Hijab of a Man

 Hijab of a man

Hijab means to cover oneself from evil. For human beings, hijab means to cover body and to cover soul. Body can be covered by clothes but what should be done to cover soul? And against what should be soul covered? Like body has a cover of clothes, soul has a cover of good character and good intentions.

To have good character is not only restricted to women but men also have to bear good moral character as described in Islam. Allah  has said in Quran;
“And ask the believing men to (be modest and) lower their gaze and maintain their chastity. That is righteous and better. Allah is quite familiar with what they do.”

Allah orders His men to lower their gaze and to be modest. Here modest means to bear good moral character. It is said that modesty comes from the living style. If a person appears simple in outlook, it means he is simple in nature which will automatically make him a person of good moral character.
The best example in faith for every Muslim is our beloved prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) He spent a simple life and he bore the best moral character. He (S.A.W), even before His prophet hood, was known as Sadiq and Amin, and His character was presented as an example in Arabia. It was because of His character and honest nature that Hazrat Khadija  herself proposed Him.

Like many restrictions are posed on women with respect to their clothes and their behavior, men are also told in Islam to observe the limits prescribed by Allah and written in Sunnah.
Like women, men are restricted to wear clothes that do not cover their body properly nor are they allowed to wear see-through clothes. Their chastity is equally valuable as is women’s.
Men are also not allowed to wear tight clothes. These restrictions have been posed on men because they spend their time out side home, and in today’s age many evils have made their way in our society. Some decades ago, only women were not safe outside home but now men are also not safe outside home. Many cases have been reported on media about misshapes with boys. This is why men also should take care of themselves.

Men are told to lower their gaze before women. It is so because staring at women was a common practice in Pre Islamic Arabia. Women were treated as mere commodities and their honor was not safe. When Islam came, it restricted men to stand on street corners or to pass remarks on women by restricting them to lower their gaze and to not look at other women and to tease them.

The Prophet (S.A.W) said, ‘Beware! Avoid sitting on the roads.” They (the people) said, “O Allah s Apostle! We can’t help sitting (on the roads) as these are (our places) here we have talks.” The Prophet said, ‘ l f you refuse but to sit, then pay the road its right ‘ They said, “What is the right of the road, O Allah’s Apostle?” He said, ‘Lowering your gaze, refraining from harming others, returning greeting, and enjoining what is good, and forbidding what is evil.”