Is Hijab Only for Women?

One of the controversial topics and points of tension within the Muslim community and with regards to the religion of Islam is the topic of hijab.

We see that the hijab is constantly used as an attack method, a point of attack on Islam, on the Muslim community. And some tried to portray Islam to be a misogynistic religion, a religion that limits females, a religion that keeps women behind, and does not give them the freedom to come out in public and portray themselves in who they are. And we also see from another dimension, we also see that this is a point of struggle for many Muslim families, especially many Muslim women. This is a test and this is a difficulty and challenge for many today in this era.

And there's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to hijab. And perhaps the biggest reason for the misconceptions is that many people do not understand what is the hijab. Many people don't know what is the hijab. Is it only the garment that is placed on the head of a female? Some people that's how they define hijab. Whereas from an Islamic perspective, hijab is something much greater than that. And only one part of the hijab is the garment that a female places on her head.

Is the hijab only for a woman? A lot of people, they have the idea that hijab is something that's only wajib upon the woman because they limit it to that scarf, they limit it to that head scarf. So therefore it is something that is only obligatory upon women. Whereas also from an Islamic perspective, hijab is an obligation upon men and women. And there are levels and layers and ways of hijabs. Hijab is not the clothes that you wear, but hijab is the lifestyle that you live by. And we will In shallah explain. Another misconception is that if someone is practicing hijab, then therefore their life is going to be severely limited. Therefore they would not be able to do anything in life.

They can't speak, they can't go out, they can't engage with others, they can't work, they can't be productive members of society. Is this truly what Islam wants from people? Is this the dignity that Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala has placed within every single one of us? And another misconception is that hijab is an individual thing.

Now, yes, it is an individual choice, but as we will come to the understanding the hijab is a means of protecting society as a whole, it is a means of protecting every individual within a society. The same way the face mask was made obligatory was made mandated by governments, by institutions, by hospitals, by the airports, by airlines, not only to protect the individual, but to protect everyone else. This is also how the hijab functions. In shaʾ Allah we will explain that now. Hijab is one of the means, one of the rulings of Islam.

There are many rules that Islam has. There are many rulings in the Qur'an, there are many teachings that Rasul Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi, brought, and everything that the Qur'an brings, everything that Rasul Allah brings forward to us is for the sake of our own karamah. Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala does not benefit from my prayer. Allah does not benefit from my charity. Allah does not benefit from these acts of worship that I perform.

Prayer is for my own good. Zakat is for my own good. Going to Hajj, Amr bi 'l-Ma'ruf wa Nahy an al Munkar, all of these obligations, therefore our own good, therefore our own good because Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala wants to dignify the human being. Allah said in the Qur'an: "Wa lakad karramna Bani Adam" (17:70), "We have dignified the human being". We have made the human being the most the most respected out of all the creation of Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala.

And these are the objectives of Islam. Now, yes, if you see, for example, the objectives of Islam being used in a way that take away the dignity of a person, then that becomes un-Islamic and that becomes something that is against Islam. This is why Imam Husayn alayhi as-salam is still against Yazid. Yazid was saying this is wajib, this is haram, this is mustahab. But things that were not wajib or mustahab, he was taking religion in his own hands, Imam Husayn stood in front of him.

But does that mean that religion as a whole is wrong? No. The religion Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala brings us the rules of religion for our own karamah, for our own dignity. And today, the topic of hijab is a topic of tension, it is a topic of disputes. But let's look at how societies, most societies, whether this could be happening in predominantly Muslim countries and this could be happening in a predominantly non-muslim country.

How is the overall perception of women in societies? How does Hollywood portray women? How does the movie industry portray women? Most of the time now we don't want to generalize, but most of the time it is focusing on the physical appearance of women. You see this in movies, you see this in the magazines, you see this online.

In fact, we all know this. There are multibillion dollar industries that are used just to use the body of the female and exploit the body of the female. So this is why Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala comes and says the rules of hijab are wajib. This is is why Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala comes and makes hijab obligatory.

And this is not something that only Muslims practice. I always say this. Go and look at every picture of Saint Mary, Maryam, Maryam al-adhra', is she portrayed in a way where her body is showing or is she portrayed where she is covering? She's wearing the hijab, of course, Maryam alayha as-salam, is wearing the hijab.

Now, I see some people, they say hijab is not Islamic. It is something that Muslims inherited from other religions. And yes, that's true. There are other cultures were practicing hijab and Islam came and it saw that this is something that is good. It saw that this is something for the protection of society as a whole, and Islam also mandated it. So it could be something that was before Islam. That's not an argument that is against us. That is an argument to prove that hijab is something that is universal, that every culture, every religion practices it.

And with regards to the point does hijab limit? Is hijab supposed to limit the person practicing it? The answer is no. It is not supposed to. It is not supposed to. That's not the intent of hijab. And if we today, if we see a society or a community that is using the hijabs to limit women, then they are in the wrong.

And we have to speak out about that, no matter how religious they look. If they are limiting the potential of women because of the use of hijab, then that society is wrong. Because when we look at our role models, when we look at our leaders, whether men or women, we see that they practice the best form of hijab. Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala talks about Maryam, Maryam Ibnatu 'Imran. There is a whole surah in the Qur'an about Maryam.

The family of Imran, in ali Imran, Maryam is mentioned throughout the Qur'an, the mother of Jesus. Maryam practiced the best form of modesty, yet she reached the highest levels of closeness to Allah Subahana wa Ta'ala. She became a role model for everyone and Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Wa idh qalat il-mala'ikatu ya Maryam, inna Allaha stafaki wa tahharaki wastafaki 'ala nisa'i al-'alameen" (3:42). "Ya Maryam, uqnuti li Rabbiki wa sjudee wa rka'ee ma'a ar-raaki'een" (3:43).

There were people in the temple during the time of Maryam. Some of the Jewish rabbis, they did not want to see Maryam entering and worshipping in the temple. They said, no, this is a temple only for men. You cannot have a lady come in here. Allah Subhahana wa Ta'ala orders her: "Ya Maryam, uqnuti li Rabbiki" (3:43), Oh Maryam pray to your Lord, "wa sjudee wa rka'ee ma'a ar-raaki'een" (3:43). And do ruku' with those who are praying.

What does this mean? This means that hijab should never limit a sister. Hijab should never limit a person. And the highest levels of spirituality could be reached by women. And we have examples. Fatima az-Zahra', alayha as-salam, did her hijab limit her? No. Fatimah az-Zahra' by the way, she was not just the lady sitting in the house and the daughter of the Prophet, or the wife of Imam Ali, or the mother of Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn. Sometimes our cultures, they limit even our perspectives. We limit the woman. No.

Fatimah az-Zahra', alayha as-salam, she was a philanthropist. Fatimah az-Zahra', alayha as-salam, she was a lady who was a teacher. She was an educator in society. Fatimah az-Zahra', alayha as-salam, she stood against the injustice of her time. After the death of the Prophet, she came out in the Masjid of the Prophet. She delivered a sermon. Al-khutba al-Fadakia. She delivered a very powerful sermon.

Sayyidah Zaynab, alayha as-salam. We just finished the days of Muharram and Safar. The voice of Imam Husayn would not have reached us if it was not for the voice of Zaynab, alayha as-salam. And Zaynab protected the legacy of Imam Husayn, while practicing and preserving the best form of hijab. Sayyda Khadija, alayha as-salam and many, many examples. So this is a very important point.

Another misconception today is that the hijab is just the scarf. Is that true? Is hijab just the scarf that is placed by sisters? No, the hijab is not just the piece of garment.

Hijab is more than that. Hijab is a lifestyle. And this is why hijabs is not limited to the sisters only. Hijab is for the men and for the sisters! Because it is a lifestyle. Allah says in the Qur'an: "Ya Bani Aadam! Qad anzalna 'alaikum libasan yuwaree sawatikum wa reeshan, wa libasu at-taqwaa dhalika khair" (7:26). "Oh sons of Adam! We have brought down upon you because God wants to give you karamah, God wants to dignify you. So what has God given us? What makes the humans different from the animals? Do animals go and stitch and wear clothes?

No, this is what makes us different from the animals, the fact that humans wear clothes, they cover themselves, they protect themselves. So Allah says, oh, children of Adams, this is what we have brought down for you. And in addition to the material clothing, we have given you the immaterial clothing "wa libasu at-taqwaa dhalika khair" (7:26), and the hijab of piety, the garment of piety. And this is the greater form of hijab, my dear brothers and sisters. When you live a modest lifestyle, when you do not allow your desires, you don't allow your body and the bodies of others to control your behavior and to control your life.

This is what Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala from us. To live a life of chastity, to live a life of modesty, so that society could respect one another, so that I could not regard and look at the other gender exclusively for their body. No, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala wants me to recognize others for who they are, for their personality, for their knowledge, for their iman. This is what Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala this is how Allah judges us and this is how Allah wants us to judge one another. To don't judge people just by their appearances. Because today there is so much insistence on material lifestyle and so much insistence on the appearances where it creates trauma in people.

There are some people, they are afraid to leave the house because of the way they look. There are some people, they feel insecure because of the way that they look. Why? Because society has given us that. Society tells us, your worth is by the way that you look, by how beautiful your hair is, by how much makeup you have on. But that's not what Allah wants.

Allah says: "inna akramakum 'inda Allahi atqakum" (49:13), "Verily, the closest in the eyes of God is the one who has the most taqwa and the most piety". So when we talk about hijab, hijab is not just the headscarf, because sometimes someone could be wearing the headscarf, but they are not practicing hijab. How? In their attitude and the way that they talk and the way that they walk.

Maybe some brothers, they come and they say, sisters, you have to wear a hijab. You have to do this and you have to do that. But their eyes are all over the place. Their eyes are looking at everything. That's not practicing hijab. Sometimes, or perhaps, maybe a sister has her head covering, but other features of her body are being revealed through tight clothing, through the way she talks, through the way she walks through all of these things. So this is why hijab is not simplified to just the scarf that is worn. Hijab is a greater picture.

Hijab is much more than that. And this is why when we look at those who practice the hijab in the best way possible, we see that for them, in their perspective, hijab was an attitude, hijab was a lifestyle. One day, Fatimah az-Zahra', alayha as-salam, a man, he enters, a blind man. He comes close to where Fatimah az-Zahra' was, and Fatimah az-Zahra', right away she goes behind a hijab. What does hijab mean? She goes behind a barrier, a wall. A wall could be a hijab, or the clothes could be a hijab. There are many things that could be labeled as hijab. So she goes behind the wall and Rasul Allah or whoever was there tells her "This man is blind, this man can't see you". What was her reply?

She replies if he can't see me, I can see him. And then a person could smell. There are other senses that we have. The eyes are not the only senses that we have. And hijab is to create an atmosphere, to create an environment where we protect one another, where we preserve one another. And this is something that is very important.

So when we talk about hijab, hijab could be the headscarf, it could be the clothing, it could be a barrier. So this is just the whole purpose of this is to create a modest lifestyle so that no one looks at one another exclusively for their body, for their physical appearance, so that no one judges another person by their appearance, and to highlight, instead highlight the identity of a person, the faith of a person. And this is why Islam and other religions insist on the concept of the hijab. Another very important point.

Some people, they come and they ask, why is Islam such a strict religion? Why is there so much censoring in Islam? Why do we have to be so careful? Oh, you have to be here, you have to be there. There should be no touching, there should be no interaction, haram interaction between men and women. And all of these rules that we see because right now we live in a very open society and people come and say, you know what, you can't force religion upon people.

Let people do whatever they want, let people live however they want, let people interact, let people touch, let people do whatever they want. And they come and they say, why is Islam? See, Subhana Allah! Now, Islam is looked at as it is the wrong thing. There was a time, there was a time that all of this interaction was regarded as taboo, it was regarded as abnormal behavior. Now when you do Amr bi 'l-Ma'ruf wa Nahy an al-Munkar, you are looked at as if you are the backwards person.

And this is where we have come, and this is the challenges of our times right now, where the normalization of deviance has led people to see the good as wrong and the wrong as good. And that's what Rasul Allah told people. Rasul Allah told people: "A time will come for my Ummah, that they see the Ma'ruf as the munkar, and the munkar as ma'ruf.

Why are there all these barriers? Why does Islam say, there should be partitions, there should be barriers, the rules of hijab should be respected, rules of modesty and chastity. You can't date until you are married. You can't do all of these things.

The whole reason for this, as we mentioned earlier, is that the purpose of religion is to bring karamah and dignity to a person, not only at an individual level, but at a societal level, so that all of society respects one another. And this is why we put rules and restrictions.

During COVID, didn't we put rules and restrictions of the mask being mandated? Why was the mask being mandated? Someone could say, this is my individual freedom. I am a free person. You cannot force me. You cannot impose the mask on me.

We say, yes, you are free in your own home, but the moment you go out, you are putting others in danger. This is why you need to abide by the rules of the mask. Now, for us here in America, the mask is old news. I was in Canada last week and they are still wearing the mask.

So every society, every society, they have their own rules. Does anyone come and say, why are the Canadians still wearing the mask? Now, maybe some people do, but if the majority of people in that society, in that community, they came and they said, for our security, we want everyone to wear it, that's it. I can't say anything because the majority have chosen to have that.

And this is the same when it comes to rules of Islamic hijab. Now, keep in mind, we said earlier, hijab is not only for women. Hijab is a lifestyle. It is not the garments, but societies and Islam come and say that the hijab must be preserved. Why? In order to protect all of society, in order to protect members of society, there has to be some limitations. It is not about taking away your individual liberty, but it is about protecting everyone else. And all societies have some sort of (some sort of) minimum clothing requirements right now. Can I go out in public not wearing anything? No. They all have rules. No one questions them. So in a society where the majority of people, they say, we need to have this kind of rule, then that rule needs to be respected.

But today we live in a time where there are no rules. People don't want God, people don't want morality. People don't want anyone saying, this is right and this is wrong. People want to live free life and this is endangering people. Right now in the schools and the schools, this is an issue that has just emerged in this community and many communities across the United States. What is it? That in the schools, they are introducing R rated books, books that are rated R, books that are you would not want your children to see them.

They are coming and they are putting them in the schools. They are putting them in the public schools, in the school libraries. And if you come and you say anything, they say, See? You guys are censoring. You guys are censoring. You should have freedom of knowledge and freedom of expression. I say, yes, go have freedom. We are not limiting you. But when I take my child to watch a movie, if it is a rated R movie, aren't there rules that you can't take a child to watch a rated R movie? So this is in the libraries. I'm not at the library. Someone could go and look at a book that is rated R, explicit materials, and this is going to harm them.

So of course, every parent should speak out. Of course every parent should say something. Now, yes, this is a politicized issue. We don't want to get into the dirty politics of it, but we have to do our best to sometimes censor. Sometimes censoring is a solution. Just as you protect yourself from a disease, you protect yourself by wearing a mask. You protect yourself, your clothes, from a disease. You also need to protect yourself from immoral behavior. So here, this is where the rules of hijab apply. We will end the first Khutba.

Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim. Qul Huwa Allahu ahad (112:1), Allahu as-samad (112:2), Lam yalid wa lam yulad (112:3), Wa lam yakun lahoo kufuwan ahad (112:4).

Respected brothers and sisters, this morning we woke up to sad news of an explosion in a school in Afghanistan. A school where children are taking exams, they are taking an exam, and someone goes and detonates himself, where over 30 children were killed. Over 30 children who are seeking knowledge they are going to school, they were killed. And what the media does not often shed light on is that these kids were mostly Shi'a. These kids were mostly from the Hazara, and they were Shi'a, and they were targeted because of their faith. They were targeted because of their religion, because of their ethnicity and their faith.

And this is something that is tragic. We pray for the families. We pray for those who are suffering, and we ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to rid the world of the injustice that is going on where kids that are in school, they are targeted. This is something that we cannot remain quiet to. This is something that we have to speak out against. And especially the fact that there are kids and targeted is a crime. The fact that they are targeted is a crime, the fact that there are kids, and the fact that they are Shi'a and they are mostly girls. They are mostly girls.

Because, as we mentioned in the first Khutba, there are some they think that the hijab should limit women. There are some that think that the hijab means that you should not excel, you should not seek knowledge, you should not progress in your community, in your society. And this is against Islam. This is very much against the religion of Islam.

Seeking knowledge is a duty in the religion of some, seeking knowledge is an obligation. It is as obligatory as praying and fasting and going to hajj, seeking knowledge is an obligation, and it is an obligation upon all, upon men and upon women. And there are many ahadith of Rasul Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa alihi, that talk about this. So this is why, my dear brothers and sisters, we have to thank Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala for the Nahmah that we are in right now.

We can practice our faith right now. We can send our children to school right now. We have so much blessings and we have to thank Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala for this blessing. And we have to try to help those who are suffering as much as we can.

Another point that I wanted to shed light on is also the suffering that's going on all across the world, and the hurricane that is taking place in Florida right now. We pray for those who are suffering. We pray for those who have lost their property. We pray for those who have seen and witnessed all of the suffering. And some people ask, just quickly to go about this. Some people ask, why does Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala do this to people? Why does this happen?

We have multiple narrations of the balah. The tests they come for different people, depending on who they are. So, for example, there's a hadith from Imam Ali, alayhi as-salam. He says: "inna al-bala' li 'l-mu'min imtihan", for the believer, a test is a imtihan, a test, meaning Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala will use this to see how much faith you have, to see how much patience you have. And at the end of the test, there's results, there's consequences. Either someone fails the test or they pass the test. So it is an opportunity for you to excel in life. And this is why the mu'minin are tested.

In fact, every person is tested: "Wa lanabluwannakum bishai'im min al-khawfi wa al-joo'i wa naqsim min al-amwaali" (2:155). Every single person shall be tested. However, for the Kafir, for the Munafiq, for the person who's a deviant, this is teaching them a lesson. It is not a test anymore. Now, this is a way of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala giving someone a wake up call. Giving someone a wake up call. Sometimes you need to get hit to wake up from the deviant behavior that we are having. And this is also why some of the catastrophes fall on some people because of the wrong that we are in.

For some people, it is to elevate them, for other people, it is to teach them a lesson and to remind them. And this is why we have multiple narrations that if something bad happened for you in your life, if you are a mu'min, then you are going to see that Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala will elevate you. But if you are living in the wrong and if you are doing something wrong, this is a wake up call. This is a lesson to say, hey, be careful. This is not the only time God could punish you. God could take away everything that you have within a split second. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala could take away everything.

So be careful. Don't live in the wrong. Don't continue living away and away from Allah. Wake up from that ghafla, from that state of negligence that you are living in. We ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to protect us all and to wake us all up from the state of negligence. Sometimes we get too comfortable with this dunya. Sometimes we get too comfortable with this life that we all become negligent to the deviance, to the wrong that is going on around us.

We ask Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala to increase our Iman, to bless you all. Na'saluka Allahumma wa nadu'uk, Bismika Al-'Adheem al-'Adham, Al-'Azzal, Al-Ajal, al-Ikram. Ya Allah! Ya Allahu, Ya Rahmanu Ya Rahim. Ya Muqallib al-quloob, thabbit qulubana 'ala Dinek. Allahumma ghfirli al-mu'minina wa al-mu'minat, al-hayahi minhum, wa al-amwat, ta'ba Allahumma baynana wa baynahum bi 'l-khayrat. Innaka mujibu ad-da'wat, innaka gharfir al-khati'at, innaka 'ala kully sha'yn qadir, wa ila arwa al-mu'minina wa al-mu'minat, nuhdi thawab al-Fatiha ma'a as-Salawat [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad].

Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim (1:1), Alhamdu li-Llaahi Rabb il-'Alameen (1:2), Ar-Rahmani, a r-Raheem (1:3), Maliki Yawm id-Deen (1:4), Iyyaka na'budu wa Iyyaka nasta'een (1:5), Ihdina as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem (1:6), Sirat al-ladheena an'amta 'alaihim, ghayr il-maghdoobi 'alaihim, wa lad-dalleen (1:7).

Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim. Qul Huwa Allahu ahad (112:1), Allahu as-samad (112:2), Lam yalid wa lam yulad (112:3), Wa lam yakun lahoo kufuwan ahad (112:4).

Brothers and sisters, I also want to remind you that this Sunday we have a Heritage Park here, close by at 3 P.M. we are doing a snack and chat. During the months of Muharam and Safar, it was difficult to have these entertaining programs inshaAllah. Now, this Sunday, before the weather gets too cold, rain, your families bring the kids. They are going to be playing sports for about an hour, an hour or so. And then later on we'll have a discussion with them, inshaAllah at 3 P. M. At Heritage Park. Sallu 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad].