Women’s sameness in islamic society

Now let us consider the second basic characteristic of the Quranic society which affects the position of women. This is found in the directives for a dual sex rather than a unisex society. While maintaining the validity of the equal worth of men and women, the Qur’an does not judge this equality to mean equivalence or identity of the sexes.
Probably all of you are familiar with the contemporary move toward unisex clothes and shoes, unisex jewellery and hair styles, unisex actions and entertainments. In fact, it is often difficult in America to decide whether one is looking at a boy or a girl. This results from the current notion in Western society that there is little if any difference between the two sexes in physical, intellectual and emotional endowment; and that, therefore, there should be no difference in their functions and roles in society. The dress and the actions are but superficial evidence of this deeper conviction. Accompanied by a downgrading of the qualities and roles traditionally associated with the female sex, this current idea has generated a unisex society in which only the male role is respected and pursued. Although meant to bring a larger measure of equality for women, the idea that men and women are not only equal, but equivalent and identical, has actually pushed women into imitating men and even despising their womanhood. Thus it is generating a new type of male chauvinism. Tremendous social pressures have resulted in stripping women of their role-responsibilities formerly performed by them, and they are forced to live a life devoid of personality and individuality.
The society based on the Qur’an is, in contrast, a dual-sex society in which both sexes are assigned their special responsibilities. This assures the healthy functioning of the society for the benefit of all its members. This division of labour imposes on men more economic responsibilities (2:233, 240-241; 4:34), while women are expected to play their role in childbearing and rearing (2:233; 7:189). The Qur’an, recognising the importance of this complementary sexual assignment of roles and responsibilities, alleviates the greater economic demands made on male members of the population by allotting them a larger share than women in inheritance. At the same time it grants women the right to maintenance in exchange for her contribution to the physical and emotional well being of the family and to the care she provides in the rearing of children. The unisex ideology generates a competitive relationship between the sexes which we find in America and which is disastrous for all members of society: the young; the old; the children; the parents; the single and the married; the male and the female. The dual-sex society, by contrast, is a more natural answer to the question of sexual relationships, a plan encouraging co-operation rather than competition between the sexes. It is a plan which has been found suitable in countless societies through history. Only in very recent times did the idea of sexual non-differentiation or identity achieve prominence, and then primarily in the Western society. Even the medical evidence for mental or emotional difference between the sexes is suppressed in Western research, for it threatens the prevailing trends of thought. How long this socially disastrous movement will continue before it is rejected as bankrupt is not known. But certainly we as Muslims should be aware of its deficiencies and dangerous consequences, and make our societies and young people aware of the disaster caused by it.
Protagonists of the unisex society have condemned the dual-sex human organization as dangerous for the well-being of women. If dual sex means that one sex is superior to the other, such a situation could have arisen. But in the true Quranic society, toward which we all aspire to move, this is not possible. As we have seen above, the Qur’an advocates eloquently the equal status of women and men at the same time as it recognizes their generally relevant differences of nature and function. Thus while acknowledging the religious, ethical, intellectual and legal equality of males and females; the Qur’an never regards the two sexes as identical or equivalent. It justifies this stand in its assignment of variant responsibilities and its provisions regarding inheritance and maintenance which match those responsibilities.

Pope Benedict Still Unknown to Many Americans

Two weeks before his first visit to the United States as spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI continues to be viewed favorably by a majority (52%) of Americans, which is virtually unchanged from August 2007 (50%). However, the pope remains unfamiliar to a relatively large number of Americans: Three-in-ten say they do not know enough about Pope Benedict to offer an opinion, which also has not changed much since last summer (32%).

Among American Catholics, the pope is, not surprisingly, better known and viewed more favorably than among the general public. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Catholics in the United States view their religious leader positively, which also has not changed since August 2007.
However, the current pontiff continues to be less highly regarded than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Favorable opinions of Pope John Paul II consistently outnumbered unfavorable views by much wider margins than is the case for Pope Benedict XVI.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted March 24-29 among 1,001 Americans, finds that as Pope Benedict completes his third year as spiritual leader of the world's Catholics, he gets mixed ratings for his efforts to promote good relations between the Catholic Church and other major religions.
Overall, 39% of those who have heard at least a little about the pope say he has done an excellent or good job in promoting positive relations with other faiths, but about as many (40%) say he has done only fair or poor in this regard. Overall opinions about the pope's efforts to foster good relations with other faiths are largely unchanged from last August (38% excellent/good vs. 46% only fair/poor).
Among Catholics, however, opinions of the pope's outreach efforts have improved. Nearly two-thirds of Catholics (64%) say he is doing an excellent or good job at fostering interfaith relations, up from 54% in August 2007. Among Protestants, there has been very little change in views of how the pope is doing in promoting good relations with other religions.
Views of Pope Benedict's ideology have changed somewhat since last summer. Currently, 45% of Americans view Pope Benedict XVI as conservative while 28% say he is either moderate or liberal. In August 2007, 56% said that Pope Benedict was conservative while 22% said he was moderate or liberal.
John Paul II Better Known, Better Liked
Pope Benedict XVI is considerably less well known, and less favorably viewed, than his predecessor John Paul II was in the 1980s and 1990s. Currently, 30% express no opinion about Pope Benedict XVI; just 10% offered no opinion of Pope John Paul II in May 1987, nearly a decade after he became pope.
Although Pope Benedict's overall favorability has changed little since last summer (52% overall today, compared with 50% overall in August 2007), the percentage saying they have a "very favorable" view of the pope has increased slightly (from 14% to 18%). This is largely driven by increasingly positive assessments from highly observant Catholics (those who attend church at least weekly); 49% view Pope Benedict very favorably today, compared with 39% who did so in August.
Observant Catholics See Pope Doing Well in Outreach
A substantial majority of Catholics who attend church at least weekly (78%) also say the pontiff is doing a good or excellent job promoting relations with other major religions. This is an increase of 18 points since August 2007. By comparison, the opinions of Catholics who attend less frequently have not changed over this period.
The balance of opinion among white evangelical Protestants has shifted somewhat in the opposite direction, however. White evangelical Protestants are less likely today to say the pope is doing an excellent or good job at developing good interfaith relationships (32% compared with 40% in August 2007).
Overall, 45% say Pope Benedict is conservative, down from 56% in August 2007. Although a majority of Catholics (58%) continue to say the pope is conservative, this number is considerably less than the more than two-thirds (68%) who viewed the pope this way in August 2007. An increasing number of Catholics (31% compared with 22% in August) identify the pope as moderate or liberal, and this change is seen among both highly observant and less observant Catholics.
Protestants' views have also shifted over this time period, moving both toward a more moderate view of the pope's ideological leanings and less certainty about his ideology. In August 2007, 47% of Protestants viewed Pope Benedict as conservative, compared with 34% currently. However, 35% of Protestants today are unable to characterize Pope Benedict's ideology, compared with 28% in August of last year.
Partisans Differ in Views of Pope
Opinions of the pope are, on balance, favorable among all political groups. However, significantly more Republicans (62%) than independents (50%) or Democrats (47%) view the pope favorably.
Republicans also have more positive evaluations of Pope Benedict's promotion of good relations with other religions. A plurality (46%) of Republicans evaluates him positively on this question. By contrast, Democrats are more evenly divided; 39% say he is doing an excellent or good job, compared with 38% who say he is only doing a fair or poor job. Independents are the most critical of the pope's efforts to foster relations with other religions. Only about third independents (32%) rate his interfaith efforts as excellent or good, while about half (51%) rate them as fair or poor.
About the Survey
Results for this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International among a nationwide sample of 1,001 adults, 18 years of age or older, from March 24-29, 2008. The following table shows the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey:
About the Projects
This survey is a joint effort of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Both organizations are sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and are projects of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Forum is a nonpartisan organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Forum is directed by Luis Lugo.
The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. The Center's purpose is to serve as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research. In this role it serves as an important information resource for political leaders, journalists, scholars, and public interest organizations. All of the Center's current survey results are made available free of charge.
This report is a collaborative product based on the input and analysis of the following individuals:
Pew Forum on Religion & Public LifeLuis Lugo, DirectorSandra Stencel, Deputy DirectorJohn C. Green, Senior Fellow in Religion and American PoliticsGregory Smith, Research FellowDan Cox, Research AssociateAllison Pond, Research AssociateTracy Miller, Copy Editor
Pew Research Center for the People & the PressAndrew Kohut, DirectorScott Keeter, Director of Survey ResearchCarroll Doherty and Michael Dimock, Associate DirectorsKim Parker, Senior ResearcherJuliana Menasce Horowitz, Robert Suls, Shawn Neidorf, Leah Christian and Jocelyn Kiley, ResearchAssociatesKathleen Holzwart, Research AnalystJames Albrittain and Alec Tyson, Research Assistants

The Revelation Of The Glorious Quran( A Miracle to last till the End!)

Well before God's revelation marked him as a Prophet, Mohammad(p) had rejected the religion of Arabia. This religion called on the worship of several gods, and Mohammad felt that these idols were not responsible for life or creation. Questioning the religion that he was born into, Mohammad (p) found peace in reflection, meditation, and contemplation; however, these acts of private worship did not give Mohammad the answers that he was searching for. In his late thirties Mohammad began a practice of retirement, where he would seclude himself from his family and relations and spend several days in a cave on top of a mountain two miles outside of Makkah. He continued this for many years: during the month of Ramadan, Mohammad would often spend the entire month in seclusion, for some instinct must have told him that in this holiest month he would find the answers to his questions. So, it was in his fortieth year that Mohammad (p) received the revelation from God. While engaged in worship in a corner of the cave of Hira in the heart of the night, the orphan son of Abdullah who had never studied or attended a school, was suddenly shaken by the summons, "O Muhammad!" followed by the command to recite, this being the beginning of revelation. A wave arose from the limitless ocean of Divinity, rent the breast of the Prophet, bewildered and anxious, and filled to the brim the cup of his spirit. Mohammad was shocked and afraid. How could there be another voice in the cave when he was all alone? Nevertheless, he replied: "I am not one of those who can read". After his answer, he was taken up, and violently hugged and then set free: the voice repeated, "Read". Mohammad could only give the same answer: "I am not one of those who can read". The being repeated the same action, hugging him again. Once again it commanded him to "Read". This time Mohammad gave a different answer: he said, "What shall I read?", and the voice said: "Read! In the Name of your Lord, who has created you! He created man from a clot of blood. Read, and your Lord is the Most Gracious, He who has taught by the pen, Taught man what he did not know." [Al-Quran: 96:1-4] The shining of a light from the realm of the unseen covered and enveloped his being and shone forth on his fair features, giving rise to new and bright life in the darkness of the night. Then, with a painful tumult in his heart and bearing on his shoulders the heaviest responsibility conceivable, he set out for home from the cave of Hira, destined to become the teacher of all human beings and to assume the leadership of humanity on its long march forward. What force was it that had disquieted him despite his infinite patience, made him anxious despite all his tranquil courage, and plunged his whole being into painful turmoil? Thereafter the envoy of revelation came repeatedly, reciting verses to him, profound and astounding verses that bore no resemblance from the point of view of style and content either to the words of the Prophet himself, eloquent as they were, or to the conventional prose and poetry of the age. Although the Arabs of the Age of Ignorance knew neither how to read nor how to write and had no historians, philosophers or scholars, they were famed for the excellence of their poetry and the eloquence of their speech. The Prophet, however, had never participated before the beginning of his mission in the cultivation of the arts of poetry and eloquence. His conduct, on the one hand, and the verses of the Quran, on the other, both testify that he made no compromises in conveying his message. He conveyed the message that he had been ordered to deliver clearly, unambiguously and in utter contradiction both with the beliefs and inclinations of the people and with his own immediate interests.

He loudly proclaimed the revelation he had received to the evil and the ignorant, to a people made degenerate and corrupt by the worship of the idols they had fashioned themselves, and he informed them that their sole salvation lay in the worship of the One God. The new factor that appeared at a particular time in the life of the Prophet and caused him to engage in unprecedented forms of activity was the wondrous phenomenon of revelation, the heavenly message which he as the most lofty and qualified of men had been chosen to receive. Before then, no preliminary effort or particular inclination had been seen on his part that might have led to the bringing about of the sudden and remarkable transformation of the world he was now about to accomplish. The factor that had this profound effect on Muhammad, that changed that quiet and reflective man into an explosive source of revolutionary energy and enabled him to bring about such a profound transformation of humanity, from within the intense darkness of the Arabs' Age of Ignorance, was nothing other than revelation. It was a call that penetrated the very depths of the souls of human beings that melted the marrow of their bones, and directed all their strivings to the attainment of perfection. The command of revelation negated all the false and lying criteria which human beings had regarded as the measure of goodness and considered the sole means of evaluating human characteristics and habits, while, in fact, clothing falsehood in the garment of truth. It brought into operation new and clear criteria which showed human beings the goals to which they should strive to advance and brought about creativity in their lives. The veil of ignorance and silence was torn apart, the human beings' energies were set to work, the power of thought within them was aroused, and their spirits were borne aloft toward the infinite summit of being. A people who in their ignorance and lowliness would tear each apart on account of the most insignificant things and had lost all virtue, thanks to their various forms of enslavement, now became, through Islam and its great concept of monotheism - the true pillar of humanity and the breaker of idols - so elevated of spirit and so self-sacrificing that they happily abandoned both their lives and their property. The remarkable stories of self-sacrifice on the part of those early Muslims will stand eternally as examples of true nobility. The Prophet of Islam had the vision and belief of a world leader, but he began to proclaim his Divine summons to monotheism in a relatively restricted sphere, a closed environment where tribal institutions exercised great influence and idols were counted as the most sacred and beloved of objects. It was an environment that was not in any way prepared to accept the message of Divine unity. The heavenly teachings of Islam and the culture to which they gave rise were superior not only to the intellectual atmosphere prevailing in the idolatrous society of the Arabs but also to all the religious doctrines and cultures of that age. The program for reforming systems of thought and culture that had become corrupt was laid down by a man who had never studied, who was unlettered, and who knew nothing of the religious books or the civilization of his age. At first he invited his relatives to worship the Creator, and then the people of Mecca and the Arabian Peninsula. Finally he proclaimed to the entire world his mission as the last of the Prophets. The Prophet had been born into an environment where human beings engaged in empty boasting out of their shortsightedness and tribal mentality, where privileges were based on unjust social conditions and prejudices. Now he arose and swept aside all those false privileges. He established new values and concepts with respect to labor, life and social relations, in the framework of a series of rules and ordinances, and strove to concentrate all the goals and thoughts of the human being on a program for liberating peoples from slavery, and delivering the oppressed from the tyranny of emperors and kings. Even for those who do not regard these exalted aims as having a heavenly origin will admit that they are among the most exalted and previous values observable in human history. What is significant about the Revelation, the Message of God, is that it was an act for which the Prophet (pbuh) was ready. Meaning, that he had already forsaken the beliefs of his people and his culture. Mohammad (pbuh) had proved himself ready for prophethood through his pious actions and behavior. Among his people he had already earned the name Al-Amin, The Trustworthy. Moreover, Mohammad (pbuh) was a mature man, one who had lived the majority of his life, and could devote the next twenty-three years of that life to the service of God. Since different verses of the Qur'an were being revealed as and when appropriate, it was not possible from the very beginning to write and preserve it in a book form. So, during the initial stage of Islam, major emphasis was laid on memory as a means of preserving the Qur'an. When a revelation used to come in the very beginning, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would tend to repeat its words instantly so that they would be memorized well enough. Thereupon, Allah Almighty directed him through the verses of Soorah Qiyaamah that he need not repeat words in a hurry immediately as revelation came. Allah Almighty would himself endow him with a memory that he will be unable to forget the words of the revelation once its descent has been completed. So it was that the moment the Qur'anic verses would come to him, they would be committed to his memory the next moment. Thus, the blessed chest of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), was the most protected vault of the Qur'an, in which there was no chance of even some common mistake, editing or alteration. Moreover, as a matter of additional precaution, he used to recite the Qur'an before angel Jibra'eel every year during the month of Ramadhaan; and the year he left this mortal world he completed a cumulative review of Qur'anic recitation twice with Jibra'eel. (Saheeh Bukhaari with Fat'hul Baari) Again, as it was, he would not restrict his teachings of the Sahaabah (Companions) to just the meaning of the Qur'an, but had them memorize its words as well. Then, the revered Companions were themselves so enamored with a desire to learn and remember the Qur'an that every one of them was anxious to get ahead of the other. There were women who claimed no dowry from their husbands except that they would teach the Qur'an. Hundreds of Companions, freeing themselves from all other concerns, had devoted their whole lives for this purpose. Not only did they memorize the Qur'an but also went on repeating it within the nightly prayers. "When someone migrated from Makkah and came to Madeenah", says Ubaadah Ibne Saamit, "the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would entrust him to one of us Ansaar so that he could teach Qur'an to the new comer." The mosque of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) was so filled with voices generated by learners and teachers of the Qur'an that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) had to ask them to lower their voices so that mistakes are not made. (Manaahilul 'Irfaan) Thus memorisation of the Qur'an was given more emphasis in early Islam as this was the only protected and trustworthy method given the conditions of that time. The reason is that the number of people who could read or write was very limited in those days. The means of publishing books, such as printing press, etc., were not there. Therefore, in that situation, if writing was taken to be sufficient, it would have neither been possible to spread the Qur'an on an extensive scale nor to protect it reliably. In its place, Allah Almighty had blessed the people of Arabia with a memory of such dimensions that thousands of poetic lines would normally rest in the memory of one person after another. Common ordinary villagers would remember by heart their genealogies and those of their families and unbelievably enough - even those of their horses! Therefore, this power of memory was well utilized for the conservation and protection of the Qur'an and it was through it that the verses and chapters of the Qur'an reached all over in to the far corners of Arabia. Besides having the Qur'an committed to memory, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) made special arrangements to have the Qur'an committed to writing as well. Zayd Ibne Thaabit says: "I used to write down the words of wahee for him. When wahee came to him he felt burning with heat and the drops of perspiration would start rolling down on his body like pearls. When this state would go away from him, I would present myself before him with shoulder-bone or a piece (of something else). He would go on dictating and I would go on writing. When I would be finished with writing, the shear weight of copying the Qur'an would give me the feeling that my leg is going to break and that I will never be able to walk. In any case, when I would be finished with writing, he would say: 'Read.' I would read it back to him if there was a shortcoming, he would have it corrected and then let it be known to people. (Majma'uz Zawaa'id with reference to Tabraani) Thus, there existed, during the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), a copy of the Noble Qur'aan which he had arranged to be committed to writing under his supervision. Although, it was not there as a formally prepared book, but it certainly was there in the form of various units of available writing materials. Along with it, it was also the practice of some revered Companions that they would make copies of the Qur'anic verses and keep them for personal recollection. This practice was common since the very early period of Islam. Accordingly, much before Umar embraced Islaam, his sister and brother-in-law had in their possession verses of the Qur'aan which they had written and kept in a book form. (Seerah Ibne Hishaam) After reading about the Revelation of the Holy Qur'an, you might find the following of interest:
How the Holy Qur'an was preserved Zayd Ibne Thaabit says: "I used to write down the words of wahee for him. When wahee came to him he felt burning with heat and the drops of perspiration would start rolling down on his body like pearls. When this state would go away from him, I would present myself before him with shoulder-bone or a piece (of something else). He would go on dictating and I would go on writing. When I would be finished with writing, the shear weight of copying the Qur'an would give me the feeling that my leg is going to break and that I will never be able to walk. In any case, when I would be finished with writing, he would say: 'Read.' I would read it back to him and if there was a shortcoming, he would have it corrected and then let it be known to people.
The Demand of the Qur'an for a Direct Confrontation From the very first day that the Prophet began preaching his message of monotheism, he summoned people also to a realistic vision of the world. When inviting them to faith, he addressed their wisdom and intelligence and called on them to use their eyes and their ears to perceive the truth.
Do we deserve the Qur'an? The student of the Qur'an will find out that, Qur'an is telling us that the messengers of Allah will lead the people from darkness into the light and that nowhere in the Qur'an does Allah tell us a story of a community misled by its messenger or given the wrong teachings by him.

Hijab; Best solution for safe society

The fact is that the covering or its new expression, hijab, is not concerned with whether or not it is good for a woman to appear in society covered or uncovered . The point is whether or not a woman and a man's need of her should be a limitless, free association or not.
Should a man have the right to satisfy his needs with every woman and in every place short of committing adultery?

Islam, which looks at the spirit of the problem, answers: No. Men are only allowed to satisfy their sexual desires with their legal wives within a marital situation based upon the laws of marriage which establish a series of heavy commitments. It is forbidden for men to have any physical relations with women they are not related to by marriage.
It is true that the question externally appears to be, "What should a woman do?" Must she leave her home covered or uncovered? That is, the person about whom the question is raised is a woman and the question is often expressed in very heart-rending tones, "Is it better for a woman to be free or condemned and imprisoned in the modest dress?" But something else lies at the root of the question. That is, should men be free to take sexual benefit from women in any way they choose short of committing adultery or not? That is, the one who benefits here is a man and not a woman or at least a man benefits more than a woman does. As Will Durant has said, "The mini-skirt is a blessing for everyone in the world except cloth merchants."
So the depth of the question is whether or not the seeking of sexual pleasure should be limited to the family environment and legal wives or is the freedom of seeking sexual fulfillment something that should be satisfied in society at large? Islam defends the first theory. According to Islamic precepts, limiting sexual desires to the family environment and legal wives helps to maintain the mental health of the society. It strengthens the relationships between the members of the family and fosters the development of a perfect harmony between a husband and wife. As far as society is concerned, it keeps and preserves energies to be then used for social activities and it causes a woman to attain a higher position in the eyes of man.
The philosophy of the Islamic 'covering' depends on several things. Some of them are psychological and some relate to the home and the family. Others have sociological roots and some of them relate to raising the dignity of a woman and preventing her debasement.
The modest dress in Islam is rooted in a more general and basic issue. That is, Islamic precepts aim at limiting all kinds of sexual enjoyment to the family and the marital environment within the bounds of marriage so that society is only a place for work and activity. It is opposite of the Western system of the present era which mixes work with sexual enjoyment. Islam separates these two environments completely.

By: Martyr Ayatollah Murtuda Mutahhari

Introdaction To Head Covering in Christianity

The Christian headcovering is a veiling worn by various Christian women from a variety of traditions. Some cover only in church or while praying; others cover their heads all the time. They refer to 1 Corinthians 11, or to custom, as the basis for their practice. Many contemporary Christians, however, see no need for this practice.
A common misconception is that Muslim women are the only ones who cover their hair. It may be true that Islam is the only religion in which most women follow its directives to cover the hair, but it is not the only religion to have such directives.
It is particularly interesting to look at the case of Christianity, since Christianity is the predominant religion in the West, and it is Westerners, including observant Christians, who are often the first to criticize Islam because of the hijab (modest dress, including headcovering).

Is Covering the Hair a Religious Commandment for Christian Women?
There can be only one answer to this: yes, it is! Simply open the Bible to the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 11. Read verses 3-10.

But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered, disgraces his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is the same as if she were shaven. For if a woman is not covered, let her be shaven. But if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. A man indeed ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man. For man was not created for woman, but woman for man. This is why the woman ought to have a sign of authority over her head, because of the angels.

The meaning of this passage is plain enough. We can make the following syllogisms:
Syllogism 1
Praying with an uncovered head is a disgrace
Having a shaved head is the same as praying with an uncovered head
Therefore, having a shaved head is a disgrace
Syllogism 2
If it is a disgrace for a woman to have a shaved head, she should cover her head
It is a disgrace for a woman to have a shaved head - see syllogism 1
Therefore, a woman should cover her head
In other words, the passage means what it says. Have you ever wondered why Catholic nuns dress like they"re wearing hijab (Muslim hijabi women, have you ever been mistaken for a nun? I have, more than once).


Have you ever wondered why Mary the mother of Jesus (peace be upon them both) is always depicted in Christian art with her hair covered? Did you know that until the 1960s, it was obligatory for Catholic women to cover their heads in church (then they "modernized" the service)?


There are some interesting points that can be made about the Christian directive.
1) The explicit purpose of the Christian woman"s head covering, as stated by Paul, is that it is a sign of man"s authority over woman. The explicit purpose of Islamic hijab is modesty. Strange how so many Westerners think that the purpose of hijab is a symbol of male authority.

2) The Christian woman is to cover her head whenever she is praying, whether it be at the church service or just personal prayer at home. This may mean that if she is not praying at home, she is uncovered around male guests who are not related to her; or if she is praying at home, that she is covered around her own husband and family. If any more proof were needed than Paul"s own words that the Christian head covering is not about modesty, this must certainly be it!


This puts hijab (head covering) in a whole new perspective, doesn"t it! To my non-hijabi Muslim sister who feels that hijab is a sign of oppression for the Muslim female, please do read the above and then read the Quran. Believe me, if Allah SWT meant for hijab to be a sign of male authority, the Quran would be as unambiguous about it as Paul is in the Bible. Isn"t this difference the kind of thing that attracted you to Islam in the first place?

Do Any Christian Women Today Cover Their Heads?
It is true that most Christian women do not, and many don"t take other teachings of the Bible (against pre-marital sex, adultery, etc) literally either. However, there do seem to be a growing number of Christian women out there who are committed to following the Bible as it is written.

Christian Women wearing Head covering and practicing what it says in Bible:
Below are some of the Picture and comments of our Christian sister who practices according to bible teaching. I have manage to get the details from one of the website.

Source is: Charming the Birds from the Trees

Lesson on how to cover your head by one Christian sister
Here are some examples of head coverings as some women wear them. All of these pictures were taken during services in the Orthodox Church. Some of the women are wearing hats, but more are wearing scarves. Here are some tips I"ve gleaned during the years I covered my head.

" If you choose to wear a scarf, often it will slip down off of your head. If you fold the scarf into a triangle, cross the ends and then tie them in a knot at the base of your neck (like the woman in picture number four), it is quite easy to put the scarf back up onto your head (especially if it is silky). Ones that are long and rectangular like in picture number three work well wither tied under or chin or wrapped around and tied in the back of your neck.

" Bobby pins are very useful for securing scarves to hair. Another trick (and my favorite) is to buy very tiny claw clips and use them to keep your scarf from slipping off. See picture number one (and my friend Gabby"s head) for bobby pin how-to.

" Tying smaller scarves/bandannas underneath your hair is also easy to do.

" Wearing a hat is less work to keep on, but it can be tricky to find a good one.

" It is hard to keep children away from scarves, especially when they aren"t used to their mother wearing one. Practicing around the house might help get your children used to seeing you in a scarf, but you may just have to train your children not to touch your scarf. I think that securing the scarf to your head with bobby pins or mini claw clips will work well though, too.

The Islamic Concept of Life

The chief characteristic of Islam is that it makes no distinction between the spiritual and the secular in life. Its aim is to shape both individual lives as well as society as a whole in ways that will ensure that the Kingdom of Allah may really be established on earth and that peace, contentment and well-being may fill the world. The Islamic way of life is thus based on a unique concept of man’s place in the universe.

Basic Principles
1. Allah, who is the Creator, the Ruler and the Lord of the universe, has created man and provided him with a temporary home in that part of His vast kingdom which is the earth. He has endowed man with the faculties of thinking and understanding, and has given him the power to distinguish right from wrong. Man has also been invested with free will and the power to use the resources of the world however he likes. That is, man has a measure of autonomy, while being at the same time Allah’s representative on earth.

2. Before assigning to man this vicegerency (Khilafat), Allah made it clear to him that He alone as the Lord, the Ruler and the Deity. As such, the entire universe and all the creatures in it (including man) should submit to Him alone. Man must not think that he’s totally free and must realize that this earth is not his permanent abode. He has been created to live on it only for a probationary period and, in due course, he will return to his Lord, to be judged according to the way he has spent that period. The only right course for man is to acknowledge Allah as the only Lord, the Sustainer and the Deity, and to follow His guidance and His commands in all he does.

His sole objective should be to merit the approval of Allah.

If man follows a course of righteousness and godliness (which he is free to choose and follow) he will be rewarded in this world and the next: in this world he will live a life of peace and contentment, and in the Hereafter he will qualify for the heaven of eternal bliss, al-Jannah. If he chooses to follow the course of godlessness and evil (which he is equally free to choose and follow), his life will be one of corruption and frustration in this world, and in the life to come he will face the prospect of that abode of pain and misery which is called Hell.

3. After making this position clear, Allah set man on earth and provided the very first human beings (Adam and Eve) with guidance as to how they were to live. Thus man’s life on this earth did not start in utter darkness. From the beginning a bright torch of light was provided so that humanity could fulfill its glorious destiny. The very first man received revealed knowledge from Allah Himself, and was told the correct way to live. This code of life was Islam, the attitude of complete submission to Allah, the Creator of man and the whole universe. It was this religion which Adam, the first man, passed down to posterity.

But later generations gradually drifted away from the right path. Either they lost the original teachings through negligence or they deliberately distorted them. They associated Allah with innumerable human beings, material objects and imaginary gods. Shirk (polytheism) became widespread. They mixed up the teachings of Allah with myths and strange philosophies and thus produced a jumble of religions and cults; and they discarded the God-given principles of personal and social morality, the Shari‘ah.

4. Although man departed from the path of truth, disregarded or distorted the Shari‘ah or even rejected the code of Divine guidance, Allah did not destroy them or force them to take the right course. Forced morality was not in keeping with the autonomy He had given to man. Instead, God appointed certain good people from among the human society itself to guide men to the right path. These men believed in Allah, and lived a life of obedience to Him. He honored them by His revelations, giving them the knowledge of reality. Known as prophets, blessings and peace be on all of them, they were assigned the task of spreading Allah’s message among men.

5. Many thousands of these prophets were raised throughout the ages, in all lands and in all nations. All of them brought the same message and advocated the same way of life, (din), that is, the way which was revealed to man on the first day of his existence. All of them had the same mission: they called men to Islam and to submit to Allah alone, asked those who accepted the Divine law, and for putting an end to all deviations from the true path. Many people, however, refused to accept their guidance and many of those who did accept it gradually drifted away from their initial commitment.


6. Lastly, Allah raised the Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, in Arabia to complete the mission of the earlier prophets. The message of Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him, was for the whole of mankind. He presented anew the teachings of Islam in their pristine form and provided humanity once again with the Divine guidance which had been largely lost. He organized all those who accepted his message into one community (Ummah), charged with living in accordance with the teachings of Islam, with calling humanity to the path of righteousness and with establishing the supremacy of the world of Allah on earth. This guidance is enshrined in the Holy Qur’an.

What is Rss and How i can use it ?

What is RSS? I’m regularly asked this question and thought it might be worth putting together a page to define RSS and hopefully shed some light on the topic.

Do you want to keep up to date with the latest posts on ProBlogger?

We have a number of ways that you can subscribe to this site and receive updates. The main one that our readers use is our RSS feed. But what is RSS?

What is RSS?

RSS is a technology that is being used by millions of web users around the world to keep track of their favorite websites.

In the ‘old days’ of the web to keep track of updates on a website you had to ‘bookmark’ websites in your browser and manually return to them on a regular basis to see what had been added.

The problems with bookmarking

• You as the web surfer had to do all the work


• It can get complicated when you are trying to track many websites at once


• You miss information when you forget to check your bookmarks


• You end up seeing the same information over and over again on sites that don’t update very often

RSS Changes Everything

What if you could tell a website to let you know every time that they update? In a sense, this is what RSS does for you.

RSS flips things around a little and is a technology that provides you with a method of getting relevant and up to date information sent to you for you to read in your own time. It saves you time and helps you to get the information you want quickly after it was published.

RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’. Many people describe it as a ‘news feed’ that you subscribe to.

I find the ’subscription’ description helpful. It’s like subscribing to a magazine that is delivered to you periodically but instead of it coming in your physical mail box each month when the magazine is published it is delivered to your ‘RSS Reader’ every time your favorite website updates.

How RSS actually technically works is probably a lesson for another day but the key today is for you to understand why it’s good and how to use it.

Let me say right up front that I’m not the most technically savvy guy going around - but even I can use RSS. At first I found it a little strange to make the change from bookmarking to RSS but I found that when I started that I just couldn’t stop.

How to Use RSS

Get an RSS Reader - The first thing you’ll want to do if you’re getting into reading sites via RSS is to hook yourself up with an RSS Feed Reader.

There are many feed readers going around with a variety of approaches and features - however a good place to start is with a couple of free and easy to use web based ones like Google Reader and Bloglines. Either one will do if you’re starting out (I use Google’s Reader) - as I say there are many others to choose from but to get started either of these are fairly easy to use and will help you work out the basics of RSS.

Both of these feed readers work a little like email. As you subscribe to feeds you’ll see that unread entries from the sites you’re tracking will be marked as bold. As you click on them you’ll see the latest update and can read it right there in the feed reader. You are given the option to click through to the actual site or move onto the next unread item - marking the last one as ‘read’.

The best way to learn how to use either Google Reader or Bloglines is to simply subscribe to some feeds and give it a go. Both have helpful help sections to get you up and running.

Note: other options to tracking websites that you might already be familiar with include using pages like MyYahoo, MyGoogle and MyMSN.

Find Some Feeds to Subscribe to - there are two places to look for a site’s feed:

1. On the Site


2. In Your Browser

On Site Subscription

Over the last few years you may have noticed a lot of little buttons and widgets appearing on your favorite sites and blogs. Little orange buttons, ‘counters’ with how many ‘readers a blog has, links called RSS, XML, ATOM and many more.

They come in all shapes and sizes. Here are a few you might have seen:

There are plenty more - but any time you see any of these buttons or anything like them it means that the site you are viewing almost certainly has a feed that you can subscribe to. In most cases it’s as simple as either copying and pasting the link associated with the button into your RSS Reader or clicking the button and following the instructions to subscribe using the feed reader of your choice.

Browser Subscription

Many internet browsers now have the ability to find and subscribe to RSS feeds built right into them.

When you surf to a site you can usually tell if it has an RSS feed by looking in the right hand side of address bar where you type in the site’s URL.

Here’s how it looks for ProBlogger when you’re using Firefox:

See the little orange icon on the right hand side? Click that and you’ll be locating ProBlogger’s RSS feed.

Using Safari Browser it is a blue RSS icon:

Other modern browsers will have similar icons.

To quickly and easily subscribe by clicking these icons you’ll want to set up your browser to do it with your feed reader of choice as by default they will probably subscribe you using the in-browser reader. You can do this by going to the ‘preferences’ to your browser and choosing ‘Google Reader’ or ‘Bloglines’ etc as your feed reader.

Once you’ve done this and have subscribed to a few feeds you’ll begin to see unread items in your Feed Reader and you can start reading.

Don’t want to Use an RSS Reader? Email is an Option

If the above explanation all just seems a little too complicated for you then please don’t worry. Many sites also enable you to subscribe to RSS feeds via a more familiar medium - Email.

Here at ProBlogger we know that not everyone is into the RSS thing so at the top of our right hand sidebar there is a field where you can enter your email address and get a daily email with a summary of our latest posts. You can unsubscribe at any time and your email will be kept private and not used for any other purposes than to send these daily updates.

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