A scarf, a khimar, a chador
a niqab, a shawl, a burqa
are just some of the many ways
to cover ourselves in the way
Our Creator has ordained for us.
It's not for chaining us,
it's not barring us from society,
for indeed, the biggest scholar in Islam,
was Aaishah (رضي الله عنها), who taught behind a screen,
well-protected.
The first university was by a Muslimah, covered,
well-protected.
It's not a vague verse,
Rather, it's a clear and detailed ruling.
So what, if it's mentioned in only three verses?
Have you seen the number of words in them?
It's more than sufficient!
As you can see, it's more than
half a page long!
This is just one, there are more!
Here, we are to cover ourselves,
how?
Draw the opaque, loose, flowing cloth,
over our heads, and adornments, and
our necks, and arms, not revealing our body shape.
We cover our beauty when out of home,
and we are free to display our beauty in front of
the ones our Creator has ordained for us.
We are protected from fitting into
people's minuscule cups of standards.
We're only worried about what our Creator thinks of us.
We're protected from many things if we follow His orders.
We're protected from lustful looks,
We're protected from insecurities,
We're protected from people judging us by our beauty,
We cover our body, and so they focus more on what we do and have to say.
We're protected from being toys of pleasure,
We're protected and covered, like how,
no sane person will ever declare where he keeps
his money, jewels, cards, and gold.
We're raised in honor and protected,
like queens of great honor and dignity.
We are precious, and we decide how much of our beauty we show others,
We chose to obey our Creator and be a preserved pearl in its oyster,
Opaque, flowing, modest, covering, loose clothes we wear,
over our pj's or fashionable clothes, you need not know.
Hijab literally means "curtain, barrier, veil."
That doesn't mean we're barred from society.
We're not barred from anything.
In fact, unwanted stares are barred from reaching us,
and stupid judgments based on our beauty is barred from us,
The harm of being pulled and played like a toy is barred from reaching us.
Who's oppressed and barred? Only those who think of harassing us!
Then they go ahead and claim that we're oppressed.
No, we're not! We're preserved and protected.
Life is full of colors,
We chose the color that our Creator chose for us,
Peace, tranquillity, security, happiness
the shine of happiness on our faces is the color that we chose.
It's far superior to any color,
We chose to wear modest and simple clothes
so that we're not on a display, easily accessible.
We chose to obey our Creator when we could distinguish right from wrong.
And that age is right now, when we're 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and on.
So that we all learn modesty, loyalty, honesty, and dignity.
And our Creator has told us everything from what's the best way to drink water,
to being honest, loyal, and gentle while trading.
To sum it up: We wear opaque, loose, flowing, simple, modest, long dresses,
covering all of our body, except the face and the hands,
if you do want, you can protect yourself further by limiting others,
from being able to gain pleasure from your faces and hands,
by wearing gloves and the face veil,
and carry ourselves with dignity and honor.
(Surah Nur:31[24:31], Surah Ahzab:59 [33:59])
Author's Note: Hijab is not just a cloth wrapped around your head. It is a protection from the evils of this world. It's a command from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) who knows us best - He (سبحانه وتعالى) is All-Knowing. When we deny it, it's as if we're saying that we know better than Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Do we? Absolutely not! [part of a longer note]
YOU ARE READING
A Cup of Contentment
PoetryPoems are an eloquent way of expressing emotions and conveying messages. Each line and verse has a story to tell. Every piece of writing is an insight into the author's mind and experiences. Of all the many things I could have been writing, I chose...
