WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.460 Our Mother ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her. 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:16.460 “O ‘A’ishah, the matter is far too grave for them to be concerned with that.” 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:22.160 Modesty is an innate nature with which Allah has created women. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.559 It is among her most beautiful qualities. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:28.960 Yet, it is a quality that is susceptible to change and alteration. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.760 If a girl is raised from childhood 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.960 to be modest in her dress, her movements, and her interactions with people, 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:39.759 this innate nature grows in a healthy manner. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:43.359 But if this nature is altered and stifled in childhood, 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:46.560 she will not feel a sense of modesty when she grows up, 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.950 and it will become easy for her to do whatever she wishes. 00:00:49.950 --> 00:00:54.750 In one of the instances of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) upbringing 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.549 of ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, 00:00:57.549 --> 00:01:01.549 there is manifested for us, in a spontaneous and unforced way, 00:01:01.549 --> 00:01:06.819 the sound innate nature upon which ‘A’ishah was raised. 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:10.019 ‘A’ishah relates 00:01:10.019 --> 00:01:14.819 that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her one day: 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:20.420 “You will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.” 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:22.019 ‘A’ishah asked, 00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:23.620 “O Messenger of Allah, 00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:25.620 men and women together, 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:28.019 looking at one another?” 00:01:28.019 --> 00:01:29.019 He replied, 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:30.620 “O ‘A’ishah, 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:34.420 the matter is far too grave for them to be concerned with that.” 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:36.450 Narrated by al-Bukhari. 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:39.250 The Prophet (peace be upon him) describes 00:01:39.250 --> 00:01:44.049 to ‘A’ishah the state of people on the Day of Resurrection, 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:48.049 that they will be gathered just as their mothers bore them: 00:01:48.049 --> 00:01:51.450 naked, barefoot, and uncircumcised. 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:54.849 This is one of the terrors of the Day of Resurrection. 00:01:54.849 --> 00:01:58.650 The reaction of ‘A’ishah was 00:01:58.650 --> 00:02:05.450 focused on an aspect other than the subject the Prophet (peace be upon him) was discussing, 00:02:05.650 --> 00:02:09.849 as the sense of modesty within her was stirred by the image of nakedness. 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:14.250 So she asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) in astonishment, 00:02:14.250 --> 00:02:18.250 “Men and women looking at one another?” 00:02:18.250 --> 00:02:21.449 Indeed, the astonishment of ‘A’ishah 00:02:21.449 --> 00:02:25.449 stemmed from the Qur’anic and Prophetic upbringing 00:02:25.449 --> 00:02:30.849 in which she was nurtured regarding the subjects of dress, adornment, and covering one’s private parts. 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:34.250 For she was raised upon the saying of Allah the Exalted: 00:02:34.250 --> 00:02:37.050 “O children of Adam, 00:02:37.050 --> 00:02:44.650 We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment.” 00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:46.650 “And the clothing of righteousness— 00:02:46.650 --> 00:02:48.650 that is best.” 00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:51.250 That is among the signs of Allah, 00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:54.050 that perhaps they may remember. 00:02:54.050 --> 00:02:57.250 “O children of Adam, 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:04.050 let not Satan tempt you, 00:03:04.050 --> 00:03:15.650 “O Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the Garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. Lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not. Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not.” (7:27) 00:03:15.650 --> 00:03:21.449 as he removed from them their clothing 00:03:21.449 --> 00:03:24.449 to show them their private parts.” 00:03:24.449 --> 00:03:30.849 “O Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the Garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. Lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not. Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not.” (7:27) 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:39.449 “O Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you as he caused your (first) parents to go forth from the Garden and tore off from them their robe (of innocence) that he might manifest their shame to them. Lo! he seeth you, he and his tribe, from whence ye see him not. Lo! We have made the devils protecting friends for those who believe not.” (7:27) 00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:42.849 Muhammad Rashid Rida, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:03:42.849 --> 00:03:47.650 Allah the Exalted addressed the children of Adam in this verse and others like it 00:03:47.650 --> 00:03:51.050 with the call used for those who are distant, 00:03:51.050 --> 00:03:56.449 because of the state of the Arabs and non-Arabs at the time this Surah was revealed in Makkah, 00:03:56.650 --> 00:04:00.849 in their distance from the sound innate nature and the upright path. 00:04:00.849 --> 00:04:04.650 It was a warning to their minds through what strikes the ears. 00:04:04.650 --> 00:04:06.449 He conferred favor upon them 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:10.849 after informing them of the nakedness of their early ancestors, 00:04:10.849 --> 00:04:16.449 by the blessing of the clothing He provided them, in all its various degrees and types: 00:04:16.449 --> 00:04:17.649 from the most basic, 00:04:17.649 --> 00:04:20.850 which conceals the private parts from the eyes of people, 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:22.850 to the types of garments 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:27.850 that resemble the feathers of birds in protecting the body from heat and cold, 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:29.850 by covering the entire body, 00:04:29.850 --> 00:04:33.449 and the types of adornment and beauty therein, 00:04:33.449 --> 00:04:37.250 suitable for all human beings, male and female, 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:40.839 regardless of their ages or circumstances. 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:44.839 If clothing is a beauty with which people adorn themselves, 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:48.800 then nakedness is a disgrace to sound souls, 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.600 just as ‘A’ishah was raised 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.600 upon His saying, the Exalted: 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.600 “And abide in your houses.” 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:01.600 “And stay in your houses. Bedizen not yourselves with the bedizenment of the Time of Ignorance. Be regular in prayer, and pay the poor-due, and obey Allah and His messenger. Allah's wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, O Folk of the Household, and cleanse you with a thorough cleansing.” (33:33) 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:04.600 Sayyid Qutb, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:08.660 Women in the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah) used to display their beauty (tabarruj), 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:14.660 but all the images recounted of the tabarruj of the first Jahiliyyah 00:05:14.660 --> 00:05:17.660 seem naive or modest 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:20.660 when measured against the tabarruj of our own days 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:22.660 in our present Jahiliyyah. 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:24.730 Mujahid said: 00:05:24.730 --> 00:05:28.730 A woman would go out and walk among men; 00:05:28.730 --> 00:05:31.730 that was the tabarruj of the Jahiliyyah. 00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:33.730 Qatadah said: 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:36.730 They had a gait that was coquettish and alluring. 00:05:36.730 --> 00:05:39.730 So Allah the Exalted forbade that. 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:42.730 Muqatil Ibn Hayyan said: 00:05:42.730 --> 00:05:47.730 Tabarruj is when she casts the head covering (khimar) over her head but does not fasten it, 00:05:47.730 --> 00:05:50.730 so that her necklaces, earrings, and neck are visible, 00:05:50.730 --> 00:05:53.730 and all of that is seen of her. 00:05:53.730 --> 00:05:55.730 That is tabarruj. 00:05:55.730 --> 00:06:00.920 A woman does not uncover any part of her body before strange men 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.920 unless she has killed a part of her modesty. 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:08.920 To the extent that a woman exposes herself before men, 00:06:08.920 --> 00:06:12.920 to that extent the luster of modesty departs from her face. 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.920 Just as ‘A’ishah was raised 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:19.920 upon the principle of modesty linked to human actions, 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:23.920 which is the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:28.920 “Among what the people have attained from the words of the first prophecy is: 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.920 If you have no modesty, then do as you wish.” 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:33.920 Narrated by Ahmad. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:38.920 The scriptural texts upon which ‘A’ishah was raised 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.920 built within her this great sense of modesty, 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.920 which distracted her from the subject of the terrors of the Day of Resurrection 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.920 to ask about what was ingrained in her innate nature: 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:51.920 the disgrace of being naked before people. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.920 A woman’s display of her charms and her nakedness 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.920 is a desire of the soul’s cravings, 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:02.920 yet women vary in their manner of exposure 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.920 according to their varying levels of faith. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.920 There are those who do not expose themselves except to their husbands; 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:11.920 this is the believing woman. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:15.920 There are those who expose themselves in women’s gatherings 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:18.920 under the pretext that they are only among women, 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:21.920 and that a woman need not be modest before another woman. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:26.920 And there are those who expose themselves everywhere and before everyone, 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:32.920 like a piece of meat displayed in the market before human wolves, 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:35.920 for modesty and sensitivity have died within her. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.920 Between these categories are varying degrees of exposure 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:43.920 according to the modesty of each woman. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:48.920 But why do men not look at women at the Gathering (al-Mahshar), 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.920 even though they are completely naked just as Allah created them, 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:54.920 and vice versa? 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.980 The answer to this question 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:00.980 we find in the reply of the Prophet (peace be upon him) 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:03.980 to the question of ‘A’ishah: 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:05.980 when he said, 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:10.980 “O ‘A’ishah, the matter is far too grave for them to be concerned with that.” 00:08:10.980 --> 00:08:14.980 What distracted men and women from looking at one another, 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:16.980 even though they were naked, 00:08:16.980 --> 00:08:19.980 is the intensity of the terror of that day, 00:08:19.980 --> 00:08:23.980 which makes a person unable to look at what is around him, 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:28.980 and nothing distracts him from the intensity, terror, and panic he is in. 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:30.980 Allah the Exalted says: 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:38.179 “O mankind, fear your Lord...” 00:08:38.179 --> 00:08:44.179 “O mankind! Fear your Lord. Lo! the earthquake of the Hour (of Doom) is a tremendous thing.” (22:1) 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:52.179 “On the day when ye behold it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling and every pregnant one will be delivered of her burden, and thou (Muhammad) wilt see mankind as drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but the Doom of Allah will be strong (upon them).” (22:2) 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:56.179 “On the day when ye behold it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling and every pregnant one will be delivered of her burden, and thou (Muhammad) wilt see mankind as drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but the Doom of Allah will be strong (upon them).” (22:2) 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:59.179 “...and you will see the people intoxicated, 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:02.179 you will see the people intoxicated, 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:05.179 while they are not intoxicated.” 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:10.179 “On the day when ye behold it, every nursing mother will forget her nursling and every pregnant one will be delivered of her burden, and thou (Muhammad) wilt see mankind as drunken, yet they will not be drunken, but the Doom of Allah will be strong (upon them).” (22:2) 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:12.269 And the Almighty said: 00:09:12.269 --> 00:09:17.269 “Every soul is a pledge for its own deeds;” (74:38) 00:09:17.269 --> 00:09:21.269 This is what occupies people on that day: 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:23.269 the harvest of their deeds. 00:09:23.269 --> 00:09:27.399 If we remember that the recompense is of the same nature as the deed, 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:32.399 then she who is naked in this world will be naked on the Day of Resurrection, 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:35.399 according to the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:37.399 “Subhan Allah! 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:40.399 What trials have been sent down tonight! 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:43.399 And what treasures have been opened! 00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:46.399 Who will wake the ladies of the chambers? 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:50.399 For many a woman clothed in this world will be naked in the Hereafter.” 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:52.399 Narrated by al-Bukhari. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:55.399 Scholars have interpreted the “clothed” in this hadith 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:57.399 with several interpretations, 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:00.399 among them that she is one who wears clothes 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:04.399 that describe her body as if she were naked. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.399 This is the one the Prophet (peace be upon him) pointed to 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.399 in another hadith, saying: 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:14.399 “Two types of the people of Hell I have not yet seen: 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:17.399 a people with whips like the tails of cattle, 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:19.399 with which they strike the people, 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.399 and women who are clothed yet naked, 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.399 alluring and enticing, 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.399 their heads like the swaying humps of camels. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.399 They will not enter Paradise, nor will they smell its fragrance, 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:36.399 even though its fragrance can be smelled from such-and-such a distance.” 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.399 Narrated by Muslim. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:42.399 If this is the state of one who wears clothes in this world, 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:44.399 but they do not cover her, 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.399 either because they are transparent, 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:50.399 or because they delineate the body, 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:53.690 then how will the state of the truly naked be? 00:10:53.690 --> 00:10:56.690 ‘A’ishah’s disapproval of this situation 00:10:56.690 --> 00:11:00.690 gives us a sign that the modest woman 00:11:00.690 --> 00:11:03.690 does not accept such sights, 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:05.690 nor does she remain silent about denouncing them, 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:08.690 in accordance with the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): 00:11:08.690 --> 00:11:11.690 “Whoever among you sees an evil, 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:13.690 let him change it with his hand; 00:11:13.690 --> 00:11:15.690 if he cannot, then with his tongue; 00:11:15.690 --> 00:11:18.690 if he cannot, then with his heart, 00:11:18.690 --> 00:11:21.690 and that is the weakest of faith.” 00:11:21.690 --> 00:11:25.690 So let not the Muslim sister abandon advising and denouncing those who are naked, 00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:28.690 or those who are clothed yet naked, 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:32.690 for perhaps Allah may save them through you from the Fire. 00:11:32.690 --> 00:11:35.690 In your undertaking to denounce evil, 00:11:35.690 --> 00:11:38.690 there is life for your heart and an increase in its faith, 00:11:38.690 --> 00:11:42.490 and a growth of modesty within it. 00:11:42.490 --> 00:11:45.490 We shall continue in a future meeting, if Allah wills. 00:11:45.490 --> 00:11:48.490 And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:54.690 Our Mother ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her.