atnidi: 2/70, al-Muwdfaqdt by ash-Shatibi: 3/260, and al-Mustaffd
by al-Ghazali: 2/68).

23
 I'D EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Sunnah, that is indeed the divine ruling; falsehood cannot reach it from
before it or behind it.17 It is not affected - whether it be abrogation,
modification, or qualification - by our finding individual people who
contradict it, from whatever generation they may be.

Everything apart from the woman’s face and hands is nakedness

('awrah):

The woman in the age of al-Jahiliyyah was keen to exhibit her

charms in front of men, but she did not go to the extent that the
woman in other nations did. The neck, the upper part of the chest, and
voluminous hair were her most prominent charms. She looked after
them and wanted to show them to men.

When Islam had come, and its rulings were being revealed one
after another, Allah the Exalted said the following regarding the woman
and her clothes:

“O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women

of the believers to draw their outer garments closely
around themselves. This makes it more likely that they
will be recognized and not be harmed.” [al-Ahzab 33:59]

Allah dfe has also said regarding her:

% 5^45 5^ 5*

44- 3^ s 5^4?J 5^
17 See Surat Fu$$ilat 41:42.

24
 THIS IS [SIAM'S RULING

5W 3^j 3^
3$*^ 3r^“' 3$^“1 3^SM J 3f3^ 3^'
JI ya jA-C- Ca JI

3*^5^ 3v^ 3^' 3^'

*3 JI 333 Cr?
{(jjpdju

“Say to the believing women that they should lower

their eyes and guide their private parts and not display
their adornments - except for what naturally shows -
and draw their head-coverings across their breasts. They
should only display their adornments to their husbands
or their fathers or their husbands’ fathers, or their sons
or their husband’s sons, or their brothers or their broth­
ers’ sons, or their sisters sons, or other women, or those
they own as slaves, or their male attendants who have not
sexual desire, or children who still have no awareness of
women’s private parts. Nor should they stomp their feet
so that their hidden ornaments are known. Turn to Allah
every one of you, believers, so that perhaps you will have
success.” [an-Nur 24:31]

25
 TO E\ ERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Allah also addressed the wives of the Prophet but He did so in a

manner that includes all Muslim women by way of a manifest analogy,18
or what the scholars of jurisprudence call tanqlli al-mandt.'9 He said:

sjLsii 4 ^3)

1 J*'
“Remain in your houses and do not display your beauty
as it was previously displayed in the Time of Ignorance.
Establish the prayer, pay the zakat, and obey Allah and
His Messenger. Allah desires to remove all impurity from
you, People of the House, and to purify you completely.”
[al-Ahzab 33:33]

The nature of these teachings, as you can see, is general and applies
to all Muslim women. They do not contain that would suggest that
they are exclusive to the Prophet’s wives. Rather, they are exclusively
addressed as a way of honouring them, as well as to urge them to be the
first women to submit to these commands and teachings.

The verses unequivocally show that the display of beauty (at-tabar-

ruf\ that the Arab woman was accustomed to in her jdhiliyyah had
become unlawful and impermissible conduct, and that she must not
display her beauty and charms in front of strange men unless it is
something that appears naturally and it would be difficult for her to
try to cover it.
1 8 Ar. al-ijiyas al-jali: i.e. when the branch takes precedence over the foundation because the
‘illah is more obvious. For example, the unlawfulness of beating one’s parents, which is the
branch, is based on a qiyas of the unlawfulness of saying ‘ufT to them (see Surat al-Isra’ 17:23),
which is the foundation. The ‘illah, which is adha (i.e. harm, annoyance), is more obvious in
the branch than in the foundation. See al-Wajiz Ji Usui at-Tashrf al-lslilmi (Damascus: Mu’assa-
sah ar-Risalah Nashirun, 1436, 2015) by Imam Muhammad Hasan Hitu, p.373.
19 “refining the place where something is suspended”

26
 I llis IS ISLAM S RULING

You will notice how the Divine Elucidation has placed this ruling
within a clear framework of seriousness and concern. It enumerated
the categories of relatives and other people whom are excepted from
the generality of this ruling, one by one, in detail, and went no further,
even though the overall style of the Qur’an is to rely on summation
when elucidating most of the rulings of the Revealed Law and to leave
the details to be elucidated by the Purified Sunnah.

This is why all the imams of the Muslims - not a single one of
them has deviated - have made a consensus that everything other than
the woman’s face and hands falls under the category of what must be
covered. Therefore, the apparent20 that the woman finds difficulty in
covering is not normally more than the face and the hands - however
much we might want leniency - and they are not to be adorned in any
way. Allah has commanded that everything other than this apparent is
covered - such as the neck, upper part of the chest, hair, and so forth -
and the text is decisive and unequivocal.

Henceforth, there has never been any difference of opinion be­

tween the imams of the Muslims - in any age - regarding the fact that
is unlawful for the woman to show foreign men - i.e. those outside the
excepted categories mentioned in the ayah - any part of her body other
than her face and hands.

How the scholars define the face:

There is, however, an area of research and investigation between

them, and it has to do with defining the face itself. The scholars are of
two groups:

The first group:

The first group understands the apparent adornment in the afore­
mentioned ayah to be the adornments of clothes and the extremities
20 (tn); i.e. what naturally shows

27
 IV) EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

of limbs and what might become apparent along with them, such as
a ring, for example. Thus, the face and the hands fall under the gen­
erality of what is unlawful to uncover. Thus, it is not permissible for
the woman to uncover even her face and hands in front of men who
arc outside of the excepted categories of male relatives and those who
bear the same ruling.21

The proponents of this understanding - and they are the Hanballs

and some of the Shafi'is - cite the following evidences for their position:

1. The Exalted One’s words:

Cr? cAA^ “When you ask his
wives for something, ask them from behind a screen.” [al-
Ahzab 33:53] Even though this ayah was revealed regarding
the Prophet’s wives, the ruling is not exclusive to them
in any way. The <illah22 therein is present in all women, and
thus the difference between them and all other women in this
regard is of no consideration. Alternatively, the ruling com­
prises all women by way of al-qiyds al-jalt, which is also called
al-qiyds al-awld.2i

2. What has been related by al-Bukhari on the authority of

‘A’ishah regarding what clothes the muhrim24 is allowed to
wear: !The woman is not to cover her face and is not to wear
a burqu<25. She is also not to wear a garment that has wars26
or saffron.]

21 See: Tafsir al-Baydilwi when he explains Allah's words < U [an-Nur 24:3 1 ] as well
as al-Mughni
i by Ibn Qudamah (7/23) and Mughni al-Muhtfij bi Sharh Minhdj at-Tahbm (3/1 28).
22I (tn): i.e. the effective cause, or ratio.
23 (tn): i.e. the more deserving analogy.
24 (tn): i.e. the person in a state of Ihram in order to perform the Hajj or ‘Umrah.
25 (tn): i.e. a cover that only leaves the eyes exposed.
26 (tn): i.e. memecylon tinctorium, a Yemeni plant used for dye.

28
 THIS IS ISLAM'S RULING

Similarly, there is what Malik has related on the authority

of Nafi‘, which is that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar would say: |The
woman in ihrain is not to cover her face nor wear gloves. |

Therefore, what is the point of forbidding the woman from

covering her face while in ihram for the Hajj if she is not cov­
ering her face in all other circumstances?

3. What has also been related by al-Bukhari on the authority of

Ibn ‘Abbas in which the Prophet sat al-Fadl ibn ‘Abbas
behind him on the Day of the Sacrifice,27 part of which in­
cludes the story of al-Khath‘amiyyah, who stopped to ask the
Messenger of Allah and al-Fadl immediately started looking
at her; the Prophet took al-Fadl s chin and turned his face
away from her.

They say that if were not for the fact that her face is (awrah
and it is not permissible for a foreign man to look at it, the
Messenger of Allah would not have done that to al-Fadl.
As for the woman in question, her excuse for uncovering it
was that she was in ihram in order to perform the Hajj.

4. What has been related by Muslim on the authority of‘Uqbah

ibn ‘Amir in which the Messenger of Allah said: •e-
ware of entering upon women, j28 A man from the Helpers.29
then said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what about in-laws?’30 He
replied: j In-laws are death.j

The hamu is the husbands brother and those relatives similar

to him. Were it not for the fact that the woman in her entirety
is ‘awra/i for foreign men, the Prophet would not have un-
27 Ar. Yawm an-Nahr, which is the 10lh of Dhul Hijjah.
28 (tn): i.e. to enter a room that one of them is in.
29 Ar. al-Ansdr
30 Ar. al-hamii

29
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

restrictedly prohibited men from entering upon women. The

prohibition comprises the various states the woman may be
in, as long as she is showing her face, as is the case with every
woman in her home.

As we can see, the ruling even applies to the husband’s

brother. It is also not permissible for him to enter upon
his brother’s wife. If the face were not lawrah, an exception
would have been made - to make matters easier for in-laws
- for the woman to cover other than her hands and face.

5. What has been collected by ‘Abdur Razzaq in his Musannaf,

as well as others, on the authority of Umm Salamah who
said: 'When the ayah of hijab came down, the women of the
Helpers went out as if they had crows on their heads’ This is
because their faces were covered with the overflowing parts
of their garments. Otherwise, she would not have compared
them to crows.

6. What has been collected by Muslim and others on the authority

of Anas ibn Malik, in which Umm Sulaym made some hais (a
type of sweet) and sent it to the Messenger of Allah on the
occasion of his marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh; the Messenger
of Allah thus invited his Companions and they sat eating
and talking. The Messenger of Allah was sitting while his
wife kept her face turned towards the wall until they had left.

The hadith clearly indicates what is sought. It is not said that

this is a ruling that was exclusive to the Messenger’s wives.
This is because the difference between the Prophet’s wives
and all other Muslim women regarding the hijab is only one
of time. The hijab was legislated for his wives first and then,
after some time, it was made applicable to all women.

30
 Illis IS ISLAM'S RULING

And if the faces of the Prophet’s wives are 'awrah for for­
eign men - and they are their mothers, as you know - then
the faces of all other women being 'awrah as well is even
more so the case.

7. What has been related by Ibn Hisham on the authority of Ibn

Ishaq regarding the reason the Prophet expelled the Jews
of the Banu Qaynuqa4 from al-Madinah, which is that an Arab
woman came with some goods of hers (i.e. goods to sell in
the market) and she sold them in the market of the Banu Qa-
ynuqa\ She sat down next to a jeweller and then they started
asking her to uncover her face. She refused. The jeweller then
took the edge of her garment and pinned it behind her, such
that when she stood up some of her body was exposed. They
laughed at her and she screamed. A man from the Muslims
then pounced on him and killed him...and the rest is history.

Were it not, therefore, for the fact that the hijab includes the
face, there would have been no reason for this woman to cover
her face in public. If she had done so for other than a religious
reason, the Jews would not have been encouraged to infuriate
her religious sentiment.

31
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALIAH

As for the second group:

The second group understands 3I{^ to mean the face and

hands. That is the apparent that the woman might find difficult to cover
constantly. They are the same apparent that she unveils in the prayer,
and thus the ruling for looking should be the same.

The proponents of this understanding, however - and they are the

Malikis, the Hanafis, and some Shafi'ls32 - stipulate that in order for it
to be permissible for a woman to show her face, it must not be done
in a way that would stir up temptation, i.e, she is beautified or she is
naturally beautiful. Furthermore, she must not show it in front of iniq­
uitous men whom it is presumed will most likely not lower their gaze
as Allah has commanded. Rather, they will be carried away by their
desires and lusts.

If one of these conditions is not met, she must cover her face. In
the first case, it is to ward off temptation, and in the second, it is so that
she is not the cause of such reprehensible actions. In order not to be
the cause of such reprehensible actions, she can a) prevent iniquitous
men from looking at her, b) not leave her house and be in the presence
of such people, or c) cover her face from them, which is the easiest
means of the three.

Therefore, all the authentic hadiths that have been quoted that
are evidence for covering the face, and which the first group uses to
support their argument, are understood by the second group to be
circumstances in which temptation was feared, or are understood to be
out of a desire for caution and carefulness.33

31 (tn): i.e. "...except for what naturally shows...”

32 See Altkdm al-Quran by Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi: 3/1357, Ahkdm al-Qur’dn by al-Ja$$a§:
3/289, and ad-Durr al-Mukhtdr in the chapter on permissibility and impermissibility (5/244)
with the supercommentary of Ibn ‘Abidin.
33 Ar. u’dru'.

32
 THIS IS ISLAM’S RULING

The preferred position is that most of the women among the Com­
panions and the Followers were those who were motivated by caution
in Allah's religion and carefulness to cover their faces.

Where consensus has been made and the outcome of the differ­
ence of opinion:

The result of the aforementioned discussion is that all the imams of

the Muslims have made consensus on the following:

1. It is not permissible for the woman to show - in front of other

than those whom Allah has excepted - anything more than
her face and hands.

2. It is also not permissible for her to show her face and her
hands if she knows that she is in the presence of people who
will look at her in an unlawful way, in a way that Allah has
prohibited, by constantly stealing glances at her, and the only
way she can stop this reprehensible action is by covering her
face. It is based on this situation that we understand what
al-Khatib ash-Shirblni quoted from Imam al-Haramayn in
that the Muslims have agreed that women are not allowed
to go outside with their faces uncovered?4

Al-Qurtubi clearly stated this proviso in what he quoted from

Ibn Khuwayz Mindad, one of the imams of the Malikis: ‘If the
woman is beautiful and it is feared that her face and hands will
cause temptation, she must cover them?5

Furthermore, the author of ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, of the

Flanafis, has said: ‘The young woman36 is forbidden from

34 Mughni al-Muhtdj: 3/129.

35 Tafsir al-Qurtubf: 2/228.
36 Ar. shabbah.

33
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

uncovering her face in front of men. This is not because it is

'awrah but for fear of temptation, and it is not permissible to
look at it with desire?7

And so forth. Consensus has been made by all imams

(whether they hold the womans face to be 'awrah, like the
Hanballs, or whether they hold the position that it is not
'awrah, such as the Hanafis and Malikis) that it is obligatory
upon the woman to cover her face when there is a fear of
temptation, i.e. there are people around her who will look
at her with desire. Who can claim that temptation is not
an issue today, and that there is no one on the streets who
looks at women’s faces with desire?

3. They have all agreed that it is permissible for the woman to

uncover her face, as a dispensation, for the necessity of edu­
cation38 or medical treatment, or when giving testimony39 or
when engaged in a transaction that requires giving testimony.

It is upon these three points that all imams and fuqaha' agree.

Then they differ over circumstances, which is the woman who

shows her face in public and there is no one who is looking at her
deliberately with desire - which is an imaginary supposition today.
Some of them - as we have seen - say that there is nothing wrong
with her doing so, while others hold that she must cover her face
without exception.

37 Ad-Durr al-Mukhtar in the margins of Ibn 'Abidin: I 2/284.

38 (tn): For example, she needs to identify herself in order to sit an exam. The reader can also
refer to the author’s essay entitled An-Niqab tvu Sullam al-Awaliydt (‘The Niqab and the Ladder
of Priorities’): https://naseemalshani.com/siibjects/view/53853 (Accessed 25 February, 2022).
39 (tn): i.e. in court or in front of a qadi.

34
 THIS IS ISLAM’S RULING

This is Islam’s ruling regarding the woman’s clothing. All the

scholars of the Muslims are in agreement on this, relying on clear,
unequivocal passages in Allah the Exalted’s Book and on affirmed, au­
thentic hadlths from the Messenger of Allah’s Sunnah.

Thereafter, if we find individual women from among the Compan­

ions or Followers, or others, doing something that contradicts what the
imams have made consensus on based on the evidences of the Book
and Sunnah, they are to be regarded as exceptional circumstances and
are overridden by the confirmed ruling that is indicated by the consen­
sus of the imams and the unequivocal passages of the Book and Sunnah.
Allah forbid that His ruling be overridden by these exceptions.

If this has been made clear to you, you should know that the sources
of the Islamic Revealed Law do not determine any specific type or sort
of clothing that the woman is obligated to wear. Rather, what is sought
is that the garment be long and loose-fitting over her body, not expos­
ing any of her charms or outlining any parts of her body. The optimal
length for a garment is that it reaches the ankles, and it is disliked for
it to be higher than that, even if her feet are covered with thick socks.

Her working and her learning:

As for the woman engaging in work, i.e. seeking provision for her­
self or her family, or devoting herself to one of the beneficial sciences
- studying and learning it Islam has nothing other than the general
ruling that applies equally to both the woman and the man.

If you find a circumstance that Islam has forbidden the woman

from working outside her home or studying, that is because of the
committing of unlawful matters that is associated with it. For example,
she cannot adhere to the ruling of covering and veiling herself from
foreign men in the way described above. Another example would be
her work cutting off or limiting the means of earning that are available

35
 IO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

to men, which would result in a disruption of the system of respon­

sibilities entrusted to men with regards to their families in particular
and the Islamic community in general. This issue is governed by the
well-known jurisprudential maxim:(That without which the oblig­
atory cannot be performed is itself obligatory, and that whose
consequence is unlawful is itself unlawful.)

Thus, the job, however noble it may be, becomes ignoble if it ne­
cessitates that the woman depart from the authority of her veiling, and
that she adorn herself in front of foreign men. Indeed, it is unlawful for
both the man and the woman, for the woman falls into sin by beauti­
fying herself in front of the man, while he falls into sin by mixing with
her, gazing at her, and allowing himself to be tempted by her.

Even if the job is permissible in its foundation, it becomes im­

permissible for the woman if it becomes clear that it is disrupting the
system of social responsibilities that Islam has distributed between the
man and the woman.

The elucidation of this is that the Lawgiver’0 & has regulated

sexual relations between the man and the woman by subjecting it to the
general rules of marriage and its regulations in the Revealed Law. It is
not possible for this system to be realised unless a situation is created in
which only one of the two sexes is the object of desire, while the other
seeks that object and chases after it.

By way of this situation, it is possible to impose the aforementioned

system, and establish it as the sole bridge that must be crossed and all
of its general rules and boundaries must be submitted to, such that the
one seeking his objective from the other sex can only do so in this way.

So, which of the two should be sought, the man or the woman?

40 (in): i.e. Allah.

36
 THIS IS ISLAM’S RULING

The right situation that would guarantee the aforementioned sys­

tem is confined to the woman’s being the one sought, always, and the
man’s being the one seeking her and chasing after her.

This is because if the situation were reversed and the woman was
made to chase after a husband, she would lose her most special, innate
qualities, which are connected to sex.

Allah the Exalted has established her psychical and physical con­
stitution in such a way that it makes her pleasurable to man than the
man is pleasurable to her. Indeed, He put her happiness in her feeling
this, and that the man is driven to submit to this advantage that she has.
This is why it is normal for expressions of love and tender affection, in
general, to come from the man’s side, and the response from the wom­
an’s side is to be coquettish in a way that does not dissuade, and to be
excited but not excessively or in way that peters out.

This is one thing. Another thing is that the rules and regulations
of the aforementioned system lose their authority, or indeed their ex­
istence, when the man finds that it is the woman who is chasing after
him and offering herself to him here and there. What, then, is going
to necessitate that he adhere to the conditions and restrictions of the
Revealed Law that we have mentioned when she is offering him and
asking him?

In most parts of Europe, the circumstances have become such that

the woman is obligated to seek the husband and look for him in many
cases. What are the consequences of that?

It is very easy to know the answer, when you know how many
times the woman falls for men who only play with her, until she stum­
bles upon the husband who is the true husband!”

41 (tn): i.e. ‘Mr. Right’.

37
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

The consequence is that men look and find that opportunities for
easy gratification are available to them in abundance, because women
are looking for husbands for themselves in that society.

The situation pleases them, and thus they become more disinter­
ested and indifferent towards marriage, so that the women have to look
for them and chase after them.

And this is how the womans striving in pursuit of a husband is one

of the main reasons why she does not find one!

A wave of libertinism has spread due to a number of factors, but

this factor alone is the most important.

The family has disintegrated and its pillars have collapsed due to
a number of factors, but no one doubts that this factor alone is the
gravest one. The woman over there has lost her happiness, because she
has lost her most beautiful and valuable dream, which is to be part of a
calm, blissful marriage. This is for a number of reasons, and there is no
doubt that this reason is at the forefront.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the regulation of sexual relations

- i.e. between the man and the woman within the system of marriage
under the Revealed Law - can only be realised in situations in which
the man is made to seek the wife and the woman is made to be the
one sought.

So what are the situations that guarantee the implementation of

this objective?

There is no guarantee of this other than by means of implement­

ing the policy of the Islamic Revealed Law regarding financial support.
Thus, the man is responsible for the woman’s financial support, regard­
less of whether he is her father, her husband, or any other relative. The

38
 mis IS ISLAMS RULING

woman takes her dowry in full from the husband as an outright gift,42
as Allah has commanded.43 It is not for the husband to impose upon her
any sort of cooperation or partnership therein, let alone make her - in
some way - pay the dowry to him.

As a result of this, the man’s share of an inheritance is twice that

of the woman’s share, because half of the man’s share, or even more, is
taken - under the authority of this divine system - and added to the
woman’s share.44 The effect this financial setup has on protecting the
abovementioned system is very clear.

It is an economic axiom that the one who seeks something from

someone else affirms his need for that thing, and this affirmation is
considered a pretext for the other person to demand a fee or price in
exchange. This means that the one who seeks something is the one who
pays the price.

If both the woman and the man know that the latter is the one
answerable for the expenditures of the marriage, i.e. the dowry and
financial support, the woman has no means with which to make the
proposal, because her proposal would thus mean that she is declaring
her need of the husband as well as his dowry. This is the opposite of
the balance of exchanging services and the law of supply and demand.
And this is how striving financially to establish the pillar of marriage is
confined to the man, and at that point, it is easy to make him adhere to
the aforementioned rules and regulations of the Revealed Law.

If a society agrees, however, that the expenditures of the marriage,

i.e. the dowry and so forth, are to be shared between the two spouses,
or that it is a right upon the wife alone, as is the case in some parts of
Europe, the matter gradually becomes inverted: the man loses interest
in taking the initiative to get married and he hides his desire for it,
42 Ar. nihlah.
43 See Surat an-Nisa’ 4:4.
44 (tn): i.e. the man uses his share to support the woman financially.

39
 TO FA FRY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN AI.1AH

greedy for better offers. The competition increases to the same extent
from the other side, since the way to win a husband is abundant wealth
and the best offer. Then, after that, there arc other bad consequences.45

It is as if 1 am impelling you to say: ‘You have taken us a long way

away from the foundation of the discussion. The foundation of the
discussion was the woman’s working and that even if it is inherently
permissible, it becomes unlawful if it disrupts the balance of social
responsibilities that are distributed between the man and the women.
How is all of this long conversation connected to the woman’s working?’

Our response is that the outcome of our long conversation, in

which we have ascertained that the woman should remain the only one
who is sought, that the man must be the one who seeks her, and that
this can only be guaranteed if the man is the one who spends and pays,
is that we ask: how can the man remain being the one who bears the
burden of expenditures while, at the same time, the woman does not
gradually partake in it as well or even replace him therein?

The answer is that the greatest guarantee that these matters will
stay on the straight path is for the woman not to enter the field of work
for the sake of provision unless she is in dire financial straits.

This is because when the woman partakes in work alongside the

man and competes with him in cultivating wealth and accumulating it,
she undoubtedly makes it harder for him to do so. This disrupts the
connection between his financial obligations and the domains in which
he can earn, because the latter is being restricted while the former re­
mains as it was. This creates a problem, or indeed a dilemma, and those
45 By saying this, we do not mean to warn against any financial cooperation between the
two spouses in order to have a comfortable life. Rather, we are saying that this cooperation
is a noble deed that the Islamic Revealed Law calls for and commends. However, it calls for
it within the scope of morals, and within the bounds of the personal desire that comes about
after there is love and harmony between the husband and the wife. It does not call for it at
the legal level, i.e. in which it is imposed, and there are two individuals neither of whom have
any connection to the other apart from thinking about how to take advantage of and utilise.

40
 THIS IS ISLAM'S RUI INC.

who have a very superficial view of things quickly see that there is no
solution to this other than to make the woman the man’s partner in
covering expenses just as she has become his partner in earning!

Therefore, the woman’s participation in earning alongside the

man in the absolute sense (without its being confined to dire financial
straits) is the most important impetus towards her sharing the expen­
ditures of marriage with him. This sharing of expenditures, in turn,
is the most important impetus towards the matter diverting from its
natural state. The woman thus (gradually) becomes the one looking
for the husband and taking the initiative to find him. It is at that point
alone that she loses him, in order to find in his place a lover for a day
or two, or a companion for an hour or two!

The conclusion of all of this is for us to say that the woman’s

working in order to make a living is considered, in its essence, some­
thing permissible and there is no difference therein between the man
and the woman. After that, however, it attains the ruling of unlawful­
ness if it leads to unlawful consequences.

It can become unlawful in one of two ways:

The first is that the woman loses her ability to veil herself from
men in the way that Allah the Exalted has commanded, and indecent
mingling occurs between her and them.

41
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

The second is that it causes the disruption that we have described,

and thus the balance set by the Revealed Law, according to which the
law of marriage operates, is disturbed. Then emerges the dreadful dan­
gers that we have described. That is when the permissible turns into
something that is unquestionably unlawful, because matters are ac­
cording to their consequences, whether short-term or long-term,
and not according to their static forms and appearances.

42
 Fabricated Scientific Sophisms

T A That I have explained to you of Allah the Exalted’s rulings regard-

V V ing the woman’s dress, her learning, and her work, which was
accompanied by clear evidences that leave no room for ambiguity or
interpretation, is sufficient for the one who is sincere with Allah ££ in
seeking to know His ruling, is sincere with himself and with people in
his faith that the Quran is Allah’s Speech, and that Muhammad is
His Prophet, sent to the world as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.

As for the one who is on the edge of hypocrisy in his faith in Allah,
or in seeking to know His ruling, or in striving to attain His pleasure,
he is able to cram into every line that we have written some sophism
or ambiguity. He is able to stir up from the depths of Allah’s Book and
scattered parts of the Sunnah that could be used to support the oppo­
site of what we have said, even though he knows within himself that
he is lying.

The craft of interpreting speech and playing with words is not dif­
ficult. The Children of Israel mastered it before in order to attain small
worldly possessions. Many lawyers today are masters of it so that they
can acquire more of those same worldly possessions. Likewise, many
of those who treat the Revealed Law and its knowledge as a trade are
masters of this craft, so that they can use it to appeal to their superiors,
who look after them and promote them to fleeting, earthly positions.

43
 1*0 FA TRI YOUNG WOMAN WHO BEI IFA'ES IN ALLAH

Imam ash-Shatibi says in his book al-Muwdfaqat, after examining

illustrations and examples of different deceivers and their artifices as
they play with the textual evidences and use tricks to get around the
axioms of rulings:

‘For that reason, you will not find any misguided cult, nor
anyone from among those who differ over rulings, who is inca­
pable of supporting his position by using the surface meanings
of evidences, and we have looked at some examples. Indeed,
we have witnessed and we have seen among the iniquitous
those who support their iniquities with evidences that they
attribute to the infallible Revealed Law. Look at the issue of
being treated by a wine merchant46 in Durrat al-Ghawwds by
al-Hariri and the like. Indeed, one of the Christians used the
Qur’an to support the veracity of their current beliefs. Then he
let his imagination go further and used it to support the idea
that they are like the Muslims in tawhid. May Allah the Exalted
be greatly exalted above what they say.

Because of all of this, it is obligatory upon anyone who looks

into the evidences of the Revealed Law to observe how they

46 The gist of this issue is that Hamid ibn ‘Abbas (the wazir of al-Muqtadir al-'Abbasi) asked
‘Ali ibn ‘Isa in the cabinet about being treated by medicine from a wine merchant, which he
had become attached to. [‘All ibn ‘Isa] turned away from him, so he asked the Judge of Judges
(Qddi al-Qudat), Abu ‘Amr, and he said: 'Allah the Exalted has said:
-lie. Uj j “Whatever the Messenger gives you, you should
accept, and whatever he forbids you, you should forgo." [al-Hashr 59:7] The Prophet
said: (Regarding the crafts, seek help from their people.] Al-’A‘sha was the most well-known
for this craft in al-Jdhiliyyah and he said:
One cup you drank out of pleasure
Another, you treated yourselffrom it. by it
Then Abu Nawwas, in Islam, quoted him and said:
Desist from blaming me; blaming is just temptation
And treat me with that which was the malady
Hamid’s face revealed the answer, and he turned to ‘All ibn ‘Isa saying: ‘Would it harm you to
answer just as the Judge of Judges answered, and he presented an ayah and a hadith?!’ There is
no doubt that this is vile impudence on the part of the Judge of Judges. It is like the impudence
that is normally seen from those who are iniquitous and reckless.

44
 IABKIC.AH I) S< II N | IMG SOPHISMS

were understood by the early generations, and how they acted

upon them, for that is closest to what is correct, (and the best
part of knowledge is action)/47

The meaning of what we are saying, however, is not that the one
seeking to know the truth is lost between the deception of swindlers
and the sincere advice of honest scholars, for the one who is sincere
in seeking the truth does not fail to find evidences for the truth in the
unequivocal, plain passages.48 If these passages escape him, he will not
fail to find them in what the pious predecessors of previous generations
have agreed upon. If he does not know anything of what the predeces­
sors did, he does not fail to find its evidences in the uprightness of the
scholar who gives fatwa, conducts himself properly with people, and
stands firm when faced with the pitfalls of temptations and desires.

If the realities of his Islam lack that which will give him insight
into any of this, the tribulation will be from his own soul before it is
from the schemes of swindlers and the plots of those who lead people
astray. This is because the Muslim is not a true Muslim until he has
acquired a certain amount of insight into his religion such that it can
point out to him - even if from afar - the signposts of the truth and
warn him - even if only in general - against the chasms of misguidance.
He is legally responsible for acquiring this amount of Islamic insight,
if it is true that he wants Islam for himself and thereby to submit to
Allah's ruling.

If this is an obligation upon every Muslim in this worldly life, then

it is the obligation of those whom Allah has entrusted with the quali­
fications of knowledge or the ability to instruct and elucidate - from
among those who pledge to Allah to be honest with Him and sincere
with His religion - to help the Muslim laity obtain this general Islamic

47 Al-Muwafaqat by ash-Shatibi: 3/76-77.

48 (tn): i.e. in the Book and Sunnah.

45
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLMI

insight. They must also disclose to them counterfeit knowledge and

the schemes of those who lead people astray whenever they appear in
front of them.

Yes, it is an obligation upon all groups and classes of Muslims to

assist one another in knowing the truth, and to protect one another
against falling into Allah’s wrath and becoming ensnared in Shaytan’s
traps, and thus those who lead people astray will be isolated, their
schemes will be exposed, and no one will be deceived by them.

I do not reckon that there is any subject matter that the misguid­
ers throw all their weight behind, seeking to confuse the truth with
falsehood and make it impossible to see the divine ruling therein, that
is graver and more important than the subject matter of the woman. I
have not seen any journal or newspaper that has nothing to do with
Islam - neither from near nor afar - except that it clothes itself in the
trappings of religion and assumes the position of religious guidance
when anyone approaches it with some sophism that is connected to
the woman, which they gleaned from some history book or concocted
from some of the sources of legislation. This then enables them to pub­
lish it in the name of the Religion and its guidance on the front pages,
until someone comes along and points out to them that it is a contrived
sophism or deliberate lie. Then they quickly remove those religious
trappings, kick over the minbar*9 of religious guidance, and forget their
phoney veneration of the Messenger if they were attributing errors to
him. They become deaf and blind to the remembrance of the truth after
they had used it for a scheme of naked falsehood.50
49 (tn): i.c. the raised platform (pulpit) from where an imam preaches.
50 Al-Arabt magazine, as far as we know, has received dozens of research papers and treatises,
both short and long, all of which comment on the article by Shaykh Ahmad IJasan al-Baquri
that gave people the impression, in that magazine, that it was permissible for men to mingle
with women the way they do in our society today. Their wording was objective, polite, and
removed from personal attacks. However, the editor-in-chief of this magazine refused to see
the value of honourable words and free thought; he covered his ears and shut his eyes from all
of that. He did this so that the deception that al-Baquri had presented to people would not be
exposed, after which the clear truth would be manifest!
(What the editor-in-chief of this magazine was unaware of was that people are of two types:

46
 FABRICATED SCIEN IIFIC SOPHISMS

So what are these sophisms?

I shall examine them with you, my Muslim sister. By knowing

them as they truly are, your faith in the divine truth that we have clari­
fied will increase and this will also make you more wary of the schemes
of misguiders and the lies of those who spread falsehood. This will
also enrich you with a piercing juridical insight that will distinguish
the truth from falsehood for you, even if the latter - sometimes - is
dressed in the glad tidings of the Religion and its forms.

The first sophism:

Some of them like to cling to a hadlth in order to establish that the

woman is allowed to mix with foreign men however she likes, without
the burden of having to cover or veil herself. The hadlth is what has
been related by Muslim on the authority of Anas that a Persian
neighbour of Allah’s Messenger 1was good at cooking, so he made
something for Allah’s Messenger and then came to invite him. He
replied: jAnd this one? | - meaning ‘A’ishah - and he said: ‘No’, so the
Messenger of Allah said: ‘No.’ Then he came back and invited him
again, so Allah’s Messenger said: jAnd this one?j He said: ‘Yes’ - the
third time - so they both hastened until they reached his house.

the man who sinks in his lusts and libertinism, and therefore was never waiting for al-Baquri’s
fatwa or for al-'Arabi to publish it, and the man who has submitted himself to Allah and is
keen - as much as he is able - to follow the path that leads to his Lord’s pleasure, and thus he
would never turn to al-'Arabi or aLBaquri in order to take a ruling from them.)
The editor-in-chief welcomed the logic of affectation and released it amongst thousands of
people. He was not happy with the voice of truth and exerted himself in order to throttle it and
banish it, but affectation does not last that long and the truth cannot be throttled.
Hundreds of people in every Muslim country welcomed this affectation by slapping it down
and unveiling it, using the logic of trustworthiness and logic, such that it was fully exposed and
then it died. Then they gathered upon the truth and it was exalted, manifested, and augmented,
such that it returned stronger and clearer than before in people’s souls and minds.
The loss is only the loss of the one who has grey hairs behind his ears reminding him of death.
By the Lord who intricately monitors his every breath, the vain talk of this world, however,
can barely make him aware of anything!

47
 ro EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RE! IEVI-S IN ALLAH

This hadith - for the purpose of our discussion - does not ev­
idence more than one thing, which is that Allah’s Messenger had
Wishah accompany him to the Persian man’s house. Similarly, there
are many other hadiths that show the Companions accompanying their
wives to the masjids. Likewise, there are still other hadiths that show
many Companions visiting the Mothers of the Believers in general and
‘A’ishah •,£, in particular, in order to narrate hadith, take fatawa, or ask
about some of the Prophet’s states. So, what contradiction do you
see between this meaning, regarding which there is no ambiguity or dis­
pute, and the divine ruling that decrees that the woman cover from men
and the command for the men that when they come to ask the Mothers
of the Believers something that they ask them from behind a screen?

As for the Messenger of Allah’s refusal to accept the Persian’s

invitation unless ‘A’ishah could accompany him, this is something
established; there is no ambiguity or defect in it. Rather, it is an excellent
Jlustration of his beautiful character with his wife, and his immense
mercy and compassion towards her. She had gone several days in a row
without a fire for food being lit in the Messenger of Allah’s house.
His only food and the food of his family - as ‘A’ishah relates - were
the two black things: dates and water. Would the Messenger of Allah
leave his wife - and she is only content with a rugged life because
she is following his example - in order to sit with his Persian neighbour
behind her back around a full spread of delicious food? The character
of Allah’s Messenger would never be content with that.

He also was not content with that when Jabir invited him - and
hunger was swallowing up his bowels and those of his Companions
when they were digging the trench - to eat a small she-goat that would
not fill a large bowl for dipping bread in. He was not satisfied until he
had gathered all his Companions in front of him and gave them pre­
cedence over himself. He broke up the meat in front of them with his
own hands, and took his place in order to serve them, standing behind

48
 FABRICATED SCIFN IIFIC SOPHISMS

the pot of food. He was not content to eat until he was sure that they
had had enough, even though he had a stone tied to his stomach due
to hunger.

As for the hadith’s indicating that ‘A’ishah went with the Mes­
senger of Allah and she had adorned herself and she sat in front of
the Persian man with her face uncovered, and the families mixed the
way they do today in Islamic families over which Allah’s religion has no
authority, this is something that the hadith does not indicate in any way
whatsoever. Understanding the hadith in this way is akin to believing
that the east comes out of the west!

That which explains how ‘A’ishah went with Allah’s Messenger

in that instance is the following words of Allah

“...and do not display your

beauty as it was previously displayed in the Time of
Ignorance.” [al-Ahzab 33:33]

ULjLo “When you

ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a
screen.” [al-Ahzab 33:53]

y "They
should only display their adornments to their hus­
bands, or their fathers, or their husband’s fathers.”
[an-Nur 24:3 1 ]

What further explains and clarifies how she went is the aforemen­
tioned hadith related by Muslim and others, i.e. it is on the authority
of Anas ibn Malik that Umm Sulaym made some liais (a type of sweet)
and sent it to the Messenger of Allah on the occasion of his mar­
riage to Zaynab bint Jahsh; the Messenger of Allah thus invited his

49
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Companions and they sat eating and talking. The Messenger of Allah
was sitting while his wife kept her face turned towards the wall until
they had left.

It is an astounding mockery of Allah the Exalted’s religion that

we pretend not to see these texts that explain how Wishah went with
the Prophet to the Persian neighbour’s house, and instead, for an
explanation, we rely on the imagination of someone who imagines
that she went just as a girl of western civilization would go: adorned,
beatified, and perfumed! Then, based on this imagination, we create a
cogent argument. Then, on top of that, we build a fixed shariah. Then
we abrogate all the texts of the Qur’an and the Prophetic hadiths that
we examined a short while ago.

That is the story of the first sophism, but it is not a sophism. It is

a cheap deception.

The second sophism:

Al-Bukhari has related from Sahl, who said, ‘When Abu Usayd
as-Sa'idl got married,51 he invited the Prophet 5g} and his
Companions. No one made food for them or offered it to them
apart from Umm Usayd. She moistened some dates in a stone
vessel overnight. When the Prophet had finished from the
food, she pounded some more until it was tender, took it to
him and presented it to him.’

51 [Ibn Hajar] says in al-Fath: 'The word is 'arrasa [i e. he got married] with a shaddah on
the rd'. Al-Jawhari disputed this and said: ‘It is 'a’rasa [i c. he arranged a wedding feast]. Do
not say 'arrasa.

50
 FABRICATED SCIEN IIFIC SOPHISMS

Those who desire for there to be no objection to the woman re­

ceiving her husband’s friends as guests, or her extended family, and
then serving them herself, entertaining them with a drink in her hand,
sitting with them in order to amuse herself and chat, as is the case in
many houses nowadays in which the shade of virtue and the authority
of the Religion has receded, have also clung to this hadlth.

You know that what is reprehensible in the matter is not the wom­
an’s offering a cup of coffee to guests. Rather, what is reprehensible is
her doing so while being adorned and uncovered. The issue is not what
people are familiar with nowadays regarding offering a cup of coffee.
Rather, the entire issue is her offering the cup of coffee while having an
attractive appearance.

/Ml the jurists and scholars of the Muslims know that there is noth­
ing wrong with a woman’s offering food or drink to guests if she is
covered in the proper Islamic way, whose bounds we have explained,
and her husband or other male relative is present.

This is how it was with the wife of Umm Usayd at his wedding
party. In his commentary on this hadlth, Ibn Hajar says: ‘It is obvious
that in this situation, no temptation was feared and the obligatory cov­
ering was being observed.’52

It was not often the case when the Messenger of Allah attended
a gathering that the bride would honour the coming of Allah’s Messen­
ger and thus take it upon herself to accommodate Allah’s Messenger
and be hospitable towards him. And there is nothing in this to
dishonour her just as there is nothing in this that would attach any
blemish to him

52 Fath al-Bari: 9/200.

51
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLMI

The real dishonour is in the one who clings to this hadith and finds
that she uncovered her face and body in front of men and that she was
beautified. This is something that cannot be found, and there is no
evidence for it in the hadith.

Many of the female Companions were present at battles, bandaging

the wounded and giving water to the thirsty, and they included Umm
Sulaym so who can say that this is therefore evidence that there
is nothing wrong with a woman’s mingling with men however she
pleases and beautifying herself in front of them however she wants?!
Many of the jurists have said that it is permissible for the woman to
be a judge in matters that she has the right to testify regarding?3 and
they have also said that she is allowed to be a mufti. So, who can claim
- based on a faint trace of knowledge - that the woman can therefore
be “liberated from the shackles” of veiling and covering, and that she
can take her share in enjoying beautifying herself and her appearance
in front of whomever she wants?!

‘The bride did it herself. She offered the drink to the Messenger of
Allah Therefore, the woman is allowed to display her beauty and
charms in front of men.?! How is this different from someone who says:
‘Allah has legislated trade with money and striving in the earth for the
sake of provision. Therefore, it is permissible to engage in usury, fraud,
and to deceive and swindle!’?

How can someone know Islam and then not know that it gathered
for humanity every benefit when it legislated the way to attain it, un­
polluted by any evil blemish, free from the motives of corruption, and
preserved by the warnings against deviation?

Does the one bearing this sophism want the All-Wise Lawgiver
& to make the woman some dirty thing that does not go in the street,
53 (tn): The Hanafis allow women to be judges in civil disputes. See Mawsii'ah al-Fiqh
al-lskmii wa al-Qadaya al-Mudsirah by Imam Wahbah az-Zuhayli (Damascus; Dar al-Fikr,
1433/2012). 6:650.

52
 FABRICAI ED SCIENTIFIC SOPHISMS

does not solve problems, and does not cooperate with the man in any­
thing? Is this all he understands from 5*^ V5 J “...and not
display their adornments...” [an-Nur 24:31]

Islam’s most sublime distinction is that it deals with man’s issues

and circumstances in a way that guarantees true benefit for his religion,
his life, his intellect, his lineage, and his property, and it has done so by
legislating it and recommending it. It has removed him from anything
that could lead to his suffering evil or corruption. It has also done this
without leaving any way for one to have influence over the other, and
therefore it is possible to separate between the two and it is facilitated
for man to choose whichever of the two he wants. Where does the
proponent of this sophism stand regarding this distinction?

It is not a sophism that requires research. Rather, it is - as you can

see - a hunter’s trap that you only need to be cautious and wary of.

The third sophism:

There are famous women in Islam, of various classes, many of

whom would not cover their faces, even though we know that they
would frequently mix with men.

The promoters of this sophism have relied on history and biogra­

phies and they have looked for women like this therein. They have thus
chosen the names of women like this who were not bothered - in what
the reports have conveyed to us - about showing their faces in front
of men and meeting them in academic and literary gatherings without
any restraint or reservation.

53
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

Among the women they have mentioned are ‘A’ishah bint Talhah,
who never covered her face in front of anyone; as-Sayyidah Sukaynah
bint al-Husayn, who had her own gathering and literary conference in
which elite men of letters and poets would meet; Hind bint Nu'man
ibn Bashir, who would be prominent on many occasions in front of
men with her face uncovered; as-Sayyidah the wife of 'Abdul Malik
ibn Marwan, the Commander of the Believers; as-Sayyidah Kharqa’
al-'Amiriyyah and her daughter Fatimah, who had their own well-at­
tended gathering during the Hajj season, and Dhu ar-Rummah fell in
love with her and composed some of his best poetry about her; and
Walladah, the beloved of Ibn Zaydun, who would attend her famous
literary gathering!

Based on reports of women like this, the proponents of this soph­

ism argue that the Islamic Revealed Law has not stipulated any type
of veil or covering for the woman, and has not prohibited her from
mingling with men in their gatherings and conferences, without any
difference between her and them.

So what source of the Revealed Law do these reports fall under?

Are they from the Book? The Sunnah? Consensus? Analogy? After these
four sources, we do not know of any evidence by which legislation is
established!

If the biographies and states of individual people were an evidence

to be followed in the Revealed Law, why should we not say that drink­
ing wine is lawful, as there are Companions, Followers, and caliphs of
the Muslims who would drink it? Indeed, why should we not say that
fornication is lawful, as there are Companions, Followers, and those
after them who committed it?

Why should we not repeat the words of the Messenger of Allah

|Every child of Adam is sinful j, if we are going to consider the sins of
Adams progeny to be a proof and legislation?

54
 I ABRK Al I I) S( UN I II IC S( H’lHSMS

One thing that is self-evident about Islam is that the conduct of

individual people is not considered legislative evidence unless it is a
Messenger who has had a law revealed to him from Allah for all
of his actions, statements, attributes, and affirmations are considered a
source of legislation. Thus, are these women, who have been selected
by the proponents of this sophism, female Messengers from Allah to
mankind?

Whatever it is about these women that the proponents of this soph­

ism are interested in, next to all of them is a vast majority of women
who are veiled and covering their adornments from foreign men. So,
why is this great majority not the proof in this regard instead of this
minority that the proponents of this sophism gathered from various
classes and eras?

Yes, Wishah bint Talhah refused to cover her face, and her husband,
Mus'ab ibn Zubayr, would reproach her for this from time to time. In
Mus'ab’s disapproval of her, we have evidence for the truth of what we
are saying, and it is far stronger than the evidence derived from her
conduct for the falsehood that they are promoting.

Fatimah al-'Amiriyyah - as they have said - would also uncover her

face in front of men, such that Dhu ar-Rummah was charmed by her
and composed several poems in which he courted her and expressed
his desire for her. There was also Walladah, who was not concerned
about receiving men of letters and poets in her literary gatherings with
her face and beauties uncovered, such that Ibn Zaydun became infat­
uated by her. By Allah, we can see, however, that Dh€i ar-Rummahs
fascination with the former and Ibn Zaydun’s infatuation with the latter
is real evidence for what the Most Judge of Judges has legislated, and it
is far stronger than the evidence derived from the recklessness of these
two women for what these windbags desire, assuming it were valid to
compare the two and formally determine which deserves precedence!

55
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

The result of all of this is that evidence in the Revealed Law can
only be an ayah from Allah’s Book, a hadith from the Messenger of
Allah a consensus from Ahl al-Halli wa al-'Aqd54 among the Muslims,
or an analogy based on an established ruling from the three aforemen­
tioned evidences. It is these evidences that hold sway over people’s
conduct and their affairs. It is not people’s conduct that holds
sway over these evidences, by way of abrogation, modification, or
interpretation.

These words are clear and understood and are only concealed from
someone who has an agenda, a bias, or some desire, and thus he ignores
that which is self-evident so that he can pursue that which he desires
and seeks.

The fourth sophism:

This is an evidence from juridical reasoning.55 In form, it

relies on a well-known usuli56 maxim, which is ‘Rulings change
as the times change.’57

The theory and ijtihdd are as follows:

Life in the past was not based on the foundations of industrialisa­

tion and the reign of machines, and thus there was no pressing need
to have an abundance of workers and to have them working together.
Legislation - whether connected to the woman or other matters - was

54 (tn): lit. ‘the people who loosen and bind’, and it refers to the most authoritative scholars
of the Ummah.
55 Ar. ijtihdd.
56 (tn): i.e. jurisprudential.
57 Ar. tatabaddalu al-ahkdm bi tabaddul al-azmdn.

56
 FABRICA*! (I) SC1ENIIFIC SOPHISMS

consistent with the nature of that life, in harmony with the require­
ments of that stage of civilisation. There was no reason for the woman
to leave her house other than in rare situations in which there was
some necessity.

After life developed, however, in the extraordinary and astonishing

way that it has, i.e. machines became the axis of civilizational devel­
opment for all nations and peoples, and industrialisation became an
indispensable necessity to fight the causes of backwardness, we ur­
gently needed to mobilise every worker. We needed to benefit from
every human resource so that we could join the movement of machines
and steer the wheel of industrialisation. This can only be achieved via
the woman’s participation - as she makes up half the population -
alongside men in leading this new life and benefiting from its nature.
The woman cannot take part in any of the achievements of this new
life if she is shackled by the chains of covering and veiling. This is how
the time in which the previous ruling in the Revealed Law emerged has
changed, and thus the situation requires that the ruling change along
with it, applying the maxim that rulings change as the times change.

This ijtihadi sophism is constantly repeated by many people today,

and some of them know how it is deceptive and misleading, but many
Muslims are deceived by it. Some of them think that it is a valid ev­
idence in the Revealed Law, and thus they continue to use it as an
argument and give ‘fatwa’ among people based on it!

The truth is that neither the usiili maxim that they use as an
argument have any connection or relation to the topic at hand, nor
does the alleged industrial development necessitate everything that
they are claiming.

Words like these are said regarding a nation whose abundant and
flourishing factories are complaining about a lack of working hands to
run them, or a nation where you search and fail to find a single youth

57
TO EV FRY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

loitering on a street comer or mulling over unemployment in the cor­

ner of some cafe. As we know, a nation like this is yet to appear, even
in first world countries in this manner.

These people think that the woman in Europe and America only
partakes in work alongside the man so that the two of them can co­
operate in keeping up with the machines, which never stop. It is thus
agreeable to them - based on this fantasy - to merely simulate in a way
that reflects the egos’ desires and man’s sexual inclinations, instead of
truly ridding themselves of the backwardness and incapacity that they
are suffering from. Thus, they continue moving towards industrial or
civilizational advancement along this single, lustful path, and it is as if
by doing so they have unlocked all the gates to the world!

It is self-evident that this supposition is completely wrong.

The womans partaking alongside the man in the fields of earning,

in Europe and elsewhere, goes back to two motives:

The first is the exacerbated influence of libertinism and sexual

gratification such that the man is no longer able to patiently hold him­
self back with regards to the woman and vice versa, while at work
or anywhere else. The man is keen to have the woman at his side in
whatever job he is doing or whatever workplace he is working in, as
well as in the shop that he frequents, the restaurant that he visits, and
the street that he walks in. By its very nature, it is an odd situation that
is responsible for the misery of both sexes more than it is for making
them happy.

The second is the motive of stinginess and material avarice.

The western man today suffers from a stinginess that is baffling

and astonishing. The head of the family sees no need to support his
daughter financially as long as he believes that she is perfectly capable

58
 IARRICAI f I) SCIEN I II IC SOPHISMS

of going out and working in any job, factory, restaurant or hotel! Like­
wise, the husband sees no need to support his wife financially, as it is
within her capacity to go out and make money from wherever.

And so forth, and thus there is immense indulgence on the one

hand, and it necessitates intense greed and stinginess on the other, be­
cause the former cannot manifest without relying on the latter.

It is incumbent upon the promoters of this sophism to realise what

every thinking person can realise, which is that the west is melting in
an oven of materialism that has turned humans - in all of their innate
peculiarities, yearnings and inclination - into something that resembles
deformed blocks of materialism! They then move around, come and go,
in the orbit of materialism and under its influence. Thus, there is no
doubt that what is called the family over there has thoroughly melted
in that oven. So, in their view, what value or meaning remains for the
essence of the family and its cohesion, if its dispersal means that every
member of it has been turned into a mechanised task that produces
some specified monetary value?!

And this is how, predominantly speaking, the family in Europe is a

title with no referent today, the effects of which are reflected on their
societies at large, and have reached a point where they warn of startling,
dreadful destruction.

Glory be to the One who decreed that history repeat itself!

The destruction of the Romans was because of the increasing

gravity of their libertinism and obsession with sex, and it is the same
consequence that Europe suffers from today: intense stinginess on the
one hand and immense indulgence on the other.

59
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN Al LAM

Their wise philosopher Kanun58 tried in vain to warn them

when he said: ‘O Romans! You have often heard me complain
about the intemperance of men, women, the laity, and even the
legislators...and you have often heard me say that the Republic
is afflicted with two, contradictory maladies: stinginess and
indulgence! They are the two maladies that have turned great
kingdoms upside down.’59

These are the motives behind women working alongside men in

the various fields of earning and work, and every intelligent person
with insight knows this. There is no such thing as ‘keeping up with the
machines’ or controlling the life of industrialisation’ and so forth.

If these are the real motives, why should we imitate its advocates?
And it is not just this. We are actually holding our heads up high,
imagining that by imitating them in this matter, we have become like
them in every progress that they make and in every achievement that
they attain.

The most important wisdom that necessitated the legislation of the

woman’s etiquettes in our Islamic religion is the preservation of the
family’s sanctity and essence. How, then, can we fabricate ijtihad in Al­
lah’s religion and use maxims from the Revealed Law in order to arrive
at an end in which the essence of the family is shattered, its sanctity
collapses, and it forfeits the integrity of its virtuous morals?

These are the sophisms that those who are fed up with the wom­
an’s covering and veiling cling to, and I do not think there is anything
more than that. If I knew there were more, I would look for it and then
present it so that it can be examined and evaluated.

58 (tn): This is most likely Cato the Elder.

59 Dd’irat al-Ma'drif by Farid Wajdi: 8/618.

60
 FABRICAI El) S( ll-N I II K SOPHISMS

I have seen that all of these sophisms are nothing but fabricated
barriers to create distance between the unequivocal Islamic ruling and
clarity. Even those who promote these sophisms and use them as ar­
guments know this, but they watch their tongues and make sure that
they do not utter a word that would reveal that they know this. They
are thus like a group that are very similar to them and whom Allah
described by saying: f Ulb ^>4—“...and they
repudiated them wrongly and haughtily, in spite of their own
certainty about them.” [an-Naml 27:14 j

And if we were to agree with these people who drone these soph­
isms of theirs in every field and battleground, and we assumed that
they were sound arguments - which they are not, and they know they
are not - that would do nothing to support the dreadful and corrupted
situation that a large number of Muslim women, young and old, have
been carried away by.

Which of these various sophisms allows for the young woman -

imagining that they are valid - to go out into the street baring the
upper part of her chest, her forearms, and her thighs? Which of these
sophisms gives the Muslim woman a “fatwa” saying that she may chat
the night away with her guests and “honour” them by whatever means
of beautification and temptation she has, as is the case in many Muslim
homes today?

Therefore, the matter that we are complaining about today is a se­

rious religious and social corruption that cannot be denied or doubted,
and these sophisms have no connection - whatever they may be - to
its justification.

There is no doubt that this dreadful situation poses a clearer and

more dangerous threat than that of the young woman who covers her-

61
 TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

self in a way that is regarded by some as excessive in the Revealed Law.

No one doubts this fact unless he is arrogant in a way that is both
unique and astonishing.

We, therefore, ask: which of the two is considered a problem that

needs us to deal with it and solve it? Is it the woman who is careful
with her religion and goes to great lengths to realise her Lord’s pleasure
and thus she lets her veil flow abundantly over her body, and lets it flow
over her face and all of her extremities, for fear that a man will look
at her with desire and she is the one who caused him to do so, and
therefore she will bear her own sin as well as his?

Or, is it the woman who interprets the covering of the body to

mean the chastity of the soul, and takes famous women’s uncovering
their faces as evidence that covering is fundamentally spurious, and
thus she goes out in front of men exposing all of her body’s charms,
temptations, and enticements, without confining herself to any limit ex­
cept those imposed by some famous runway models who are outwardly
handled by European fashion houses and inwardly by Zionist Jews?!

Yes, my thinking sister, which of the two is considered an intellec­

tual, social, and moral problem that needs to be looked at and solved?

Is it not the strangest thing that we find that a group of our writers
- and they call themselves Muslims, - as well as many magazines - and
they are branded with the stamp of ta wind and Iman -; have made cau­
tion in Allahs religion and sincere concern for Allah’s legislating to be
a problem and a major affliction? They have thus unleashed their pens
and to solve this matter they sometimes resort to tempting and alluring
pictures and at other times to derisive pictures. They also use various
psychical suggestions and treatments. They do all of this because there
is a group of young Muslim women - and they are nevertheless the
minority - who are motivated by prudence in Allah’s religion and ad­
hering to Allah’s legislation and thus they let their garments hang down

62
 FABRICATED SCIFN I IFIC SOPHISMS

over their faces or over the other parts of the body. They do this with­
out any of their service to the community interceding any of them. In
other words, despite her covering, she serves her community and takes
care of her nation, and she engages in the correct fields of educational
and social endeavour, which the other women do not do. Then these
writers, or these magazines, do not notice, on the contrary, any prob­
lem or mistake that needs to be dealt with or evaluated regarding the
appearance and conduct of this majority of women, both young and old,
who have fallen captive to modern fashion houses that strive to control
what the woman wears in Europe and America in general, and in the
Islamic cast in particular!

Is it not the strangest thing that we see a group of writers -

and they call themselves Muslims - clinging to isolated incidents
of individual women that they have found in the Islamic history
in order to justify this distressing situation, which no true divine
religion would affirm, nor any sound human morals, and which
only harbours dangerous evil? Is it not strange that these reform­
ers continue to call on one another for it to be treated, deceive
one another in pointing out its source, and then do not turn to
any part of Allah’s clear, unequivocal ruling in His Book or on
the tongue of His Prophet, or the consensus of the imams of
the Muslims, to find a means towards rectifying this tremendous
corruption? They will not even do so to mitigate, even by a small
amount, the tribulation of this striptease that the Muslim family,
without warning and without resistance, has been swept away by.

Dozens of research papers and articles are published every

now and then that make sarcastic remarks, criticize, and mock
what remains of the hijab worn by the young Muslim woman,
when it brings nothing but goodness and benefit to people. No
one writes a single research paper to counter the above and draw
attention to this blazing fire that is being ignited in every house
and is being poured out into every street and community. This

63
TO E\ FRY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

blaze offers nothing to this generation of this Ummah, or indeed

to the youth worldwide, other than the most dangerous means of
ruin and destruction.

64
 Worthless Remarks

1" f owe ver these baseless sophisms may be, the enemies of this Re-
1 JLligion have other arguments and remarks that they hope will
support their falsehood. They are, however, worthless and meaningless
remarks that cannot be accepted by anyone who is of sound intellect.
They fall under what logicians call sophistry, i.e. it looks like an argu­
ment but there is nothing there. They are remarks that are used more
to subdue the ego than to convince the intellect.

How many young believing women go astray, away from the good
sense of the intellect, because of these polished, deceptive remarks, and
how many have realised that they are deceptive prattle but it was too
late, because they have gone too far and they have no strength to come
back, or they have indeed fallen into bottomless pits that they cannot
get out of!

What I shall do - my believing sister - is present to you all of

these remarks along with their deceptive embellishments and then di­
vest them, right in front of you, of their falseness so that you can see the
immense deception and misguidance therein. Once it has been made
clear to you, you will be more capable of standing up to the falsehood
that you are exposed to and you will be firmer and more established
upon the truth that you exult in.

They tell you that the young womans chastity is concealed within
her essence. It is not a cover that is put over her and hangs down over

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 TO EVI RY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BEl IEVES IN ALLAH

her body. How many young women cover themselves outwardly in

front of men but in their conduct with them engage in fornication
and whoredom, and how many young women are bareheaded and
have their faces uncovered but never engage in such conduct inwardly
or outwardly?

I say to you that this is tme. It is not for a garment to weave lost
chastity for its wearer, or to create uprightness that is not there. It is
often the case that a whore uses a veil to cover her whoredom. Who,
however, has claimed that Allah only legislated that the woman cover
her body in order to create purity within herself or chastity in her
character? Who has claimed that Allah has only legislated covering so
that it can be a declaration that every woman who does not adhere to
it is a whore who has sunk into a valley of sin and seduction with men?

Allah only legislated covering for the woman in order to preserve

the chastity of the men whose eyes might fall on her, not to protect her
chastity from the eyes that see her! Although she also benefits in many
instances, the benefit for men is greater and more important. Other­
wise, can an intelligent person say - based on this inverted argument
- that a young woman can go out naked in front of all men as long as
there is no doubt about the strength of her morals and the veracity of
her uprightness?!

It is the trial of men, in that their eyes fall upon the temptations
and charms of women, that is the problem that the community needs
to solve, and Allah's legislation can take care of it in the best way.

The trial of men, if this divine solution does not stand in its way,
will undoubtedly bring evil to women as well, and at that point the
beautified woman will not benefit from being upright in her conduct
or chaste within herself. This is because the blaze of this aroused and

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 WORTH 1 ESS REMARKS

excited trial in men’s souls may very well overcome every uprightness
or chastity with which the woman restrains herself if she displays her
means of arousal and temptation in front of them.

They tell you that if mixing between men and women becomes
common, the characters of both will be refined, and as a result, there
will be innocent “friendships” between them that will not lead to sex
or deviate into sin! On the other hand, if barriers of veiling are placed
between them, sexual inclinations between them will become inflamed
and each will be tempted by the other! That will lead to sexual inhibi­
tion and bad character!

I say to you that it is true that temptation can lose some of its
influence after lengthy exposure and after it has become widespread. It
is indeed possible for this influence to wane, over time, on those who
have immersed themselves in it and reaped its fruits, after which they
no longer pay any attention to it. It is self-evident that it is not because
they have risen above temptation. Rather, it is because they have be­
come fed up with it, and because they get enough of it every day.

Seeing things that are sexually arousing in a country like Sweden,

for example, is considered normal and does not provoke shock or dis­
approval for those who have grown up and live in such an environment.
Does that mean that they have transcended the causes and exigencies of
corruption, and thus they do not fall for them and are not affected by
them? What madman would say this?

We all know that the one who passes by sexual imagery over there
does not look at it or pay attention to it. Maybe after an hour or so you
will find him somewhere else engaging in some sexual act. His disin­
terest in, and insensitivity to, temptation is only the result of pleasure
becoming widespread and cheap. It is not the result of some specific or
new understanding that he might have gained insight into.

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 IO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BEI IF.VES IN ALLAH

The one who imagines that this lack of interest in sex is not due
to it being widespread and readily available is like someone who imag­
ines that a hungry person can be made to do without food by merely
spreading out tasty plates of food everywhere he looks.

The word “friendship” is a word that these people use to refer to

those intermissions in which “friends” gather themselves and recuper­
ate after long drifts into absolute animalism and libertinism.

It is an established fact that “friends” know before anyone else

knows!

As for inhibition, which of the two causes inhibition? Is it the

young man who goes about his business - his job, his work, his studies
- and his eyes do not fall on anything that stimulates his innate desires,
nd then he goes back home with calmness, peace of mind, and active,
reused thinking? Or, is it the one who leaves his house and is met with
,exual temptations of every manner and type from every direction and
quarter, such that his innate desires are stimulated and aroused and if
he were to approach them in order to gratify himself and satisfy his
desires, he would collide with legal boundaries and the control of the
police as well as the protectiveness of a husband or male relative?

Yes, which one causes inhibition?

I asked this question to a young man at a university who had

declared in front of me his absolute faith in modernity and progress
and he justified it with “inhibition” and other similar phrases, and he
choked on the answer. I, however, answered on his behalf and said:
"Perhaps you do not just want to rebel against covering and veiling.
Rather, your goal is to rebel against the revealed laws and man-made
laws that have been laid down that regulate interactions between the
man and the woman, and this is because you desire absolute libertinism,
just like that of animals, free of the inhibition that you speak of!’

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 WORTHLESS REMARKS

If that is the case, do not talk about covering and criticise it

before you have boldly sat with husbands and fathers and looked
into Allah’s revealed laws, the laws of the earth, the natural jealousy
within man, and discussed your animalistic plan that you are calling
to. When they have all answered you, then you may rebel against a
covering that is not needed and argue using words like “inhibition”
and its preserved synonyms.

They tell you that the woman’s covering is a hindrance that pre­
vents her from joining the man in his intellectual, cultural, and social
progress. The first step towards any intellectual or social activity is for
the young woman to uncover her face and smash the barriers and pre­
conceptions between her and the man. Likewise, the first way to put an
end to her various intellectual and social faculties and abilities is for her
to imprison herself in the cage of this covering, and to place a barrier,
which she calls veiling and covering, between herself and the man!

None of them speaks about the woman’s ignorance and backward­

ness without using a picture of a covered woman as an illustration,
and none of them speaks about the woman’s education, progress, and
intellectual and social activity without showing a picture of a naked or
unveiled woman as an illustration!

I say to you that I am absolutely certain that this contrived link is

nothing but a grotesque, baseless slander that has no evidence.

I confirm to you - and 1 am an eyewitness - that among the young

women at the university are those who cover themselves according to

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 i o EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

Islam and adhere to Allah’s ruling, and they are quicker to advance
in their knowledge, educational, social and intellectual activity than
their "liberated” colleagues are.

We have seen many of the manifestations of prostitution and nu­

dity in Africa and some parts of Europe, but have we seen them bring
about any scientific progress or educational and intellectual activity?
We have seen, on the contrary, many manifestations of preserving Al­
lah’s legislation and His ruling regarding appearance, adornment, and
clothing without this manifestation causing these women to slip from
the peak of intellectual sophistication and spirited cultural activity.

Anyone who is familiar with history knows that our Islamic history
is full of Muslim women who combined between Islam in terms of
etiquette, modesty, and veiling on the one hand, and knowledge, educa­
tion, and an intellectual life on the other. This started in the age ol the
Companions and has continued to this day that we live in.

Backwardness has its causes and advancement has its causes! To

implicate the legislation of veiling and character in the matter is an
oppressive and shameless deceit, and no one would fall for it unless he
is backward in his "free” thinking and outlook.

And we do not doubt that, sometimes, intellectual and educational

backwardness coincide with the woman who veils, covers, and protects
herself, but there is no doubt that this did not happen by necessity.
There is no inseparable link between the two. It is a conventional reality
that has been brought about by certain intellectual and colonial circum­
stances. There is nothing easier for the reformers - if they want true
reform - than to distinguish between the two realities with relevant
Islamic awareness, which supports veiling and modesty and pushes for
more beneficial sciences and education, making each of the two assist
the other.

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 WORTHLESS REMARKS

They tell you that the young woman who keeps herself away from
people behind a cover is denying her youth, or indeed her life, the
happiness of marriage. The young man will only devote himself to the
young woman who pleases him, and that part about her that pleases
him - before anything else - is her beauty and the outward aspects of
her personality that are connected to it. How can he be sure about her
in that regard if it is not facilitated for him to see her and to get to
know a bit about her nature and character? How can that be facilitated
for him when she refuses to do anything but keep herself away from
him behind the wall of a burqa and a hijab?

This is an argument that mothers make on behalf of their daughters.

A mother like this thinks that she is bringing about good for her daugh­
ter, and that she is making it easier for her to choose the young man
of her drcams. The temptations of Shaytan’s accomplices all around
the mother make her more impulsive. They exploit this desire of hers.
They make her more fearful and anxious if her daughter were to wear
Islamic clothing, and they make her more hopeful if she were to liberate
herself from it and let herself drift among young men, displaying her
charms to them and mingling with them!

I say to you that this is a baseless deceit that reveals the oppo­
site of the truth and reality! It is a deceit formulated by peddlers of
falsehood who claim knowledge, and it tricks young women and their
mothers into ignorance and deception!

If you reflected on the reality that we live in, you would see that the
rate of men who approach conservative families and young women for
marriage is about twice the rate of those who approach “liberated” fam­
ilies who follow this deceptive prescription, which has deluded them.
Indeed, marriage in general is more common among conservative, re­
ligious families than it is among other families, at a rate that is more
than double. The details of this are known by anyone who refers to the
detailed statistics on the matter.

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 ro EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

1 shall elucidate for you the near and far causes of this reality, so
that you become more certain of the Creators wisdom ig£, and that
humanity will not find their benefit properly guarded and protected in
other than implementing Allah’s legislation.

The young men in our community fall into one of two categories:

The first category is the one who is religious in general. He ad­

heres to the etiquettes of Islam and most of its rulings, especially those
that govern social matters and are well-known.

The young man in this category will inevitably get married in his
twenties, the only exception being those who have exceptional, particu­
lar circumstances. A young man like this views marriage the same way
a fasting person views his iftar, he gathers for it all of his worldly hopes
and makes it the pillar of all his happiness!

The young man in this category looks for the young woman of his
dreams, but within the scope of veiling and protection that he believes
in and grew up with. This means that if circumstances were to take
him out of this scope in certain instances for reasons which a young
man might be tested, he would not be content with a young woman
to become the mother of his children unless he saw that she had a re­
ligious nature and that covering was something manifest and genuine
in her life.

This young man will never be thwarted by the problem of not

knowing what she looks like or being certain of her character, because
Allah’s ££ Revealed Law solved that problem for him when it legislated
for him, or indeed commanded him, a command of recommendation
and guidance, to look at her and talk to her. If he is not satisfied that
he learned enough the first time, such that he knows her and feels sure
about her, he may go back and look a second time and third.

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 WORl IILESS Rl-MARKS

The second category is the young man who has extricated himself
from the authority of the Religion and its rulings. He enjoys himself in
whatever way, whenever it is feasible for him to do so, and he does not
care whether it is lawful or unlawful!

The young man in this category, if he does marry, will delay mar­
riage until he is halfway through middle age or near the end of it. You
will not find a single one of them marrying before the age of thirty-five!
That is, unless he has some rare, exceptional circumstances.

A young man like this thinks about marriage the same way a tourist
thinks about returning home after a nice holiday and the enjoyment
has drained all of his energy and vigour, such that he feels bored and
strained, so he goes home seeking rest and relaxation! This man has
enjoyed all kinds of pleasure and it was all profit and no loss. What he
wants from a wife now is for her to help him and give him the rest and
relaxation that he seeks, and not so much the enjoyment, pleasure and
happiness that a husband and wife share in a marriage.

And how often would he pretend to desire marriage beforehand,

and thus young women would be drawn to him here and there, each
of them showing him whatever beauty and charms she possesses, ac­
cording to the school of thought of these deluded young women who
think that a young woman cannot possibly find the husband she desires
except on the streets where she parades herself naked in. He thus sam­
ples this one and that one...and gets what he desires from them. As we
have said, it is all profit and no loss. He takes his pleasure from each
one of them as his girlfriend today, and then tosses her aside when he
finds his wife tomorrow!

There is a difference between the man and the woman in how they
compete for their pleasures, something that is rarely realised by people,
and the woman is always the loser! Whenever the woman frees herself

73
 IO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

from the shackles of the Religion and etiquettes, she does not reach the
peak of her happiness unless it is in a home in which she becomes a
happy mother.

The man, whatever his situation may be, seeks his pleasures and
delights without bearing any loss, responsibility, or trouble. Nothing
will wean him off that other than a religion that controls his heart. In
the absence of religion, the man and the woman meet on a playing field
in which the woman is always defeated!

The result of all of the above is a tangible and witnessed reality that
man only needs to contemplate and be aware of to see, which is that
the marriage rate of young religious people is more than twice that of
those who are "free and liberated”. Furthermore, religious people only
get married to righteous families, and they only cling to the beauty that
is adorned by good character, covering, and religion. As a result, spin­
sterhood only spreads - in general - among families that have chosen
to turn away from the path of the Religion, its ruling, and its nurturing.

My believing sister, what I have explained to you should be

enough to convince you - with coherent logic - that following Allah
the Exalted’s Revealed Law will not only guarantee that you will attain
Allah the Exalted’s pleasure, it also guarantees that you will realise all
the means of your own worldly happiness. Happiness is not in realising
the fantasy that you imagine; it is in the reality that gives you tranquil­
lity, and spreads calm and contentment throughout your life.

Now that all of this has been made clear to you, it is time to get up
and respond to your Sublime Lord’s ruling, and to become reconciled
with Allah after being in a state of forgetfulness and estrangement
from Him. Take His straight path as your path to Him, and His love as
an intercessor before Him.

74
 WOK I III .ESS REM/XRKS

Leave people’s criticisms and reckoning, for Allah’s reckoning to­

morrow is more severe and immense!

Rise above striving to please them and realising their wishes, for
indeed rising to Allah’s pleasure will make you happier and safer.

If you are determined to return to Allah’s path, you will come

across those who will try to play with your emotions and put you
under the pressure of these “fashions” that surround you the way a
spider’s web surrounds its baited prey. They will remind you of a such-
and-such lady who used to display her charms in front of men, and a
such-and-such lady who used to have her own literary “parlour” that
was distinguished among people.

I, on the other hand, shall remind you of the clear, divine ruling
that I have faithfully transmitted to you, and of the established hadith
of Allah’s Messenger when he said:

| There are two categories of people from the Ummah whom I

have not seen: a people who carry whips like the tails of cattle
with which they beat people, and women who are clothed yet
naked, inclining and making men incline towards them; their
heads incline like a Bactrian camel’s humps. They do not enter
Paradise and they do not smell its scent. Its scent will be found
at such-and-such distance J60

You will also find those who will remind you of the beauty of this
worldly life and the temptations to quench one’s thirst for its pleasures
and delights. I, however, remind you of the gravity of its outcome and
the massive consequences that await you. 1 remind you of the Day of
Judgement, even though you believe in its existence. I remind you of
the day in which Allah the Exalted’s words will speak the truth while
He is addressing a large segment of mankind:
60 Related by Muslim and Imam Ahmad.

75
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO RELIEVES IN ALLAH

-.n > L

<3^ J ojyf-

“You dissipated the good tilings you had in your worldly

life and enjoyed yourself in it. So today you are being
repaid with the punishment of humiliation for being
arrogant in the earth without any right and for being
deviators.” [al-Ahqaf 46:20]

I remind you of all of this, because that is more conducive to your

seeking felicity for yourself in both this life and the Hereafter.

Finally, let me remind you that all of these swindlers are only look­
ing out for themselves when they claim to be advising you. They are
only seeking to meet the needs of their desires.

If I wanted a share of it for myself, I would do what they are doing

and join their party, for I am a man like them and I have the same
desires as all of them.

1, however - by Allah - do not want to bear my sin and your sin on

the Day of Standing! I want you, with your uprightness upon the truth,
to be a good deed on my scale, and I want to be, with the truth that
I have reminded you of, a good deed on your scale. I want for myself
and for you something that is more sacred and felicitous than every
pleasure, delight, and passion.

What I want for myself and for you is Allah's pleasure.

76
 A Final Word

A /Ty final word must be for those women whose hearts are certain
IV 1of the truth that I have clarified, although one of them might feel
that there is some remoteness between the reality that she lives in and
the truth that she believes in, so she regretfully falls back on the reality
that she lives in, and apologises to Allah or to people because she is
unable to make this huge leap.

Accordingly, there are a huge number of divergent men and women,

and nothing is keeping them upon their divergence and preventing
them from striving to rectify their situation other than the width and
depth of the gap that they see between the perfection they hear about
and the reality that they live in.

This conception, however, is mistaken, because the dividing line

between truth and falsehood is only embodied in the difference be­
tween the nearest edge of falsehood and the first degree of truth. The
difference between these two is a quick glance and a simple movement.

The truth that we have clarified in the previous pages is not an

independent conclusion sitting at the peak of loftiness and perfection.
Rather, it is a ladder whose steps are close together. Its beginning starts
at the edge of the falsehood that you are living in, and it finally ends at
the conclusion of perfection that Allah’s legislation and ruling pushes

77
TO EVERY YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLMI

you towards. All that is required of you - after you have become aware
of the truth and believed in it - is to start climbing its steps, not to
make one giant leap to the top!

If you do not possess the capacity and the willpower, or helpful

circumstances, with which you can enjoin upon yourself a covering
that is long and loose-fitting over your body and face, enjoin upon
yourself something less than that which is facilitated by your current
circumstances.

If you do not have the capacity to change anything about your

clothes and appearance, however divergent or remote they are from
pleasing Allah Jfe, you should also enjoin upon yourself something
less than that, such as obligatory acts of worship or reciting a por­
tion of Allah the Exalted’s Book with contemplation every morning
and evening.

If you are incapable of committing to even this much on the path

towards rectification, enjoin upon yourself something less than that,
such as sensing the gravity of the state you are in and taking refuge
in Allah the Exalted with a sincere, throbbing heart, asking Him for
strength and assistance.

Taking refuge in Allah the Exalted with sincerity is the source of

victory and success. No person moves towards the truth and starts with
this step, turning to Allah with sincerity and resolve, except that Allah
the Exalted grants him the success to reach the end of that road and
arrive at that truth.

It is an absolute calamity for you to know the truth and believe in it

and then not take a single step towards it or have any resolve, as if the
matter is not something that concerns you at all, or it is as if the One

78
 A FINAL WORD

who legislated this truth and commanded to it will never grip you with
His power and authority. Or, it is as if the Hereafter and what it con­
tains are not worth a person's giving up any of his hopes and desires.

/\ state like this is considered the greatest cause of invoking Allah

the Exalted's anger and hastening His punishment.

Allah's punishment in this life is not embodied in an immediate

tribulation that descends upon a person. Rather, it is embodied in be­
coming close-minded and hard-hearted, and thus neither are affected
by any reminder, intimidation, or cautioning, however clear the evi­
dences may be or how near the warnings are. This is until death comes
and seizes him and he is in this state. He thus turns to Allah the Exalted,
and his closed mind and hard heart turn into remorse that eats him
up, at a time when remorse is of no benefit and there is no going back.

Allah the Exalted described this punishment and its causes when
He said:

1
5^3 ^5})

015 '>5

“Who could do greater wrong than someone who is re­

minded of his Lord's signs and then turns away from
them, forgetting all of that he has done before? We have
placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from un­
derstanding it, and heaviness in their ears. Though you
call them to guidance, they will nonetheless never be
guided.” [al-Kahf 18:57]

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 I O EVERA YOUNG WOMAN WHO BELIEVES IN ALLAH

If you believe in Allah then there is no doubt that you believe in

His Revealed Law and in the Last Day, which is the Day of Reckoning
of Recompense.

One of the requisites of this faith is that you listen very carefully
to what has been discussed in this treatise and think about it seriously.

This is so that when you have become convinced that 1 have not
deceived you with false statements, and that I have only presented
to you the pure truth in which Allah’s ruling is embodied, you
must embark upon implementing this ruling by going through its
gradual steps.

If you find that the grips and passions of this worldly life and the
customs of your friends and relatives are holding you back and pre­
venting you from standing up for Allah’s command, there should be
nothing less than sorrow pouring out of your heart as a result. That
agony will take you to Allah the Exalted’s door and the steps of His
mercy, so that you can show Him your weakness and supplicate fer­
vently to Him about your suffering so that He grants you strength and
success, and that He gives you the support to liberate yourself from the
sway of your soul, and the sway of traditions and customs, and from
the sway of relatives and friends.

If your faith does not encourage you to do this or that, and your
heart is not moved by any feeling or concern for everything that I have
told you, then be in doubt about your faith in Allah the Exalted’s exis­
tence, and know that if you continue you like this, you will arrive at a
dreadful end from which there is no escape!

You should know that the intoxication of this worldly life, however
delightful it may be; you can be shaken out of it at any moment, and
that moment - by Allah - is near.

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 A FINAL WORD

And you should know that its taste, however pleasant it may be,
is a lump that will end up in your throat, and that - by Allah - is
coming your way.

Then, know that if any young man is tempted because of you today,
or his mind is preoccupied because of that temptation, - and you were
able to protect him from that - you will receive an exemplary punish­
ment from Allah the Sublime tomorrow.

At the end of this treatise, remember what I pointed out to you at

the beginning, which is that in the mans life, the woman is the man’s
most serious test, without exception. Make your taqwa of Allah the
Exalted in your conduct something that helps the man strive for Allah’s
pleasure, and do not make perseverance in disobeying Allah something
that will help him follow Shaytan’s path.

And we only seek Allah’s help for guidance and success.

81