What Is Islam?

People of wisdom state:Our Master the Prophet orders that one should speak to people according to their levels of understanding. As a matter of fact, when a Bedouin said to him, "Explain to me what Islam is. If I find it logical and reasonable, I will believe," our Master the Prophet replied, "This religion is based on two things: (1) to respect and to like all the commandments of Allahu ta'ala and (2) to feel pity for and to show mercy to all His creation."
Once upon a time, a man went to a city largely populated by Christians and stayed there for a while. Some time later, five or six people he had contact with came up to him. One of them was an atheist and the others were Christians. They said to him:

"We like you very much. We believe that your good moral qualities, sweet tongue, and smiling face come from your religion. Now give us information about Islam. We want to hear the Islamic religion from your lips. What is the Islamic religion?" He gave them the following answer:

"Islam is divided into two parts: faith [iman] and practice. Faith is to believe in Allah, angels, holy books, prophets, the life after death, and divine decree and preordainment. These principles exist in both Christianity and Judaism, though being different. We, for instance, cannot be Muslims if we do not believe in the prophethood of Musa 'alaihis-salam and 'Isa 'alaihis-salam."
"Why? They are not your prophets," they objected.

"All prophets are the prophets of Muslims as well because a person who does not believe that all prophets are the prophets of Allah cannot be a Muslim. If you, too, believe in all prophets including Muhammad 'alaihis-salam and the religion brought by him, all of you will become Muslims," he replied.

"How can it be? We eat pork," they asked.

"It is a matter pertaining to practice, and eating it is forbidden. The one who commits a forbidden deed does not go out of the fold of Islam," he clarified.

"In addition to it, we drink wine," they added.

"Similarly, it is a matter pertaining to practice, and drinking it is forbidden. There are also Muslims who consume alcoholic drinks. However, faith is different from practice. What matters is to have faith."
Thereupon, the atheist rushed forward excitedly and exclaimed:

"It has been understood. There is no need for you to explain it further."

"Yes, what I have told you is all about our religion," he said.

All of them were greatly surprised and looked at one another's faces. With this astonishment, they went out. However, the atheist came in again a bit later and stated:

"I am astonished by what you told us."

"Why are you astonished?" he asked.

"Our knowledge about Islam was quite different. Could you explain this religion to us again, please?"

After that man explained it once more, the atheist wrote down the Word of Testimony word by word and went out. Taking his friends along, he came to the presence of that man 10 or 15 minutes later and said, "I declare in public that I have become a Muslim." Then he recited, "Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhoo wa rasooluhoo," thus taking a step toward eternal felicity.

Why did she become Muslim? Mrs. MES' DA STEINMANN - (G.B.)

There is not a single other religion to equal Islam in its simple comprehensibility or in its reassuring smoothness. Islam is the one and only one religion which infuses a sense of peace and tranquillity into the human soul, blesses man with a life of contentment, and guides him to eternal happiness and salvation after death.

Man is one of the various creatures of Allahu ta'ala. Naturally, there is some connection between him and the other creatures. Allahu ta'ala created man in the most perfect form. What gives him this singular virtue is the soul that he possesses. Man's soul continuously endeavors to take him up to higher and higher levels. And the only source to feed the soul is religion.

What kind of a connection is there between man and the Almighty Being who creates him? No doubt, religion explains this. I studied the statements made about religion by various scholars. The following are a few examples:

(Paraphrased) from Carlyle's work 'On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History':

"A person's religion is his heart's belief, and it is, therefore, his most prominent characteristic. Religion is such that it goes directly into one's heart. It adjusts one's activities in the world. It shows the way one should follow and determines one's destination."

(Paraphrased) from Chesterton's book 'If One Should Think':

"Religion expresses the most sublime fact which a person obtains concerning his and others' existence."

(Paraphrased) from Ambroce Bierce's work 'The Satan's Dictionary':

"Religion is a source that teach people what they do not know and which infuses both fear and hope into them."

(Paraphrased) from Edmunde Burke's book 'The French Revolution':

"The common commandment of all true religions is to obey the commandments of Allahu ta'ala, to be respectful of his canon, and thereby to be closer to His love."

(Paraphrased) from Swedenborg's work 'Doctrine of Life':

"Religion means doing good. The essence of religion is goodness."

(Paraphrased) from James Harrington's book 'The Ocean':

"Everybody has more or less some connection with religion, whether as a source of fear or as a means of consolation."

Everybody in the world encounters various situations which they do not know, cannot understand, and cannot explain. It is only religion that explains to them and which infuses into them a sense of definite belief and trust.

Why do I believe that Islam is the most perfect of the world's religions and that it is the true religion? Let me explain:

First of all, the Islamic religion states that there is no god besides the one Allah, who is great, that He is not begotten and does not beget, either, and that there is not another creator like Him. There is not another religion to explain the existence, the unity, and the grandeur of Allahu ta'ala in the magnificence worthy of Him. The fourth ayat of Hud sura purports, "[O my born slaves], your return shall be to Me, alone. Allah is Almighty." The fifty-fifth ayat of Isra Sura purports, "Allahu ta'ala has the best knowledge of the celestial and the terrestrial creatures." Moreover, many chapters of Qur'an al-karim state that "He is the only creator," that "He is everlasting," that "He is eternal," that "He is omniscient," that "He is the absolute judge who makes the truest decision," that "He is the greatest helper," that "He is the Creator, who is the most compassionate," and that "He is the most magnanimous forgiver." I could not explain how strongly a person is attracted towards Allahu ta'ala, how he melts before Him, and how he surrenders himself to His Grace, as he reads these lines. Allahu ta'ala declares, as is purported in the seventeenth ayat of Hadid Sura, "Know ye (all) that Allahu ta'ala giveth life to the earth [with rains] after its death [with drought]. [Likewise, He gives life to dead hearts with dhikr and tilawat]. Already We have shown the signs plainly to you, that ye may learn wisdom." The Nas Sura purports, "[O Muhammad 'sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam'!] Say: I seek refuge with my Owner, the Cherisher of mankind, the King (or Ruler) of mankind, the Judge of mankind, (who sends them what they need and protects them against horrors), from the mischief of the whisperer (of evil), who withdraws after his whisper), -(the same) who whispers into the hearts of mankind,- among Jinns and among Men."


When a person reads these exalted statements, how could it ever be possible for him not to believe in that great Creator and not to seek refuge in Him? Aren't all these enough for a person to bask in the consciousness of a merciful creator who will protect him as long as he lives, and thus to abide by the right way?

Islam plainly states that it is the most genuine religion and that it has accumulated in itself all the correct aspects of those religions previous to it. It says that all the rules written in the Qur'an al-karim, Islam's Holy Book, are plain, clear, logical principles intelligible to everyone. These are extremely true facts. Indeed, if we really wish to establish a consistent relationship between Allahu ta'ala and the born slave, to unite the corporeal and spiritual components in harmony with each other, and to maintain peace both in this world and in the Hereafter, it is indispensably incumbent on us to accept the Islamic religion. Our spiritual and physical progress depends only and only on Islam's support.

Christianity busies itself only with spirituality and conscience and overloads every individual Christian with spiritual and conscientious burdens far beyond the human capacity. Christianity prejudges man as a sinful creature and demands from him preposterous expiations he could never understand. The Islamic religion, on the other hand, is based on mere love. A very deep research into Christianity carried on by a group of highly competent scientists might finally find a tiny particle of love of Allah among the plethora of heavy burdens only after an arduous ransack in the people's various moods. And then the group would sit and lament over the fact that that tiny particle of love has been lost for good in today's Christianity, which is awash in superstitions. Coleridge states in one of his books, "It is a reality that a person who loves Christianity very much becomes gradually alienated from Christianity and begins to love the church more, and at the end he loves himself the best." On the other hand, Islam commands us to respect and love Allahu ta'ala, to obey His commandments only, and at the same time to use our own reason and logic. Christianity still contains some truth. In Islam, on the other hand, everything rests on truth. In the Qur'an al-karim, Allahu ta'ala addresses to all His born slaves, regardless of their races and colors, as is purported in the hundred and eighth ayat of Yunus Sura, "Say, O mankind! Truth hath come to you from your Rabb (Allah). He who hath taken the right path hath done so only for his own good, and he who hath lapsed into aberration hath inflicted a loss only on himself. I am not your guardian." After reading all these facts and fully comprehending the tenor of the Qur'an al-karim, I saw that Islam contained the truest answers to my queries, and I willingly became a Muslim. Islam showed me the right way and heartened me. The only way of attaining peace and comfort in the world and salvation in the Hereafter is to embrace Islam.

from the book: WHY DID THEY BECOME MUSLIMS?

Answer to a university student

The following is the simplified translation of a letter written as an answer to a university student by Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm Efendi while he was the senior professor of tasawwuf at the Madrasa-tul-mutassisîn (the Faculty of Theology), which was located in the garden of the Sultân Selîm Mosque in Istanbul:
Go out of the area of the omnipotence of Allahu ta’âlâ with all your strength, if you can! But you cannot. Outside of this area is nonexistence. And the realm of nonexistence is also under His omnipotence!

On an occasion, somebody asked [the great Walî] Ibrâhim ibn Ad’ham (quddisa sirruh) for advice. He said: “If you accept six things, nothing you do will harm you. These six things are as follows:

“1. When you mean to commit a sin, do not eat the food He gives! Does it befit you to eat His food and to disobey Him?

“2. When you want to rebel against Him, go out of His Domain! Does it befit you to be in His Domain and to be in rebellion against Him?

“3. When you want to disobey Him, do not sin where He sees you! Sin where He does not see you! It simply is unbecoming to be in His Domain, to eat His food and then to sin where He sees you!

“4. When the Angel of Death comes to take away your soul, ask him to wait till you repent! You cannot turn that angel back! Repent before he comes, while you are able, and you have the chance at this very hour, for the Angel of Death comes unexpectantly!

“5. When the two angels Munkar and Nakîr come to question you in the grave, turn them back! Do not let them test you!”

“It is impossible,” said the person who asked for his Advice. Shaikh Ibrâhîm said, “Then prepare your answers now!

“6. On the Day of Resurrection, when Allahu ta’âlâ orders: ‘Sinners, go to Hell!’ say that you will not!”

The person said, “Nobody will listen to me,” and then repented, and he did not break his repentance till death. There is Divine Effect in the words of Awliyâ’.

Ibrâhîm ibn Ad’ham (quddisa sirruh) was asked, “Allahu ta’âlâ declares, ‘O My human creatures! Ask Me! I will accept, I will give’ However, we ask but He does not give?” Hadrat Ibrâhîm said:

“You entreat Allahu ta’âlâ, but you do not obey Him. You know His Prophet (sall-Allahu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa salam), but you do not follow him. You read the Qur’ân al-karîm, but you do not follow the way it shows. You utilize Allahu ta’âlâ’s blessings, but you do not thank Him. You know that Paradise is for those who worship, but you do not make preparations for it. You know that He has created Hell for the disobedient, but you do not fear it. You see what happened to your fathers and grandfathers, but you do not take warning. You do not see your own defects, and you search for defects in others. Such people must be thankful because it does not rain stones on them, because they do not sink into the earth, and because it does not rain fire from the sky! What else could they want? Would not this suffice as a recompense for their prayers?”

[In the sixtieth âyat of the Sûrat-ul-Mu’min, Allahu ta’âlâ declares, “Pray to Me. I will accept.” There are 5 conditions for a du’a [prayer, supplication] to be accepted: you must be a Muslim; your creed must be in accordance with the creed of Ahl as-Sunnah; you must abstain from committing harâm, especially from eating or drinking harâm things; you must perform the fards, especially the five daily namâzes, Ramadân fasts, and zakât; you must learn the means of the thing for which you implore Allahu ta’âlâ and look for that means. Allahu ta’âlâ creates everything through some means. When one begs Him for something, He sends its means and gives effectivity to that means. Humans use that means and thus obtain what they desire. However, when the awliyâ’ supplicate or when one supplicates Allah through the Awliyâ by making them intercessors, He suspends His law of causation temporarily for the sake of His Awliyâ and gives what is wanted directly as karâmat without any means.]

As you have not come out of nonexistence to this world of existence by yourself, so you cannot go there by yourself. The eyes with which you see, the ears with which you hear, the organs with which you perceive, the intellect with which you think, the hands and feet which you use, all the roads you will pass, all the places you will be, in short, all the members and systems connected with your body and soul, all of them, are Allahu ta’âlâ’s possessions and creatures. You cannot misappropriate anything from Him! He is Hayy and Qayyûm, that is, He sees, knows and hears, and every moment He keeps in existence everything that exists. Even for a moment, He is never unaware of the state of all things, nor does He ever fail to control all of them. He does not let anybody steal His property. He is never incapable of punishing those who disobey His commands. It would not make any difference if, for instance, He had not created any human being on this globe, as He did not on the Moon, on Mars or on other planets; His greatness would not have diminished for this reason.

A hadîth-i qudsî says,
(If [all of] your ancestors and descendants, the young and the old, the alive and the dead, human beings and genies, were like My most devoted, Most obedient human creature, My Greatness would not be increased. Conversely, if you all were like My enemy, who opposes Me and despises My Prophets, My Greatness would not ever decrease. Allahu ta’âlâ is free from needing you; He needs none of you. As for you, in order that you might exist and keep on existing and in everything you do, you always need Him.) [Muslim]

He sends light and heat by means of the sun. He makes the moon reflect waves of light. Out of black soil, He creates many vivid-colored, sweet-scented flowers and beautiful appearance. From the breeze, He pours out the breath which gives relief to hearts. From the stars that are at a distance of many years’ way, He makes it rain haloes on the earth, out of which you came about and under which you will be buried in the end. Through many vibrations, He creates effectivity in particles. [On the one hand, by turning dirt, which you dislike and are disgusted with, into soil by means of His smallest, most trifling creatures (germs), He turns this soil, which you tread on, into a white-of-egg-like substance, protein, the constructive matter of your body, through the factory of plants. On the other hand, by combining the water in the earth with the suffocating gases in the air, again in the factory of plants and by storing in them the energy which He sends from the sky, He creates starchy and sugary substances and oils, the source of energy, that will operate the machine of your body.] Thus, in plants, which He causes to grow in fields, deserts, mountains, in rills, and in animals, that He enables to live on the earth and under the seas, He prepares food which will go into your stomach and nourish you. By establishing chemistry laboratories in your lungs, He isolates poison from your blood and puts the useful matter of oxygen in its place.

By establishing physics laboratories in your brain, the information coming from your organs of perception, through your nerves, are taken there and, as He has placed a magnetic power into the stone of iron, so with the effect of intelligence, which He has placed into your brain and other immaterial powers, which He has placed into your heart, various plans, commands and actions are prepared simultaneously through His creation.

By making your heart work through very complex mechanisms, which you consider very extraordinary, He makes rivers of blood flow in your blood vessels. He weaves many a dumbfounding net of roads through your nerves. He conceals stocks in your muscles. By means of many other phenomena, He equips and completes your body. He establishes and fits all of these in an order and harmony to which you give such names as the laws of physics, chemical reactions or biological events. He places centers of power within you. He projects the necessary precautions into your soul and conscience. He also gifts a treasure called the intellect, a gauge named reason, a means named thought, and a key which you call will. In order that you might use each of these correctly, He gives you sweet enticements and bitter warnings, hints, inclinations and goals. And as a greater blessing, He clearly sends instructions through faithful and dependable prophets.

In conclusion, operating the machine of your body and giving you the necessary instructions, He hands it over to you so that you may use and utilize it conveniently. He does all these things not because He needs you, your will or help but to make you happy by giving you a distinguished position and authority among His creatures. If, instead of leaving it to your hands, your feet and all of your limbs, which you can use according to your wish, He used them without you knowing it, as is the case with the beating of your heart, the expansion of your lungs and the circulation of your blood, if He controlled you by force, with reflex actions, with paralyzed hands or feet, if each of your actions was a vibration and every movement was a twitch, could you claim to possess yourself and the things He has lent you? If He made you move under the influence of external powers, like the lifeless, or irrational and senseless exterior and interior powers, like pack animals, and if He put into your mouth a morsel of the blessings—which you take in large amounts to your houses now—could you take and eat that morsel?

Do you think of your state before and after you were born? Where were you, in what were you, during the creation of this globe, on which you live, eat and drink, go about, amuse and divert yourself. On this planet, you have discovered the means that are remedies for your diseases and the ways of defending yourself against the attacks of your enemies and the harms of wild and poisonous animals. Where were you while the stones and soil of this globe were being baked on fires in the ovens of creation and while its water and air were being distilled in the chemistry laboratories of the Omnipotence?

Have you ever thought: Where were you while the lands, which you claim to be yours today, were gliding away from the seas, while mountains, rivers, plateaus and hills were being laid down? Where and how were you while, with Allahu ta’âlâ’s omnipotence, the salty waters of the seas evaporated and formed clouds in the sky, while the rains, falling from those clouds, took substances [of nourishment prepared by lightning and waves of power and energy in the sky] into the motes of burnt, dried soil, and while these substances, stirred [by the influence of the rays of light and heat], vibrated and nourished the cells of life?

Today, they say that you have descended from monkeys, and you believe it. When they say that Allahu ta’âlâ created you, gave you life, will cause you to die and that He alone makes everything, you don’t want to believe!

O man! What are you? What were you in the veins of your father? At one time, in the veins of your father, whom you insult with such terms as imbecile, old-fashion and retrogressive, you used to make him feel uncomfortable. Who made you move then, and why did you disturb him? If he had wished, he could have thrown you into a rubbish-heap, but he did not. He hid you like a deposit. While he was so kind as to entrust you to a chaste woman, where you would be nourished unsparingly, and struggled to protect you for a long time, why do you insult your father by holding him responsible for your inconveniences, instead of reserving a share of thanks for him and your Creator for the blessings you were given? Moreover, why do you throw your own deposit into the rubbish-heaps dirtied by everybody?

When people around you follow your wishes and desires, you believe that you are creating everything with your intellect, knowledge, science, power and strength, and that you are inventing all accomplishments. You forget about the task which Allahu ta’âlâ has assigned to you, and you refrain from that high official duty and attempt to claim ownership of the deposit. You want to regard and introduce yourself as the owner and dominant one. On the other hand, when those around you do not follow your desires, when the external forces seem to overcome you, you can see inside you nothing but regret and frustration, incapacity and despair. You claim that you own no will or option, that you are under the slavery of everything, that you are like a machine, automatic but with a broken spring. You understand fate not as al-’ilm al-mutaqaddim (the eternal knowledge) but as al-jabr al-mutahakkim (the despotic compulsion). While saying this, you are not unaware of the fact that your mouth is not like a record-player.

When your favorite meals do not come to your table, you hold out your hand and tongue and eat the dry bread which you are able to obtain, though you are free to eat or not and die of hunger. You eat the dry morsels that are not crammed into your mouth by force! You eat but also think that you are deprived of doing everything. You do not think that your hand and mouth have moved under your own control, and it has not been caused by involuntary movements. But, though you possess your self-control even at such times as this, when you have to, you deem yourself compelled, a slave, in short, nothing against external effects.

O man! Which of these are you? You claim to be “all” when you thrive well and when success and victory are with you, and “nothing” under the force of fate when the affairs turn out bad and contrary to your wishes? Are you “everything” or are you “nothing”?

O mankind! O man who is floating on deficiency and stupidity! You are neither “all” nor “nothing”! At any rate, you are something between these two. Yes, you are far from being inventive, dominant and victorious over everything. But you have an irrefutable freedom and option and a wish and choice rendering you authoritative. Each of you is an official undertaking individual and collective duties under the command of Allahu ta’âlâ, who is the Unequalled Authority and Absolute and Unconditional Owner without a partner! You can do your duties under the rules and regulations established by Him, within the limits of your ranks assigned by Him, within your responsibilities and means which He has created and entrusted to you as deposits. He alone is the Sole Commander, the Unique Ruler and the Single Owner. There is no other commander besides Him, nor a ruler resembling Him, nor a partner with Him. Unless the aims and purposes which you lay claim to and rush upon so zealously, the struggles which you set about, the glories which you take pride in, and your accomplishments are for Him, they are false and vain. Then why do you give a place to lies in your hearts and turn towards polytheism? Why do you not obey the commands of Allahu ta’âlâ, the Unequalled Ruler, and know Him as the Creator? But instead you run after thousands of imaginary idols and get drowned in distress? Whatever you run towards, isn’t it an idea, an option or a belief that drags you on? Why do you look for that ideal belief in someone other than Allahu ta’âlâ? Why do you not direct your belief to Allahu ta’âlâ and place your option in this belief and in the deeds which are the results of this belief?

When you know Allahu ta’âlâ as the Absolute Ruler and work without violating this trust and responsibility, indeed, you will love one another and be attached brothers! What will not the Mercy of Allahu ta’âlâ create from this brotherhood? Every favor you gain is the result of a brotherhood produced by the belief in Allahu ta’âlâ and of His mercy and benevolence. And every trouble or calamity you experience is the result of fury, resentment and hostility, which are infused in you as a retribution for not paying attention to Allahu ta’âlâ, for cruelty and injustice. And this is the result of attempting to make laws by yourselves or by following others who will compete with Allahu ta’âlâ, in short, of not believing only in Allahu ta’âlâ with a real belief in His Oneness.

Briefly, the chief reason for the suffering of humanity is the crime of polytheism committed against Allahu ta’âlâ. The darkness of corruption that has surrounded the horizons of humanity, despite the improvements in knowledge and science, is the result of polytheism, disbelief, lack of belief in Allahu ta’âlâ’s Oneness and lack of mutual love. Unless they love one another, however hard human beings may try, they will not escape sufferings and disasters. And, unless they know Allahu ta’âlâ, love Him, regard Him as the Absolute Ruler and worship Him, men cannot love one another. Whatever might be thought of other than Allahu ta’âlâ and the path of Allahu ta’âlâ, all of them are paths leading to divisiveness and wretchedness. Can’t you see that those who attend the mosque love one another and those who haunt the tavern fight?

Whatever you give your heart to, or whomever you worship besides Allahu ta’âlâ, each of them can be opposed and equated. And all of them are under the omnipotence and will of Allahu ta’âlâ. He is the Single Ruler who does not have a partner, match, like, opposite or equivalent, and He alone is the One whose equivalent is non-valid, false, a nonexistent equivalent, the existence of which is impossible.

Whatever you follow, worship, love or regard as the absolute ruler besides Allahu ta’âlâ, be it known that it will burn together with you. (Endless Bliss)

Are women’s voices harâm?

Question: Some people say that it is halâl [permitted] for women to talk to nâ-mahram men [not one of the eighteen men whom Islam has prescribed as a woman’s close relatives]. Is it not harâm [prohibited]?

ANSWER
It took 23 years for the rules of Islam to be introduced. It is a mistake to deal with those events that took place before the âyat commanding (women) to cover themselves was revealed and thus to consider it mubâh [permissible] for them to talk to nâ-mahram men. Similarly, drinking alcohol had not been a sin before it was forbidden. By instancing the past events that took place, can we say, “Drinking alcohol is mubâh because it was drunk during our Prophet’s time, which was termed the Asr-i-Sa’âdat [Era of Happiness]”? In the same way, by giving the cases in former prophets’ religions as examples, is it said, “See, it is permissible (for men) to talk to women”? In the religion of Hadrat Âdam (‘alaihissalâm), it was permissible to marry some people who are now harâm to marry. Afterwards, that permission was lifted. Is it proper to give then rules as examples for present events?

Jâriyas’ [non-Muslim female slaves captured in war] singing songs cannot be put forth as an example for free women. When Hadrat ‘Umar (radîy-Allahu ‘anh) recommended decreasing the amount of mahr, an old woman behind the curtain, in an act of objection, recited the 20th âyat of Sûrat-un-Nisâ’, which reads: “Don't take anything back from the wife you have divorced, even if you gave her loads (of gold as mahr).” Hadrat ‘Umar did not object to that woman.

[mahr: according to Islam, the mahr comprises things like gold, silver, banknotes, or any kind of property or any kind of benefit that is given by a man to the woman he is to marry.]

Some heretics claim, “This event shows that a woman’s voice is not harâm.” But they do not explain that the woman behind the curtain was old; an old woman’s voice is not harâm. Some rules which are permissible for old women may not be permissible for the young ones.

Heretics also utter the following:
Hadrat Âisha (radîy-Allahu ‘anhâ) narrates:
On the Day of 'Iyd [Eid], two jâriyas were singing gallantry poems by playing the tambourine. Rasûlullah (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) lay down on his bed and turned his face to the other direction. Later, my father (Hadrat Abû Bakr) came in. When he scolded me by saying, “How on earth are the Devil’s whistle and sound in the presence of Rasûlullah?” Rasûllulah stated, “Do not interfere with them! Every nation has its own eid, and this is our eid.” When my father was busy with something else, I motioned the jâriyas away, and they left the house.

Adducing the mentioned event to support their claim, heretics say that it is permitted for women to sit together with men, to play musical instruments, to sing songs, and to let their voices be heard by men.

Now let us analyze the statements above:
1. Those who were singing gallantry poems were jâriyas, not free women. It is not a sin for jâriyas not to cover their hair, arms, and to let their voices be heard by nâ-mahram men. It does not befit a Muslim to say that these, by assuming jâriyas as role models, are also permissible for free women.

2. Gallantry poems and songs and mahtar marches (Ottoman military marches) are permissible. This does not mean that other kinds of songs are permissible as well. Songs and ballads can be sung by playing the tambourine, but ilâhîs [nasheeds] cannot be sung with instruments because singing ilâhîs is an act of worship. It is not permitted to mix musical instruments into acts of worship. The term “the music of Tasawwuf” has nothing to do with Islam. In a house where Rasûlullah (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) entered, small Black girls (jâriyas) were playing tambourines and were singing. They stopped singing and started lauding Rasûlullah. “Do not mention my name! Eulogizing me [reciting ilâhî] is an ’ibâdat. It is not permissible to perform ’ibâdat while making merry and playing,” he declared. (Kimyâ-i Sa’âdat)
3. Hadrat Abû Bakr's saying Satan’s whistle for the tambourine shows that musical instruments are not permissible. Islamic savants state that what is permissible is only women’s playing tambourines at wedding parties and on ‘Iyds. That is, permissibility of women’s playing the tambourine includes wedding parties and ‘Iyds. It is not permissible at other times.

Some of the documents proving that women’s voices are harâm are as follows:
Because Rasûlullah’s blessed wives are the Mothers of Muslims, marrying them, that is, marrying our Mothers, is harâm. It is purported in three verses:
(O you who believe! It is not permissible for you to marry Rasûlullah’s wives.) [Sûrat-ul-Ahzâb, 53]

(Rasûlullah's wives are Mumins’ Mothers.) [Sûrat-ul-Ahzâb, 6]

(O wives of the Prophet! You are not like other women. Guard yourselves against violating Allah’s commandments! Do not be soft and charming in your speech lest he in whose heart is a disease yearns. Always speak in a serious manner.) [Sûrat-ul-Ahzâb, 32]

In that âyat, while it is not permissible for the wives of Rasûlullah (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam,) to speak softly, how can it be permissible for other women? Seeing that there may even be people who have a desire for our blessed Mothers, may there not be people with such a desire for other women?

As it is not permissible for women to let their voices be heard by nâ-mahram men without necessity, so it is not permissible for women to look at them.

It is purported in an âyat:
(Tell, also, the Believing women to guard their eyes [from looking at nâ-mahram men].) [Sûrat-un-Nûr, 31]

The following are purported in pertinent hadîth-i sharîfs:
(It is harâm for men to look at women and for women to look at men [with lust].) [Tabarânî]

(When you see a nâ-mahram woman, turn your face away from her.) [Abû Dâwud]

(It is harâm to listen to a singing woman and to look at her face.) [Tabarânî]

(It is the fornication of the eyes to look at nâ-mahram women.) [Bukhârî]

Umm-i Salama (radiy-Allahu ‘anhâ), our blessed Mother, narrates:
When we were with the Messenger of Allah, Ibn-i-Umm-i-Maktûm (radiy-Allahu ‘anh) asked for permission and came in. When the Messenger of Allah saw him, he said to us, “Withdraw behind the curtain!” When I said, “Is he not blind? He will not see us,” the Messenger of Allah answered, “Are you blind, too? Do you not see him?” That is, he meant, “He may be blind, but you are not.” (Tirmudhî, Abû Dâwud)

It is purported in an âyat:
(When you ask Rasûlullah’s wife for anything you want, ask them from behind a curtain.) [Sûrat-ul-Ahzâb, 53]

Just as it is sinful to look at nâ-mahram, so it is sinful to talk them. It is purported in two hadîth-i sharîfs:
(O you women! Talk to only your mahrams; don’t talk to your nâ-mahrams.) [Râmûz, Ibni Sa’îd]

(He who talks to a nâ-mahram woman lustfully will be tortured in Hell for each word.) [R.Nâsihîn]

Because it is not permissible for women to speak loudly or softly and to let their voices be heard by nâ-mahrams, it is not permissible for them to say the adhân and the iqâmat. (Radd-ul-mukhtâr)

A young woman must not greet nâ-mahram men and must not say anything to a man who has sneezed. If she is said, she does not respond. (Hamawî’s Commentary to Asbah)

It is harâm for women to let their voices be heard by nâ-mahram men. Some scholars state that when the necessity arises it is permissible for women to talk to nâ-mahram men gravely and seriously as much as necessary, but it still is not permissible for women to talk to them more than necessary. (Tazkiya-i Ahl-i Bayt)
Sounds of musical instruments and voices of women are not simâ’, but ghinâ’, and they are harâm. (Durr-ul-Ma’ârif)
[simâ’: a voice without instrumental music is called simâ’; ghinâ’: a human voice accompanied with instrumental music is called ghinâ’ (that is, music)]

Allahu ta'âlâ prohibits women from talking to nâ-mahram men softly. (Maktûbât-i Rabbânî, vol. III, p. 41)
It is gravely sinful for women to go out with bare head, hair, arms, and legs, to let their voice be heard by nâmahram men without necessity, to sing to them, to let them hear their voices by reading Qur’ân al-karîm or by reciting the mawlid or the adhân. Women are permitted to talk to nâmahram men seriously in a manner that will not cause fitna when there is necessity such as buying and selling. (Targhîb-us-salât, Hadîqa, Endless Bliss)

Do Women Have to Wear Hijab During Salah?

Satr-i awrat and women’s covering themselves

Those parts of a discreet and pubescent person’s body that are harâm (forbidden by Islam) for him (or her) to leave uncovered during the performance of a namâz and/or whenever in company, and which are equally harâm for others to look at, are called awrat parts. Men and women were commanded to cover their awrat parts through the Sûrat-ul-Ahzâb, which was revealed in the third year of the Hegira, and the Sûrat-un-Nûr, which was revealed in the fifth year. In Hanafî and Shâfi’î Madhhabs a man’s awrat parts during the performance of a namâz are between his navel and lower parts of his knees. The navel is awrat in Shâfi’î Madhhab whereas the knees are awrat in Hanafî Madhhab. Namâz performed with these parts exposed is not sahîh (in other words, it is null and void). When performing namâz, it is sunnat for men to cover their other parts [arms, head], [and to wear socks if a long robe or a gown is not available]. It is makrûh for them to perform namâz with these parts exposed.

All parts of free women, except their palms and faces, including their wrists, outer parts of their hands, hanging parts of their hair and under their feet are awrat (and therefore they must be covered) during a namâz, according to the Hanafî Madhhab. There are also quite a number of valuable books saying that outer parts of hands are not awrat. According to them, it is permissible for women to perform namâz while outer parts of their hands up to wrists are bare. However, it is better for women to perform namâz wearing a gown with sleeves long enough, or a head cover large enough, to cover their hands, and thereby to pursue a course of action compatible with all the written sources. There are savants who said that women’s feet were not awrat in namâz, but those same savants said that it was sunnat to cover and makrûh to open them when performing namâz. [It is written in the book Kâdihân that hanging parts of hair are like feet]. If one-fourth of a man’s or woman’s awrat part remains bare as long as one rukn, the namâz becomes annulled. If a smaller part remains exposed, the namâz does not become nullified, but it becomes makrûh. For instance, the namâz of a woman one-fourth of whose foot has remained bare will not be sahîh. If she herself uncovers it, her namâz becomes annulled immediately. It is written in Umdat-ul-Islâm, “A woman’s namâz which she performed with bare heelbone, ankle, neck, or hair is not sahîh. Thin tissue that lets the shape or color of the thing under it be seen is equal to none.” In the Shâfi’î Madhhab, a woman’s whole body, other than her two hands and her face, is always awrat.

Hadrat Ibni ’Âbidin rahmatullâhi ’alaih says in Radd-ul-mukhtâr:It is fard to cover one’s awrat parts outside of namâz as well as when performing namâz. It is makrûh tahrîmî to perform namâz by covering oneself with silk or with usurped or stolen clothes. However, since a person has to cover himself, a man can use something made of silk, if he cannot find something else. It is fard to cover oneself when one performs namâz alone, too. A person who has clean clothes is not permitted to perform namâz naked in the dark even when he or she is alone. When alone and not performing namâz, it is fard for women to cover between their knees and navels, wâjib to cover their backs and bellies, and adab to cover other parts of their body. When alone in the home they can busy themselves around with their heads bare. When there is one of the eighteen men that a woman can show herself to, it is better for her to wear a thin headdress. When alone, one can open one’s awrat parts only when necessary, e.g. in a toilet. It has been said (by savants) that it is makrûh, or that it is permissible or it is permissible when at a small place, to open one’s awrat parts when one is alone and making ghusl. When not performing namâz, it is necessary to cover oneself even if the only clothes readily available for the purpose have been smeared with najâsat.

It is written in Al-Fiqh-u-alal-madhâhibil-erba’a, “The four madhhabs do not exactly agree on the parts of body men and women have to cover when they perform the namâz or on the parts which are harâm for men to show one another, for men to show women, and for women to show their mahrams. However, it is harâm in all three madhhabs for women to show men and female non-Muslims their bodies other than their faces and inside and outside their hands, and for these people to look at them.” In the Shâfi’î Madhhab, on the other hand, their faces and hands are awrat (and therefore must be covered) in the presence of men who are nâmahram to them, at times when doing otherwise would cause fitna. Permissible as it is for women to expose their faces and palms to men who are nâmahram to them, men are not permitted to look lustfully at faces or palms of those women who are nâ-mahram to them, no matter whether they are Muslims or disbelievers. It is permissible for women to open their faces and palms to men who are nâmahram to them, yet men are not permitted to look lustfully at faces or palms of those women who are nâmahram to them, no matter whether they are Muslims or disbelievers. When there is no necessity, it is makrûh to look without lust at those parts of women that are permissible to look at, e.g. at faces of nâmahram women, at pictures of their awrat parts, at awrat parts of children that have learned to speak. Awrat parts of those children that have not started to talk yet are only their saw’atayn [private parts]. Animals do not have awrat parts. Also, it is harâm to look lustfully at boys’ faces, yet it is permissible to look at them without lust even if they are beautiful.

It is written in Fatâwâ-i Khayriyya, “When there is the danger of fitna, a father can keep his beautiful discreet son who has reached the age of puberty in his own home and under his own discipline. He may not let him go out on a travel or for education or on hajj (pilgrimage) without a beard. He protects him like a woman. But he does not veil him. In streets there are two devils near every woman. And there are eighteen devils near a boy. They try to mislead those who look at them. It is fard for a boy to obey his parents’ Islamically licit instructions. When there is no danger of fitna, a father cannot force his discreet son who has reached puberty to stay at home.”

[It is written in the second volume of Majma’ul-anhur that our Prophet sall-Allahu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam stated, “On the day of Judgment molten hot lead will be poured into the eyes of those who look lustfully at the faces of women who are nâmahram to them.” Kâdizâda, who explained the book Birgivî Vasiyyetnâmesi, says in his discourse about the kinds of ruination incurred by one’s eyes that Allahu ta’âlâ declares in the thirtieth âyat of Sûrat-un-Nûr, “O My Messenger, sall-Allahu ’alaihi wa sallam! Tell the Believers not to look at harâms and to protect their awrat parts against harâms! Tell those women who have îmân not to look at harâms and to protect their awrat parts from committing harâm!”
It is written in Riyâd-un-nâsihîn that Rasûlullah sall-Allahu ’alaihi wa sallam declared in his last wadâ’ (farewell) hajj, “The eyes of a person who looks at a nâmahram woman lustfully will be filled with fire, and he will be flung down into Hell. The arms of a person who shakes hands with a nâmahram woman will be tied around his neck, and then he will be sent down to Hell. Those who talk with a nâmahram woman lustfully without any necessity will remain in Hell a thousand years for each word.” Another hadîth declares, “Looking at one’s neighbor’s wife or at one’s friends’ wives is ten times as sinful as looking at nâmahram women. Looking at married women is one thousand times as sinful as looking at girls. So are the sins of fornication.”
It is written in the book Barîqa that the hadîths “Three things (when looked at) put varnish on the eyes: Looking at a verdure, at a stream, at a beautiful face” and “Three things strengthen the eyes: Tinging the eyes with kohl, looking at verdure, and at a beautiful face”, state the use of looking at people who are halâl to look at. In fact, looking at nâmahram women and girls weakens the eyes and darkens the heart. As informed by Hâkim, Bayhaqî, and Abû Dâwud, a hadîth-i marfû conveyed by Abû Umâma radîallahu ’anh declares, “If a person, upon seeing a nâmahram girl, fears Allah’s torment and turns his face away from her, Allahu ta’âlâ will make him enjoy the taste of acts of worship.” His first seeing will be forgiven. A hadîth declares, “Those eyes that watch the enemy in a jihâd made for Allah’s sake or that weep for fear of Allahu ta’âlâ or that do not look at harâms will not see Hell fire in the next world.”]

Seven or ten year old attractive girls as well as all girls who have reached the age of fifteen or the age of puberty are equivalents to women. It is harâm for such girls to show themselves with bare head, hair, arms and legs to nâmahram men, or to sing to them or to talk to them softly and gracefully. Women are permitted to talk to nâmahram men seriously in a manner that will not cause fitna when there is necessity such as buying and selling. So is their opening their faces when among men. It is gravely sinful for women to go out with bare head, hair, arms and legs, to let their voice be heard by nâmahram men without necessity, to sing to them, to let them hear their voices through films or records or by reading Qurân-al karîm or by reciting the mawlid or the adhân. [It is harâm for women and girls to go out with dresses that are thin or tight or of fur, wearing their ornaments such as ear-rings and bracelets without covering them, clad like men, cutting their hair short like men. Therefore, it is not permissible for them to wear trousers, not even ample ones. Trousers are men’s clothing. In hadîth-i sharîfs, which exist in Targhîb-us-salât, “Those women who dress themselves like men and those men who ornament themselves like women are accursed.” In fact, tight trousers are not permissible even for men. For in this case the shapes of private parts can be seen from the outside. Furthermore, it has not been an Islamic custom, neither of old nor now, for women to wear trousers. It has come from the irreligious, from those who do not know the Islamic way of attirement. Harâms cannot be Islamic customs even if they have spread and settled. It is declared in a hadîth that he who makes himself resemble disbelievers will be on their side. Trousers can be worn under a mantle, yet the mantle must cover the knees as if there weren’t trousers under it. Baggy trousers, being very ample, can be good dressings for women, too, at places where they are customary. If they will cause fitna at places where they are not customary, it is not permissible to wear them.

Great Islamic scholar Qâdî Sanâullah-i Pâniputî, in explaining the seventh piece of advice at the end of the book Tafhîmât by Shâh Waliyyullah-i Dahlawî, says, “Of old, it used to be an Islamic custom to go out wearing a long shirt, wrapping oneself up with a large towel, wearing clogs or things like that. But now it would be ostentation to go out with such things on at places where they are not customary. Our Prophet salla-Allahu ’alaihi wa sallam prohibited ostentation and making fame. We must dress ourselves with things that are customary among Believers. We must not keep ourselves aloof.” So is the case with a woman’s going out with a dress with a veil (chador) at places where it is customary for women to wear ample mantles. In addition, causing an Islamic attirement to be mocked at, she will be sinful.]

Whether in namâz or outside namâz, it is fard to cover one’s awrat parts lest others will see from the sides, but it is not fard to cover them from oneself. If one sees one’s own awrat parts when one bows for ruku’, one’s namâz does not become annulled. But it is makrûh for one to look at them. Something transparent like glass or nylon that lets color of the thing under it be seen cannot be a covering. If the covering is tight or, though ample, if it sticks to one of one’s awrat parts so that it resembles its shape under the covering, it does not harm namâz. But it does not cover one from others. It is harâm to look at someone else’s qaba awrat that can be seen in this manner. Men’s private parts on their front and in their back, termed saw’atayn, and their buttocks are their qaba awrat. When a sick person who lies naked under a blanket performs namâz by signs with his head inside the blanket, he has performed it naked. If he performs it keeping his head outside the blanket, he will have performed it by covering himself, which is acceptable. For it is compulsory not to cover oneself but to cover one’s awrat parts. For this reason, it is not permissible to perform namâz naked in the dark, in a lonely room, or in a closed tent.

A person who is not able to cover his awrat parts sits like sitting in namâz, or stretches his feet side by side towards the qibla, which is better, covers his front private part with his hands, and performs namâz by signs. For, covering one’s awrat parts is more important than the other precepts of namâz. [As it is seen, even a person who is naked has to perform namâz in its proper time and must not omit it. Hence, it must be understood that those who do not perform their namâz because of laziness and who do not pay their debts of omitted namâz are under a great sinful responsibility]. A person who is naked asks for something to cover himself from others who are with him. If they promise him, he waits until nearly the end of namâz time. Also, when there is no water, a person who expects water has to wait for water until nearly the end of namaz time, and can make a tayammum only after waiting that long. He who has the money must buy water and something to cover himself. A person who cannot find anything besides a covering less than one-fourth of which is clean is permitted to perform namâz with the covering or by signs sitting; but with a covering one-fourth of which is clean he has to perform it standing, in which case he will not perform the namâz again later.

If a Muslim on a long-distance journey can find water only for drinking within one mile, (if there are no clean clothes available) he performs namâz with the covering that has najâsat on it, in which case he will not have to perform it again later. It is not permissible for a settled person, that is, a person who is not a musâfir, to perform namâz in a najs covering. It is possible and necessary for him to clean it. For it is strongly probable to find water in a city. If it is known for certain that there is no water in the city, the settled person also can perform the namâz with a covering with najâsat on it and can make a tayammum. It is written as follows in the fifth volume of Radd-ul-mukhtâr:

There are four cases concerning people’s looking at one another and seeing one another:

A man’s looking at a woman; a woman’s looking at a man; a man’s looking at a man; and a woman’s looking at a woman. And there are four kinds of a man’s looking at a woman:

A man’s looking at a nâmahram free woman, at his own wife and jâriyas, at his eighteen relatives who are permissible for him to look at, and at others’ jâriyas.

It is harâm in all the four madhhabs for men to see nâ-mahram women’s bodies other than their faces, inside and outside their hands. It is harâm also for men to look lustfully at the faces of girls (nâ-mahram to them). This prohibition pertaining to seeing applies to castrated, sterilized men, too. It is harâm to castrate a man. Castrating an animal is permissible only when it is intended to fatten it.

It is harâm for men to look at the part of a man’s body between his navel and knees. It is permissible for them to look at his other parts without lust. It is permissible for a man to look at his wife and at his own jâriyas from head to foot even with lust, and also for them to look at him likewise.

[A man’s awrat parts are between his navel and his knees in three madhhabs. In Hanafî Madhhab the knees are awrat. The navel is not awrat. In Shâfi’î Madhhab the navel is awrat and the knees are not. In Mâlikî Madhhab none of them is awrat. It is stated in Mizân-ul-kubrâ that according to an authentic report in Mâlikî and Hanbalî Madhhabs a man’s awrat parts are only his saw’atayn. This nonexistence of ijmâ’ (consensus among the four madhhabs) delivers male Muslims who expose their thighs nonchalantly from the danger of disbelief. Also, the Shiites’ awrat is their saw’atayn only].

A man, if he feels secure of lust, can look at the heads, faces, necks, arms, legs below the knees of the eighteen women who are harâm for him to marry by nikâh and of others’ jâriyas. He cannot look at their breasts, at spaces under their arms, at their flanks, thighs, knees, or upper parts of their back. These parts of women are also called ghalîz, that is, qaba awrat. Women should wear garments ample enough to cover these parts of their body in such a way as their shapes will not be discernible during namâz and in mixed company. Jâriyas can perform namâz without covering their parts that are permissible to be seen.

As it is seen, there are two kinds of women’s dressing in Islam. Firstly, free Muslim women cover all their bodies completely except their faces and hands. It is written in Halabî-i-kabîr in the section dealing with the shrouding of the dead: “Men cover themselves with an outergarment termed a qâmis and women with a dir. Both these garments cover the body from the shoulders to the feet. The qâmis has a collar with a slit from the shoulder to the foot and the dir is open between the breast and the foot.” As is seen, Muslim women wore coats as they do today. Wearing (black outdoor overgarments) called charshaf became the vague afterwards. An ample and long mantle, a thick headcover, long stockings cover better than today’s charshaf. It is written on the fourth page of Durar-ul-Multaqita, “The Sharî’at has not commanded a certain type of covering for women.” The second one is the dressing of a jâriya (the woman servant captured in war), who does not have to cover her head, hair, neck, arms or legs (below knees) when among men. It has been observed with regret that some women who bear Muslim names have abandoned the Islamic lady’s dressing and fallen for the habiliment for jâriyas or servants.

In order to mislead Muslim women, disbelievers and zindîqs say, “In the beginning of Islam women did not use to cover themselves. In the Prophet’s time Muslim women used to go out with bare heads and arms. Later, jealous men of religion ordered women to cover themselves. So women began to cover themselves afterwards, and became like ogres.” Yes, women used to go out without covering themselves. Yet, later the sûras of Ahzab and Nûr were revealed in the third and fifth year of Hegira respectively, whereby Allahu ta’âlâ commanded them to cover themselves. It is written in Mawâhib-i ladunniyya, “On the way back from the Ghazâ (Holy War) of Khaiber, one night Rasûlullah sall-Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam admitted Safiyya radîallahu ta’âlâ anhâ, one of the captives, into his tent. The Sahâba did not understand if Safiyya was honored as a wife or served as a jâriya. But they felt ashamed to find it out by asking Rasûlullah so that they could do the reverence and service due to (the Prophet’s) blessed wives. ‘We’ll understand that she has become a wife if she goes out of the tent in a covered manner and is escorted behind a curtain tomorrow morning,’ they said. So, seeing that she was escorted out behind a curtain, they realized that she had been honored as a wife.” As it is seen, in Rasûlullah’s time free women used to cover all their bodies. It would be known that a woman was not a slave but a free lady by her covering herself all over.

It is permissible for a person who is secure of lust to touch someone’s part which he is permitted to look at. A hadîth-i sharîf declares, “Kissing one’s mother’s foot is like kissing the threshold of the doorway to Paradise.” On the other hand, whereas it is permissible to look at a nâmahram young woman’s hand and face, it is not permissible to touch her or to shake hands with her even if one is secure of lust. Committing fornication with a woman or touching any part of her with lust, even if by forgetting or by mistake, according to the Hanafî and the Hanbalî Madhhabs causes hurmat-i musâhara. In this case, it becomes eternally harâm for the man to marry this woman’s daughters or her mother by blood or in virtue of nursing and also, for the woman to marry the man’s son or father. [If hurmat-i musâhara takes place between a man and his daughter, the nikâh between the girl’s mother, that is, the man’s wife, and the man does not become annulled. The woman cannot marry someone else. The man has to divorce the wife. It becomes an eternal harâm for him to remain married with the woman. If hurmat-i musâhara happens between a man and his mother-in-law, the son-in-law will have to divorce his wife. The son-in-law cannot marry this woman again eternally (Bezzâziyya)].

It is not permissible for girls to touch nâmahram men even if they confidently rely on themselves. If they touch with lust, hurmat-i musâhara takes place. Girls’ and old people’s lust is their hearts’ inclination. It is permissible for a person who trusts himself to shake hands with an old woman or to kiss her hand if she is old enough not to arouse lust, but it is better not to do so.

It is permissible for men to stay together at a lonely place (halwat) and to go on a travel [e.g. on hajj] with their eternal mahrams. According to the Tarafayn, halwat [staying together at a lonely place] with a woman who is not one’s eternal mahram is harâm. If one stays with her along with another muttaqî man or one of his eternal mahrams or one’s wife, it is not harâm. Hurmat-i musâhara does not happen by staying in halwat or by looking at any part of hers with lust except when it is at the front. While telling about being an imâm, Ibni Âbidîn writes, “Halwat happens also when there are more than one nâmahram women. A very old woman and an old man can go on a journey and can stay alone [Ashbâh]. Halwat with one of the eighteen women who are one’s eternal mahram is permissible, yet it is makrûh with one’s foster (milk) sister [who and one have been suckled by the same woman], with one’s young mother-in-law or daughter-in-law when fitna is likely. It is not permissible to talk with a young nâmahram woman without necessity.” It will not be halwat staying alone in a transportation wagon, shops, and places that are open to public like mosques, since the insides of such places can be seen from the outside. Two different rooms of one house are not counted as one place.

According to Imâm-i Abû Yûsuf rahmatullahi ta’âlâ ’alaih, those needy, enslaved, lonely women [employees and civil servants] who have to work for a living at such jobs as baking bread, laundering [and others that require uncovering their parts that are not their qaba awrat] can bare their arms and feet as much as their work requires. It is permissible for men to see them or to look at them without lust when work requires. And it is written in Ni’met-i Islâm (in chapter on hajj), Bahr al-fatâwâ and Ali Efendi’s fatwâ, wife’s sister and uncle’s or brother’s wife are nâmahram women, too. It is harâm also to look at their hair, head, arms, and legs.

During mutual family visits, it is not permissible for the men and women to sit in the same room, to behave cordially towards one another, to joke with one another, or to make merry. At places where men’s and women’s sitting in the same room is customary and where this harâm is slighted, in order to prevent offence and hostility among relatives, women can sit in the same room or eat with their male relatives for a short time, but they must be covered. The talks must be serious. Utter care must be taken that the talk should last short and be rare and especially that they should not be alone in the same place. True and well learned Muslims who know and obey their dîn should never sit together like that. We should not dispute with ignorant people or insist that our dîn commands so, but we should try to abstain from harâms by making excuses pertaining to worldly affairs, by talking softly not to offend our relatives. A male slave also is a nâmahram man to his female possessor.

Seeing once is permissible for a judge when deciding a case in the court of justice, for witnesses when giving evidence, for a person who is to marry a girl, even if lust is likely to happen, and for a doctor, for a nurse, for a circumciser, for a person who does enema (clyster) as long as necessary. It is permissible for a sick person to have himself clystered. It is written on the four hundred and seventy-eighth page of the fifth volume of Durr-ul-mukhtâr, “It is important sunnat to have one’s son circumcised. It is Islam’s symbol. If the people of a city do not have their sons circumcised, the Khalîfa fights them. There is not a certain age of circumcision for a child. The best time is between seven and twelve years of age.” When performing circumcision, it is customary to repeat the Takbîr-i ’Iyd together loudly. Those who are not circumcised catch various diseases. French books describe them under the name “Affections du prépuce.”

On the five hundred and fifty-eighth page of Hadîqa and in its chapter about afflictions incurred by the eyes, it is written that it is permissible for girls to learn and teach science and medicine on condition that they will observe the Sharî’at. Girls must be educated and trained as obstetricians and gynecologists. Women must be shown to women doctors. If a woman doctor cannot be found one must take one’s wife to a male gynecologist, if her illness is dangerous or very painful.

The awrat parts of Muslim women to one another are like the awrat parts of a man to another man.

If a woman is secure of lust, her looking at a nâmahram man is like a man’s looking at another. The book Jawhara says that it is like a man’s looking at those women who are his mahram. But it is harâm for her to look at him lustfully. Non-Muslim and renegade women’s looking at Muslim women, (as well as their paternal and maternal uncles, if they are renegades), that is, Muslim women’s showing themselves to them, is, like their showing themselves to nâmahram men, harâm in three madhhabs. They cannot look at Muslim women’s bodies. It is permissible in the Hanbalî Madhhab.

When those parts of the body leave the body that are not permissible to look at, it is still not permissible to look at them even if the body is dead. After a woman’s hair and other hairs, toe-nails [not finger-nails] and bones leave her body, they cannot be looked at.

It is not harâm to look without lust at the reflections on mirrors or on water of those parts of women that are harâm to look at. For in this case not they themselves but their visions are being seen. [Their reflexions or pictures are not they themselves. Seeing them (their reflexions or pictures) does not mean seeing them. Looking at their pictures or at their visions in movies or on television is like looking at their images in mirrors. They are all permissible to look at without lust, but harâm to watch lustfully or to look at those visions of theirs that will arouse lust. Also, it is harâm to listen to their voices. Surely, there are people who look at them lustfully. It is harâm to draw, to publish, to take pictures that arouse lust and are harâm]. It is not permissible but harâm to look at the awrat parts of women, even without lust, behind glass, with any kind of spectacles, through water, or at a woman in water.

It is permissible to look without lust at a woman dressed in clothes not so scanty as to stick on her body. It is harâm to look at a woman even without lust who is clad in a dress the qaba awrat parts of which are scanty. It is harâm to look lustfully at a nâmahram woman’s underwears. It is harâm to look lustfully at those parts of hers that are not her qaba awrat and which are covered tightly, scantily.

As it is harâm for women to go out without covering themselves and by decking themselves out, so it is harâm for them to enter likewise any place where there are men not mahram to them. And it is even more sinful to enter a mosque with uncovered awrat parts. A place where there are people with open awrat parts or where harâm is committed is called majlis al-fisq (sinning party). It is written in Bazzâziyya that it is not permissible for Muslims to attend or to allow their wives to a majlis al-fisq, that is, a place where sinners gather together, without necessity. Women who have îmân must cover those parts of theirs that are not qaba awrat, such as head, hair, arms, legs, for Muslims must dread harâms lest they will lose their îmân.

[Some people, whose sole interest is pleasure and entertainment, do not hesitate to mislead others into mischief and disasters in order to attain their pleasures by saying, “It is something annoying one to see a woman covering herself like an ogre. On the other hand, it gives relief and pleasure to look at an ornamented, beautiful girl or woman in free attire. It is sweet, like watching or smelling a beautiful flower.” Looking at a flower or smelling a flower is sweet to the soul. It causes the soul to recognize the existence and the greatness of Allahu ta’âlâ and to obey His commandments. Looking at a nice-smelling, ornamented, and freely-dressed girl, on the other hand, is sweet to the nafs. The ear does not take any pleasure from colors, nor does the eye from sounds. For they do not sense these things. The nafs is the enemy of Allahu ta’âlâ. It will not hesitate to do any sort of evil whereby to attain its pleasures. It will violate human rights and laws. Its pleasures do not have an end. Looking at a girl will not satisfy it. It will desire to meet her and to practice all its pleasures. It is for this reason that all civil codes curb the eccentricities of nafses. Excessive desires of the nafs drift people into misery, diseases, family disasters, and afflictions. In order to prevent these disastrous situations, Allahu ta’âlâ has prohibited girls’ dressing freely and being close to men not related to them, alcohol, and gambling. People who have been enslaved by their nafs flout these prohibitions. So they censure the books of ’ilm-i-hâl written by scholars of Ahl as-Sunna and prevent young people from reading these books and attaining salvation. As is understood from all the aforesaid facts, it is sinful for women and girls to go shopping at market-places and stores. Muslims have to protect their daughters against these sins. Otherwise, they will lose their îmân and become disbelievers. Enemies of Islam misrepresent whatsoever is destructive to îmân as national customs in order to spread disbelief.]