Ideal Muslimah
Lecture # 16
(From
the book Ideal Muslimah by Dr. Muhammad Ali al-Hashimi)
Chapter
2: The Muslim Woman and Her Own Self
1 - HER BODY
She
exercises regularly p. 58
The
Muslim woman does not forget to maintain her physical fitness and energy by
following the healthy practices recommended by Islam. But she is not content
only with the natural, healthy diet referred to above: she also follows an
organized exercise program, appropriate to her physical condition, weight, age
and social status. These exercises give her body agility, beauty, good health,
strength and immunity to disease; this will make her more able to carry out her
duties, and more fit to fulfil her role in life, whether it be as a wife or
mother, young girl or old woman.
Her
body and clothes are clean
The
Muslim woman who truly follows the teachings of Islam keeps her body and
clothes very clean.
She takes care of her mouth and teeth
The
intelligent Muslim woman takes care of her mouth, for no-one should ever have
to smell an unpleasant odour coming from it. She does this by cleaning her
teeth with a siwak, toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash after every meal. She
checks her teeth and visits the dentist at least once a year, even if she does
not feel any pain, in order to keep her teeth healthy and strong.
The
Prophet's concern for oral hygiene was so great that he said:
"If
it were not for the fact that I did not want to overburden my ummah, I would
have ordered them to use the siwak before every prayer." [Sahih
Muslim]
`A'ishah
(May Allah be pleased with her) was asked what the Prophet (PBUH) used to do
first when he came home. She said, "Use siwak." [Sahih Muslim]
He
said: "Whoever eats onions, garlic or leeks should not approach our
mosque, because whatever offends the sons of Adam may offend the angels." [Sahih
Muslim]
She
takes care of her hair
The
Prophet (PBUH) also taught Muslims to take care of their hair, and to make it
look attractive and beautiful, within the limits of Islamic rulings.
The
Prophet (PBUH) always took note of people's appearance, and he never saw a
scruffily-dressed man with untidy hair but he criticized him for his
self-neglect.
Imam
Ahmad and al-Nisa'i report that Jabir (RAA) said: "The Messenger of Allah
(PBUH) came to visit us, and he saw an unkempt man whose hair was going in all
directions, so he said, `Could he not find anything with which to calm his
head?'" [Imam Ahmad]
Good
Appearance
It
is no surprise that the Muslim woman is concerned with her clothes and
appearance, without going to extremes or making a wanton display of herself.
She presents a pleasing appearance to her husband, children, mahram relatives
and other Muslim women, and people feel comfortable with her. She does not put
them off with an ugly or untidy appearance and she always checks herself and
takes care of herself, in accordance with the teachings of Islam, which asks
its followers to look good in ways that are permitted.
She
does not go to extremes of beautification or make a wanton display of herself
Paying
attention to one's appearance should not make a Muslim woman fall into the trap
of wanton display (tabarruj) and showing her beauty to anyone other than
her husband and mahram relatives. She should not upset the balance which is the
basis of all Islamic teaching, for the Muslim woman always aims at moderation
in all things, and is on the alert to prevent any one aspect of her life from
taking over at the expense of another.
One
of the worst excesses that many modern Muslim women have fallen into is the
habit of showing off expensive outfits at wedding parties, which have become
fashion shows where competition is rife and is taken to extremes far beyond the
realms of common sense and moderation. This phenomenon becomes clearest when
the bride herself wears all her outfits, which may number as many as ten, one
after the other: each time she changes, she comes out and shows it off to the
other women present, exactly like the fashion models in the West. It does not
even occur to the women among whom this habit is common, that there may be
women present who are financially unable to buy such outfits, and who may be
feeling
depressed
and jealous, or even hostile towards the bride and her family, and other rich
people. Nothing of this sort would happen if brides were more moderate, and
just wore one or two outfits at their wedding parties. This is better than that
extravagant showing-off which is contradictory to the balanced, moderate spirit
of Islam.
Nasiha
on Ramadan
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