O Muslims, the issue of women is neither new nor easy. It is, in fact, a great issue that must be paid great attention to and things that could uproot evil and corruption in relation to them must be studied. It is an eternal issue, old and recent. It was an issue for the Children of Israel and they were cursed when their women openly strutted about with their adornment showing. It is also an issue for this Ummah (nation) about which the Messenger of Allah, , warned. In a Hadeeth, he said: "I have not left behind a more harmful temptation to men than women." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] This Hadeeth implies a warning against this great temptation as well as an attempt to eradicate the causes of evil from the very outset.

O Muslims, the problem of women has become serious and its evil has greatly and increasingly appeared in many forms: not adhering to Hijab, revealing their faces and loitering in markets. All this has been forbidden by Allah The Almighty and His Messenger, . Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {….And do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance.} [Quran 33: 33]

O Muslims, women have gone to extremes in the impermissible exposure of their adornment. A woman now wears the finest clothes when she goes out to the markets. She wears a gown, which is either short and does not cover the whole body, or light that reveals what is underneath or she lifts it to reveal the beauty of her clothing and adornment, or tight indicating the size of her body. All this, however, is forbidden by Allah The Almighty and His Messenger, . Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment.} [Quran 24: 31]

Some women reveal their arms to show their jewelry, adornment and soft complexion. Worse than this is when the woman goes out perfumed. It was narrated that the Prophet, , said: "Any woman who applies perfume and passes by people to smell her fragrance is an adulteress."

The ignorance of today is much severer than the ignorance of former times. Once the Prophet, , came out of the Masjid (Mosque) and observed that there was intermixing between the two sexes on the pathway. Thereupon, he said to the women: "Give way (walk to the sides) as it is not appropriate for you to walk in the middle of the road. Stick to the edges." Thereafter, the women would walk so close to the wall that their dresses would rub against it.

O Muslims, where are the women who respond to the command of Allah and His Messenger, ? Offer advice to the foolish among you and persistently push them to follow the truth. Men are required to prevent women from exposing their beauty and applying perfume when going out. This must take place before the advent of the curse of Allah upon us. Even, greater than this is that we must do so before the prevention of rain. Birds curse disobedient humans and the sea asks daily for permission to drown them. Where is protective jealousy about religion? Women have been left free to joke with men, buy and sell from them and go to markets without adherence to the commands and prohibitions of the Sharee‘ah. Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we indeed shall return. There is no power and no strength save in Allah.

O Muslims, if your enemies called you to disbelief or Shirk (polytheism), you would surely not respond to them. Hence, they are satisfied with destroying your morals and religion from other angles. One such way is through minor sins, which you belittle but which in fact are collecting for you and will finally lead you to Hell. In a Hadeeth, the Prophet, , said: "The devil has despaired of making idols worshipped (again) in the lands of the Arabs; so, he will be satisfied with making you commit what is lesser than this, which is minor sins. These minor sins will be destructive on the Day of Judgment."

(To be continued)