Niqaab and Attending University

Correspondence of Hazrat Moulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahimahullah)

Letter:

Assalaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh

Respected Moulana

I would like to and I am considering adopting the hijaab and niqaab. Are there any factors that I should consider before I make this decision? I have just completed school and will possibly be going to university.

Please guide me and advise me regarding these matters.

Jazakallah

Reply:

Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Sister in Islam

Wa ‘alaikumus salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh

1. Alhamdulillah, your consideration of and inclination towards adopting the hijaab and niqaab is greatly commended. Masha-Allah.

2. The hijaab and niqaab are meant to cover, conceal and safeguard. Allah Ta‘ala directs towards this attire so that you should be known as a respectable, modest and honourable woman and that you are protected from any form of harassment.

The university environment is obviously not conducive to the objective of hijaab. If anything, it defeats the purpose of hijaab and niqaab, with the free intermingling of girls and boys, immorality, encouragement to be uninhibited, and a host of other evils – which swiftly break down the barriers of modesty. Despite being in hijaab and niqaab, some girls who attend the colleges and universities befriend and associate with boys, participate in mixed get-togethers, social events, braais, etc. and in so doing, they go against the grain of hijaab and compromise on the pleasure of Allah Ta‘ala. This kind of behaviour is not hijaab.

3. From another angle, the environment at the tertiary institutions and the ideologies of many of the lecturers and students are prime and key factors in dismantling and demolishing the imaan and deen of even good Muslim students. Many become adherents of Darwinism and Atheism, thereby rejecting belief in Allah Ta‘ala and giving up the most precious commodity of imaan – the passport to Jannah. So considering these very real dangers, if there is really a genuine need, one should study through correspondence.

As for someone who is already in university (though she should not have gone there), she should completely avoid all contact with male students and should leave home and return with respect, dignity and shame. Always remember that you are a Muslim first – so your behaviour and actions should reflect that of a Muslim.

One should never be confident that the environment and people will not influence one. Make du‘aa, day and night, for the protection of your imaan and for istiqaamah (steadfastness).[1]

4. You should not discard the hijaab and niqaab because of some weaknesses or sins. Maintain your Islamic dressing and resort to taubah and istighfaar on shortcomings. If a person performs his salaah but he also goes to the cinema, listens to music, etc., then this is his failing. If someone tries to correct him and reminds him that salaah and sins do not go together, he should not then discard salaah; rather he should continue with salaah and discard the sins.

May Allah Ta‘ala make it easy for you to adopt the hijaab and niqaab and reward you with its barakah, and may Allah Ta‘ala protect us all from the fitnahs that are prevalent.

Was salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh

Yunus Patel (Moulana)