The public follows in astonishment the depraved level of most of the political class, those ruling or those aiming to rule in the Constituent Assembly and elsewhere... They (except for those who Allah (swt) has blessed) have reached in arrogance, degradation and vulgarity what makes them undeserving

Question:

Assalaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,

Please clarify the extent of the ‘Awrah that a woman can reveal to a woman with its Shari' Daleel (evidence) and a complete clarification of the Mas'alah (issue) and an explanation of the angle of deduction for those who say that the ‘Awrah is that which lies between the naval and the knee in addition to the angle of deduction for those who state that it is the places of Zeenah (adornment) like the ‘Awrah of a woman in relation to her Mahaarim (non-marriageable relatives).

Answer:

Wa Alaikumu as-Salaam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Baarakatuhu,

In regards to the ‘Awrah of a woman in relation to a woman there are two Fiqhi opinions that carry an angle of deduction (Istidlaal).

First: That the ‘Awrah of a woman to a woman is like the ‘Awrah of a man in relation to (another) man i.e. between the navel and the knee and this is the opinion of some of the ‘Ulemah.

Second: That the ‘Awrah of the woman in relation to a woman is all of her body except for the places which the woman usually adorns herself,  i.e. the exception of the head which is the area for the tiara, the face which is the area of Kohl, the neck and chest which is the area of the necklace and the ears which are the area of earrings, the upper arm which is the place of the arm bangle (armlet) and the lower arm which is also the place of bangles and bracelets, the hand because it is the place of the ring, the lower leg which is the place of ankle bracelets and the feet which is the place of nail polish (or mehndi etc...).

Other than this, i.e. other than the usual areas of Zeenah (adornment) are considered ‘Awrah in relation to the woman i.e. that it is not only that which is between the naval and the knee.

The Daleel (evidence) for this is the speech of Allah (swt):

وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آَبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آَبَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ أَوِ التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُولِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ

"And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women." [An-Nur 31]

Therefore these are all permitted to be seen from the woman:  the hair and neck of the woman and the places of her bangles, bracelets and necklaces and all other parts of the body in which it has been confirmed to be a place of adornment because Allah (swt) said:

((وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنّ َ))

"And do not expose their adornment"

i.e. the place of their adornment.

The Aayah mentioned the Maaharim (non-marriageable relatives) and also mentioned the women and therefore it is permitted for women to look at each other's places of Zeenah (Adornment). As for other than these places of Zeenah of the woman, then they are considered as ‘Awrah in front of another woman.

This is what we find to be the preponderant opinion in accordance to the Daleel (evidence) and we say the preponderant (Raajih) because there are those who have viewed the ‘Awrah of the women in relation to another woman as being the same to the ‘Awrah of a man in relation to another man i.e. between the naval and knee.

Your brother,

Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

The link to the answer from the Ameer's Facebook Page:

Some policy makers have expressed their concern that this school will not encourage integration but leads to isolation instead. Whilst others have expressed their support for opening schools like this, including the Belgian Education Minister, Pascal Smet, who has expressed his view when he appeared on a programme called "The Seventh Day" on VRT Channel. He said that the school provides a solution for the students who do not have the Belgian nationality, but he expressed his rejection of the school if it is an Islamic school saying it will be a problem then.

News:

Recently US Senators have met to hammer out a draft resolution that authorizes an American strike on Syria. The duration of the operation is set to 60 days, which can be further extended by 30 days. The draft resolution, which is to be soon voted by Congress, is a response to Obama's bid to seek approval from US law makers. On September 1st 2013, US President Barack Obama said, "Now, after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets...I'm also mindful that I'm the President of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. And that's why I've made a second decision: I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress."

Comment:

So once again Americans find their government on the brink of attacking another Muslim country after having already waged war against Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya in the past decade or so. However, this is not the first time the US has intervened in Syria. In October 2008, American Special Forces conducted a raid into Syria killing 8 civilians. This time, the US intervention will be more prolonged and the resulting civilian deaths will be much higher.

Many facets of America's second impending strike on Syria can be scrutinized and debated, however, there is only issue that really stands out,  and that is the impact of American hegemony and unilateralism on both the region as well as on the prevalent international system.

Even before the Arab spring revolution, anti-Americanism was rife not only in the Arab countries but also in the wider Muslim world. Since then anti-Americanism has reached an all-time high and there is no evidence to suggest that it will subside anytime soon. On the contrary, American military intervention in Syria will only exacerbate such sentiments. This is dangerous not only for America but also for West's relationship with the Islamic world.  These negative sentiments form the basis for intellectual and political awakening in the Muslim world. It forces Muslims to explore ways on how to become intellectually and politically independent of American hegemony and perpetual Western interference.

Another factor closely related to negative American sentiments is America's duplicity over the application of its ideology in the Islamic world. For instance, why does America ignore the 100,000 or so civilians killed at the hands of the Butcher Assad by conventional means  but raises a huge hue and cry when the same butcher kills 1429 Syrians but this time through chemical weapons. Likewise why does America choose to stand by General Sisi and allow him to use American weapons to kill over a thousand Egyptians and not intervene-Sisi is only gently reprimanded. Additionally there is no mention of American intervention in Palestine and Burma where nothing short of genocide is being perpetrated against Muslims. These are just some of the inconsistencies related to the value of human life placed by America. What about the contradictions regarding the implementation of democracy and freedom in the Islamic countries. The coup in Egypt against the democratically elected leader Morsi and the grotesque episode of Abu Ghraib in Iraq have laid bare American hypocrisy over her two ideological idols: Democracy and Freedom.

The combination of anti-American sentiments and America's ideological duplicity has invigorated Muslim minds to view political Islam rather than liberal democracy as a panacea to their problems. The confidence amongst Muslims in liberal democracy and Western solutions has been further diminished by the sustained economic crisis in the West and the revolt against capitalist policies stretching from Europe to Brazil.  Neither have the false Islamic pretenders such as Ennahda, Muslim brotherhood and others have helped the West in their crusade to promote their civilization in Muslim countries. These groups are despised by the masses and are viewed as endorsing capitalism and American hegemony disguised in Islamic garb. Hence, throughout the Arab and Muslim world, more and more Muslims are embracing political Islam as the only exit solution to their colonization by America and the West.

Therefore it is no longer surprising to find Muslim societies across the Islamic world deeply polarized between secular autocrats struggling to maintain the existing order for America and their colonial masters, and the Muslim masses wanting to liberate themselves through political Islam. The polarization has contributed to increasing instability and chaos, and is responsible for much of the political vacuum that pervades the Muslim world. Subsequently, America's primacy has weakened significantly and this means that America has to resort to greater force to maintain some semblance of control in order to protect her vital interests.

The lack of confidence in Western concepts and solutions has made both the implementation and the longevity of political solutions in Muslim countries difficult for Washington. This is despite the fact that America has considerable military might in the region, compliant military generals, and subservient politicians at her disposal. As soon as America takes a political decision it is not long before it unravels and America compelled to rethink. For instance in Syria the US started by supporting Arab monitors initially, which quickly gave way to Annan's Six Point Plan and this was followed by the Lakhdar Brahimi plan, then the Geneva peace plan was born. Now after military strikes it is anticipated that Geneva peace plan 2 will be mooted. America's failure to fashion successful political solution for countries like Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan tells a similar story. In 2006 Pat Buchanan had this to say about America's political failures in the Muslim world. He said, "If Islamic rule is an idea taking hold among the Islamic masses, how does even the best army on earth stop it? Do we not need a new policy?" Several policies later and America is still struggling for a new policy to contain Islam.

On the international front, America's repeated threats to go it alone in Syria have grossly undermined the confidence in the international system. In truth American intransigence to unilaterally invade Iraq in 2003 was the beginning of the end of the international system and a death blow to the UN. As the world increasingly moves towards pre-1920 international framework for dealing with each other-when great powers ruled and international law was just a notion- international law and the UN will no longer be relevant to settle dispute between nations.

Finally, America and its allies in the West have worked tirelessly to craft an international system that for the past 60 odd years has prevented the Muslims masses from establishing their state-the Caliphate. And now by America's own handiwork the Muslim masses are being repeatedly attacked and this has bludgeoned to death any inclining Muslims masses had towards liberal democracy, and ignited their passion for the re-establishment of Caliphate.

The precedence of "humanitarian" intervention established by America, and the subsequent decline in the nation state model together with the fragmentation of the international law all provide a fertile foundation for the Caliphate to not only swiftly unify fifty-five Muslim countries under a single political authority, but also to intervene around the global to protect Muslim populations and spread Islam.

The Caliphate will also reform international relations and dispel the current drivers behind the upkeep of today's international system  such as one rule for the West and another rule for the rest, where might is right and fabricated evidences  are norm to wage preventative wars. Regarding the latter, the belligerence of America and other European states towards the world will be immediately dealt with by the Caliphate, In such cases no evidence will be required as their crimes against humanity are well documented and recorded. In sum, America through its blind arrogance is paving the way for the 21st century to belong to the Caliphate.

قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حَتَّى يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَاغِرُونَ)) التوبة 29

"Fight those who believe not In Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of truth, (even if They are) of the people of the Book, until They pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." [TMQ 9:29]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by

Abed Mustafa