Hijab
(The Veil)

As they did with the light beating of the wife, denouncing and condemning it, Western zealots also pounced upon Hijab which they said was yet another proof, among many others, that Islam was a backward, ossified religion. 

The reality is that, in the field of morals, there is a difference and a disparity between the East and the West. With all the means it has at its disposal, the Church itself sought, and is still seeking, to put an end to its followers' giving way to sexual desires and vice, or even to pornography whose danger has increased tremendously with the TV invasion of the great majority of homes.

Showing an erotic or a pornographic movie to an eastern audience of adult and young viewers - be they open or narrow-minded - is from an eastern viewpoint a serious stab aimed at the humanness of the human being, his morals, his self-respect and the respect of others, and at his disdain for animalizing the human.

In some Western societies, morals or social ethics are non-existent; nor is there any respect for the values and the virtues preached by all religions, revealed and those of the East. There is a kind of contest or even competition for profligacy and impudence.

It is enough for a person to appear with disheveled hair, an unshaved face, no tie, a dirty collar, in wrinkled clothes, unpolished shoes, one lit-up cigarette after another between two lips that hide a set of nicotine-stained teeth - it is enough for him to appear in all this, or in some of it, to rumble an unintelligible song, and to walk like a drunkard to be called a great artist, even a genius, or one-of-a-kind of his age, or even a star of his time.

It is, therefore, not surprising that this West should view Hijab as a sign of backwardness and ossification.

How can a topless, recumbent woman on the sand of a crowded beach, wearing a G-string only, look with contentment at Hijab ? In this case, Hijab is a slap on her cheek, or rather an angry outburst of modesty at impudence.

We will hasten to say that the Hijab which the Quran has commanded is not "tchador", which millions of people have seen on television and in newspapers and magazines. Some specific circles, especially international Zionism, have exploited the tchador, along with all the measures taken in this context by one Islamic country, to slander Islam.

Islam has enjoined Hijab in the following verse :

"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms …", [Light : 31].

Of interest to us here are the words of Allah : "… they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof …".

In summary and by way of simplification, we say that Islam does not command the woman to cover her face and the palms of her hands.

With the exception of the face and hands, it is strictly forbidden for a woman to display her body to strangers, because the mere gaze at any of the parts of her body is a first step on the way to fornication and debauchery.

Allah - to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty - knows that the human being, man or woman, is a weak creature because sexual desire is a natural - so as not to say animalistic - instinct in him. Few are those who remain unresponsive in the experience.

It is not wisdom, nor is it in the interest and stability of society morally and humanly, that women should, directly or indirectly, resort to seducing and tempting men. A wife is Halal  (lawful) to her husband and to him only.

Generally speaking, the West attaches no importance to such axiomatic principles. A few exceptions apart, Western societies have disintegrated. There are almost as many girlfriends as there are wives; in fact, having a girlfriend has almost become the norm, and free marriage and living together as husband and wife have become the rule.

Other Western countries have endorsed in their laws unnatural sexual relationships, such as those between men, thus putting on the heads of homosexuals a laurel wreath of which they are proud and boastful. They take to the streets, they demonstrate, and they demand their rights.

In short, we can say, without being counted among the zealots, that through its persistence to preserve the general morals, its effort to protect people's honor - which is sacred - its perseverance at fulfilling the aim of adhering to the minimum of self-respect and the respect of the humanness of the human being, and through its obedience of the Commandments of Allah - which are revealed in His Books - Islam is a school of morals the numbers of whose pupils, students and followers we hope will grow and multiply.

In its spirit - and spirit is better than letter - Islam is a shield against the dissolute person's attacks on morals.

Morals cannot be preserved without any measures that restrain the woman's seductive powers. If she is naked in the presence of others, what benefits can society reap from her nakedness ? What benefit can she herself realize ? The only gain she obtains is arousing men's sexual desires and their animalistic instincts. The problem begins here; for it is here that the first seeds of the harm done to the woman's dignity and to her husband's honor, to the invulnerability of marriage, and to the stability of society are to be found eventually.

If the woman's nakedness is proof of civilization, progress and development, and if it is a sign of freedom, as Westerners often say it is, Islam sees civilization, development and progress in acknowledging the woman's familial, social and political rights which she exercises within the bounds of  decency and decorum, her own self-respect, the respect of her husband and that of society in which she lives, as well as in not giving in to her own sexual desires.

Islam has never commanded extremism, violence, fanaticism, fossilization and backwardness. It has absolutely nothing to do with all these things.

Islam does not know what terrorism is, for Islam and terrorism are two opposites that do not meet. However, Islam acts in self-defense, to ward off the attacks of the aggressors who trifle with Human Rights and the rights of the people in Palestine, the Golan Heights and South Lebanon.

Had it not been for the injustice and tyranny of Israel, for the oppression and despotism of Zionism, and for Israel's disdain for UN Resolutions and scorn for international legitimacy, there would have been no "terrorists" to attack Israel.

But international Zionism is very powerful in the field of information; it controls a large number of the news media in America and in some parts of Europe. Therefore, the adage "The rogue ran away with merchant's money"(8) holds true in the case of international Zionism, because it has managed to turn the situation upside down, turning the executioner into a victim and the victim into an executioner.

It is in this context that international Zionism launches one attack after another, indirectly and in covert ways, against Islam, in general, and against what is happening in some Arab and Islamic countries in the name of Islam.

Therefore, the natural ally of Islam is conservative Christianity represented by the Roman Church and other churches which refuse to bargain over the essential constants and principles which must not be touched or amended.

I was my country's ambassador to the Holy See, or the Vatican. When the accredited ambassadors attended a meeting or a reception with the Pope or the cardinals or the bishops and other men of religion, our wives had to be dressed in long black garments, to cover their heads with black scarves, and to display no parts of their bodies, except their faces and hands.

During the three years I had spent there, I did not see one woman, for even once, with her head or any other part of her body uncovered, except her face and hands.

On this point, Islam meets the Vatican - or better still - with the Church : the woman must show her face and hands only. There is no display of charms or any thing of the kind - Propriety, Decency, and Self-respect are the order of the day.

Everything the Christian society has done later in the name of progress and development runs against the spirit of Christianity itself and the teachings of the Church. With the passage of time, the Church found itself incapable of imposing its will which emanates from the ordinances of religion.

Christianity and Islam see eye to eye on this very issue and on many other matters. They both seek to preserve the morals of society and to restrain the believers from running after debauchery and profligacy.

In any case, Islam is a realistic religion; it knows that the human being, with his physiological and natural constitution, male or female, is weak, and that sometimes it is just impossible for him to resist temptation; for this reason, the Prophet exhorted the believers against sins saying : "He who is afflicted with these impurities ought to take cover under the mantle of Allah". (reported in Imam Malik's al-Muwatta') That is why the woman must be chaste, and so must the man, for neither of them must indulge in debauchery and profligacy.

Regarding "fundamentalism" as we see and hear it and as it is practised by some Arab and Islamic states, as well as by some parties, Islam is free from it all. That is so because Islam is a religion of mercy, peace, perseverance, pardon, forgiveness, openness, and progress; it is a religion that seeks to preserve the humanness of the human being, morality, values and virtues, without which society will turn into a jungle and an emporium for harlotry.