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Saturday, September 10, 2011

My Hijab Experience Part Deux

Salam! wow, it’s been awhile eh? hehehe. forgive me for having a permanent job where i’m forced to devote most of my time to. thus, time less spent to complain/whine/share my experiences with uolls here. hehe.

Before i start, i wanna take this opportunity to wish every muslim Eid Mubarak! Honestly, this time around, i didn’t really have much of raya-ing due to the short leave i had. and Ramadhan this year was pretty challenging for me. But i pray that all the good things we did for Allah has been taken into account. InsyaAllah.

I’m sure some of you have read my previous post on My hijab experience. I took you on a journey of how i first got into this wearing the hijab. And i promised to share some of it’s benefits with you. i’m sure there’s millions (if not Allah wouldn’t prescribe it onto us ladies and He sure knows what’s best!). But i want to share with you on what i just happened to encounter during the fasting month and thought it would be a great thing to share what i know.

I was having my iftar with beloved hubby at Little Penang cafe KLCC one night (yumms!!). And after eating, of course it was time for us to perform our maghrib prayers. and yes! you can imagine the cute, little surau they have on ground floor accommodating hundreds (mebbe thousands!) of people in KLCC to do their prayer, roughly all at the same time!! in one little room no bigger than my clinic lounge!!! i’m sure that is one of the things why some of us just dread having iftar at the mall and a few just decided not to do the prayer at all! the line it took to just take wudhu was as long as the line you’d see in front of the cinema counter on days showcasing a hit movie!

So yes, without trying to think too much about it, i just joined the long caterpillar line and waited. and then u’d see some who starts shoving and pushing wanting to skip the line and what not. again. sabar jer i. then start plak, dah sampai to the front line, baru nak bukak tudung, nak letak tepi, and then start the ablution. after you’re done with that, it’s now time to stare searchingly at the crowded hall for an empty praying mat (sejadah) WITH a pair of telekung folded on top. and if you see one, it’s a scramble to get to it before anyone else does! if that fails, you just have to wait behind a girl whose nearly finished praying and HOPING it’s the wakaf telekung piece so u can use after her, and not being HER OWN telekung! which she will pack nicely and walk away (gladly!) outta there!

But that ends there is if she is not wearing a hijab. to the ones that wear, they would then proceed to the corner with the large corner wall mirror and adjust their tudung and make-up. So does this sound so familiar to you??? of course it does! and i’ve got an old-only-for-those-who-search-for-it recipe!! it could cut all the hassle by half the time and causes less mess and fuss! How???
Here’s how. My fellow muslim sisters. The first thing we must remember:

In Islam, there is only ONE definition of aurat. 

Not 2 or 3 or 4. And that is to cover one-self except the face and both hands up to the wrists. and by covering, most of us tend to forget the ethics of how to cover it up properly. (kindly refer my previous post and the one explained by Ustaz Zaharuddin at this link.

And you all have to understand another thing. A TELEKUNG IS NOT A COMPULSORY ATTIRE TO PRAY IN! jangan takder telekung jer tak boleh nak solat! Unless you’re not covering your aurat in the first place lar! I mean, a TELEKUNG was invented by the indonesians. So it wasn’t a universal clothing piece made by Islam for all women to pray in! you cover your aurat, you’re ready to pray! regardless how you’re dressed to cover that aurat. And a lot of scriptures has been written to guide us on covering the aurat! PROPERLY! ESPECIALLY IN THE QURAN! SO READ! coz without knowledge, one will definitely lose out!

So lets take a look at these examples:

Covered from head to toe. BUT a hijab is not just a mere scarf on your head to cover your hair. Here we can see her (prolly) C-cup boobs and her shape and bon-bons clearly! so if u ask me, this does not represent a MUSLIM women. in fact in tarnishes the very identity of a devout, God-fearing and God-loving muslim women. So can she pray in this?? OF COURSE NO!!


Now take a look at this one. She’s covering all that is ordained by Allah for what muslim women shud cover. and yet she looks beautiful. and decent. sure, Islam does allow a bit of fashion. but not to be overbearing and purposely meant to attract the opposite gender. Just enough to portray chastity with elegance. :)

And guess what! She is also ready to perform the solah in this outfit! yes! to my fellow malaysians. i repeat! There is only ONE definition of aurat in Islam. Not two; one specially for praying and the other one for the non-muhrim.


so how did i benefit from this lesson? sometimes, i would still have my wudhu with me to pray (where i would take it before going out). if i don’t, the only thing i have to join the crowd for is the line to take the ablution. and when it’s my turn, i take my wudhu WITH my hijab and socks on. i’ve asked Dr Asri himself on this one and he said this is permissible as our Rasulullah does it too. (don’t be surprise that it might be only us in malaysia who doesn’t practice this knowledge simply because WE DONT KNOW and DONT BOTHER TO FIND OUT!). Kindly refer to this link for more of the explanation. Tapi if u tak nak takper. im just telling u what i chose to do.

Then after i’m done, (and after noticing A LOT of women eyeing me what i just did as if i just landed on earth or sth!), i proceed to the praying hall and took an empty praying spot with a mat and started praying! why??? because i dont need a telekung and that i’m covered up! PROPERLY! of course when i finished, i still get those eyes following me but i just dismissed them knowing (with yakin) I DID NOTHING WRONG. Then depending on my mood, i would take out my make-up WITH MY OWN small mirror and got my make-up on. See, this part also must be smart lar! although it has nothing related with the whole ibadah process but it’s a vital part in getting ready. So i didn’t have to get in line to get ready in front of that mirror to betulkan my tudung lar, and then put on my make-up, and at the same time letting my partner wait for me for the unnecessary time spent!

Easy kan??? Alhamdulillah! i really feel grateful knowing this knowledge and that Islam really tak menyusahkan hamba-hamba-nya! (it’s just that hamba-hamba dia jer nak susahkan diri sendiri by refusing to learn and make up own rulings!). So in the end, one would have less hassle and less time spent with a lot of people with different kinds of body odor and in that-now humid small room because ramai sgt orang and air-cond pun dah tak rasa!! pastu nak tgk wayang ker, pergi shopping or nak makan dah tak cukup masa! 

So ladies, if you are not covering up in public like you’re ready to perform the solah on the spot, then you’re JUST NOT COVERING UP! Where got such thing? masa solat, tutup kaki, tutup boobs. Masa keluar depan org lelaki, tak payah tutup kaki and tudung nampak boobs! camon lar sister!! if tak tahu takper. but if tahu and refuse to follow, mengaku jer ok! jangan promote to other women and then comment they tak as fashionable as you. It’s not ‘fashion’ that will determine us a guaranteed spot in heaven. It’s how closely we try our best to adhere to the rules of Allah. It’s not easy, (for me i admit), and it requires some form of sacrifice from all of us. But insyaAllah, we will be blessed with a strong will and a strong heart to do it. and may He forgive our sins of ignorance in the past.

So, i guess that’s all i have to share for now. This post was written purely to share the convenience Islam has given to us women when we are advised to wear the hijab and cover our aurat. A rule sent down from Allah was not meant to be turned or manipulated into a difficult thing or be ‘remeh’ in our daily lives. And with great sacrifices to follow His rules, comes great rewards later just as He had promised. as He did so countlessly mentioned in the Quran. And He NEVER BREAKS HIS PROMISE.

“ You can’t say liberal muslim or a moderate muslim. You can say PRACTICING MUSLIM, PARTIALLY-PRACTICING or NON-PRACTICING muslim.” -Dr Zakir Naik. 

So which one are we? ;)

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