WOMEN AND ZINĀ

Mujaddid Alf Thānī Imām Rabbānī Aĥmad al-Fārūqī al-Sirhindī al-Naqshbandī al-Ĥanafī [971-1034 AH / 1564-1634 CE] writes in one of his Maktūbāt regarding necessary guidelines for women and on the meaning of the verse,

❝O Nabī! If Muslim women come to you.❞ https://twitter.com/AbuKitten1/status/1333647597660155904

Allāh táālā states:

❝O Nabī! If Muslim women come to you to take oath of allegiance that they will neither ascribe any partner to Allāh, nor steal, nor commit zinā, nor kill their children, nor bing the lie that they carry between their hands and feet, nor disobey you in any

rightful matter - then accept their allegiance and seek forgiveness from Allāh for them; indeed Allāh is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.❞

[Mumtaĥanah, 60:12]

Explaining the third condition he writes:

❝The third condition associated with the bayáh of women in the holy text is

the prohibition of zinā. The women’s bayáh is specially associated with this condition because the accomplishment of zinā is associated with the consent of most women as they present themselves to men for this deed. Women are the forerunners in this deed and their consent in this

deed is significant. Thus, the prohibition of this deed shall be emphasised more for women and men are followers to women in this deed, that Ĥazrat Ĥaqq subĥānahū Himself mentioned the fornicating woman before the fornicating man in the Kitāb-i-Majīd:

❛That woman who is a fornicator and that man - punish each one of them with a hundred lashes.❜¹

And this evil is one which harms in dunyā and the ākhirat and is evil and rejected in all religions.

Ĥudhayfah رضي اللہ تعالی عنہ has narrated from Ĥazrat-i-Paygambar that he ﷺ

said, ❛O mankind! Abstain from zinā, as it has six perils; three in dunyā and three in ākhirat. Of the three perils of dunyā, one is that the gracefulness, cleanliness, and illumination of the zānī is wasted away. Another one is that zinā is a cause for poverty and destitution.

The third is that it reduces a man’s age. And those three perils that await the zānī in the ākhirat are the wrath of Allāh jalla sulţānuhū, second being harshness in being accounted, and the third one being the punishment of fire.❜

Know that, Hadīth-i-Nabawī say that he ﷺ

has stated that the zinā of the eyes is looking at strange women, zinā of the hands is holding/touching strange women, and the zinā of the feet is walking towards strange women.

Allāh tabāraka wa táālā stated:

❛Command the Muslim men to keep

their gaze low and to protect their private organs; that is much purer for them.❜

And Allāh tabāraka wa táālā stated:

❛And command the Muslim women to keep their gaze low and to protect their chastity.❜

It should be known that hearts are followers of eyes. Until the eyes

are shut from ĥarām, safeguarding the heart is difficult and if the eye is afflicted [with sin], then the heart being saved is difficult, and if the heart is arrested [on sin], then it is very tough to save the private part. Therefore, it becomes necessary to shut the eye from

prohibitions so that it facilitates the safeguarding of the private parts and does not lead to losses in both matters of dīn and dunyā; and the Qur'ān-i-Majīd even prohibits from this that women talk to strange men softly and sweetly like the sinful women, so much so

that they lead the sinful men to evil fantasies, and gives birth to evil greed in their hearts; and women should speak good [i.e. permissible] things in such a manner that does not lead to such [evil] fantasies and greed.²

And it has also been prohibited that women display their

beauty and ornaments in front of men and indulge them in [evil] desires.

And it has also been prohibited that they strike their feet on the ground so that their hidden beauty becomes known as gold or silver anklets and other such ornaments will move and cause sound and draw

attention towards women from the men.

draw attention towards women from the men.

Shortly, any thing that leads to sinfulness is forbidden and evil and should be abstained from, then the means and causes of prohibitions should also be abstained from so that one is saved from the

prohibitions proper.

And Allāh subĥānahū alone is The One who saves and my success is by none other than Allāh, in Him I place my trust and to Him do I turn.

It should not be hidden that lustfully looking at and touching other women too come under the same

ruling as that of strange men. It is not allowed that a woman prepare herself for anyone other than her husband or adorn or beautify herself. Other than her husband, doesn’t matter if it is another man or woman, just as men are forbidden from lustfully looking at and touching

amrads [beardless boys], women too are forbidden from lustfully looking at and touching other women.

This point shall be propagated well as this path leads to [severe] losses in dunyā and ākhirat. It is difficult for men to reach women because of [being of] the opposite gender

and there are barriers in the way. On the other hand, it is easy for a woman to approach another woman due to belonging to the same gender. On this matter, extreme care must be taken, and warnings regarding women [lustfully] casting glances at and touching other women should be

in a more manifest, illuminated, and open manner as opposed to warnings regarding men looking at and touching women or women looking at and touching men.❞

Ábdullāh al-Mujaddidī al-Naqshbandī writes, commenting under this:

¹ The imam shows from the Quran that men follow women

in this deed, the fornicating man being mentioned after the woman. While the men may be more aggressive, most of the times, the cause of initiation of the act is due to the woman.

² The imam is saying women should not flirt with men. These days, we seek Allah’s refuge, hijabi

sisters speak fliratiously with kafir men, thinking they are doing da’wah. The imam gives the perfect litmus test to root out this flirtation. The sister should assess, “Will my mannerisms in front of this man lead him to think of me and be attracted to me or cause him to want to

spend more time with me OR am I just speaking in a platonic manner and to the point on a good topic, sending no signals willingly or unwillingly, to this man?” Sisters should never laugh and display their feminine charm and pique when conversing with men and should always be

stern without being disrespectful. In the Shari’ah a woman is not even expected to reply to a strange man’s salam, and it is makruh for a man to even say salam to a strange woman.

Ahadith and scholars have cursed women who use their feminine softness to sell an item, and such a

transaction, and the men folk who utilize the services of such a woman.

It is especially disgraceful for a Muslim woman to flirt with kafir men. Muslim women should be extra assertive to kafir men and should always be bold in refusing handshakes to these people Allah calls

“the worst of creation” (98:6), His “enemies” (2:98) and as “filth” (9:28) in the Quran, and only converse with them in an extremely platonic, cold and unfriendly manner. All Muslims are forbidden from seeking friendships with kuffaar and the evils of a Muslim sister befriending

a kafir male are increased exponentially.

Suffice it to say that the fiqh of ALL FOUR SUNNI MADHHABS prohibits Muslim women from opening up EVEN in front of kafir WOMEN.

Muslim women must observe hijab from EVEN the women of the kuffaar. This is a basic, standard ruling in ALL

FOUR madhhabs that can be seen in ALL standard books of fiqh.

This prohibition is because there is a fear that the women of the kuffaar will describe the Muslim sister’s beauty to their men. Such is the exaltation of a Muslim woman’s chastity, that the noble Shari’ah doesn’t

even want her beauty to be described in front of the kafir men. What then can we say about Muslim sisters who willingly flirt with kuffaar men?

It is also reprehensibly disliked/forbidden in ALL the madhhabs for Muslim women to kiss christian/jewish/fire-worshiper/other kafir

women to greet them.

The Hanafis can see Imam Ibn Abidin’s Radd Al-Muhtaar (a basic Hanafi fiqh primer) 9/613 where it states explicitly that a Muslim woman can NOT reveal her ‘awrah to a kafir woman, christian or jew or idolatress. Please also note that Imam Ibn Abidin paints

christians and jews with the same brush as idolators. Another proof that people of the book are kafirs.

The honor and dignity of a Muslimah is simply incomparable to the dishonor and disgrace of a kafirah (female kafir).

There is NO sisterhood between a Muslimah and a kafirah

that a Muslimah open her hijab in front of a kafirah like she does in front of other Muslimah’s.

In fact respectable [Muslim] women are not allowed to uncover in front of [Muslim] women of ill-repute too, like prostitutes or illicit dancers, as there is a danger of them talking

about their beauty in front of other men of ill-repute. A kafirah is of an ill-er repute than a Muslimah of ill repute – by default. This is an Islamic creedal point. The lightest word used for kafirs in the Quran is “fasiq” which means “open sinner” or a person of ill repute.

Needless to say that the very second a person honors kufr (disbelief) or kafir (disbeliever), he/she immediately becomes a disbeliever himself.

Contemplate well dear sister. When a Muslimah’s chastity is commanded to be guarded from other kafirah women even, then exactly how

lowly and disgraceful it must be for a Muslimah to display her feminine softness and charm to a kafir male, even if unknowingly?! What can we say regarding those, may Allah protect us all, who actively and knowingly flirt with kafir men?!

Any “scholar” or “teacher” who gives you

the impression that he’d like to see you talk light-heartedly to kafir men or even be carelessly light-hearted around Muslim men is not a teacher or a shaykh but purely a shaytan and a dayyuth. In any case, the rule is simple, in any dealing with a male, the sister should always

think “Will my words/actions cause the man to be infatuated by my charm, even 1%?”