Allah honoured the descendants of Adam (as) by endowing them with reason, which should be able to lead man to faith in Allah: “Verily we have honoured the Children of Adam. We carry them on the land and the sea, and have made provision of good things for them, and have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.” (Bani Isra’il, 17: 71)
This faith, this conviction, requires that we recognize Allah and accept His Laws. Obeying Allah and His Laws is the culmination of self-knowledge, as the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever among you knows himself best, knows his Lord best!” He who is convinced that Allah is indeed the Creator and the Lord of the universe not only comes to have admiration for the laws of Allah, but also to want to respect them, because he knows that these laws are what is best for each individual and for society.
Many of these laws relate to social relations without which there would be no human civilization. They govern the relationship of the individual with himself, with his fellows, and with the universe in general.
General laws are useful; but, in everyday life, the rules of convenience and good manners, which relate to details, are just as necessary. One of the qualities of Islam is to contain both general laws and precise rules of life.
Instincts exist in humans as in animals, it is true. But, unlike the animal whose destiny is to obey its instincts, the human being, who has been endowed with reason and a sense of responsibility, must be able to control his instincts. It is not a question of “suffocating” them, but only of making them speak wisely. Indeed, Man was not created solely to survive and reproduce. Allah has assigned him and the Jinn a higher purpose: “I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.” (Az-Zariyat 51: 57)
As a general rule, the laws of Allah are in favour of
the satisfaction of instinct, except when this satisfaction goes against this
supreme purpose of the existence of human beings. As a responsible and
reasonable being who must assume an ideal that goes beyond the immediate
satisfaction of his instincts, the human being must know how to make sacrifices
when it is to serve a higher purpose.
Modesty, for example, is a feeling that arises from
the step back that the individual takes from his instincts. Modesty, like
reason and a sense of responsibility, is inherent in man. And since Islam is
the religion that exalts all the qualities of man, modesty is its flagship. The
Prophet of Allah (pbuh) expressed it thus: “Whenever vulgarity mixes with
something, it disfigures it; but each time modesty gets involved, it only
embellishes it!”
Clothing appearance is one of the signs of modesty.
Clothing allows you to hide the parts of the body most linked to instincts
(instincts that you feel or trigger). It is quite obvious that the two sexes
are, in this respect, different. The female body is significantly richer in
secondary sexual characteristics: different parts of the female body are
related to instincts. This is why Allah has willed, in His wisdom, that the
woman dresses most of her body.
All divine messages and laws prior to Islam contained,
and still contain to some extent, this rule. Traces of this remain, in the fact
that they consider modesty of dress as a sign of piety and good morality.
Islam does not regard women with fear! It is not out
of fear of women or out of misogyny that Islam calls them to cover themselves:
Islam is rather afraid for women, of the vulgar and vicious who would not
hesitate to annoy them. Islam wants to prevent women from being considered
objects, because it is degrading for them. Allah The Most High says in the
Quran: “O Prophet! Tell thy wives and
daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments
over their persons (when going outside): that is most convenient, that they
should be known (as such) and not molested.” (Al-Ahzab, 33: 60)
People love personalized clothing, but they also love
their clothing to advertise which group, which community they belong to, or
what their passion in life is. For those who are Muslim and proud of it, what
could be more normal than to wear clothes that attest to it?
Islam offers a certain conception of the human being
in its rules relating to clothing. Allah offers a unique balance between the
two components of the human being, the spiritual aspect and the animal aspect.
Man is neither all good nor all bad by nature: he becomes good or bad according
to the responsible choice he has made to direct his life. In this, the nature
of the human being has not changed through the centuries!
Basically, human beings are always as Allah created
them. Bodies do not change form from one era to another, and the Islamic way of
conceiving life does not change from one era to another: so why should there be
a fashion among Muslim women? From one year to another, Muslim women do not
change like weathervanes!
The laws of Allah are eternal laws, as is Eternal He
from whom they emanate. These Laws cannot be modified or abrogated by human
beings, according to their moods or any other conception they have of life.
Indeed, fundamentally, life, the notions of Good and Evil do not change. Islam
retains its essential conceptions beyond the occasional small changes that
differentiate each era. The human being evolves within the framework of his own
nature, which he can allow to flourish more or less, but he does not change his
nature by evolving, as Allah says: “This is the
natural disposition God instilled in mankind- there is no altering God’s
creation.” (Ar-Rum, 30: 31)
Allah has established equality between men and women:
they are of the same species and have the same nature. Humanity needs one as
much as the other! Here are four testimonies from the Holy Quran: “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who
created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them both
has spread a multitude of men and women, far and wide.” (An-Nisa, 4:
2)
“He it is Who did create you from a single soul,
and therefrom did make his mate that he might take rest in her...” (Ar-Araf, 7: 190)
“And Allah has given you wives of your
own kind, and has given you, from your wives, children and grandchildren, and
has made provision of good things for you...” (An-Nahl, 16: 73)
“O mankind! We created you from a single
(pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you
may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is
(he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well
acquainted (with all things).”
(Al-Hujurat, 49: 14)
Hazrat Aisha (ra), the wife of the Prophet (pbuh),
reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Women are the twin
sisters of men!”
Do not trust the vision of many Western writers and
painters, showing the Muslim woman as a being isolated from social life,
recluse inside a harem, considered as an object of pleasure that one [a Muslim]
hides from the gaze of the stranger! In the construction of human civilization,
women hold a leading role because, in addition to their personal activities,
they are the ones who form future generations. From the moral integrity of
women comes the moral integrity of children. This is why the Prophet of Allah
(pbuh) recommended to Muslim men to choose pious women, rather than those whose
asset is their beauty, their wealth or a known family.
At each moment, in each act, in each decision, the
divine message tends to awaken in believers and believers a more acute
awareness of the nobility of the human soul which, without the divine light
which illuminates it, cannot realize his humanism, on which depends the
happiness of the human being in this temporal world and in the hereafter.
“If you are thankless, yet Allah is
Independent of you, though He is not pleased with thanklessness from His
bondmen; and if you are thankful He is pleased therewith for you. No laden soul
will bear another's load. Then unto your Lord is your return; and He will tell
you what you used to do. Surely, He knows what is in the breasts (of men).” (Az-Zumar, 39: 8)
Islam is made up of two aspects: a hidden aspect which
is conviction, sincerity, love in a belief that Allah is Unique and that Muhammad
(pbuh) is His Messenger, and a visible aspect which reflects our attachment to
these values such
as acts of worship: Salat, Fasting, Hajj; as well as the observance of the
ordinances and prohibitions set forth in the Qur’an and in the Sunnah. We
cannot separate the hidden aspect from the visible aspect because they form a
whole.
Insha-Allah, I have to stop right here for today. Insha-Allah, I will continue the other part of my Sermon next Friday.
May Allah grant each
of you the ability to understand this sermon so that the true value of Islam
and humans will be recognized, not only by the rest of humanity, but above all
by every Muslim who claims to believe in Islam. Saying and doing are two
different things. Being a Muslim means that you should show yourselves as true
Muslims and reflect the true values of Islam in you. At no time should you become Muslims
or followers of the Khalifatullah of this century only on the lips. Allah has
given you in this century the ability to reflect the true Islam in you. So, you
have to fight this fight within yourselves to make Islam truly shine within you
and spread the message of Islam to every corner of the world by being true
Muslim brothers and sisters among yourselves with collaboration to bring back
the glory and the victory of Islam, Insha-Allah. Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of