Muslim men and women have again been reminded of the command of Allah regarding how they should be dressed. Islam prescribes a minimum dress code for both men and women.
The two sexes are expected to dress simply with dignity. A man must always be covered in loose and unrevealing clothing from his navel to his knee while a Muslim woman must cover her hair and body in loose and unrevealing clothing, obscuring the details of her body contours from the public.
This piece will address Muslim women dress code and punishment for non-compliance. We are presently in the month of Ramadan and Muslims are expected to fast with all their body organs; it goes beyond avoidance of eating and drinking.
The wisdom behind this dress code is to minimize sexual enticement and degradation in society as much as possible for both men and women. Obeying this dress code is a form of obedience to God. Islam forbids any sex appeal outside of marriage. Put succinctly, Islam encourages sex appeal and physical attraction for both men and women that are married but in privacy.
Appearing in a non-revealing dress lessens all forms of temptation thereby avoidance of sin is guaranteed. It also protects women from either harm or molestation in the hands of evil-minded men.
More so, a woman wearing hijab will possibly be evaluated for intelligence rather than appearance. No subject seems to receive more attention as an issue unique to Muslims than that of women's dress code because both Muslims and non-Muslims dwell on this matter.
My position here is to state a basic understanding of this issue from the point view of the holy Qur'an and hadith. Chapter 24, verse 31 of the glorious Qur'an states that; "And say to the believing women that they should restrain their eyes and guard their private parts, and that they disclose not their natural and artificial beauty except that which is apparent thereof, and that they draw their head-covering over their bosoms, and that they disclose not their beauty save to their husbands, or to their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands or their sons or the sons of their husbands or their brothers, or the sons of their sisters, or their women or what their right hands possess or such of male attendants as have no sexual appetite, or young children who have no knowledge of the hidden parts of women. And they strike not their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may become known.
And turn you to Allah all together, O believers that you may succeed." Furthermore, Chapter 33, verse 59 says; "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers that they should draw close to them portions of their loose outer coverings. That is nearer that they may thus be distinguished and not molested.
And Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful." Islam teaches that the consequences of immodesty fall not only on the individual but also upon the society that permits women and men to mingle freely, display themselves which always leads to sexual attraction. These consequences are significant and cannot be ignored. To turn women into sex objects for the pleasure of men is not liberation.
In fact, it is a dehumanizing form of oppression rejected by Islam.
Sheikh Abdul Ganniyy Umar Arikunkewu is the Founder/National Chief Missioner of Jubatu Rohfatu Llahi Islamic Society Of Nigeria (JUBFAT)
