Posted by: theMajlis

Fashion Parades, the Ulama and the Madrasah

ANSWER:

We can lament with certitude that o­n the Friday which followed this evil and haraam fashion parade of Jaahiliyyah, when the Malaaikah presented the deeds of the Ummah to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), his mubaarak heart must have bled profusely. Every Friday the deeds of the Ummah are presented to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). Most assuredly, Nabi-e-Kareem in Aalam-e-Barzakh must be viewing with total revulsion the evil which learned people are in this day perpetrating in the name of the very Qur’aan and Sunnah which Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) delivered and taught to destroy kufr and all vestiges of immorality and Jaahiliyyah which applies to the haraam modelling show or fashion parade.

No Muslim requires knowledge to understand the evil and prohibition of this fashion show. It is absolutely revolting that Qur’aanic aayaat and Ahaadith were presented in substantiation of a haraam fashion show in which baalighah girls were so callously misused to parade their haya for the haraam pleasure of the audience. The all-women audience makes absolutely no difference. The exhibition of Jaahiliyyah remains haraam. The list of evils of the haraam fashion parade by Muslim girls under the aegis of a Madarasah and organized by Ulama citing the Qur’aan and Hadith in substantiation, is formidable:

1) The very concept of a fashion show is immoral in the Shariah. Islam teaches its womenfolk to conceal themselves, not expose and express themselves. It is utterly contemptible to parade girls in this kaafir fashion. The Shariah does not allow them to come to the Musjid for even Salaat. The Shariah commands them to perform their Salaat in the most concealed corner of their homes. By what stretch of imagination and Islamic Intelligence can it ever be claimed that putting up baalighah and muraahiqah girls to publicly model dresses, and that too haraam dresses of pride and show? Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: Whoever dons garments of pride in this world, will be clad with raiments of disgrace (i.e. of the fire) in Qiyaamah."

2) Men listening to the description of the dresses which the girls modelled. This is zina of the ears. It incites lust in the diseased hearts of men. And, o­nly men with diseased hearts will venture into proximity of such a mal-oon and mabghudh haraam modelling parade.

3) Allowing the girls to parade bare-headed with their hair all loose, and painted up like gay coons with haraam cosmetics, aggravates the evil. It was indeed utterly shameless for the organizers and the girls to have appeared in public (even if o­nly infront of women) with their heads uncovered. They have to cover their heads for even Allah Ta’ala when performing Salaat, in fact, when they are not even performing Salaat. The natural haya of a Mu’minah dictates that she keeps her head covered out of shame for even Allah Azza Wa Jal. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said that the Malaaikah of Rahmat do not frequent a home in which the womenfolk wander around bare-headed. This applies even if there are no ghair mahaareem in the house. It is not permissible for a Muslim man or woman to strut around naked even in solitude in the house where there is not a soul present. The Fiqhi (juridical) arguments relative to satr are unrelated to Murawwat (Islamic-Sunnah culture) which is an extremely lofty concept.

Haya is such a lofty and noble attribute of Imaan that Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahmatullah alayh) would not bare his head even when alone in his room. It is simply not Islamic – not Sunnah culture for women to strut about without head-covering even at home. What judgement should be passed about girls parading with evil garb and bare heads in a show of riya?

4) The Qur’aan Majeed commands: "And remain resolutely inside your homes, and do not make a display of yourselves like the exhibition of Jaahiliyyah." The fashion parade in which girls projected and displayed themselves to all and sundry, was undoubtedly an exhibition of Jaahiliyyah. In addition to this haraam modelling, they were encouraged and dragged out of their homes by Deeni personnel to publicly auction themselves and put up their ’charms’ for show and humiliation. They were taught and instructed in the art of riya—to show off un-Islamic garment. They were ordered by their seniors to display themselves to the public with garments of riya whereas the entire thrust of Islam’s concept of Hijaab is o­n maximum female concealment. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said that when a woman emerges from her home, shaitaan lays in ambush for her.

The modelling show was in total conflict and negation of the Islamic concept of Hijaab with its emphasis o­n female concealment. This evil fashion parade is in violent conflict with the whole corpus of Akhlaaq-e-Hameedah (The Beautiful attributes of excellence).

5) Riya or show. Riya, undoubtedly was the prime attitude prevailing in the minds of the girls when they were modelling and showing off the haraam shararas, gararas haraamas and punjabi dresses. Such dresses are never permissible for Muslim women who believe in Allah and the Day of Qiyaamah. Show, parading, fashioning and modelling are all elements of riya and lewdness. These are acts of the kuffaar. Fashion shows are integral constituents of the kuffaar, more specifically western, idea of pleasure and recreation.

6) Modelling the wedding dress was an aggravated factor of evil. What must have been going through the mind of the young girl when she donned the wedding dress projecting herself as a married woman? A wedding dress has no place in Muslim society. It is a customary practice of non-Muslims. Muslim society is a society of the Sunnah, not a society which has enslaved itself to the norms and styles of westernism. A wedding is associated with a relationship in the making with a male. The young girl was schooled in the idea of zina of the mind. She was simulating a relationship with some imaginary man. Her seniors are guilty of having polluted her mind and heart.

The response to the fallacious arguments presented in support of this haraam modelling parade is as follows:

a) There is no Qur’aanic verse nor any Hadith from which substantiation could be drawn for this haraam fashion show. The Qur’aan and Hadith instruct hayaa, purdah, concealment and self-denial. The Qur’aan and Hadith can never support a fashion show which is an immoral practice of the kuffaar. In the fourteen centuries of Islam’s history, was there ever a dress fashion show or a modelling show where girls paraded and exhibited themselves? Ignorant Muslims too cannot accept the baseless claims made by the trustee Maulana Saheb.

b) Hadhrat Aishah (radhiyallahu anha) did not lend any of her dresses out. She, however, had borrowed the dress of her sister, Hadhrat Asmaa (radhiyallahu anha) to put o­n. But does the Hadith say that she went to a model show or fashion show to put herself and her sister’s dress o­n exhibition? It is too ridiculous to cite this Hadith in support of a fashion show. What relationship is there between a person borrowing a dress and a fashion parade where young girls strut around like prostitutes advertising their charms? Did Hadhrat Aishah (radhiyallahu anha) make an exhibition of herself with the dress? What was the purpose of having borrowed the dress from her sister? She never paraded infront of other women showing off the dress. In the tafseer of the Hadith it is mentioned very clearly that she had borrowed the dress to adorn herself for Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), her husband.

Does the Maulana Saheb not understand the difference between a wife adorning herself for her husband and women putting themselves up for show and exhibition to other people? It is an absolute absurdity to cite the dress-hadith in support of the haraam fashion parade.

c) "Looking the best o­n o­ne’s wedding day"? What does this mean? For whom should the bride ‘look her best’? Definitely not for the public even if the public consists of o­nly women. She has to appear in her best form for her husband, not for others. Further, what relevance does this have with the haraam fashion parade? Was any of the girls or the particular girl modelling the wedding gown getting married at the fashion show? Was that her wedding day? For whom did she elect to look her best o­n the fashion show day? What has the wedding day to do with the fashion show day? This argument is palpably stupid.

d) It is not an issue of women being allowed to dress up in front of their mahrams and ladies. In fact, a woman, especially a young girl, should appear with hayaa (shame) infront of even her mahram males. She should not make an exhibition of herself in front of even her mahram males. She should be dressed simply and modestly in front of all people, her mahram males and ladies included. Islam does not exhort her to appear gaudily dressed in front of ladies or her mahram males, especially in immoral outfits such as punjabis, shararas, gararas and haraamas. Furthermore, the fashion show was not a private setting in a home where a girl appears in front of her uncles and grandfather. In fact, the Fuqaha have said that girls should not appear with total freedom in front of even their paternal uncles. They should exercise caution with even uncles.

There is not a vestige of merit in the nonsensical arguments tendered in substantiation of the haraam fashion parade. Undoubtedly, it was a major sin. It was an act of shaitaan and an exhibition of riya and zina.

The Imam of the Musjid who had apologized for his opposition, has rendered Islam a disservice. His apology has confused the minds of ignorant people. He has betrayed Islam for fear of possibly losing his job. He should understand that o­nly Allah Ta’ala is the Raaziq, not the trustees who have employed him. The teachers who had resigned are to be complimented for the firm stand and their dissociation from haraam.

The split in the community is a healthy sign to be welcomed. At least there are some people in the community who do not accept baatil and haraam even if a Maulana condones it with aayats and ahaadith. As long as there are such people who take a firm stand against haraam and baatil, it is hoped that the universal Athaab of Allah Ta’ala will not overtake the whole community.

We are living in an age in which the insanity of total emulation (tashabbuh) of the kuffaar has left Muslims wallowing in mental torpidity, unable to distinguish right from left, and incapable of differentiating between vice and virtue, halaal and haraam. When an ‘imam’ of a Musjid professes to be a gay, and a so-called Islamic radio rushes to offer tacit support to this vile cause of sodomy by disseminating over the air the homosexual viewpoint calling for ‘tolerance’, and when Maulanas cite the Qur’aan and Ahadith falsely in a morbid bid to accord Shar’i sanction to an exhibition of Jaahiliyya, then there can be no difficulty in comprehending the moribund condition of the Imaan of the Ummah. o­nly Allah Ta’ala can save this Ummah from its headlong plunge in the pit of abysmal gloom and ruin."The Majlis" Vol 16 No 03