A few questions from an interested girl

[catbrown]

Hello Everyone,

It is hard to explain my situation at the moment. I am a 25 year old Christian girl that has an interest in Islam; I am not looking to convert, at least not at this time, but part of me wants me to be more Islamic and to explore it. Sorry, I can't really explain it.



Would it be offensive for a non-Muslim to dress in an Islamic fashion? (Hijab, Abaya, etc.)

What would be classed as an “appropriate” way for me to dress?

What would be classed as an “appropriate” way for me to act? (at home, in public)

Besides not eating pork and drinking alcohol, what other things shouldn't a woman do?

I do have a boyfriend, what are the "rules" that I should know when with him?

Are there other "rules" about what I should and shouldn't wear, e.g. gloves?

If anyone can think of anything else, in relation to my questions or in general, I would love to know.

Thank You
Catherine

[greenhill]

Hi Catherine,

What you feel is the calling of the true message of the 'Books'. (Except the boyfriend bit).

How was Christianity in its original form? The relics of it can be seen in the nuns.. how they dress. See the similarities? Different styles only. The idea is to expose only your hands and face in a loosely fitted garment. Would the nuns have boyfriends?

Only things changed in Christianity, those outfits became confined to the nunnery, Easter became about the bunny (joke), and the real reason of fasting became forgotten, circumcision (for men) the sign of the Abrahamic faith(?) became a choice. .and more..

A scarf, while you learn?

Welcome to the forum. May Allah grant you answers.

Wishing you a great stay


:peace:

[sister herb]

Hello Catherine

Its great you are interesting about Islam. It surely helps you to understand more other people from the islamic cultures and may gives to you better perspective to understand many things in life.

I answer to some of your questions like dressing. There isn´t any harm if you dress to islamic ways; just avoid too tigh clothes, cover your body shapes. Long skirt, dress, long sleeve shirt, loose pants are good choices. Covering your hairs (hijab) is ok too - many others than muslims only dress like this. Just make sure your dress is modesty. Oops, no bikinis or t-shirts. :nervous:

About your boyfriend matter; muslim woman wouldn´t have a boyfriend at all. Now when you have, no physical contacts to him are not allowed. No huggs or kisses. You better be careful not to stay with him in private together, meet him only in public places. As we say: "when man and woman are together, the Satan is the third one". Any kind of pre-marital sexual contacts are forbidden.

As you mention that your religion is Christianity, so if you follow the ten Commandments, you are quite near like how a muslim woman behaves.

[BeTheChange]

Hey Catherine

Welcome to the forum. I wish you peace and happiness in this world but more importantly, in the next!

Am sorry for this long essay - hope i don't bore you but wanted to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

It gives me great happiness and excitement to read your intentions. Am happy you’re interested in Islam because believe me it is the most wonderful journey you will ever embark and this is a guarantee. If you do decide to embrace and accept Islam that is which I hope you do. Many people, including me would advise do not delay this acceptance because death is coming closer to us each second and you don’t want to die as a disbeliever.

I don't think it is offensive at all to wear Islamic clothing (probably offensive to those who disagree with Islam but hey who cares? We're not here to please people but Allah (God) alone) - it would depend on your intention because, we are not supposed to deceive others intentionally but i think you may want to do this because, you probably want to experience what it feels like to look like a Muslim. Maybe you want to come to terms with this new identity and see what reactions others give you? So go for it, try the clothing you’re not harming anyone. Am sure you will feel very comfortable wearing this outfit because it's very loose and you can wear any comfortable clothing underneath. Your choice.

In Islam women are advised to wear loose clothing, nothing which reveals the body figure, nothing with human/animal imprints (especially, if one needs to pray because, we shouldn't be attempting to mimic Allah's creation) & try and avoid bright colours because you don't want to attract unnecessary attention.

It is compulsory to wear the headscarf, loose clothing and the niqaab (veil) is optional. However, depending on some scholars this is compulsory. Am sure you can read up on this if you’re interested. One thing at a time. People do advise baby steps is good because you need to have the understanding why we do things in a certain way and not rush otherwise the faster you rush without understanding, the quicker you can find yourself losing interest etc. Whatever works for you Catherine?

Good question - Okay so at home you can 'act' and be who you want to be as in you can dress how you want. Obviously, it depends who's living with you at home. If you have for example, your mum, dad and siblings then it is acceptable for us to wear what we want as long as we are covered. You don't have to wear a headscarf in front of men you can't marry so under this category is your immediate family i.e. your dad, your brother, your uncle, your son & granddad.

Public - We only go out if we have a purpose i.e. shopping (notice this is the first one :-), work, family chores, visiting the sick, education etc). We have to avoid talking to men unless it's very important for us to engage in that discussion.

So not eating pork and avoiding alcohol these rules apply for men as well. I can think of one general rule that applies to both men and women is to education ourselves. It is our responsibility to know what is prohibited and allowed in Islam. It is our responsibility to understand Islam.

In Islam we are not allowed to have boyfriends. We are encouraged to get marriage instead .

Lastly, I always recommend this website because it’s the best one I’ve come across. If you visit http://www.kalamullah.com/new-muslims.html you will be able to download e-books, read articles, listen to audio etc.

If you need me to clarify anything else, give me a shout. Here to help anytime and I hope you do embrace Islam with your heart, soul and mind. May Allah swa guide you to the path that pleases HIM alone.

I wish you spiritual success Catherine. Ameen.

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[catbrown]

Thank you for the great information, I will try to take it all in.

I certainly would love to start dressing more Islamic. Part of me is interested in the Niqab, but that is something that I couldn't wear without a huge amount of thought.

I wasn't aware that Muslim women only go out if they have a purpose.

Part of me would love to try embracing Islam, but I don't want to leave Christian, at least for the foreseeable future, and besides heaps of fear of embracing it, I wouldn't have a clue where to start.

Catherine

[naba]

Well ans to ur first q is no it is not offensive,I will not comment what is the app way for dressing of women,at anywhere you have to hv good behaviour as Allah in ch 2 v 83 of Quran says speak nicely to people, in ch 17 v 23-24 of Quran says worship Allah, there is nothing like him and when ur parents or one of them become old, be good to them, do not backfire at them, you should not utter even ooff and pray to lord to shower mercy on them as they have raised us in childhood.regarding boyfreind,it is not permissible to have bfgf relationship in islam.Allah in ch 17 v 32 forbids fornication n adultery.

[Insaanah]

Part of me would love to try embracing Islam, but I don't want to leave Christian, at least for the foreseeable future, and besides heaps of fear of embracing it, I wouldn't have a clue where to start.

Greetings Catherine, and welcome to the forum.

It's heartwarming to hear you're interested in Islam, and in particular how Muslim women should dress and behave. I wonder if that's because they mainly look modest, serene and at peace, or whether because it seems to be close to how the noble virgin Mary (peace be on her) is dressed in depictions (though we believe that idols/statues are wrong).

If we translate that to belief, Muslims also believe about God what Mary (peace be on her) believed and what Jesus (peace be on him) believed and taught.

Perhaps at the moment, Christianity is your comfort zone, and you don't want to venture out of it, and it feels easier to stick with what you know, might have been brought up with, and are familiar with. Or perhaps you feel you'd have to give up Jesus (peace be on him). If you ask the former Christians here who are now Muslims, they'll tell you that they feel closer to Jesus (peace be on him) now, and love him, honour him, follow him and believe in him more than when they were Christian. It may also be, because you wander what would happen about salvation, as at the moment, you may believe that he died for your sins and in accepting him gratefully as your saviour, you are saved (though this is not the Islamic belief, and I could explain what we do believe in another post).

As I said, I don't know how much you know, and don't want to bombard you, so, will just leave you for now with a few of the main beliefs surrounding the concept of God in Islam. Please let us know any questions you have, and don't hesitate at all to ask more or for clarification.

There is only One God. He alone should be worshipped. He is our Creator, Sustainer, and Lord.

He does not beget, nor is He begotten. He has no sons, daughters, spouses, siblings, parents, cousins, or relatives of any sort.

He is eternal and does not die. He does not depend on anyone/anything yet we all depend on Him. He is free of all want and need.

There is nothing like Him. He is all Hearing, all Seeing, all Knowing, all Powerful, Incomparable, the Creator of the Universe.

He did not/does not, become flesh, dwell in human or animal bodies, nor are there any incarnations of Him. He is not mixed up in His creation in any way.

He is not composed of persons, nor a trinity. There are no secondary, lesser, greater, equal, or multiple gods, nor any intermediaries. And no denying of God's existence either.

There are no sharers, associates, persons or parts whatsoever in His exclusive Divinity. Simply, He is One, in every sense.

Muslims love and respect Jesus (peace be upon him) and believe in him as he was; one of the noblest and purest of humanity to ever walk the earth, and one of the greatest messengers of God, sent to the Children of Israel. We do not reject him (as Jews do), nor do we deify him (as Christians do). Neither he, nor any other messenger, ever claimed divinity, or to be God's son. We believe he was born miraculously of the noble virgin Mary (peace be on her), and that he is the messiah. We do not however, believe that he died or was crucified. He'll return to earth near the end of time.

Peace.