Wednesday 25 January 2012

"dah tutup aurat"....REALLY???

Digerakkan hati hingga tergerak hati nak "pakai tudung" - as we say here in Malaysia. So being the researcher that I am, I decided to "learn all about it" so to speak. And what I found out surprised me!! I had thought it was just a matter of making sure that:
1. hanya muka dan dua tapak tangan sahaja yang terdedah
2. baju must be thick enough so as not to nampak warna kulit
3. pakaian tidak menunjukkan susuk tubuh
4. tudung must be long enough to cover bahagian dada.

Easy enough...so I thought. ONLY to find out that there's more to this than the above!!
1. bahagian yang boleh "dinampakkan" ialah dua telapak tangan dan muka - CHECK!

 Sabda Rasulullah  kepada Asma’ binti Abu Bakar,
Wahai Asma’ sesungguhnya seorang wanita itu apabila telah baligh (haidh) maka tidak boleh baginya menampakkan tubuhnya kecuali ini dan ini, seraya menunjukkan wajah dan telapak tangannya.”
 [HR Abu Dawud] 

Juga pendapat-pendapat para sahabat eg  Ibnu Abbas, Ibnu Umar dan juga Aisyah [Al-Albani, 2001:66], Ibnu Jarir Ath-Thabari (wafat 310H) menjelaskan dalam kitab tafsirnya, Jami Al-Bayan fi Tafsir Al-Qur`an Juz XVIII ms 84, Imam Al-Qurthubi dalam kitab tafsirnya Al-Jamia li Ahkam Al-Qur’an, Juz XII hal. 229 [Al-Albani, 2001:50 & 57] bila mentafsirkan

Dan janganlah mereka menampakkan perhiasannya, kecuali yang (biasa) nampak darinya.”
[TMQ An-Nur (24):31].

2. tidak nampak warna kulit and susuk tubuh - CHECK!

Usamah menyatakan bahawa beliau pernah bertanya kepada Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam tentang kain yang nipis (al-qabtiyah) kerana beliau telah memberikan kepada isterinya untuk dipakai. Mendengarkan tentang perkara yang disampaikan itu Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam bersabda: “Suruhlah isterimu untuk mengenakan kain nipis (al-ghilalah) lagi di bahagian dalamnya, kerana aku khuatir kalau sampai nampak warna tubuhnya.”

And we all know also that to display our "body contours" is wrong. I think everyone agrees with me that so tak payahlah nak bubuh hadis-hadis lagi.

3. bertudung labuh menutup dada - THIS is where it got interesting! My research led me to new frontiers!!

During my college days in the late 70s, at the onset of the dakwah movement here in Malaysia, I saw girls going around in "mini telekung", plain, dull, loose robes over their everyday clothes, socks on their feet. Over the years muslimah fashion has evolved into what we see today - bling bling on tudung/apparel, all imaginable types of tudung - the twist them, wind them, bunch them, slip them over your head, pin them, awnings, and the list goes on....robes became colourful extravagant affairs with sequins, embroidery, gold piping, lace etc etc...eye catching to say the least! Some of these jubah were more akin to the maxi gowns I donned in my teens.

So I erroneously thought..."oh this shouldn't be hard". I'm no advocate of maxis but I could wear them if I had to. And I THOUGHT I had the option of just donning anything loose enough, long enough to cover my thighs, thick enough not to show my skin colour....and I had jeans in mind; me being very much a "jeans" person. I envisioned slipping on a black or any block coloured tudung long enough to cover my definitely not ample chest...and...ta-da!....cukup syarat menutup aurat.....***smile....smile...***

UNTIL, being the good (ehem...ehem...) researcher that I am, I applied the rule of double checking the information. And, boy...was I in for a BIG surprise!! It kept me blog hopping for hours on end....

Here are my findings:

1. There are 2 types of clothes that should be worn.
     i)   for when you're at home and among those mahram (yang kita tak boleh berkahwin) - what is termed as      
           "private life". 
     ii)  for when you're out of the house ie in a public place and in the presence of ajnabi (yang kita boleh 
          berkahwin)

In (i), the aurat is different between those who are mahram to me (I can show my hair for instance) and those who are ajnabi. The rule for (ii) applies in the case of ajnabi even in my own home.

In (ii), even if I'm just out to sidai kain, I am to put on a robe ie jilbab/abaya over my everyday clothes! Jilbab/abaya is defined as a single continuous piece of loose, shapeless gown, fully covering my body from the neck down to my heels, made of material (yang not eye catching) thick enough to conceal my skin colour and the clothes I have underneath it. And remember, kaki pun kena fully covered juga so kena pakai socks. So tak boleh just pakai underwear and sarung the jilbab/abaya!! Phewwww.....THIS is totally new to me!!

And the tudung pulak is to be of thick material yang tak menampakkan colour of the skin juga and sampai ke pergelangan tangan. The tudung must cover both bahagian depan and belakang my body.

Hukumnya if tak observe the dress code? HARAM...no two ways about it!! 

Ummu ‘Athiyah pernah bertutur demikian: "Rasullullah saw memerintahkan kami – baik ia budak wanita, wanita haid, ataupun wanita perawan – agar keluar(menuju lapangan) pada Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Aidiladha. Bagi para wanita yang sedang haid diperintahkan untuk menjauhi dari tempat solat, namun tetap menyaksikan kebaikan dan seruan atas kaum muslim. Aku lantas berkata, “Ya Rasulullah, salah seorang diantara kami tidak memiliki jilbab.” Rasulullah pun menjawab, “Hendaklah saudaranya meminjamkan jilbabnya kepadanya.

Jika saudaranya tidak meminjamkannya, samaada ia tidak mampu meminjam atau tidak diberi pinjam, maka dia tidak boleh keluar rumah kerana tidak mempunyai pakaian seperti yang telah disyariaatkan. Ini adalah indikasi yang menunjukkan bahawa perintah mengenakan jilbab bagi kaum wanita yang ingin keluar rumah adalah wajib. Dengan kata lain, wanita wajib mengenakan jilbab di atas pakaian sehariannya jika hendak keluar rumah. Sebaliknya jika ia tidak mengenakan jilbab, ia tidak boleh keluar rumah.

Only those yang dah menopause and tak ada nafsu nak menikah lagi aja yang boleh  menutup aurat with satu lapisan pakaian. Itu pun tak boleh nak berhias-hias...ie no jewellery, makeup, pakai perfume etc. This tak boleh berhias-hias rule applies across the board to women of all ages. Celak tu boleh only if tak berlebihan. Of course dengan spouse tu rulesnya lain. 

"Sesiapa jua wanita yang memakai minyak wangi kemudian melintasi khalayak ramai dengan tujuan dihidu bau yang dipakainya, maka dia dikira berzina” [hadis dari Abu Musa al-Asy’ari]. 

Btw, digalakkan memakai seluar panjang di bawah jilbab/abaya tu just in case kita terjatuh so the chances of terdedah aurat tu is minimised.

I have a better understanding of these 2 hadith now:

Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w. :

"Akan datang ummatku di akhir zaman terdiri dari kaum wanita yang mana mereka itu berpakaian dalam keadaan telanjang, di atas kepala mereka berbonggol-bonggol seperti belakang unta. mereka ini dilaknat oleh Allah dan tidak masuk mereka itu ke dalam syurga, serta tidak dapat menghidu baunya. dan sesungguhnya wangian syurga itu di dapati jarak perjalanan lima puluh ribu tahun perjalanan." (Sohih Bukhari)

Hadis Rasulullah  riwayat dari Bazzar dan At-Termizi menjelaskan, 
Sesungguhnya wanita itu adalah aurat, setiap kali mereka keluar, syaitan akan memperhatikannya.” 

Hmmm....so in conclusion:

1.  tak bertudung menutup aurat <----------- for sure lah HARAM! NO DISPUTE!
2.  bertudung menutup aurat but baju ketat or pendek or jarang etc <--------- HARAM juga!!
3.  bertudung menutup aurat berpakaian longgar, tebal, etc yang kira-kira tak nampak susuk tubuh, warna kulit         dan sebagainya TAPI keluar rumah only pakai ni aja without the jilbab/abaya over it <---------- HARAM juga!!!

Those dakwah sisters of my college days got it right! 
Wallahualam....

Monday 16 January 2012

AKU...memburu...

Kalamku….
Adakah ia hanya halwa telinga
Tanpa hatiku merasa….

Diamlah akal!
Fahamlah bahawa kadangkala
Aku tak perlu kamu!

Terima kasih ilmu
Yang kadangkala hanya buat aku lebih keliru
Tapi juga membuat aku terus memburu

Mencari, tercari-cari….
Menari lagi jari-jariku mencari kamu
Random…bila tak tahu mana nak dituju….

Tuesday 10 January 2012

SABAR and...SMILE... :)

"Ijan, don't you get angry?"...I've been asked this countless times. Are you kidding? I'm no angel...OF COURSE  I get angry!! It's just that I don't allow my anger to get the better of me...well...most times. I've learnt to let it flow through me...and to let it go. My secret? hmmm....

1.  I don't take it personally. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Much as I feel like puking at some of these opinions, I take a passive stand. For as long as it's me and only me these opinions are directed at, I'm okay. Try talking bad about my mum and you'd probably make me a murderer!
2.  I ask myself this question, "will this be important on my deathbed?". Most times the answer is "NO"...so I let it pass.
3.  It takes all kinds to make this world...and not everyone uses their mental faculties as well as their mouths. I'm okay with idiots for as long as I don't have to be joined at the hips with them.
4.  I can't "tutup mulut orang". So I "tutup telinga" I. Easy!
5.  I have good, functioning legs...I walk away.
6.  Istighfar banyak-banyak. This really helps.
7.  I smile...and smile...and smile. It's kinda difficult to be angry when you're smiling.
8.  When I'm in a cheeky mood, I'll act the researcher that I am and ask the person to explain in detail every little bit he said about me. That normally shuts him up pretty quick. I'm always grateful for my corporate planning training at these times.
9.  I don't care much about "winning" an argument.

That's it! My secret's out... :)

Sunday 1 January 2012

A NEW YEAR...

      I've never been good at making new year's resolutions. Maybe because I know I won't be good at keeping them. And I hate not being able to keep promises. Especially when I know I made them to myself...I gave my word and what good would those words be if I don't keep them. So I always figured it would be best not to make any commitments for the new year.
     But it's different this year. Weeks prior to the year end, I was bombarded with thoughts. I suddenly had lots to talk about...with hers truly. "Talking to myself and feeling old" as the song goes...reflecting...being talked to...reflecting again...asking...talked to myself even more.
     And yea...I ended up making resolutions...I took tiny baby steps toward keeping them...well before new year's eve...I figured I needed a lot of practice since I've never had new year's resolutions before...what better time to start if not immediately.
      Wish me well please...I'll need lots of your "doa"...A better and more enlightening 2012 to all.....  :)