For The Sake of Him

Situation One:

''Adibah, why are you not covering your aurah and wearing a hijab?'' asks Aisya to her friend.
''Oh dear Aisya, come on lah. To wear a hijab in our country which is so hot and humid does not make sense," says Adibah, shrugging off Aisya's question.
''Really? So, hang baca kat mana yang kata kalau duduk kat negara yang panas ni tak payah pakai tudung?''

Situation Two:

''Zahirah, what is the reason you cover your aurah and wear hijab?'' asks Fatima to her colleague, Zahirah, the most fashionable person she knows.
''Thing is, the hottest fashion trend in Malaysia nowadays is to wear hijab you know and I need to follow the trend because I am a true fashionista," answers Zahirah while flashing her signature smile.
''So you are a hijabista-fashionista for the sake of fashion lah? I thought you wore hijab for the sake of Allah...'' 

Still in a dilemma whether you need to cover your aurah or not? Or you still don't know why you have to wear hijab? This is what Allah says in the Quran:

"And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their head covers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed."
(Surah an-Nur, verse 31)

First of all, I want to emphasize that as a believer, we have to try our best to please Him everyday because we are now living on the earth, a place that is created by Allah SWT so please follow Allah's rules. (Even if you say that you are living on Mars, or Venus, or Neptune, you are still living on the place that is created by Allah SWT.)

Allah provides us with a brain for us to think, understand and practice amar makruf and nahi mungkar. Our iman might be up and down, I understand, but as long as we keep reminding ourselves and others that we live for Allah SWT in the defense of the Quran and the Sunnah, insya-Allah, we will istiqamah to walk on the right path towards Allah SWT. (Also, don't forget about the reward that Allah promises for us if we istiqamah for Him - Jannah!)

Hijab is one of the way for us to respect the revelation from Him. It is written clearly in Surah an-Nur. Not only in Surah an-Nur, we also need to look upon Surah al-Ahzab. As in Surah an-Nur, it circulates the area of public-gendered space, gaze and aesthetic value.

After doing some browsing in tumblr, I see that many women from western countries like US and UK have converted into Islam because they see the beauty of Islam. They wear hijab and cover their aurah beautifully and modestly. At the same token, I am wondering why Muslim women in Malaysia are heading towards western culture? The only reason that appears in my mind is because most of us women in Malaysia are Muslim by default and that make us take our religion for granted. We comfortably think that it is enough to have the title 'Islam' only in our ID card. Truly, this is really disappointing.

Dear sisters that I love dearly for the sake of Allah to no end, I know that sometimes, it is difficult to cover our aurah completely. I understand the desire to appear as a beautiful lady in front of others. I get the fact that we like it if others praise our beauty. Sometimes it is really irritating to wear hijab during a hot sunny day. But remember what they say, ''Every drop of sweat in your body is the heaviest on the scale. You've shaded yourself here, Allah will shade you on the Judgement Day where there is no shade except His shade.''

Be proud of being a muslimah because we are the core of the ummah, we are the back bone of the ummah so that is why Islam elevates our status. Besides, we do not wear hijab because of the pressure from our peers, nor the pressure from the community. We wear it because it is the command from Allah. We wear it for Allah.

''Take some trouble on the way to Allah. Allah will not leave us unpaid, if not in this world, then in the next He will reward you. If aside from Him, you have no reward in this world, what could be better. This world is nothing. This pomp and these personalities will come to an end after a few days, like a dream passes before the eyes of man but the other worldly reward is infinite and never ending.'' - Imam Khomeini

As intelligent women, we have a choice to choose to obey Him or to ignore His command. I, as a 19-year-old Muslim woman, would advise you to never doubt His existence. I have spit out all the words but the choice is in your hand. Remember that if a human disobey Allah, He did not lose anything but that human will lose everything. Refresh our mind and say to our soul, ''I must cover up for Allah. Because Allah tells me to. I am a daughter of Islam. I am Islam's Dignity.''

Something to ponder; a true muslimah is the one who never forgets that Islam, which encourage her to look attractive under the permitted limits, is also the religion that warns her against extravagance. Keep holding on and be proud to say 'la ilaha illallah, muhammadur rasulullah' even though we might live in an environment that is full with mischief, transgression, evil deeds and acts.

Let us learn and understand more about the 'iffah, the honour and the dignity of women and practice to be among the ladies with al-hayaa' (modesty). Don't be fooled by dunya, please. May Allah reward all of us with Jannatul Feerdaus, ameen.