Stripping the Garment of Piety

News:

2 weeks ago, a short video clip had gone viral showing a Malay woman by the name of Amy, wearing a hijab and Malay dress, claiming to be a Muslim and confessing to memorizing 15 juzu’ of the Quran who then went on to remove her hijab and dress, revealing an eye catching garment underneath. This incident happened during a stand-up comedy performance at the Crackhouse Comedy Club in Kuala Lumpur. Amy was consequently arrested and charged under Section 298A of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion. If found guilty, she can be imprisoned for at least two years but not more than five years. Only a few days after this episode, two more cases of insult against Islam, by Muslims, were reported in the media.

Comment:

Nowadays many have turned social media apps into a platform to seek cheap publicity without caring about morals, dignity, shame and sensitivity by making "junk videos" for the public to watch. The addiction in watching these trashy videos has further encouraged these people to develop more immoral videos. They are prepared to be criticized, insulted and even willing to bear the risk of being arrested and prosecuted. All in the name of publicity, popularity and some financial benefit. To be fair, not all short videos in these social platforms lack scruples. It all depends on the personality of the video makers. Any Muslim woman, for example, whether she wears a hijab or does not wear a hijab; whether she is willing or not willing to bare herself in front of the video camera – her choice depends on the framework of thought which governs her thinking and behaviour. A Muslim woman who fears Allah (swt) will never bare herself in front of others under any circumstances and this behaviour reflects her Islamic thinking. On the other hand, a woman whose framework of thinking is devoid of Allah (swt), will feel free to do whatever she desires. She is a woman who does not fear Allah (swt) and His punishment. This way of thinking is tightly bound to the all-dominating idea of freedom in today’s sphere of living. It is a clear manifestation of the secular system that has managed to "control" or influence her thinking. It is the outcome of the democratic order which bestows upon man the freedom to do anything he wishes.

Under this democratic system, where freedom is considered sacred, the only fortress for a Muslim in obeying his religion is his piety. In this system, as in Malaysia, a person is free to cover or uncover his/her awrah. There is no single law that puts constraints to this freedom – none whatsoever! The right to dress freely is enshrined within the personal freedom guaranteed by democracy; well ... notwithstanding an insignificant little provision for the offense of committing indecent acts in public places, as found in the Shariah Criminal Enactment of Malaysia. Freedom sanctified under democracy has not only given birth to many women who wears no hijab, but also to a generation that mingles freely without limit so much so that today, there are so many cases of adultery and illegitimate children in the society. Even further than that, this system has given birth to a morally bankrupt society in almost all aspects of life!! It is not an offense in this country to open gambling centres, alcohol factories, night clubs, organize beauty pageants, alcohol parties, and all kinds of immoral events, as long as a license is obtained. Similarly, it is not an offense for any Muslim in this country to engage in usurious transactions. All this is allowed, even though this means that this country is directly at war with Allah (swt) and His Messenger!! We can go on and on but this should be enough for us to get the idea. Such is the situation we are in now. It is thus not surprising that insults against Islam have become a norm in today’s society. Worse, insulters with Muslim names join in the bandwagon of vilifiers! In Islam, and this is more apparently manifested under the Khilafah (Caliphate), where it is implemented in totality, vilifiers will not dare to utter a single insult against the Deen of Allah (swt). Under Islam, the awrah of a woman is totally sanctified, the economy is not based on usury, moral events are prohibited and the society lives in stability and tranquillity.

When Amy exposed her awrah in the public place while disparaging Islam by making fun of the Islamic clothes Muslim women wear, she is stripped of her Islamic clothing, her piety, which is the best clothing she can ever have. There is no guarantee of safety (from Allah’s (swt) punishment) when the garment of piety has been removed from her body, just as there is no guarantee of safety for anyone, especially those in power, who has removed the "garment of piety" when they rule this land...

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Dr. Mohammad – Malaysia