Improper dress for women and intermingling between sexes



The greatest and most important of all the favors and blessings bestowed by Allaah is Islam and the honorable Islamic law, which is derived from the Book of Allaah and the Prophetic Sunnah. This Law has outlined all that which is beneficial for mankind in this life and the Hereafter.

One of the virtues of this Law is that its rules and regulations have clearly laid out preventions of all evil and immorality, and all the roads that lead to it which is a protection of the truth and morality. There are many issues for which this Law has laid out preventative measures so that people will not fall into evil, for example on some of the issues of faith, acts of worship and transactions.

However, the most obvious of all of these preventative measures are those related to women and the limits that Allaah has defined for them not to exceed. Islam has clearly laid the guidelines for the Muslim woman to adhere to so that her personality remains distinct and her safety, purity, and good conduct are assured.

The correct dress and covering for women and the prohibition of them intermixing with men are the two most important interconnected preventative measures that Islam has laid out. Muslims must submit to the rulings which oblige women to properly cover in order to protect their chastity and purity, maintain shyness and protect them from being harassed or bothered, as Allaah says (what means): {O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known [as chaste believing women] and not be abused. And ever is Allaah Forgiving and Merciful} [Quran 33: 59].

In this verse, Allaah addressed the wives of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who were the furthest from immorality and evil actions; they were purest and most pious women ever and were honored by the virtue of being married to the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

Muslims must also adhere and submit to the rulings which prohibit intermixing mixing between men and women. There are many Islamic texts in this regard, such as the Hadeeth which is narrated by ‘Uqbah Ibn ‘Aamir, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Do not enter into the presence of women.” A man from the Ansaar then retorted: ‘What about our in-laws’ - referring to the relatives of a woman's husband such as his brothers, cousins, and their children, so the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: “The in-laws are death” [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim] which means that they are more harmful to women than death is to the soul. The previous evidence came from the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, whose words were nothing but revelation. So how could anybody ever accept anyone else's opinion over this?