Unfortunately, we as Muslims live during a time where there is no Islamic State to stop the Munkar we see on a daily basis.  It is an obligation on Muslims that we try to stop the different Munkars we see.  It is one of the biggest challenges a Muslim has to endure to stop a Munkar when there is no support from the Islamic State. We have been brought back to time when the kuffar in Mecca used to order the Muslims to stop carrying the da'wah and not to worship publicly.  As the ayah stated;

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ (104)ال عمران

 "Let their arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), commanding al'Ma'ruf (good) and forbidding al'Munkar (evil)" (Al-Imran :104). 

            One type of Munkar that we see is the new trend of hijab.  Hijab is not a fashion statement and never was meant to be. It is an act of obedient that has been clearly defined in the Quran and Sunnah.  There is no debate on what is allowed and what is prohibited.  Allah (swt) has clearly defined the meaning and as time goes on it should not meet the new trends of society.  Unfortunately, we now see the hair bangs showing from the veil, the earlobes showing their earrings, tight fitting clothes, sandals displaying their feet.  The neck is shown because the veil is tied at the side or from the back, the huge barrettes to make a hump like style under the veil.  These are all types of tabarruj (revealing the beauty), which Islam has prohibited.  We see women in public wearing tight fitting clothes even though the awrah is covered, that is under the category of Tabarruj.   A hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) stated that, "Two categories of people; have not seen them (yet): some people who hold whips like the tails of the cow by which they lash people. And women who wear (clothes) but (are) half -naked, bending (their bodies) and bending the sight of men to them. Their heads are like the tilted humps of the camels. These women will not enter the paradise nor will they experience its smell (odor), though its odor is felt at a distance of so and so."

            It is disturbing to find hijab fashion magazines and websites to teach fashionable hijab styles.  It gives Muslim women the Western style format of how to match the veil with the shirt, pants, and purse.  One magazine steered clear of the idea of the jilbab and only introduced Western clothing to go out with.  This is intentionally done to steer the Muslim sisters away from what Allah swt revealed. This has weaved doubt among Muslims with their religion.  Hijab should not merit discussions on what is allowed or prohibited.  Allah has defined his laws about hijab.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاء الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَن يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا (59)الحزاب

   "Oh Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (Jalabeeb) all over their bodies."  (Al-Ahzab: 59)  Did the Muslims forget when Umm Atiyya (ra) asked the Prophet (pbuh), "Oh Messenger of Allah, what about one who does not have a jilbab?"  The Prophet replied, "Let her use the Jilbab of her sister."  This clearly states that if her excuse is that she does not own a jilbab, she is to borrow one from her neighbor.

            The West is trying to redefine the meaning of hijab in order for Muslim women to break ties with Islam. Discussions about hijab were generated by the colonialists to corrupt the Islamic Aqeedah. The West realized that Muslim women all over the world implemented the standards of hijab.  The West gradually started to place ideas of fashionable hijab. The West makes the women feel that the idea of hijab is an oppressive and constraining form of dress. They are using so-called scholars to give another meaning to the jilbab and distort what certain ayat mean.   The West purposely is encouraging scholars to change the meanings of hijab to steer Muslims away from Islam.  It is clearly stated in several ayat what happens when proofs from Allah (swt) have been revealed.  One being,

وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُواْ وَاخْتَلَفُواْ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَأُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ (105)ال عمران

 "And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment."  ( Al-Imran: 105)  

            The West mocks the Muslim woman for wearing hijab and tries to disgrace her.  The West has succeeded in passing laws banning the hijab.  Tunis and Turkey restricts the wearing of the headscarves in government buildings and public schools, and discourages women from wearing the hijab on public grounds.  France has banned the wearing of any religious symbols, including the hijab in public schools and government buildings. On June 22, 2009; the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, said that "burqas are not welcome in France," commenting that "In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity." Belgium passed a law that banned face-covering clothing in public as seen when a Moroccan immigrant was fined due to wearing of the burqa.  Some states in Germany have also banned the hijab in public schools.  This clearly shows that the West is threatened by the hijab and Muslims in general. 

            Why are some Muslims then trying to fit in with a regime that is trying to destroy Islam in all aspects?  We need to stand together as one Ummah fighting this Munkar we see on a daily basis.  We as Muslims should not try to fit into a regime that is man-made but a regime that was sent down by Allah (swt).  We need to forbid this Munkar we are seeing and be strong in fighting for the cause of Allah (swt). We should not fear any laws that were man-made but only Allah (swt). It is crucial that we as Muslims join together and call for the Islamic ideology to lift this oppression on all Muslims and decrease the Munkars we see.  This cause needs perseverance, steadfastness, and patience.  As many ayat show the importance of patience as such,

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْاْ مِن قَبْلِكُم مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاء وَالضَّرَّاء وَزُلْزِلُواْ حَتَّى يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مَعَهُ مَتَى نَصْرُ اللّهِ أَلا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللّهِ قَرِيبٌ (214)-البقرة

 "Or think you that you will enter Paradise without such (trials) as come to to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty, ailments and were so shaken and that even the Messenger and those who believed with him said, ‘when will come the Help of Allah? ‘Yes certainly, the help of Allah is near!" (Al-Baqarah: 214)

 

By; Om Sundus

Bayt Al-Maqdes