Purdah

Q: Is there a hadeeth prohibiting looking at beardless youth?

Q:

1. Is it mandatory to wear hijab for a grown up Muslim woman and what exactly is Hijab?

2. Is it enough to cover her satar (hair and body except the face, hands (fingers)) or is it a compulsion to wear a black colour burkha as we wear in India?

3. What is ruling regarding talking to men of the opposite gender?

4. What if a woman is a civil servant wherein she has to follow a dress code, What is the ruling in such a condition?

Q: I have always known that the fragrance of Jannah will be haraam for a woman that does not wear hijab and that it is compulsory on woman to wear it in Islam. However, I never really let that soak in until very recently when I started wearing the hijab. Nobody has ever ostricized me for it and I was gaining confidence and starting to be comfortable about going out with it. I was starting to tell myself that I look better with hijab than without it even though I didn't really believe that. The other day my mother just ruined it all. She kept making little hints but the other day she couldn't handle it any more and told me that I'm becoming too holy and that I don't have to act like an old lady and wear scarf all the time. She said that it's more difficult for women who wear hijab to get married because boys like modern girls. When I began crying she tried to cover up what she initially said by telling me that she only meant I should take it off when sitting privately with friends in a coffee shop etc which made zero sense because obviously there would be male waiters around. She said that she just meant I would feel more comforable and fit in better without my scarf on. I never felt very uncomfortable or odd with it but after she said that I do. She apologized and my father explained to her how we're meant to stick to Allah's commands no matter what etc. The matter was closed and everybody moved past it but I can't get over it. I still wear scarf but now I feel like I look like an old lady in it. I tie it properly and try my best to dress nicely and look neat but she still makes me feel like I look like an old lady and it has broken my confidence like she often does. I am still very hurt by this and want to gain my confidence back but I don't know what to do. I have no idea how to feel about this. What do I do to console myself and is there a dua I can read to be more confident and not care about opinions?

Q: I have a question regarding hijab. I am a student in college and because of the commute to and from my college, I live on campus. However, I can’t afford the cost of living in a single room, and so I share a room with another person. This year, I was able to find a Muslim girl to live with, but I wasn’t so lucky with my roommate for next year. I wanted to get a suite with 5 of my other Muslim friends, but we weren’t able to get one because there weren’t enough 6-person suites, so we had to break up. This left me to decide between rooming with a friend who is a non practicing Muslim and a non Muslim friend. For this, I thought the living situation would be the same with both of them. They’re great people, so I thought about who I would feel most comfortable with as a person and a Muslim. Thus I decided to choose my non Muslim friend as my roommate for next year.

My concern now is with hijab. I know that it’s obligatory and I love it’s meaning and it’s significance and I love educating other people about it. What I’m not really clear on however, is whether or not I can take it off in the presence of all women. My mom used to tell me that you can take it off only in a room full of girls. This is also common knowledge among majority of the Muslimah. But for quite some time, my mom has been telling me that you can only take it off when with other Muslim girls or women. Not in front of non Muslim girls or women. I even researched for myself and found this too. But I also found that it doesn’t really matter when thinking logically. A corrupt/non practicing Muslim is just the same as a non Muslim. Thus, if and only if you trust the person can you not wear hijab in front of these types of women.

Considering that I’ll be living with a non Muslim young woman for 8 months (each semester is 4 months), I wanted to directly ask a scholar so that I can be clear on this concept for the sake of my own knowledge and doing the right thing.

Q: Is it permissible to talk to non-mahram boy/girl via cell phone (voice, text, etc.)?

Q: What is the rule of showing women hair to non muslim girls?

Q: Why is dating haraam?

Q: Is body massage haaram?

Q: Is a brother (caller of Islam) obliged to continue helping a sister with disabilities if she has no one? She learns the deen through him instead of others. If the brother is choosing to not help her, will he be responsible before her in the Hereafter? He is choosing to not help her, because he cannot deal with her.

Q: Is it haraam to be friends with opposite sex?