Fathwa, - Are all these"fashionable women's Islamic clothes" consideredmodest by the Shariah

Question:
Are all these "fashionable women's Islamic clothes" considered modest
by the Shariah?
Answer:
Walaikum assalam,
This returns to the `urf (local customs and norms). Something highly
modest in America may not modest by the standards of more conservative
societies.
The Shariah has placed general guidelines for proper dress: it must be
modest, loose (especially around sensitive areas), and must cover
one�s awrah. This is fixed, unalterable guidance.
After this, how this is fulfilled returns to local customs,
environment, and one�s situation, flexible within the limits of the
fixed guidelines of the Qur�an and the luminous guidance of the
Beloved of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace).
Modesty in dress is important for both men and women.

Fathwa, - Is it permissible for a wife to take off her hijab if her husband disapproves of it?

Question:
Is it permissible for a wife to take off her hijab if her husband
disapproves of it?
Answer:
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Absolutely not.
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)
said,�There is no obedience to creation in disobedience to the
Creator.�[Bukhari and Muslim]

History of the Sunnah -I: At the time of the Prophet

Muslims were, early on, aware of the significance of the Sunnah and
its authority. They, one generation after the other, were keen to
preserve the Sunnah because they saw that as a part of the preserving
of the last revelations man is ever to receive. Their efforts were
unabated, and the remarkable job they did is unparalleled in the
experience of any other religion or civilization.
At the time of the Prophet:
One of the main reasons behind this is the fact that the
Prophetclearly taught the Companionsthe importance of his Sunnah, its
place in Islam and their role in saving it, teaching and conveying it
to others around them and to those who would come after them. In so
doing, hefollowed an effective methodology, which will be briefly
outlined below:
1. Heemphasized the importance of seeking knowledge and teaching
it to others. Hesaid:"Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every
Muslim )male and female(." ]Ibn Maajah[ Also, hesaid: "Whosoever
pursues a path to seek knowledge therein, Allaah will thereby make
easy for him a path toParadise. No people gather together in one of
the houses of Allaah )mosques(, reciting the Book of Allaah and
studying it among themselves, without tranquility descending upon
them, mercy enveloping them and angles surrounding them, and Allaah
making mention of them to those )angels( who are with Him."]Muslim[
2. Healways had a center for teaching. Most of the time, it was the mosque.
3. Hewas soft in his dealings and always facilitated things and
made them easy for others. Hewas merciful and humble and made himself
readily available.
4. Henever pushed people into anything. Instead, hegradually
taught them and led them to change. Healways motivated them to follow
his example and be their best.
5. Hewould not continuously teach or work with them, but he would
give them enough breaks to avoid overstressing or boring them.
6. Hespoke plainly and clearly and hetalked to people at their
level of understanding and intellectual ability. Whenever appropriate,
hespoke to people in their own dialect for the Arabs had different
dialects.
7. Heused the method of repetition. Hewould repeat whatever he
wanted to stress for three times to insure that all heard him properly
and clearly understood what hewas saying.
8. When questioned, hewould give more than what is expected as an
answer and use the occasion to further clarify things for all, and
teach about other things.
9. Whenever the Prophethad to choose between two ways, hechose
the easier way, which had facility and mercy if there was nothing
forbidden in that, and hekept away from the difficult and harsh ways.
10. Heattached special attention to teaching the women and provided
them special times for questions. Heencouraged them to ask and learn.
11. Heused to do his best in everything, and heperfected whatever he
did, thus setting an example for others.
The era of the Companions and their Followers
The Companionsdid their utmost to convey Islam to the generations
succeeding them in the best and most accurate way possible. They
sincerely loved it, honestly lived according to it and faithfully
preserved it and kept any impurity or irregularity out of it.
Their role in the preservation of Islam was one of utmost importance
to its continuation, but they were highly prepared for it by the best
teacher and trainer, the Prophet. Thus the studying of this era,
especially with respect to the history and authority of the Sunnah, is
necessary to all Students of Knowledge.
And since this article will not provide enough details to properly
cover the subject, it is recommended that the readers consult the
following list of books on the subject:
Studies of Early Hadeeth Literature by M. M. Azami, Sunnah Qabla
at-Tadween )the Sunnah before Writing( by Ajaj Al-Khateeb, The Sunnah
and its Place in Islam by Mustafa As-Siba'ee, Manhajj an-Naqd fi Uloom
Al-Hadeeth )The Methodology of Critique in the Sciences of Hadeeth( by
Noor-ud-deen Etr, Al-Hadeeth wal Muhaddithoon )Hadeeth and Hadeeth
Narrators( by Muhammad M. Abu Zahou, and Hujjiatus Sunnah )The
Authority of the Sunnah( by Houcine Chouat.
Methodology of the Companions in Preserving the Sunnah
Before discussing the Companions' ways of learning, practicing,
preserving and conveying of the Sunnah, it is worthwhile to shed some
light on the main points one needs to understand about the
Companionsand their methodology:
1. The Companionswere fully aware of the responsibility they
shoulder after the death of the Prophet.
2. The Companionsare all trustworthy. Theynever doubted one
another in the matters of this religion and the narration of Hadeeth.
3. The Companionshave developed a methodology for scrutinizing
Hadeeths and narrators, and by doing that have established the rules
of ascertaining narrations for those who came after them.
4. The ability of different Companionsto understand the Sunnah,
memorize it and convey it varied from one Companion to another.
5. The Companionsleft Makkah and Madeenah to many places around
the Muslim world, at the time, for the purpose of delivering the
message and teaching Islam to those who accepted it thus spreading the
Sunnah throughout the land.
It is interesting to note that about 750 Companionsnarrated Hadeeths,
seven of whom narrated a high number of Hadeeths, and about twenty
narrated an average number, the rest narrated a small number.
The seven who narrated a large number of Hadeeths are: Abu Hurayrah
who narrated 5374 Hadeeths, 'Abdullaah Ibn 'Umar narrated 2630, Anas
Ibn Maalik narrated 2286, 'Aa'ishah narrated 2210 Hadeeths, 'Abdullaah
Ibn 'Abbaas narrated 1660, Jaabir Ibn 'Abdullaah narrated 1540, and
Abu Sa'eed AI-Khudri narrated 1100 Hadeeths. They understood their
role and were aware of the significance of their ability in narrating
the Hadeeths and did their best to deliver them diligently and
accurately. Muslims of all times are indebted to them.

History of the Sunnah -II: The era of the Companions and their followers

Most scholars group the main aspects of the methodology of the
Companionsin preserving the Sunnah into the following seven
categories: prudence in narrating the hadeeths, verification and
substantiation of the hadeeths before accepting them, critique,
discussions and assessment of the narration, traveling for search and
confirmation of the hadeeths, memorization, practice and writing of
the hadeeths. Some scholars refer to these aspects as 'rulings',
'methods' or 'ways' instead of methodology.
1- Prudence in narrating the Hadeeth:
Because of the fact that the Sunnah is a revelation and a sacred
Source for this religion, the Companionswere very careful when
narrating what the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi sallam, said or did.
This vigilance was illustrated in:
· Avoiding narration unless they had to. 'Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Abi
Laylasaid:"I have met with 120 Companionsfrom the Ansaar )supporters
of the Prophet(, none of whom would narrate a hadeeth or answer a
question of fatwa unless he absolutely had no choice but to do it. One
would have to go and ask another instead of him, so much so you would
keep going from one to the other until you get back to the first one
you asked."Theyunderstood that they were conveying the message brought
to them by the Prophetand that people see it as such, thus everyone
wanted the other to do that because they may know it better. This,
however, should not be construed to mean they avoided spreading the
message or teaching Islam to others. This prudence indicates they were
fully aware of their role and its significance. They would rather let
others, who may be more knowledgeable, do the job, but once they had
to do, they did it in the best way possible.
· Limiting or discouraging the narration. This attitude was
adopted for the purpose of protecting the Sunnah because it minimizes
the possibility of mistakes or forgetfulness that may otherwise cause
people to doubt the Sunnah or mistrust the narrators. This trend was
strongly encouraged by Caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Umar Ibn Al-Khattaaband
was accepted and practiced by the Companions. This attitude is founded
on the famous hadeeth narrated by many Companions:"It is sufficient
—for one to tumble into lying - to narrate or repeat everything he/she
hears."]Al-Bukhaari and others[
· Encouraging narration from knowledgeable Companions. To
strike a necessary balance between being cautious and insuring the
transmission of the religion and the spreading of its teachings, the
Companionswho had a great deal of knowledge—like those recommended by
the Prophet—never hesitated to narrate, write or teach the Sunnah.
There are hundreds of narrations that encourage such practice so long
as it is done in the right manner.
· Opting for verbatim narration. Guided with instruction in the
Hadeeth, "May Allaah bless the person who hears a statement from me
and conveys it as he/she heard it," the Companionsdid all that was
humanly possible to keep their narration verbatim of what they
actually heard from the Prophet. There are many reported incidents,
which testify to this fact. Having such natural mastery of the Arabic
– that was common among them—and the fact that theysaw and heard the
Prophetsay, do and explain to them his teachings repeatedly, as well
as their understanding of the need for verbatim transmission of
narrations, all combined to make it easy for them not to cause changes
as they narrate any Hadeeth.
2- Verification of the Hadeeth before accepting it
This is an important tool that the Companionsestablished to safeguard
the Sunnah against any foreign material interference and accidental or
deliberate mistakes. This was a common prac­tice amongst all of the
Companionswhen receiving or narrating the Sunnah. Imaam
Ath-Thahabimentioned this practice, in one of his great books,
addressing the issue of Hadeeth Memorizers. Hesaid that it was one of
the ways used by of the four Caliphsto protect the Hadeeth. For
example, Abu Bakrwas asked to rule in the case of a grandmother who
came asking for her right in inheritance, hesaid that he knew of no
amount due to her neither in the Book of Allaah )i.e., Quran( nor the
Sunnah of the Prophet. But when Al-Mugheerahtold that he has
wit­nessed the Prophetgive one-sixth of the total amount of the
inheritance, heasked him if he had witness to substantiate this claim.
And when Muhammad Ibn Maslamahwitnessed to the truth of that figure,
Abu Bakraccepted it and gave the grandmother exactly that.
In the case of 'Umar Ibn Al-KhattaabAth-Thahabimentioned many
incidents that testify to the fact that healways ascertained the
narration when it was necessary to do so. Henarrated that Maalik Ibn
Awsheard 'Umarsay to 'Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn 'Awf, Talhah Ibn Az-Zubayr and
Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqaas:"I ask by Allaah, Who maintains the Heaven and
Earth! Did you hear the Prophetsay: 'I am not to be inherited,
whatever I leave is to be given in charity'? They said:`Yes, Allaah is
our witness."]Ahmad[
After narrating the above incidents among others, Imaam
Ath-Thahabirepeatedly asserted that the verifications were not meant
to doubt the truthfulness of any of the Companionsrather they were
necessary to establish a standard of care and respect for what the
Prophet, sallallaahu alay­hi wa sallam, said or did. Theydid that for
themselves and to institute a tradition to be fol­lowed and honored by
all who come after them.
In summary, it is essential to note the following about this method:
- The purpose was to protect the Sunnah, not to doubt one another. All
of the Companionsare trustworthy as clearly stated in the Quran, and
doubting their trustworthiness can certainly damage one's faith.
- The purpose, also, was to establish a method and set an example to
be followed by the rest of the Muslim nation. The truth, however,
remains that Companionsused to accept narration conveyed by any one of
them. Their request of witnesses or that the narrator gives an oath
that he is saying the truth was to establish the methodology, so that
people would not take narrating a Hadeeth lightly. This fact may
further be supported when considering that:
- Sometimes theyrequired a witness while at others they had the
narrator give oath or reminded him of how serious it is to lie against
the Prophet. This variation indicates that the purpose was actually to
establish awareness of the significance of narrating the Hadeeth
rather than set up a requirement of having more than one narrator as a
condition for its authenticity.
- There are a very large number of narrations, which indicate that in
many cases the Companionshad actually accepted Hadeeth from one
narrator without seeking any substantiation or verification.