An Important Message on the Islamic Pardah
Today, I am sharing
with you a divine revelation that I received on Friday, 21 May 2004, in the
beginnings of the Divine Manifestation, and the creation of the Jamaat
Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen. Today, the same message is valid for the gents and
ladies of the Divine Manifestation with the advent of this humble Servant of
Allah as the Khalifatullah and the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam.
I will put in front of you the parts that concern you today and which are very important that you pay very particular attention to and that you also follow this divine advice so that you may gain the benefits of these instructions too, and you come closer to Allah through you obedience to Allah and His Muhyiuddin Al-Khalifatullah of this century. Insha-Allah.
The message is as follows:
O Muhyiuddin! It is I
(Allah) Who gives you the Messages in the light of the duahs you have
made regarding Pardah in the Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen. Islam has
condemned any society that wants to encourage exhibitionism. Women have always
been the object of exploitation. It is Islam, with the advent of Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) that came and brought help to the ladies first. Men have always
taken themselves to be more superior to women, when they ignore this truth,
that women are also My creatures and there are certain of My Attributes which
are manifested more in them than men. All the time the men show some arrogance
on their part, where they show that their words are more valid than those of a
woman.
With the advent of My
chosen servant Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) I have given women the dignity, status,
and value that they deserve. Throughout the world today, Muslim men emphasize Pardah
on their wives, but they do not observe Pardah themselves, and they will
deal with women in their jobs who do not observe Pardah and this does
not bother them. There are some Muslims who take an opposite but extremist
attitude. They do not allow their wives to go out of the house or to travel. O
Muhyiuddin! These extremes are not right.
O Muhyiuddin! Nowadays,
people raise objections against Pardah. But it is an empty criticism
that they make, because the Islamic Pardah does not mean a woman must be
imprisoned. It’s more of a protective shield between a man and a woman when
they talk [are together]. With Pardah, the women and men too will stay
away from sin.
Read in the Holy Quran,
Surah Al-Ahzab, Ruku 8: “O Prophet, tell your
wives and your daughters femmes, and the women of the believers that they
should draw over themselves [their bodies] their (loose) outer coverings. In this way it is more likely that they will be recognized (as
Muslims) and not be harassed. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (33: 60)
In the time of the Holy
Prophet (pbuh), the Burqa did not exist. At that time, what existed was
a veil that was used to cover the head. Later a model of Pardah was
made, which represents a bit of what there is today; it appeared in Kufa. When
he found this new model, a companion of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) cried out and said:
I swore by Allah that this kind of clothing was not used in the time of the
Holy Prophet (pbuh). In the time of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), they used a large
cloth to cover their face and their eyes remained uncovered.
Islamic Law requires
that the eyes are not to be covered and if such a law is introduced, it is a cruel
law. Similarly, there is nothing wrong with accompanying a lady on a walk
provided she observes the Pardah.
O Muhyiuddin! I make
you understand all this well, so that you convey this message to the members of
Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen. If there is a wise [pious] lady who is pregnant
and she has not managed to get a lady doctor, this lady must seek help with
[seek the services of] a male doctor, and if she refuses, she puts her life in
danger, so she commits a sin, and if death overcomes her, it is tantamount to
suicide. Normally her life comes first, instead of wearing a veil. Same as I
forbid eating pork, but in a forced case, where there is nothing else [to eat]
to save your life, you can eat [of it], only to save your life.
Islamic Law, the Shariah
has made provision for any situation. It is a great blessing that Allah has
given all the appropriate injunctions in all circumstances. So nobody should
abandon the Pardah; when doing so [i.e. abandoning the Pardah],
that person [the man or woman] does not show any respect for the Holy Quran.
This is why from the very beginning, even before the DAWA and also Study-Circle,
I gave the order that all the women and girls of the Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al
Mouslemeen must cover themselves well and be in Pardah. That is because
I know very well that which will happen in the future; you do not know what
will happen if I do not inform you.
O Muhyiuddin! Tell them
that it is Me [Allah] Who reveals these words, that a woman who observes the Pardah
has all the rights to participate in all the works beside the men. She can take
part in conferences and deliver a speech, if a man cannot do it and she can
even do it among the men. They can join in discussion groups (same as I put
them together for the Dawa) alongside the men. They have all rights to give
their opinion and also participate in the debates. Very often, you have to take
advice from these ladies, because very often they have the right suggestions
and advice; so do not ignore then, nor show that only your words are valuable
and you reject what they say. A woman who observes Pardah can be seated
next to a man if it necessary. Allah looks at your hearts and intentions. Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) in a message that he did [informed that] he found a girl on
foot, and he took her on his camel at the back. (Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal).
Perhaps there are some
among them, when they will hear all this [i.e. this message] will find it strange
and will be surprised, because such a person [this type of person] lives in a
circle of ignorance and with a closed mind. That is why I told you: ‘You are
the New Orbit’ and ‘Arise and Create a new world’.
What is forbidden is
that a woman does not observe Pardah; a woman should cover herself well,
cover her head and body as well.
O Muhyiuddin! Make the
members understand this well. If you do not do your work as I ordered you to
do, you will be responsible for all of this before Me, because I have chosen
you to give this message; as for these people, they don’t know! They are not to
blame, but if after listening to My message they persist, they are stubborn.
Tell them then [at that moment – when they persist], you are not responsible
for this [i.e. their rejection of the message].
O Muhyiuddin! Pardah
must not become an obstacle in my work of DAWA. Let the Djawharat’ul Kamal do
their job; do not block their work, you will be responsible for all of this. This
is a Warning I give you and you must give them a big helping hand and not
trample their advice under your feet. Those Djawaharat’ul Kamal are working
with great zeal and enthusiasm, more than the men. Let them do their works,
unless they’re doing things outside of the Shariah, then stop them.
I will let you know how
the Muslim ladies in the time of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) worked. On April 1,
1928, the Lajnas published this in the Misbah, Qadian page 15-16, where Hazrat
Ayesha (ra) reported that Muslim women were serving water during an expedition
and there were times when the legs of these women were visible, were exposed.
In this case, there was no principle of the Holy Quran that was violated,
because this work was important - to be accomplished - and they did it under
the conditions of the prevailing situation.
Similarly, a woman who
works in the fields, then it is obligatory for her to uncover her face. In this
circumstance, it is the obligation of her work that makes her do this because
it becomes necessary for the woman to uncover her face.
So here in a Dawa work,
Study-Circle, a conference, women cover themselves well and they cover their
body well and if they observe the Pardah, there is no need to look at
them with an opposed eye [mindset], or comment anything against them. But the
ladies also must observe well their Pardah and where there are foreign
men, do not let them mingle together.
Today, the wives of
these people do not go to the Masjid to listen to My words and the words of My
Rasul [Messenger], because for them it is not necessary for a woman to attend
the Masjid, but in other places, men and women can [according to them] be
together. The other places, men and women are together. Just imagine that a
woman, from birth until her old age, and death does not put her feet in a
Masjid, she does not participate in a work of Deen, then what education
shall she give her children? She fasts for a month, but on the day of Eid she
stays in her house; alive, she does not go through the door of the mosque to
enter it; it is at her death that she enters the mosque. The so-called scholars
do not see the need for women to attend the Masjid and participate in the works
of Deen because of the Pardah; and they do not know that if they
had not done so, then they would have led generations and generations on the
right path, and they would have known their Deen, and could have taught
it to their children also. The so-called scholars deprive their wives and
daughters of going to the mosque but they do not reflect on My fifth pillar
[the pillar of Islam], i.e., Hajj, where gents and ladies perform Hajj
together. Tomorrow, Insha-Allah the Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen will
enter Mecca, so won’t you be doing Hajj just because men and women are
performing Hajj together?
O Muhyiuddin! You may
hesitate to tell them all this, but Allah does not hesitate to tell the truth. Everyone
who works, let them work, do not hinder their work, as long as everything goes
well according to Quran and Hadith.
O Muhyiuddin! I tell
you, that observing the Pardah does not mean that [it refers to] the Burqa
when in the Holy Quran it does not say that you need to put on a Burqa,
but says to observe the Pardah, not to exposing your beauty in front of
strangers, only your near kin. [But] Yes, the Burqa is the best [form]
of Pardah and it brings a nobility of character.
“Innamal
a’amalo binniyati” - It’s
your intention that counts. Allah observes with what intention you do this
work. If your intention is only to please Allah, then Allah will purify your
intention and He will illuminate it with His light.
Allah has given a woman
such beauty that her beauty is in her hair and if she cuts her hair, is she not
disobeying Allah? Do you know that when she dies, that hair will serve as a Pardah
on her?
Tell them, I, Allah,
only look at a person’s heart and with what intention he does his work; it may
be that a woman dresses in a Burqa and if her heart is not clean and her
intention is not good, then before Me [i.e. in My sight] this type of Pardah
is dirty, just as her heart is dirty.
In Quran, I said Pardah
is not only for women, but Pardah is also for men. If you [i.e., the
men] like your wives, your daughters to observe the Pardah, then you
must also observe Pardah. Even in your homes, don’t walk with your
shorts [only] in front of your daughter, or without any shirt on you. You take
this an ordinary affair; and when you in groups [remember that] there are the
women, and a man or a youth [generally speaking] comes walking in his
shorts and without shirt; [Remember that] you also need to respect others.
You are constantly
being reminded and understood, in the various speeches that you need to cover
your body in a proper way to perform your Namaz (prayer)…
“Bear in mind!
O Muhyiuddin!
You are the New Orbit; you are the Adam of this Era, and Arise and Create a New
World”.
Do not look behind you
at that other world (i.e., that other Jamaat). It is when its system, its way
of doing things, its administration etc. have deteriorated that I raised you as
the Muhyiuddin of this era and raised another Jamaat. All the decayed things [here,
this is a parable, referring to those who turn their backs to the divine
message and messenger] should not be brought [come back] here. If you don’t
understand, invoke Me in prayer [duah], I will teach you what you must
do.
“Say, 'Obey Allah and
obey the Messenger. But if you turn away, then he is only responsible for his duty
and you are responsible for yours. And if you obey him, you will be rightly
guided. The Messenger’s duty is only to deliver the message clearly.’” (An-Noor 24: 55)
***
So, it is the duty of
Muslim men and women to observe and respect Pardah. It should not be
expected it is the women alone who should observe the Pardah. Men too
must respect and observe Pardah just as Allah says in the Holy Quran:
“Tell the
believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for
them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and
be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and
to draw their veils over their bosoms...” (An-Nur 24: 31-32)
Today, as you also
know, since this new century, a terrible hatred for Islam has been born and
grown in the hearts of non-Muslims towards Islam, and one of the subjects that they
find very repulsive is the Burqa and even the Hijab of the Muslim
woman. A Muslim woman nowadays is not able to walk freely with her preferred Pardah,
whether it is about wearing her Khimar, Hijab or Burqa.
The countries have already started campaigns and brought forward the laws to
ban the wearing of the Hijab and the covering the face, even partially. They
have forgotten the terror that Allah has made them go through with the passage
of Covid-19 and its variants. They trust in the vaccine, but before that, they
too, i.e. those who criticized the Hijab and the Burqa, were also
forced, like the ladies, to put on a mask to cover their face so that they don’t
catch these viruses.
Therefore, in the
wearing of the veil, there is a divine wisdom that goes beyond spirituality,
and concerns the bodily [physical] health also of the one who is observing the
veil. It protects her from disease, as well as the gaze of society on her. But
what is happening today? The more a woman observes the divine command, the more
people trample her dignity and honour and establish laws to prevent her from
putting on her veil and preserve her chastity. The wolves of society, whether
in India, China, Burma, France, Switzerland and other European countries etc.
want to thwart the divine injunctions, the commandments of Islam, but they
don't know what is waiting for them more ahead. What is coming soon will be
even worse. I told you before, that it is not only the mask that people would
be wearing (at that point in time), but Allah will reduce them in such a
condition that they will be compelled to cover their entire body.
So this is a divine
warning that Allah has given and is giving to all men and women, whether
Muslims or non-Muslims, that they must not thwart the divine laws. Do not cross
the limits on earth, and do what Allah has told you to do. It is true that
Allah did not specify the Burqa as Pardah, and now that
non-Muslims are raising their voices against the wearing of the veil, then you,
the Muslims, my brothers and sisters, as well as my disciples, you must
maintain the Pardah by remaining decent. Even if it happens that your
country bans face covering for Muslim women, then this should not distress you,
but you should place your trust in Allah, because as the divine message has
said, everything is based on intention; with what intention you do something.
If you do something ostentatiously, then Allah does not need your falsity, but
He wants you to be clearly enlightened in your Deen.
It is for this reason
that if the society of humans in this world in general were also observing the Pardah,
that is to say, dressing themselves decently and lowering their gaze and
preserving their Haya (shame), then this society would not have been
driven to decadence, but nevertheless with time, it has gone to its lost
[decadence], and it is the innocents, those who really want to observe the Pardah
who are paying the price. But I say to those who do wrong, wait and I too
am waiting along with you. The appointed Hour by Allah will come, and you
cannot prevent it from coming.
May Allah manifest His clear and great victory in this matter [of the Pardah and its miscomprehension by the others], and may He [Allah] enable Islam to recover its honour and grandeur in both the eyes of the Muslims as well as the rest of the non-Muslim world. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 14 October 2022 ~17 Rabi’ul Awwal 1444 AH delivered by Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.