How To Start Your Journey Of Religious Responsibility?

The present text is the most precious gift we can give our daughters at the time when they start their journey from childhood to womanhood. Filled with lessons on the rules of Allah regarding behaviour, religious responsibility and social rulings, this small but compact booklet will be the perfect way to introduce to a girl the concepts of Allah, His rules and regulations and the ways of our Prophet and his Purified household.

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Dedication

In the Name of God, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

To the flower that blossomed to be a girl

Who no creature in the world

Is more gentle that she is,

In her journey of religious responsibility

We offer her this book as a gift.

Greetings

Now, light is shining in the dawn of the hours of your life. And the morning is breathing a sweet fragrance that fills the heart with happiness.

She [the girl] chants, "O God! At the beginning of my life and during my first moments of religious responsibility, I thank You! I thank You because You looked at me from Your sacred throne and made me deserving to obey You and become religiously responsible."

Then, the sacred voice addresses her from the sky of mercy, "O My girl! Enter the yard of My Tenderness and Love!"

Really, these moments will never be erased from the memory and the heart of the girl.

She asks, "O my God! Have I, the girl who used to play and enjoy childhood a few months and years ago, become a responsible girl? Am I to be asked about everything I say and do? Have I really started my journey of religious responsibility through life?"

She is answered, "Yes, my dear girl, you have."

When you were a child, you used to be in the presence of The Most High God. Now, you are still in His presence, but there is an important difference between childhood and adulthood. It is that you will now start one of the most beautiful experiences of your life which, we promise, is going to be the most important too.

We offer you this book as a gift because you have started your journey of religious responsibility. This small book that you softly carry with your hands will accompany you along this new experience, and it will be your faithful friend.

During your travel from the innocent childhood towards the chaste and righteous youth, this friend will supply you with all the delicious nutrition for the mind and the soul. In addition to the basic flowers of knowledge, it will provide you from Islam's orchard with fruits perfumed with the fragrance of the intellect of Prophet Muhammad's Household (God's peace and blessings bestowed upon them).

Come on, you pure girl. Let us wander among the papers of this book in order to pick these flowers and eat these fruits. As a result, we will elevate to the skies of piety, guidance, and obedience to God. God loves us so much, so we worship Him as a sign of our love and glorification to Him.

The Universal Vision

Look at the creatures around you. You are able to see, touch, and feel them by means of your senses. Here appears a question: "Are the things I know through my senses the only things there? Or are there other things that I do not feel by my senses, yet they exist?" This is a very important question that belongs to a group of similar great questions, such as:

Who created me and the creatures of the world? How should I live in order to attain happiness? Where will I go after this life?
May God's Mercy be bestowed upon him who knows, "Where did I come from?" "Where am I living?" and "Where will I go?"
Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (God's peace bestowed upon him)

You must not delay or ignore the answers to these great questions because they are related to the reason of your existence. When you get the answers and when you believe that these answers are true, they form what is known as "the creed" or "the universal vision".

The universal vision can be divine or non-divine.

When God sends a revelation to His prophets (God's peace bestowed upon them) to answer these questions, the result of these answers will be a "divine universal vision". On the other hand, when limited human minds provide several answers to these questions, the result will be "various non divine universal visions".

The universal vision of each human being has a basic influence on the building of his/ her personality.
Imam Al-Khamene’i (May God lengthen his presence among us)

Regarding the existence, the divine universal vision in The Noble Qur'an explains for us the following:

1. The Most High God is the source of this existence. The One and the Only God is our Creator and the Creator of everything around us. He is our Lord Who guides us, and He is our God Who deserves our worship. There is nothing like Him, and He owns all the perfections that can be imagined.

His is the real life from which He offers life for all the creatures. He is the Real Knower, and all knowledge comes from Him. He is the Most Capable, and no one but He has the capacity, for every capacity comes from Him.

Next to oneness, justice is among God's most important characteristics. This means that He oppresses nobody and prevents nobody from reaching the perfection he/she is aiming at.

Monotheism is the origin and the basis of all creeds. It is our greatest and most important creed. And on its basis, we believe that The Most High God is the Only One Who created this world and all the other worlds.
Imam Al-Khomeini (May his secret be sacred)

2. The Most High and Glorified God sent the prophets (God's peace bestowed upon them) to carry out a great mission: guiding the people to the straight path. He chose them because they are purified from sins and bad deeds and because they have sublime souls.

All the prophets called for the one divine religion i.e. Islam. The last and greatest one was The Master of the Messengers Muhammad ibn Abdullah (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household) who announced Islam completely to all the people.

After Prophet Muhammad (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household), twelve Imams [Authorities] continued this sacred mission. The first one was Ali ibn Abi Taleb (God's peace bestowed upon him). The last one is Imam Al-Mahdi (May God hasten his honorable revelation). Imam Al-Mahdi disappeared because people were turning away from the divine religion and not fighting for God's sake, ordering with what is good, and forbidding what is bad. He is going to appear at the end of this time in order to establish the righteous and the just government.

Even if only one day remains from this life, God will lengthen that day till He sends to people a man from my Household.
The Noblest Prophet (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household)

3. God will resurrect [bring back to life] people after they die for the account. He will punish the wrong doers and reward the good doers during a day called "The Judgment Day". Then, He will send the pagan and the wrong doer to Hell while He will send the believer and the good doer to Heaven.

Therefore, this life is not everything. The real life is the hereafter where God will show all the truths and will immortalize [keep forever] the people either in Heaven or in Hell according to their creeds and deeds in this life.

My dear! These are the origins of religion and some of its parts. What you have to do, at first, is to think deeply about them. Second, you have to make sure that they are correct by means of learning and referring to the mental evidence provided by the books and the scholars. Third, you have to believe in them in order to have your life, path, and resurrection on their basis.

Surah At-Takathur, 102:1-8

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ {1}

The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things),

حَتَّىٰ زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ {2}

Until ye visit the graves.

كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ {3}

But nay, ye soon shall know (the reality).

ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ {4}

Again, ye soon shall know!

كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ {5}

Nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (ye would beware!)

لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمَ {6}

Ye shall certainly see Hell-Fire!

ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ {7}

Again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight!

ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ {8}

Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in!).

The Religious Rules

O, you the flowering bud in the orchard of life! Your deeds must, from now on follow a specific law that makes them as God wants. This law is the religious rules. Islam divides these religious rules into five parts: duties, forbiddances, desirable deeds, detested deeds, and permitted deeds. The only way to win in the hereafter is to follow these rules in this world.

So, my dear! You have become responsible to measure your deeds according to these rules. For this, you are considered "religiously responsible". Let us read in the following chart about their major titles:

The good deed is the advising companion.
Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (God's peace bestowed upon him)

• Duties: They are the deeds that you must perform and that you must not abandon, such as the daily prayers, veiling, honesty, etc.

• Forbiddances: They are the deeds that you must not perform and that you must abandon, such as singing, disobeying the parents, lying, etc.

• Desirable Deeds: They are the deeds that you are rewarded if you perform them and that you can abandon, such as saluting people, giving alms, supplication, etc.

• Detested Deeds: They are the deeds that you are not rewarded if you abandon them and that you can perform, such as talking in the mosque in something rather than glorifying God, sleeping between dawn and sunrise, etc.

• Permitted Deeds: They are the deeds that you are neither rewarded nor punished if you perform or abandon them, such as walking, eating, drinking, etc.

“See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? A goodly word as a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches reach to the sky * Giving its fruits all the time…” [Surah Al-Ibrahim, 14:24-25]

The most important points that you are religiously responsible for are:

1. Imitation

2. Guardianship and Disavowal

3. Not Committing Sins

4. Performing the Duties

“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned… ” [Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:286]

Imitation

As regards the religious rules that you are responsible for carrying out,

Who knows to deduce them?
Who teaches you how to carry them out?

He is the Reference of Imitation.

People must imitate the jurisprudent who protects his religion, preserves himself, opposes his own wishes, and follows his master's order.
Imam Al-Hassan Al-Askari (God's peace bestowed upon him)

The reference of imitation is the one to whom you must refer in order to know the religious rules and the ways of carrying them out correctly. You choose him because he is the one mostly capable to understand the deep and hidden meaning of the verses of The Noble Qur'an and the noble discourses.

You can refer to him in the following ways:
1. By asking him directly about the religious rule

2. By reading his practical thesis

3. By asking the scholars about his advisory opinion

Question: Whom must we imitate?
Answer: You must imitate the jurisprudent who meets the conditions of giving advisory opinions and those of being a reference for people. He must, as a caution, be the most knowing one among the others.

The Leader's Consultations

There are many jurisprudents who meet the conditions of giving advisory opinions and of being references of imitation. Then, whom must we imitate?

If you want to clear yourself and please The Most High God at the same time, all what you have to do is to choose your reference of imitation on the basis of "religious evidence". This means the testimony of two professional scholars for one of the noble references as being the most knowing one among the others.

We will, as an example, mention the testimony of two great jurisprudents for Imam Ali Al-Khamene’i (May God lengthen his presence among us) as being the most knowing one among the others.

Al-Khamene’i is a sun emitting light
Imam Al-Khomeini (May his secret be sacred)

The First Testimony

It is by The Sign of God Sayyed Jaafar Al-Karimi. He is the one of the teachers of high studies in Qom. He attended the discussions of The Great Sign of God Sayyed Al-Khouei (May his secret be sacred) for twenty four years and those of Imam Al-Khomeini (May his secret be sacred) for fourteen years.

He said, "…I have realized that The Leader (May God lengthen his presence among us) has a more exact perception, a quicker wit, and a stronger sense of deducing the branches from the origins than the other great references (May God protect them all) have… From here, I acknowledge and witness that he is the most knowing one among his contemporaries."

The jurisprudent must be characterized by skill, intelligence, and insight in order to be able to guide a big society.
Imam Al-Khomeini (May his secret be sacred)

The Second Testimony

It is by The Sign of God Sheikh Muhammad Yazdi. He said, "I believe that The Sign of God Al-Khamene’i (May God lengthen his presence among us) is the most knowing and powerful one among the rest as regards the lore and the conditions requisite for being the reference of imitation and for carrying out the burdens of being the reference of the nation."

Refer to "The Reference of The Imam The Leader (May God lengthen his presence among us)"

Therefore, dear, you can depend on this evidence and imitate Imam Al-Khamene’i (May God lengthen his presence among us). This means to intend in your heart to follow in your deeds his blessed advisory opinions. Then, when you perform any deed, you will be doing this on this basis.

If the dear jurisprudents had not been present today, it would not have been possible to know which lores to present to people under the title of the lores of the Qur'an, Islam, and the Household.
Imam Al-Khomeini (May his secret be sacred)

Guardianship and Disavowal

You pure one! Faith resides in the heart, but it does not reside there unless it is filled with the love of The Most High God and His authorities on us. This makes us obey them in all our life affairs. This kind of obedience that springs from love is called guardianship.

None of you is considered to be a believer unless he/she loves me more than he/she loves him/ herself and my Household more than his/ her household.
The Noblest Prophet. (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household)

On head of God's authorities is Prophet Muhammad (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household) who is the best among human beings. The Most High God said about him, “The Prophet is more guardian of the believers than they are of themselves”. The Prophet's Purified Household succeeded him. God elevated them above shameful deeds and purified them from sins. The Most High God imposed on us to love them in His Saying, “Say I ask you no reward but the love of my family”.

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much” [Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:21]

The Purified Household are:

The Concluding Prophet
(God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household)
1- Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (God's peace bestowed upon him)
2- Sayyda Fatima Al-Zahraa (God's peace bestowed upon her)
3- Imam Al-Hassan (God's peace bestowed upon him)
4- Imam Al-Houssein (God's peace bestowed upon him)
5- Imam Zein Al-Abideen (God's peace bestowed upon him)
6- Imam Muhammad Al-Baker (God's peace bestowed upon him)
7- Imam Jaafar Al-Sadik (God's peace bestowed upon him)
8- Imam Musa Al-Kathem (God's peace bestowed upon him)
9- Imam Ali Al-Reda (God's peace bestowed upon him)
10- Imam Muhammad Al-Jawad (God's peace bestowed upon him)
11- Imam Ali Al-Hadi (God's peace bestowed upon him)
12- Imam Al-Hassan Al-Askari (God's peace bestowed upon him)
13- Imam Al-Mahdi (May God hasten his honorable revelation)

The last one is The Master of Our Time who is our Imam now. He disappeared. Now, we are waiting for his appearance, so that he will spread justice as oppression was spread.
Imam Al-Mahdi (May God hasten his honorable revelation) ordered us to refer during his disappearance to the jurisprudent scholar. He said, “As regards the current events, refer to the narrators of our discourse; for they are my authority on you, and I am God's authority on you.”

Imam Ali Al-Khamene’i (May God lengthen his presence among us) is the jurisprudent guardian to whom we refer in the general daily affairs of the society, such as: political affairs. He represents the divine blessing bestowed upon us.

After me, there will be twelve princes, all of whom are from Quraish.
The Noblest Prophet (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household)

Opposite to guardianship is disavowal. Disavowal means to feel hatred in your heart towards God's enemies and their deeds and to consider that you belong to the party that opposes their party. You achieve this by refusing to obey the devil and to follow his supporters.

You have declared, through guardianship, your love and obedience to God, the Prophet, the Imams, and the jurisprudent guardian. Then, is it proper that your heart be penetrated by the love of the evil doer and the enemy of God and the Prophet and the believers like the pagans and the oppressors of people and the killers of babies like Israel and the American government for instance?

“You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred. For such He has written faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with true guidance from Himself. And We will admit them to gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein. Allah is pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the Party of Allah. Verily, it is the Party of Allah that will be the successful ” [Surah Al-Mujadilah, 58:22]

Not Committing Sins

O you who have a deep insight! If you see a man walking on the street with one meter forward and two meters backward, will you think that he will ever arrive at his goal, even after a thousand years? Absolutely, you will not!

The case of the sinner while walking on the path towards Heaven is like the case of the one walking above. Every time he/she commits a sin, he/she draws away from Heaven and moves backward on his/her path towards perfection and happiness.

Sins are classified into two groups:
• Little Sins: If one commits a little sin, he/she deserves to be punished.

• Great Sins: If one commits a great sin, he/she deserves to be tortured in Hell.

Beware: It is a great sin to insist on committing little sins.

“If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden to do, We shall remit from you your little sins and admit you to a noble entrance” [Surah An-Nisaa, 4:31]

The most dangerous great sins that you and your peers may fall in are:
1. Lying: It is to tell what is opposite to the truth i.e. to tell an untrue tale.

2. Tale bearing: It is to tell what one person said about another person to the latter one in order to separate them.

3. Backbiting: It is to uncover what the believer refuses to be uncovered about him/herself during his/her absence.

4. Singing: It is to resonate your voice in a way that is similar to that of the meetings of distraction and sins.

5. Squandering: It is to exceed the customary limits as regards the quantity and quality of spending money.

6. Disobeying Parents: It is to talk or behave badly with the mother or the father.

7. Breaking off with kins: It is to break off the relations with any of your main relatives from your mother's or father's side.

8. Eating dead meat: It is to eat the meat that is not slaughtered according to the religious requirements. Also, it is a great sin to eat pig meat or blood.

9. Stealing: It is to take openly or secretly the money of another person without his/ her agreement and to spend it.

10. Abandoning Prayers: It is in general not to pray because one neglects praying and does not think about the hereafter.

Question: If a person abandons the learning of religious affairs, is he/she considered a sinner?
Answer: If a person does not learn the religious rules and this leads to abandoning a duty or doing a forbidden deed, then he/she is considered a sinner.
The Leader's Consultations

Performing Duties

During your life, you will attend a divine school. It is the school of obeying God. This obedience is achieved by intending to draw close to God through performing the religious duties that He imposed on you.

These duties are related to:
1. Mind, such as: meditation, calling the soul to account, etc

2. Speech, such as: glorifying God by the tongue, reciting Qur'an, etc

3. Money, such as: giving alms, paying the fifth of the money, offering the desirable charity, etc

4. Groups of People, such as: group praying, etc

5. Practice, such as: pilgrimage rituals, performing prayers, etc

6. Appearance, such as: veiling, grooming, adorning, etc

7. Relationships, such as: obeying parents, keeping connection with kins, ordering with what is good, forbidding what is bad, intermingling between males and females, etc

“And I created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me ” [Surah Ad-Dhariyat, 51:56]

How To Perform These Duties?

You must know the specific conditions and details related to these duties. You have to know them in order to clear yourself before The Most High God. The science that clarifies these details and conditions for you is called "jurisprudence".

The science that guides you to acquire good morals is ethics. It helps you to perform them in order to get close to God and to please Him and not people. Also, it puts for you the program for performing these duties, preaches you of the hereafter, and guides you to avoid the corrupted morals, such as: arrogance, love of this world, etc.

If God loves a certain human being, He makes him/her a jurisprudent in religion.
Imam Al-Sadiq (God's peace bestowed upon him)

What Are the Main Duties?

A. Praying

O pure one! Praying is the ladder of the believer. It is the path on which your soul walks in order to go up towards God. As a result, you will be a true believer; your heart will be filled with love to God; and you will turn away from this world and will abandon its love.

Praying must be correct in order to be accepted by God. Therefore, it must abide by the religious conditions, which makes you pray correctly from the beginning without the need to repeat it later.

If you want to know more details, you have to ask the scholars, refer to the practical thesis of your religious reference, or read the explanatory books like "How To Pray?".

“Wh en you have finished the prayer, glorify Allah standing, sitting down, and lying down on your sides, but when you are free from danger, perform the prayer. Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed hour” [Surah An-Nisaa, 4:103]

I seek refuge by God from the cursed devil.

In the Name of God, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful

“Perform the prayer from mid-day till the darkness of the night, and recite the Qur'an in the early dawn. Verily, the recitation of the Qur'an in the early dawn is ever witnessed ” [Surah Al-Israa, 17:78]

Praying is the communion of every pious person. The Noblest Prophet, (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household)

The imposed prayers are classified into two parts, the Daily Prayers, and the Prayers Imposed in Specific Cases

The Daily Prayers

1. Morning Prayer: It is made up of two bows. It is performed between the dawn and sunrise.

2. Noon Prayer: It is made up of four bows. It is performed between the noon and a little period of time (what is enough to perform the afternoon prayer) before sunset.

3. Afternoon Prayer: It is also made up of four bows. It is performed between a little period of time after the noon (what is enough to perform the noon prayer) and the sunset.

4. Sunset Prayer: It is made up of three bows. It is performed between the religious sunset and a little period of time (what is enough to perform the evening prayer) before midnight.

5. Evening Prayer: It is made up of four bows. It is performed between a little period of time after sunset (what is enough to perform the sunset prayer) and the religious midnight.

He/she who belittles his/ her prayer does not belong to me.
The Noblest Prophet (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household)

The Prayers Imposed in Specific Cases

1. Verses Prayer: It is made up of two bows that are performed in a special way. It becomes imposed at the moon and sun eclipse, the earthquake, and the universal events that frighten people.

2. Clearing Prayer: When the appointed time for the performance of an imposed daily prayer passes, you have to perform a clearing prayer out of the appointed time.

3. Friday Prayer: It is performed at the noon of Friday when specific conditions are achieved.

4. Vow Prayer: If the responsible believer vows to pray a certain prayer, he/ she has to perform this prayer when the condition is achieved.

5. Dead Prayer: If a Muslim dies and nobody else is present, the present responsible Muslim must wash, embalm, and pray on the dead Muslim.

“Recite what has been revealed to you of the book, and perform the prayer. Verily, the prayer prevents from committing great sins and from polytheism, and the glorification of God is greater indeed. And Allah knows what you do” [Surah Al-Ankabut, 29:45]

B. Ordering with What Is Good and Forbidding What Is Bad

This is one of the noblest and most elevated duties of Islam. When you perform this duty, you show that you are a civilized person, that you care for the future of your society, and that the nature of your soul is good.

Is it correct that you watch the corrupted people yet stand there doing nothing? You have to order with what is good and to forbid what is bad. In other words, you have to guide the abandoner of what is good and the doer of what is bad to make him/ her do what is good and abandon what is bad.

This duty requires from you to know what the good is and what the bad is. The good is every graceful deed imposed by the Islamic doctrine. On the other hand, the bad is every ugly deed forbidden by the Islamic doctrine.

“Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is graceful, enjoining the good and forbidding the bad. And it is they who are the successful” [Surah Ale-Imran, 3:104]

You must apply this divine duty gradually. This means to use the soft and proper means at first. If these means do not have any influence, you then move to harder means, and so on.

If you see a person (your colleague at school, neighbor, relative, etc) doing something bad, you have to start with refusing this deed at your heart and showing your displeasure through frowning and turning away from that person.

If he/she goes on doing the same thing, you have to tell him/ her in a kind way to do what is good and to abandon what is bad. Here you must explain to him/her, in a preach-like tone, the ugliness of the bad deed and the gracefulness of the good deed.

But if you discover that you are unable to influence him/her, all what you have to do is to refuse in your heart the bad deed and to leave him/her alone.

“You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin what is good and forbid what is bad, and you believe in Allah…” [Surah Ale-Imran, 3:110]

C. Wearing the Islamic Veil

O you the soft creature who wants to be a true human! You, of course, do not consider the veil just a cover that the girl puts on her head to cover her hair or just a wide dress that she wears to cover the parts of her body. You have absolutely noticed that the veil is something much more important and more elevated.

You, of course, have lived with veiled women (your mother, sister, friend, relative, neighbor, etc.) and discovered that there is something more than the cloth and the veil. Have you noticed that veiling represents a life style and a human identity for the girl who wants to live according to God's wish: a chaste life with great accomplishments and that is far above the corrupted characteristics?

Wearing the Veil

• a national dress and a public model

• an escape from wearing the modern models

• a prison and an isolation from others

• a law preventing the girl from living her own life

So, what is the real identity of the veil?

Veil's Identity Card

Name/ Family Name: The Mark of Dignity

Father's Name: The Divine Doctrine

Mother's Name: The Purity of the Morals

Place of Birth: The Fortress of Chastity

Date of Birth: Since the Dawn of Humanity

Sect: The True Divine Religion

Record Number: The First Priority of the Girl

Profession: Uprooting the corruption from the society and preventing the devil form misleading people

Peculiarity: A Crown of Light Worn by the Girl

Did God really order the girl to wear the veil? Of course, He did, and He sent down noble verses in order to announce this duty to women.

The first verse is verse 59 of Surah Al-Ahzab:

“O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known, so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful” [Surah Al-Ahzab 33:59]

Therefore, God, through His prophet Muhammad (God's prayers bestowed upon him and his Household), calls the women to wear the loose garment from top to bottom i.e. to wear the garment in a way that covers the body, the head, and the breast too.

This order has a very sublime aim: It is that the woman be known as a chaste Muslim. This prevents the corrupted people from trying to hurt her. The woman becomes by this a symbol of the dignity of the Islamic nation.

The second verse is verse 31 of Surah An-Noor:

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze, protect their private parts, not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent, to draw their veils all over their bodies, and not to reveal their adornment except to…” [Surah An-Noor, 24:31]

This verse calls the female believers to lower their eyes from looking at what is forbidden, preserve their dignity and chastity, hide their adorning i.e. not to show out the body parts on which the ornaments are put, and arrange the large veil that covers the head in a way that covers the breast too

All these points emphasize the necessity of wearing the veil for the Muslim girl and woman. O pure one! God liked that you wear the veil, so blessed be you for this grant and for this love. We advise you to read: "My Tale with the Veil".

Standards of Veiling

Dear girl! It is a wonderful thing to see the veiled girls everywhere in the street, house, school, and mosque. This reflects that our society is sticking to veil. Yet is this veil exactly what God wants?

To know the answer, you must know the conditions of true veiling. Veiling must follow the next standards:

• It must cover the whole body excluding the face and the hands.

• It must not attract the attention of the others neither in its color nor in its form.

• It must not be transparent showing what there is under it.

• It must be wide.

• It must not be a garment similar to that of men.

• It must not be accompanied by shamelessness, showing of ornaments, and bad behavior that harms the believing personality.

Kinds of Veil

O you shining in the garment of light and purity! Your veil reveals the sublime values of your soul. There are two kinds of veil:

• The first one is the religious cloth that is made up of a wide long garment and a cover for the head.

• The second one is the aba [cloak] which is the garment that covers all the parts of the body of the woman from head to toes.

Dear one! The aba meets all the standards of the religious veil in the best possible way. Because of this, it has become a title for the believing girl who refuses to exchange her cloth for all the fashion models that are presented under the title of keeping pace with the current century and being similar to the foreign people.

Limits of the Veil

You have known the standards and kinds of veil. You still need to know its limits in order to separate between what you have to cover and what you can show. As we have already said, the girl has to cover all the parts of her body excluding her face and hands.

The limit of veil in the face: It is what you must wash in ablution i.e. what the thumb and the middle finger, in width, can reach from the origin of the hair, till the point of the chin in length (according to the drawn figure).

The limit of veil in the hands: It is from the fingertips till the wrist from the side of the palm. N.B: You have to cover some of the parts that you can show. This is so in order to gain the conviction to cover what you have to cover.

Grooming and Adorning

When God created the human being and made the male and the female, He wanted the female to be a symbol of softness and beauty. This softness and beauty are, therefore, a divine blessing for humanity. Then, what changes this blessing into a curse? It is grooming ad adorning.

What is grooming and adorning?

Grooming is that the female shows her beauties to the marriageable men. Adorning includes all kinds of adornments that are stuck to the body (lipstick, nail polish, eyeliner, etc) and those put on the body (jewelles, gold, etc). When the female shows these adornments to marriageable men, she is then grooming.

a. The kinds of adornments that you must not show to marriageable men are:

The apparent adornments which are put on the face and the hands, such as: lipstick, nail polish, ring, etc:

“…and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women [sisters in Islam], the female slaves whom their right hand possesses, old male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex… ”(24:31)

The hidden adornments which are put on the internal parts of the body, such as: necklace, hair clip, anklet, etc:

“…And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful ” (24:31)

Though the hidden adornments are permitted in themselves and though you can show them to unmarriageable men, you cannot show them to marriageable men.

Then, who are the unmarriageable kins?

O you yearning to God's protection! You must know whom your unmarriageable kins are because you must wear the veil in front of the marriageable kins.

The Noble Qur'an determines for you the unmarriageable kins in verse 31 of Surah An-Noor and in other verses and chapters:

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze, protect their private parts, not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent, draw their veils all over their bodies, and not to reveal their adornments except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women [sisters in Islam], the female slaves whom their right hand possesses, old male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful ” [Surah An-Noor, 24:31]

The unmarriageable kins are divided into two parts.

• First: The Unmarriageable Men in Kinship

They are
• the father and the grandfather

• the son and the grandson

• the brother from the mother and the father or from one of them

• nephews

• direct uncles or indirect uncles (the uncles of the parents)

You cannot marry any of the men mentioned above. You can, therefore, show your adornments to them, shake hands with them, and the like.

• Second: The Unmarriageable Kins in Reason

They are those who were originally foreign, but they have become from the unmarriageable kins for a certain reason. Or they are those who are considered unmarriageable for a certain reason too. They are:

• the husband who is no more a foreign because of marriage

• the husband's father and his son from another wife

• the other women: Here you have to pay attention from those who describe women's bodies to marriageable men

• the children who have not reached maturity yet and who still do not know about the issues of marriage and the relationship between males and females

• the men who have become in a condition in which they do not need women, and the slaves (This is no more found in our century)

The Jurisprudence of the Veil

O you caring for your religion! “God likes that when anyone of you performs any deed to master it.” On this basis, we gathered for you a group of jurisprudent points that will help you to master your veil. You need to read them carefully and to apply them precisely. To be remarked, these points are not difficult at all.

1. If a part of your hair or body appears while you are praying, you can cover it and complete your prayer without the need to stop or repeat it.

2. If the veil you are wearing comes between your forehead and the spot of prostration, you have to drag your forehead to reach it or to pull the veil a little from your forehead. You are not permitted to raise your forehead to make it reach the spot of prostration.

3. You can take photos for yourself without wearing the veil among your unmarriageable kins, but the photographer must be a woman or one of your unmarriageable kins.

4. If you get ill and cannot be cured unless the doctor sees and touches you, you are not permitted to consult a male doctor unless it is impossible or very difficult to consult a professional female doctor.

5. There is a difference between the veil during praying and the veil in front of the marriageable men:

In front of the marriageable men, you must cover the surface of your foot whereas you are not obliged to cover it during praying.
You can wear tight clothes during praying while you cannot do so in front of marriageable men.

The Social Role of the Responsible Girl

After your journey in the wonderful garden of Islam and after picking the flowers of knowledge from it, have you started to recognize the features of your chaste, faithful, and successful future? Have you realized the nature of the role that you have to play in this life as a responsible human being and as an effective member in your society?

You are responsible to answer these questions. Why? It is so because nobody but you can take the decision of being either:

• a committed girl who is aware of the duties that she has to carry out and who is ready to do so

• or a negligent girl who is not ready to carry out her duties even though she is aware of them.

Why not to be ready? Let us discuss the reasons.

The first reason is that the girl does not really believe in these duties and in this role. This is called weakness of faith. She acknowledges that God and the hereafter exist; that God sent the prophets with divine messages and books; that performing the duties announced in the messages leads her to Heaven; and that the human being has to play an effective role in the society. Although she acknowledges all of this, she is not ready to endure some difficulties on this path.

Islam gives you the solution for this problem: “The eagerness does not get short for what the heart believes in.” This means that if you have a true faith, your eagerness will increase and then you will perform your duties.

Therefore, believe in your creed, use your intellect, and understand well what the religion imposes on you.

The second reason is that there are obstacles, which we call "conspiracy". This conspiracy is plotted against the girl, especially the Muslim one, in order to rob her of her human identity, to deviate her from the path of chastity, and to enter her into the mazes of loss and absurdity.

Frankly, this conspiracy is found in every modern cloth, printed material, and story. We can also figure it in the television programs and in films and in songs. We fear that weakness penetrates into your and your peers' hearts. This may throw you into a state of loss and then make you abandon your duties and linger in performing the role appointed to you in this life.

If you do not go up now on the ladder of success, when will you do this?

Beware of messing around, distraction, abandoning the duties, and bad morals.

Conclusion

We do not want to disturb your joy of becoming a responsible girl or to blacken your atmosphere of hope and light. Yet we believe that the danger is serious and that the consequences are unfavorable.

We have a great trust in you, for you have started with a firm foot on the path of salvation under the shadows of the Qur'an and the Household (God's peace bestowed upon them). Also, your parents are taking care of you, and your good peers are accompanying you.

Therefore, all conspiracies will, by God's Help, fail to destroy your flourishing future.
Congratulations for your journey of responsibility
Blessed be the crown of light on your head
May God protect you till you reach the perfection He designed you for.

Topic Tags:

- Philosophy of Religion [5]

Publisher(s):

- Al-Ma'arif Books [1]

Source URL: https://www.al-islam.org/how-start-your-journey-religious-responsibility

Links
[1] https://www.al-islam.org/organization/al-maarif-books
[2] https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/43325
[3] https://www.al-islam.org/printepub/book/export/html/43325
[4] https://www.al-islam.org/printmobi/book/export/html/43325
[5] https://www.al-islam.org/tags/philosophy-religion