UK Muslim Leader Urge Women to Take off the Hijab

**NooralHaya** · 07-26-2005

UK Muslim Leader Urge Women to Take off the Hijab
Source: Asharq Al-Awsat

By Ma'ad Fayad

London, Asharq Al-Awsat - Islamic leaders in London have called on British Muslim women to remove their veils so to blend in with the general public and avoid being targeted by extremists looking for vengeance.

In a conversation with Asharq Al Awsat, the community leaders blamed the imams of a number of mosques for the deviant beliefs of Muslim youths and the lack of a firm stand against extremism. They called for practical steps to be taken to prevent young Muslim men and women from falling into the trap of terrorism.

Dr. Zaki Badawi, the Dean of the Islamic College in London , said, “In a recent meeting with [Prime Minister] Tony Blair, he asked [representative of the Muslims community] to explain to our youths the dangers of terrorism. Government officials need to take the same step, independently, and meet young Muslims”, absent from meetings between Blair, the Home Secretary and Muslim leaders.

On the link between mosques and extremism, Badawi flatly denied the accusation that religious establishments are dens of extremists. “This is totally false”, he told Asharq Al Awsat. Badawi complained about many imams, “who do not speak to the people at all. Some don’t even speak English. Others never mention important issues such as the rise in extremist sentiment in their sermons. The gap that exists between the mosque and young people is being filled by fundamentalists.”

In the aftermath of the London bombings, the Dean of the Islamic College urged all Muslims, especially women, to be extra vigilant. He said women should remove their veils as a precaution, since his organization has “received a number of threats on a daily basis. British police, across the country, are being deployed to protect Muslim institutions and the public.” Accordingly, Badawi said, “I have advised women not to wear the veil because it might harm them. A Muslim woman should not wear her veil is she has sufficient reason to believe it may endanger her safety.” He noted that, according to Islam, “clothes are for protection and are not to harm the individual.”

As a reaction to the recent attacks, Badawi expected the Blair government to adopt a series of measures targeting the Muslim community in Britain . He said, “The government is likely to pass strict laws that will certainly affect Muslims living here.”

Jawad al Khoei, from the Imam al Khoei Foundation in London also expressed his sorrow at the terrorist incidents that have left London on edge the past fortnight. He said, “Whether we accept it or not, Muslims are blamed for the bombings. We need to rise to the challenges ahead and present the real face of Islam to the Western World, least of all the British government which has offered shelter for Muslims fleeing their countries.” He added community relations are being threatened by “the extremists who attend religious schools in Arab countries and elsewhere who return to Britain and present a negative image of Islam.”

Speaking on the meeting between the Prime Minister and Muslim leaders, al Khoei said, “We explained that the terrorists striking Britain and killing innocent lives are also murdering civilians in Iraq , with no regard to age, sex, ethnicity, or religion. These extremists are inhumane and no do not differentiate between one group or another.”

Accordingly, al Khoei added, “Terrorism should be fought wherever it comes into view and eliminated. We need to unify our ranks and fight extremists who continue to be supported by a number of governments, security agencies, and organizations. He appealed to Muslim scholars and Arab regimes not to use double standards given that, “If Muslims scholars and Arab governments condemned the violence in Iraq , terrorism would not have appealed to so many.”

Sheikh Abdel Karim Khalil, form al Manar Islamic Center reaffirmed “the clear position on any attack on innocent lives, whether in London or elsewhere.” He said his center “strongly rejects any actions that affect security across Britain .” Khalil also pointed out that “The Islamic standpoint is clear when it comes to attacking other people. If we to follow Islamic fiqh (jurisprudence), were are obliged not to damage the security of this country and its people.” More generally, he added, “Islam, by principle, rejects targeting innocent people and causing harm to their person, their property, or their honor.”

The former Head of the Islamic League of Britain, Kamal Helbawi, blamed British security forces for not monitoring the terrorists and exposing them before they acted. He expressed his confidence in the future of the Muslim community in Britain but feared “a worsening relationship between East and West and between Islam and the West.” This is why, he said, “Violence and terrorism ought to be addressed through specialized institutes.”

PERSONAL DISCLAIMER =) : A SISTER WITH TRUE IMAN AND TRUST IN ALLAH 'AZZA WA JAL WILL CONTINUE TO WEAR TE HIJAB, INSHA ALLAH

**jaleel** · 07-29-2005

Take Off Hijab to Avoid Harm: UK Muslim Scholar

Badawi said they have registered more than 15,00 assault against hijab-clad women in only three days.

By Ahmed Fathy, IOL Staff

CAIRO, July 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – A leading British Muslim scholar has said that Muslim women living in the European country, where Muslims have been suffering mounting abuse and harassment since the July 7 London attacks, can take off their hijab.

"I have issued a fatwa that Muslim women in Britain have an Islamic right to take off their hijab at this point of time if attacked or fearing to be attacked," Dr. Zaki Badawi, the Dean of the Muslim College in London, told IslamOnline.net over the phone from the British capital.

Badawi said they have registered more than 15,00 assault against hijab-clad women during the past three days only, in addition to a flood of threat letters.

He asserted that in Islam hijab is originally meant to identify Muslim women, so that they might not be attacked or harassed.

The scholar cited the Qur’anic verse which reads: "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful." (Al-Ahzab: 59)

"If hijab becomes a reason of harm for Muslim women in Britain at this time, then I tell them to take it off so that they would not be recognized and consequently attacked," said Egyptian-born Badawi.

"Muslims (in Britain) are scared and each feels he/she is a suspect. The picture is, indeed, gloomy and we are trying all we can to address it."

A Guardian/ICM poll published Tuesday, July 26, indicated that nearly half a million Muslims contemplated leaving Britain after the London attacks.

It showed that tens of thousands of Muslims have suffered from increased Islamophobia, with one in five saying they or a family member have faced abuse or hostility since the attacks.

Police have recorded more than 1,200 suspected Islamophobic incidents across the country ranging from verbal abuse to one murder in the past three weeks.

A British Muslim of Pakistani origin was beaten to death by a gang of extremists in Nottingham in northern Britain on Sunday, July 10.

At least seven mosques have come under arson and racist attacks few hours after the bombings.

Hijab Defender

Dr. Badawi, a prominent Islamic scholar, community activist, and promoter of interfaith-dialogue, stressed that his fatwa only applies to Muslim women in Britain.

"I staunchly opposed the March 2004 French law banning hijab in state-run schools," he said.

"However, the British case is different and hence requires a different reading."

France triggered a world controversy after adopting a bill banning hijab in public schools and institutions, which was branded by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) as "discriminatory".

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.

Badawi, born 1922, is currently the principal of the Muslim College in Britain, a postgraduate seminary responsible for the training of imams and Muslim leaders in the West which he founded in 1986.

He received his undergraduate degree in theology from the Cairo-based Al-Azhar University, and a master's degree in Arabic Language and Literature in 1947.

Badawi moved to the United Kingdom in 1951 and studied psychology at University College London, obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1954 and a doctorate in Modern Muslim Thought from London University.

His teaching posts have taken him to universities in Malaysia, Singapore, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

In 1978, Badawi was appointed director of the Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) and Chief Imam of the London Central Mosque in Regents Park.

During that period he participated in establishing the Shari`ah Council as a facility to reconcile conflicts between Islamic law and the British civil code.

Badawi was elected chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council by the National Conference of Imams and Mosque Officials of the UK in 1984. He still holds this position.

He participated in negotiations with the Bank of England to establish the first Islamic financial institution licensed in the United Kingdom, the Islamic Finance House (IFH), which he managed for three years.

Badawi has published and lectured on a wide range of issues, including various conflicts, Islam in Britain, democracy, the rights of the unborn child, and human rights.

He is a co-founder of the Three Faiths Forum, vice chairman of the World Congress of Faiths and director/trustee of the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism (FAIR).

http://www.islamonline.net/English/N...rticle05.shtml

**Niqaabi4Life** · 07-30-2005

Has anyone else issued a fatwa to this effect ??

**Niqaabi4Life** · 07-30-2005

Assalaamualaikom wa rahamatullahi wa barakatoh

Well, I had written a very lengthy reply and it got lost.

So I will just briefly state my points without explanation.

Usually, in America and Canada the word veil refers to both hijab and niqab. People on the street will not definiate from the two. The Imam was probably refering to a scarf. It is not uncommon for Imams to make excuses like this after a terrorist attack.

Niqabi does not prevent communcation. Blind people don't see and the communicate perfectly fine. What appears natural to one might be unatural to other. This is relative to the culture, society, and time. Also, Ayesha Umm al Momimeen would put a finger in her mouth as to make her voice less attractive. Try talking with a finger or two in your mouth. How is that for communication?

The Qur'an tells women to pull the khimars infront of them. The word khimar is a head scarf. The women of the time put their scarves on and put the ends behind them. Allah says pull it infront and cover your janub (breasts or "sex parts"). This can be seen as put infront to cover face and breasts or put it around your face and cover the breasts.

The Qur'an also says for women to put the Jelbab around them. Again, the ulemah have said jelbab to be an outergarment (not a skirt, shirt, or pants) that completly conceals the body. Alot of the ulemah say that it covers the face also. It depends on what dictionary we are looking at as to the exact meaning. However, for those who hold niqab to be fardh, the verse mandates niqab.

What we all know at the time of these verses revealed is that 1. women took their curtains 2. cut their aprons to cover their faces 3. flocked like crows 4. spoke behind curtains and 5. were generally kept out of the public eye. There are also narrations about sahabas walking ahead of their women and blowing out the street candles before the women came to the city. There also stories of caravans moving at night so the women arent seen.

Regardless if one thinks niqab is fardh/wajib or not, at the least it is mustahab and Sunnah. That should be suffiecent evidence for people to respect it and aspire to it.

Niqab doesnt hold a woman back from anything. Imagine, "this cloth sewn to string kept me from university and job!" It sounds stupid because it is stupid. What holds people back is their minds. If you let it hold you back, it will...just like anything else would. I know personal a niqabi docotor, public school bus driver, engineer, parol officer, real estate agent, and lawyer. I also wore niqab in a town of 30 thousand in Texas. There were about 15 muslim families at best. It was an all republican town. Democrats werent even on the ballets in local elections! And, alhamdulillah nothing ever happend to me. The reality is if Allah wills you to be hurt, murdered, or discrimmated against, you will be..and nothing will keep you from it not even removing a veil.

Society never saw any changes by its members standing back and confirming. Rather, the greatest changes take place when the select few stand firm and challenge what is the norm.

And Allah truly knows best.

**NooralHaya** · 07-30-2005

beautifully said mashaAllah =)

**Rabi'ya** · 07-30-2005

The point is one to learn

Listen only to Allah....He is the only authority over us...As long as we follow what He has commanded then we will be ok, inshaAllah.

KEEP THAT HIJAB ON!!!! Any suffering we go through on this earth Allah will reward us inshaAllah in the next

Wsalaam

Rabi'ya:rose:

**Muezzin** · 07-30-2005

Okay, he is clearly saying hijab now. I understand his reasoning, but I don't agree with his conclusion. I agree with those who wish to keep their hijab.

**S_87** · 07-30-2005

we should be more stircter and promote islam more not take off the hijab

hmph

**Ummu Amatullah** · 08-03-2005

:brother: root sure the clerk looks at her,but you only could have one look.First look is for you then the second look is for the devil.
Are their any :sister: that took off their hijaabs? :sister: Nooral Haya sensing you're :mad:. :sorry:!!!

**Nastain** · 08-05-2005

Assalamualaikum.
He who submit to Allah and face the frowned by people, Jannah is the reward.
He who submit to people in the Anger of ALLAH, his fate will be throwned in the hand of people.
Wear your Hijab and accept Allah's Grace!

**Navidkhan** · 08-05-2005

Dear Sister Niqab4life,

Assalamoalaikum wa Rehamtu(A)llahe wabarakatohoo,

I do not agree with Mr. Zaki Badawi, concerning his ruling on the wearing of the Hijab. Despite this, I believe that his ruling is in keeping with the Fiqh and Usul al Fiqh. It is one Scholars opinion and we can disagree with it, however, we should not villify him.

24: 32. And say to the believing women that they restrain their looks and guard their private parts, and that they display not their beauty or their embellishment except that which is apparent thereof, and that they draw their head-coverings over their bosoms, and that they display not their beauty or their embellishment save to their husbands, or to their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers or the sons of their brothers, or the sons of their sisters, or women who are their companions, or those that their right hands possess, or such of male attendants as have no desire for women, or young children who have not yet attained knowledge of the hidden parts of women. And that they strike not their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may become known. And turn ye to ALLAH all together, O believers, that you may prosper.
I was pleased to read your posting about the wearing of the Hijab. I agree that there is an absolute directive given In Sura Ahzab verse 31, that Women should dress modestly and that they should cover their heads and bossoms, in a way that does not show off their Beauty, for the non-Mehram men to ogle at. There is however some difference of opinion amongst the Ulema regarding the covering of the face.
Draawing of the head-coverings “over their bossoms”, does not necessarily have to result in covering of the face. If the “shawl” of “Chadar” type hijab is drawn across the bossom from the side, it does not necessarily have to cover the face.

Some Scholars, are however of the opinion that the face should be covered. My own late Mother (may Allah bless her and grant her a lofty station in paradise) used to wear the full Pakistani style Burqa (not the shuttle-cock of the in the Afghan Fashion, but one with a separate Niqab. She used to draw the niqab over her forehead and used to cover her mouth and chin with another part of the niqab. Only leaving her eyes uncovered. Alhamdoli(A)llah my Wife and daughters are all Hajibas but they do not cover their faces. My daughters have followed the example of my wife. (may Allah grant her ample reward).

The true Haya or modesty does not come from wearing a hijab or Burqa. In the Holy Quran both believing men and believing women are instructed to safeguard their piety. This applies as much to the Men as it does for the women.

24: 31. Say to the believing men that they restrain their looks and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Surely, ALLAH is Well Aware of what they do.

It is important that both men and women should follow the instructions of the Holy quran. We Muslim men usually apply the Shariah strictly to the women and get away with lots of things ourselves. This paradox and double standards in Muslim society has to be rooted out.

Wassalam

Navidul Haq Khan

**F.Y.** · 08-13-2005

Salaams sisters and brothers
Although i might understand that The Good Doctor is asking us to do this to prevent possible attacks against us, I won't do it. I won't, i tell you! Even in Oz, people lookin at me weird sometimes - but I WILL wear it!!
Peace to all.