secrets of a Muslim woman unveil the
mystery when people see a Muslim woman
in the local High Street covered from
head to toe exposing nothing but her
eyes or her face and hands all sorts of
thoughts can enter into their
minds why would anyone dress like that
it can't be her choice surely some man
is definitely forcing her to wear
that feelings can range from from
Curiosity and pity to sometimes complete
horror at what looks like a religion
that oppresses women and maybe you too
have felt some of those things in the
past what doesn't really seem to add up
is that even though Islam seems to be
the least appealing way of life for
women more and more intelligent educated
Independent Women in the west are
actually choosing to live as Muslims now
why would they want to do that
everyone seems to have an opinion on
women in Islam the French president has
his opinion Jack straw had his opinion
and probably even your local cabie has
something to say everyone's asking
everyone else except the women
themselves well this is a chance for you
to hear from me a Muslim woman in my own
words why I choose
Islam my name is Fatima and I'm the
mother of three young boys
I'm a journalist and I'm a Londoner I
drive a Honda Jazz and I do the school
run and Shop in tesos and do all the
things that a busy mom would do and I'd
like to share with you what it is to be
a Muslim
woman the phrase women in Islam conjures
up certain images in people's minds some
may think of Islamic practices such as
wearing the hijab or the bka and how
oppressive hiding away your whole body
must feel Others May think of stories
they've heard of in the papers forced
marriages honor killings things that
Islam actually totally condemns but some
crazy Muslims are guilty of doing and to
be honest if you thought of any of those
sorts of things I would completely
understand because most of the time when
Islam is mentioned in the popular media
it's mentioned along with those sorts of
things with little explanation from a
Muslim perspective and on top of that
there are some Muslims out there who are
doing terrible things that are either
Twisted interpretations or cultural
practices that have nothing to do with
the religion of Islam in fact they're
things that Islam
forbids wouldn't it be unfair to judge
all Muslims and to judge Islam by the
actions of just a few people if we want
to look at any religion in a fair
rational way using our Common Sense we
should surely take a look at what the
teachings of that religion are and not
judge it by by what we've heard in the
media or by looking at what we've seen
just some of its followers do it would
be totally unfair of anyone to judge say
Christianity by the actions of the IRA
or what happened in the Spanish
Inquisition or what Adolf Hitler did or
anyone else who claims directly or
indirectly to be a Christian if we want
to know about Christianity we should go
to its sources it's founding fathers and
see what they said likewise it would be
unfair to judge Islam by the actions of
some Muslims who are not being true to
its teachings if we want to look at
Islam in a fair way we have to look at
what the teachings of Islam are from its
sources to understand why I do the
things I do as a Muslim woman we've
really got to look at what the essential
teachings of Islam are and I'd like to
share that worldview with you in the
hope that we might understand each other
better because the reason why I live as
a Muslim is very much to do with my
whole world view the fact that I believe
in an all wise Creator who sent guidance
for us to follow and Messengers to teach
us that guidance is inextricably linked
to Everything I Do even the way I
dress now this is going to take a bit of
explaining so I hope you'll bear with
me so what are the basic beliefs and
teachings that form my world
view I'm inviting you on a journey I
hope you'll accompany me it's the
journey that I
took have you ever laid in bed at night
and gazed up at the stars and wondered
where this vast Universe came
from that's where the journey began for
me and you know when I thought about the
huge planets the distant Stars the
millions of species of animals insects
birds and plants that there are on this
Earth The Blossom on the trees the
colorful flowers and sweet luscious
fruits the blue sky and the gentle
spring
Breeze and by thinking about all those
things and reflecting on them I could
see the evidence and the signs the signs
for what the signs I mean are the signs
that show us that there is a Creator a
maker and a
sustainer these things couldn't just
have come from
nothing in my Human Experience I've
never found something coming from
nothing
my Human Experience tells me that when I
see something working according to
precise laws and patterns then someone
or something has definitely made it work
that way and put the order
there that's why if an archaeologist
finds even the simplest piece of pottery
in the desert he can examine that piece
of pottery and tell us about the
civilization that made it he can tell us
that in order for people to have been
able to make that piece of pottery they
needed to have Clay and in order to set
the pottery they needed to bake the clay
and he might say that in order to be
able to shape the clay and bake the clay
they must have had such and such
technology and come from such and such
time
period and he could say that there is no
clay found in this area the clay is 50
Mi away so they must have transported it
and in order to transport the clay they
must have had these means of
transportation and such and such tools
he could tell us this from just looking
at that simple piece of pottery and then
the archaeologist could read the writing
on the pottery and tell us even more
about the civilization that made
it so for the archaeologist the
existence of this simple piece of
pottery is conclusive proof of the
existence of the people who made it he
doesn't need to have met them
or seen them or their towns or their
ovens to know that they
existed because the piece of pottery
itself which is the evidence he has
proves to him their existence and their
level of advancement and if what those
people created is not only sophisticated
or functional but is beautiful and
intricate and looks good then we have an
even higher level of appreciation for
that Society because it shows that not
only do they have technological
abilities but they have the
sophistication to appreciate
Beauty all these things would prove to
us that the people who made the object
or the technology existed and were
intelligent why because we don't find
something coming from nothing if someone
told me that this drinking glass that
I'm holding in my hand came from nothing
I would never believe them if they
claimed that a volcano erupted and
thousands of particles flew through the
air and landed and hit some other
materials and caused reactions and then
the rain fell and the particles cooled
and that caused this perfectly formed
glass to appear I'd say are you out of
your mind has anyone seen a glass
perfectly formed through a process of
coincidences no of course they haven't
we don't find order spontaneously coming
from chaos and
disorder the Quran the book that is the
source of Islam's teachings encourages
us to look at the universe to reflect
upon ourselves and we will find clear
signs it tells us to look at the order
in the world around us the vast Universe
with its billions of stars and galaxies
and closer to home at the impressive
human
body look at the order that exists in
every system of the human body
everything ticking along nicely like a
precise mechanism our lungs help us to
take over 10,000 breaths a day and our
kidneys have their essential purifying
functions and our hearts have been
beating nonstop since we were in our
mother's wombs and still beat a 100,000
times a day pumping oxygen and nutrients
around our bodies nonstop and we don't
even have to think about
it our eyes are more advanced than the
most advanced camera our brain more
competent than the latest
computer all this sophistication and
ordering that we see in every part of
the universe demonstrated to me the
wisdom and knowledge and power of the
one who ordered
it now I hope I'm not sounding too
preachy I'm just trying to share with
you the thought processes I went through
that shaped the way I live my life when
I think about how the universe began and
how it's expanding every moment and I
think about our Blue Planet floating in
orbit around a sun which is just one
star out of 200 billion stars in our
galaxy alone and our Milky Way galaxy is
just one of billions and billions of
other galaxies in the universe thinking
about these things and thinking about
how our Earth is just the right distance
from the Sun for life to exist on it
if it was any closer we would burn up
and if it was any farther we would all
freeze to death and life would cease to
exist thinking about how the Earth is
just the right distance from the Sun for
life to be able to exist on it I just
can't accept that it's just a
coincidence I find it amazing how the
Earth is spinning on its axis at exactly
the right rate 24 hours for one
rotation I wonder what would happen if
the Earth suddenly slowed down so that
one day and night took one year or 30
years or 50
years the sun would continuously be
beating down on one part of the earth
and would dry out the plants and the
surface of the Earth would
overheat and on the other side of the
earth it would be dark and cold for so
long that plants couldn't
photosynthesize and grow life would
cease to
exist yet we see that because the Earth
is a finely tuned mechanism it is
teaming with life and every year new
species of Life are
discovered when I think about that and
the perfect composition of the gases in
the atmosphere oxygen nitrogen and
carbon dioxide and other Trace gases all
these are needed in just the right
proportion for life to be able to exist
on
Earth and when I think about the ozone
layer the Earth is the only planet that
has one that protects it sufficiently
from the Sun and stops us being harmed
by
it so when I ask myself did these things
just happen accidentally is it all mere
chance I just can't accept
that the more I think about it the more
it becomes clear that the Earth is a
perfectly and precisely balanced
mechanism more sophisticated and
intricate than the most sophisticated
mechanical
watches even the most basic building
block of Life the cell is incredibly
complex just one cell of the human body
is like a mega City containing complex
processes and systems allowing waste
products out and beneficial nutrients in
each cell contains factories that
produce substances and break down
chemicals they contain the Machinery to
be able to reproduce
themselves each cell has special tasks
and characteristics the nerve cells are
different to their skin cells and the
blood cells are not the same as the
brain cells so the simplest building
block of life is so
complex is it all just chance no
chance you know I can't can't see
anything in our entire Human Experience
to allow me to believe that these things
could be the product of random events as
some people
claim asking me to believe that is not
reasonable or rational in actual fact
it's rational and reasonable to me to
believe that there is an intelligence
there is a force there is a power behind
all of
this the universe around us couldn't
have created itself because a collection
of stars galaxies atoms and cells don't
have the ability to create and
design and we know that we certainly
didn't create it because we ourselves
are in need of a
Creator the Quran was the book that was
telling me to use my intellect and it
contained reasonable rational arguments
for the existence of a Creator it told
me that it's not just about Blind Faith
it has to make sense
there has to be proof and the proof is
all around
us just taking a fair and honest look at
the universe around me made me
realize that it didn't create itself and
it didn't come from nothing so there
must be one who brought it into
existence so if it makes sense that
there is a Creator what about the nature
of the Creator what is the creator
like the creator of the universe cannot
be of the same nature as this universe
because if the Creator was of the same
nature as the universe then the Creator
would also need a Creator and that
Creator would need a Creator and it
would go on forever and ever and so
nothing would be
created so the Creator is not like the
creation and since the universe is
temporary the Creator is eternal since
the universe is in need of someone to
create it and make the laws that make it
work the Creator is self-sufficient he
needs no one and the fact that the
Universe Works in harmony without
conflict points to the unity of the
Creator because if there was more than
one Creator the laws would conflict with
each other and there wouldn't be the
harmony we
see this is what the Quran teaches us
about God and I'd like to share with you
some of the quran's teachings about God
because I found it very refreshing
the Quran teaches us that he is one God
he is eternal not limited by time
because he created time he's
self-sufficient he doesn't need anyone
and he brought this universe into
existence and maintains it
continuously God is not part of the
universe nor does God become something
that is a part of this universe because
that would mean he would take on the
characteristics of
creation he's not like human beings he's
not not just some father in the sky he's
neither male nor
female I'm referring to him as he
because it's the most appropriate word
in the language and because God refers
to himself as he in the
Quran in fact the word that we use in
Arabic for God Allah is a very unique
word it can't have different genders
like the word God can gods and
goddesses and it has no plurals like the
word God can have and the word Allah is
not a new word at all it means the one
who deserves to be
woried the Quran talks about the nature
of God and says that God does not take
the form of human beings and it speaks
to those who believe that Jesus is God
in reasonable and rational terms it
informs us that Jesus was a great
messenger of God who never told people
to worship himself or his mother
it asks us that if God wanted to destroy
Jesus and Mary and all that is in the
heavens and the Earth who could stop him
it reminds us that they ate food and
walked on the streets like other human
beings not characteristics of God if you
ever read the Quran you'll find that it
moves us away from worshiping
creation it tells us don't worship the
sun and stars and other human beings and
Idols it tells us they cannot benefit
nor harm us the things that people
worship and call upon can't even help
themselves so why do human beings
worship other human beings why do we
allow other human beings to tell us how
to
live the Quran tells me that the one who
made me is the only one who is worthy of
My
Worship I can call on him directly
I don't need any
intermediaries and that in reality was
the message of all the prophets the men
sent as Messengers by God prophets like
Noah and Moses and Jesus and Muhammad
peace be upon them
all sometimes the messages of the past
prophets were changed by people but they
were all from the same God they all came
with the same essential message with
just some of the Lord they came with
being
different they told us to worship the
Creator and that means to obey him and
to live our lives as he tells us to
because he knows Us
best I didn't find anything unreasonable
or irrational in the teachings I've just
mentioned to you when we look at the
creation around us everything seems to
have a place and purpose and be working
in Harmony and at peace with the natural
world except for human beings that is
even the things we do every day we do
for a reason and a purpose and if I
asked anyone why do you go to work
they'd say something like I do it to use
my talents for something worthwhile or
to earn some money and if I asked what's
the purpose of this pen you might say to
write words with and we could ask about
anything and people would be able to
tell us what the purpose of those things
was so what about us what about human
beings what's the purpose of Our
Lives a creator that created such a vast
and remarkable universe and created
within us the faculties to question and
ask why am I here surely he would answer
the question and tell us what our
purpose
is and yet if you ask most people why
are you here what's the purpose of your
existence they wouldn't be able to tell
us the one who made us knows us and
would surely tell us why we're
here if I bought a new laptop computer a
Sony VIO let's say and there were
features in it that I wanted to know how
to use and I wanted some help
troubleshooting what would I look for in
the Box the
instructions now if I picked up the
instruction book and it said Dell on it
I'd say I don't want instructions from
Dell
I want instructions from the
manufacturers and makers of the Sony
VIO and yet for our lives we allow other
people to write the instructions to tell
us how to live to tell us how to dress
to tell us what's right and wrong we
allow the government to tell us what is
moral and what isn't when in fact every
year every month they have to revise and
improve the laws they Institute and they
realize some laws are not working and
other laws need proving in fact they
themselves are in need of
guidance it makes sense to me that the
Creator would tell us what the purpose
of Our Lives is he would tell us how to
best live our lives and how to worship
him he would tell us what pleases him
and what displeases him and how to live
a good life he would give us an
instruction
manual and I believe that that
instruction manual is the Quran
the Quran is the only book that tells us
about the Creator in reasonable rational
terms that satisfy our
intellects it's a fully comprehensive
instruction manual revealed through an
extraordinary individual Muhammad peace
be upon him and it's the only book from
God that still exists in its original
form word for word letter for letter
unchanged from the time it was revealed,
1400 years ago till
today of course God sent other books the
Torah the gospel that these books no
longer exist in their original forms in
the Quran God tells us that he will
preserve his word for all times and
that's why you'll find that the Quran is
the only book on Earth that's been
memorized word for word by millions of
people you know if all the copies of the
Quran were taken and thrown into the the
ocean today we could produce a copy of
the Quran probably by tomorrow we just
get a few people who've memorized the
Quran to recite and we'd write it down
and we would have it again totally as it
was revealed 1,400 years
ago that's the miraculous nature of the
Quran the Quran is a book that is
internally
consistent I haven't found any
contradictions in the
Quran in fact the Quran tells us a lot
about history and the natural world now
let me tell you a little bit about
Muhammad Muhammad was an illiterate man
he didn't know how to read or write and
there were no microscopes at his time he
wasn't a biologist he was a simple
Shepherd who didn't know about the
universe and time and space and who had
never left the Arabian
Peninsula so how could he tell us about
the microscopic world of the embryo and
yet the Quran talks with auth Authority
on the subject of these things and more
it talks about the planets and the moon
saying that they each have their own
orbits the Quran speaks of the mountains
being like pegs hammered into the ground
keeping the Earth
stable the Quran accurately says that
the sun is a source of light and that
the Moon is a body that reflects light
or that is lit up the Quran tells us
that if a person were to rise up in into
the atmosphere he would find it hard to
breathe so in other words the Quran
contains exactly what I'd expect the
creator of the universe to tell me about
the universe about myself about my
purpose in
life it tells me that the purpose of my
existence is to find my Creator and to
serve and worship him and submit to him
and tells me the laws that I must live
by in order to achieve true peace of
mind in this life and it also tells me
about my death yes it tells me that
every soul shall taste death you know it
was in our DNA before we were even
born the shest thing in this life is
that we will
die and this life is over in the
blinking of an eye but the Quran tells
me that this life is not the
end there will be life after after this
life there will be a day of pure
Justice and you know there's something
deep within human beings that desires
and craves Justice when we look at the
world and we see that Justice is not
done we see that the powerful and Rich
often get away with many evil crimes and
the poor and weak and defenseless seem
to suffer there are people who steal and
murder and yet they live a life of
luxury and there are people who live an
honest righteous life and yet they get
nothing at the end of it so it's
something deeply acceptable and
appealing to our human mind and our
nature to know that those who committed
crimes will not get away with it and
those who led righteous good lives will
be rewarded so the belief in the day of
judgment a day of pure Justice is deeply
satisfying to my mind and my
instinct and it makes total sense to me
that the creator of such a balanced and
finely tuned Universe would be just and
cause Justice to
Prevail and that's what the Quran told
me that we'll be brought to account for
everything we do that God is merciful
but he is also severe in his punishment
and he is just if I acknowledge God and
worship God as he commanded me to then I
will be rewarded with Paradise a
wonderful place that no human being can
imagine and I'll even be rewarded by
seeing God but if I reject God if I
disobey him when I know the truth and I
know all that God has done for me then
there is a Hell Fire and it is real and
I will be punished in
it the Quran didn't just come down from
the sky it was revealed to an
extraordinary man Muhammad
and when I researched into his life I
found that he was a man of the most
impeccable character his morals and
conduct and integrity was so outstanding
that people would become Muslim just by
observing his
character and the prophets of God were
like that they were people chosen by God
who had such outstanding character that
it was a type of proof for us that they
were Messengers from God let me tell you
a little story about the prophet
Muhammad peace be upon him there was a
lady who used to wait for the prophet
Muhammad to walk past her house and she
saw him as a troublemaker so she would
throw rubbish on him every time he
passed by her house because she hated
him so much but one day she didn't throw
any rubbish over
him and now most of us if we were in
that situation would have been happy we
would have been glad but the prophet
went and knocked on her door and
inquired after to her asking is
everything okay are you well is there
anything I can do for
you she immediately declared her
faith I testify that there is nothing
worthy of worship except the one God and
I testify that you Muhammad are the
messenger of God she understood that
only a person of God could have such
character I found that Muhammad was the
first man in his to stand up in front of
a whole nation of people and speak about
the rights of women
really a lot of people don't know this
but he was the first world leader to
tell men treat women kindly the best of
you is the one who's the best towards
his wife respect women respect the wombs
that bore
you once when a man came and asked him
who has the most rights over me who
should i serve the most and take care of
the most
he said your
mother and the man asked again then
who and he said your mother again and a
third time the man asked the prophet and
then who and he replied again your
mother and then when the man asked him
the fourth time he said and then your
father so you see he elevated the status
of women as mothers and as Builders of
society so let's go go back in time for
a moment 1,400 years back to be precise
there's so much we take for granted as
women living in the 21st
century we have rights that women years
ago never dreamed
of in Arabia for example before the
coming of the Prophet Muhammad women
essentially belonged to men if a man
died his wife was part of the wealth
that his heirs would
inherit female babies used to be buried
alive because amilies thought having
boys was better and girls were just a
burden the message that the prophet
Muhammad came with changed all of that
and it upset the men who wanted to keep
things the way they
were but this wasn't a message that he
invented himself this was a message from
God the prophet Muhammad told women that
they were equal to men just as important
as men spiritually socially as
individuals and as members of society
now there was no religion on Earth that
was telling women that at the time the
Quran gave women rights of
inheritance and it gave them the right
to keep their family names after they
got married because it's their
identity in European countries women
would change their names when they got
married and it signified that they now
belonged to their husbands but in Islam
a woman keeps her identity and her name
name the prophet Muhammad told men that
women were to be respected and not used
as sexual objects or
abused and he told them that they must
take full financial responsibility to
provide and nurture their Marriage
Partners and any children they father
even if the marriage breaks up he
condemned the killing of baby girls and
he encouraged raising daughters with as
much pride as
Sons he said that women should never be
forced to marry against their will and
should be able to choose and
refuse these were all Extraordinary
things for a man to be saying at the
time he encouraged women to study and
learn and in fact his wife Aisha was one
of the greatest and most knowledgeable
jurists and teachers in Islamic history
so if there are men in the world who are
stopping women from being educated
they're going against the teachings of
prophet Muhammad these were all
revolutionary ideas that are even
relatively new to Europe and the Western
world
yet Muhammad was saying these things
1,400 years ago women would come to the
prophet Muhammad from far and wide to
learn from him and they were always
welcome to come and ask him any
questions they wanted the women never
felt shy to come to him for justice for
example I read about a young lady who
was forced by her father to marry a man
she went straight to the prophet
Muhammad and told him what her father
had done the prophet Muhammad told her
she could have her marriage an olded but
she said that she came to him so that
fathers would know that they're not
allowed to force their daughters into
marriage look at how confident the women
were that if they came to Muhammad they
would get Justice he would stand up for
them the prophet Muhammad was known for
his truthfulness and
trustworthiness even people who didn't
believe in him would ask him to look
after their property because they knew
how trustworthy he was and every
everything I've read and found about the
prophet Muhammad has led me to believe
that he is one of the wonders of
Islam God sent us a man who excelled in
every sphere of life you know many of us
may have achieved excellence in one area
of life in our private life or as a
businesswoman or a businessman or a
teacher or as a general or a leader or
judge so how about a person who's able
to be an excellent example in every
single field of activ it as a husband
the prophet Muhammad would race
playfully with his wife when no one was
around he would sew and mend his own
clothes and help in the housework when
his first wife died he would constantly
send gifts to her family and would
remember her as his
supporter and he would even discuss
political matters with his wives and
take their advice and as a leader the
prophet Muhammad was amazing he was
loved by everyone he led the women and
the men they were willing to lay down
their lives for him and he taught them
the highest morals Concepts that were
only established in the modern world
relatively
recently he spoke clearly for example
Against Racism when one of the men
around him insulted a black man he told
him that this was totally unacceptable
and was pure ignorance he said no white
man has superiority over a black man and
no black man has superiority over a
white man except in y these were things
that no one said at the time and as a
teacher the prophet Muhammad was like no
other he was gentle and his teachings
were full of wisdom once when a bedin
man a man from the desert came and
urinated in the mosque Muhammad's
companions were going to jump him they
were so angry but he said to them let
him finish when the man had finished
what he was doing the prophet spoke to
him gently and said this is not the
place for that and he said pour water on
it and that will clean it when the
bedwin saw this he said may Allah have
mercy on me and Muhammad and nobody else
and the prophet replied smiling and
explained to him that God's Mercy is
much more vast than that so God not only
sent us books but also Messengers who
would teach us those books and be an
example for us I think here I should
explain to you what the word Islam
actually means Islam literally means to
submit to the will of
God so anyone who's submitting to the
will of God on his terms is a Muslim and
Muslim just means one who is in
submission to the will of God and that's
what I as a Muslim strive to do
sometimes I don't get it 100% right but
it's a journey like any other journey I
think each and every human being submits
to someone or something
sometimes it's
subconscious sometimes we're so used to
conforming to external expectations that
we don't even realize that we are
conforming so for example we submit to
peer pressure or pressure from our
friends or from the media and this is
usually very subtle people submit to
societal pressures or to the fashion
industry or to the music industry or at
the very least to their base desires
that feeling of I want this and I want
that and it's really easy for a human
being to allow their desires to lead
them in life but unfortunately it often
ends in destruction or a lack of
fulfillment and I know how that feels
from personal
experience what Islam did for me was to
give me a chance to break away from
those
pressures I realized that my Creator is
the one I must submit to because he
knows what's good for me and what's bad
for me me I realized that my Creator is
the one I must submit to because he
knows me inside out he knows what's good
for me and what's bad for me before that
I had many things trying to control me
affecting my behavior sometimes really
subtly by submitting to God I became
free and I strive to continue to submit
to him I mean it's an ongoing struggle
and a journey but the Quran gives me a
clear road map to follow God tells me in
the Quran that in order to be successful
and in order for me to find peace of
mind and to purify my heart I must
submit and surrender to his
will that's the only way I'll attain
peace Islam showed me that men and women
are different we are physiologically and
emotionally different we have different
strengths men for example are on the
whole physically stronger than women
women that's why you'll never find Roger
Federer playing tennis against Serena
Williams nor will you find men racing
against women at the Olympics our bodies
are designed differently as I'm sure
you're aware that's why it's still not
acceptable on the Streets of London for
a woman to walk around topless but it is
for a man to so it made me realize that
because we're different our roles in
society are different
too we as women give birth to children
children and nurture them with the milk
of
humanity men can never do that God
teaches men that their role is to take
leadership and to nurture their families
spiritually and financially to provide
for their families and to take full
financial responsibility for their wives
and children and he teaches us that
women are the nurturers of society our
role as mothers as the first school is
honored and supported in Islam
we don't have to contribute one penny to
the upkeep of the family it's not our
responsibility we may work and earn
money and that money is ours to do as we
wish with if we want to contribute to
the family it's our choice but we don't
have to work because God deems us
Irreplaceable as the Homemaker and
nurturer of the Next Generation so if we
go back to the question I started with
why I as a Muslim woman cover myself I
don't do it because a man told me to or
because my IM told me to no I do it
because God commanded me to cover myself
in a certain way when I'm in the
presence of men who are not closely
related to me so when I'm at home or
with my close mail relatives or in the
company of women and children I dress as
I please yes I even go to the
hairdressers and wear beautiful clothes
and jewelry but I just cover it up when
I'm going to be in the presence of men
that's because I accept and know that
God knows the nature of men and women
and he knows what's good for us so it's
totally understandable to me when God
says in the Quran to the men that they
must lower their gazes to divert their
glances away from looking at women who
are not closely related to them and God
tells me in the Quran to cover myself
when I go outside with a garments and
head coverings so that I might be
recognized and respected and not
molested in any way or looked on and the
wrong way now I'd never walk around with
my PIN number on display would I how
about my cash or my most precious
jewels precious things are kept
carefully and that's what women are in
Islam we are
precious not to be flaunted cheaply but
preserved under our robes for people
whom we choose to share our Beauty with
and we all know that when we're dressed
in a more covering way a more modest way
men do show us more respect and behave
in a more courteous way around us I've
never seen a man whistling a nun or a
Muslim woman who's covering herself
essentially they're both wearing the
same thing even images of Mary when you
see them she's covered in a very similar
way to a Muslim woman and yet Society
seems to demonize the way Muslim women
dress and respect the way that nuns
dress when I dress as the Quran tells me
to people appreciate what I have to say
and what my talents are instead of
judging me for the way I look now I've
mentioned some of the reasons why I
think that covering myself is a good
thing but that's not the essential
reason why I cover myself when I go out
I do it in obedience to the command of
God and it's as simple as that as a
Muslim I believe that all human beings
came from one father and one mother Adam
and his wife Eve and that it was not due
to Eve's Temptation that Adam and Eve
were taken out of Paradise and put onto
the Earth both of them were LED astray
by Satan so unlike in Christianity child
birth and menstruation are not
punishments from God they're just part
of our experience of Womanhood and have
wisdoms behind them Islam taught me that
women are precious that we're much more
than just our image and our Vital
Statistics our purpose in life is much
more more than just to be a play thing
for men or a commodity for Market forces
to exploit we're Spiritual Beings our
actions and our intentions will be
acknowledged by God when he judges us
and will be rewarded equally to men
Islam made me realize that to use a
woman's body as a commodity is wrong to
exploit her and tell her to Cort in
public for the pleasure of men might
please some men but it's wrong it
degrades her and lowers her status
Unfortunately today although people
claim and say that we as women are
liberated what doesn't make sense is
that women are used more now as sex
objects than they ever have been in
history Islam taught me that my
sexuality is a beautiful and sacred gift
from God that I should share with a man
who has committed to me through marriage
who won't use and abuse me or love and
leave me Islam raised my status as a
woman and freed me from the pressures of
society to conform to a particular image
or body shape or to be a superwoman who
works from 95 and then comes home and
does the housework
too I found that it allows me to be true
to my nature and that peace with it by
submitting to God I cease to feel
pressured to go against my true nature
and that's truly
liberating I invite you to read the
Quran to look into the life of Muhammad
to look into Islam further and take a
fresh look at Womanhood and I hope that
you two one day experience the sweetness
of submitting to our
creator thank you for listening why
don't you visit Secrets ofam Muslim
woman.com to find out more