Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim Ḥadīth [2128] – Women Who are Clothed yet Naked…

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: “There are two types of people who will be punished in hell and whom I have not seen: men having whips like the tails of cows and they will be beating people with them”: The scholars commented that these are the policemen who beat people for no legitimate reason. “They have whips like the tails of cows”; that is, whips with long ends which they use to beat people unjustly. If it were for a legitimate reason, then it will be similar to beating a transgressor (as Allāh said): “The fornicatress and the fonicator, flog each them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allāh.” (24: 2)

You should not pity them rather, flog them complete hundred strokes.

However, whoever beats people for no just cause will be among the categories of the inhabitants of Hell fire, refuge is with Allāh.

The second category are “women who will be dressed but appear to be naked, inviting to evil; and they themselves will be included to it. Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Paradise and they will not smell its fragrance which is perceptible from such and such a distance.”

This refers to women who are clothed but remained naked. It is said these are women who wear clothes but are devoid of piety because Allāh – the Mighty and Sublime – said: “… but the clothing of righteousness is the best.” (7: 26)

Based on this, the ḥadīth includes every sinful and evil woman even if she wears a loose flowing cloth. This is because what it meant by being dressed (in the above ḥadīth) is wearing material clothes but devoid of piety. Indeed, there is no doubt that anyone who lacks piety is indeed naked as stated by Allāh – the Mighty and Sublime: “The clothing of righteousness is the best.”

It is also said that (the meaning of the above statement is that they put on cloth but it does not conceal their body. This may be due to it being tight, transparent or short. Any woman who wears any of these types of clothes would be considered as clothed but naked.

Mumīlah mā’ilah: Mumīlah means that she combs her hair to a side as explained by some of them that she packs her hair to one side. This is part of inclining the hair to one side. This is more worrisome because this style has come to us from disbelieving women, in Allāh we seek refuge, and some women have become afflicted with it. They pack their hair to one side to give it a certain inclination; that is, she bent her hair at an angle. It is also said that they tempt and seduce others by the display of their adornment, perfume and the like of that.

Perhaps, the statement encompasses the two meanings. The jurisprudential principle states that if a text suggests two meanings, it should be applied to the two without preferring one above the other. In this case, none of the two interpretations outweigh or contradict the other. Hence, it encompasses both meanings because of their combability.

As for the saying mā’ilāt, it means deviating from the truth regarding that which is obligatory for them such as modesty. You would see a woman walking like a man in the market with brute force and sturdiness, in a manner some men will find laborious. She is walking like a solider due to the intensity in her stride, her force of striking the ground and her lack of concern. Likewise, she raises her voice when laughing with her colleagues in a manner that can lead to temptation. Similarly, she stands in front of a storekeeper for a long period, laughing and chatting with him. She may even stretch out her hand for him to fasten a wrist watch among other evils and temptations. There is no doubt that they have deviated from the truth, we ask Allāh for well-being.

“Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel inclined to one side”: The Bactrian camel is a type of camel with long hump that swings from left to right. This woman raises the hair of her head until it inclines to the right or left like the hump of the Bactrian camel which inclines to one side. Some scholars opined that a woman who puts a turban like that of a man on her head such that the cape stands upright is comparable to the hump of a Bactrian camel. All the same, this woman beautifies her head in a way that may lead to temptation.

“They will not enter Jannah and they will not smell its fragrance”: That is, they will neither enter Paradise nor come close enough to smell it though the fragrance could be perceived from a distance of seventy years or more. However, she will not come close to Paradise, refuge is with Allāh, because she has deviated from the right path. She is dressed but appeared to be naked, inviting to evil and inclined to it, and on her head is that which invites to temptation and illegal sexual relationship.

This is evidence that this type of clothing is prohibited because it will prevent entrance into Paradise. This shows that it is one of the major sins.

Here is an issue that is blurred to some women and so also some people: When a person does something that involves imitation, he says: ‘I did not intend imitation.’ It should be explained to them that imitation is an apparent matter; when it exists, it would be considered as imitation whether it is intended or not. When it is apparent that an act is an imitation of disbelieving women, sinful women, men imitating women or vice versa, it becomes unlawful regardless of the underlying intention. However, if it is intentional, it is worse. But if it is unintended, we will say to him: It is obligatory for you to change your ways in order to distance yourself from imitation.

…

We ask Allāh for safety for you and us, and to safeguard our males and females from all what entails temptation and deviation.

• Reference: [1633 (6/415-420), Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn, Dārussalām (Eng)]

Commentary: This ḥadīth has the following three important points:

1. It has a warning for those who oppress people. Flogging in ḥadd and qiṣāṣ does not come in the category of oppression because oppression in the real sense is perpetrated when whipping is done as a means of tyranny and cruelty.

2. It has a stern warning for those women who go about without wearing the Islāmic-type veil and take to adornment to display their charms, which is the habit of immoral women. Such women also adorn their hair in different styles and lure men with their coquetry and amorous playfulness. They are shameless and also make others likewise, shameless.

This ḥadīth is one of the signs of the Prophethood of Muḥammad (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him), the last of the Prophets of Allāh, because the evils which he had prophesied in this ḥadīth have been fulfilled. Muslim women have adopted all these evils and shameless fashions without any fear of punishment in the Hereafter. May Allāh relieve us from these evils.

• Reference: [1633 (2/1222-1223), Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn, Dārussalām (Eng)]

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