The intimate parts of the human body must, according to Islam, be covered from the sight of others with clothing. Exposing the intimate parts of the body is unlawful in Islam (see Sharia) and is regarded as sin. Precisely which body parts must be covered varies between different schools of Islamic thought.

Etymology[link]

In Arabic, the term awrah or awrat (Arabic: عورة‎) derives from the root ‘a-w-r which means "defectiveness", "imperfection", "blemish" or "weakness". However, the most common English translation is "nakedness".^[1]

In Persian and Kurdish (Persian: عورت‎) as well as Urdu, the word awrat derived from the Arabic awrah, had been used widely to mean "woman". Consulting Mohammad Moin's dictionary of Persian, awrah leads to two significations:

1. Nakedness, shame
2. Young woman.^[2]

Other derivatives range in meaning from blind in one eye, false or artificial, among others.^[3] Traditionally the word awrat, alongside the word za'ifeh (which derives from Arabic za'if, meaning weak) has been associated with femininity and women who lived under the protection of a man. In modern day Iran, using the two words (awrah and za'ifah) to refer to women is uncommon and is considered sexist language. Instead, the words zan and khanum are used. In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the word za'if is still used in the Tajik dialect of Persian and its subdialects.

In Urdu, awrat (aurat) is practically the only way to say 'woman'.^[4][5] As an illustration, the women's rights organization based in Islamabad is called Aurat Foundation.

In Turkish, avrat is one of the ways to say 'woman', but is used more in the rural area and may also mean 'wife', especially the way the husband calls his wife.

In the Quran[link]

Muslims performing the ritual prayer. During the Salat, the awrah must be covered.

The term awrah as it is used in the Quran is confined neither to women nor to the body. The Quranic text reveals the use of the term in various passages Surah An-Nur and Surah Al-Ahzab.

The below verse is about privacy as the Quranic text states concerning underage boys:

"... and let those among you who have not yet come to the age of puberty ask your permission (before they come to your presence) on three occasions; before the morning prayer, and while you put off your clothes for the noonday (rest), and after the late-night prayer. (These) three times are of privacy for you, other than these times there is no sin on you or on them to move about, attending (helping) each other."^[6]

Another passage in the Quran that uses the term awrah, is in Surah Al-Ahzab where it concerns fleeing from battle.

It states: "A group of them ask the Prophet for leave, saying, “Our houses are awrah", even though their houses are not awrah. Their intent is to flee the battle. "^[7]

In this case, the term awrah means "vulnerable".^[8]

There is another context that relates the story of creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden. In these two instances, the term saw’ah is used as an equivalent to awrah.

The text states:

"O ye children of Adam! We have bestowed dress upon you to cover your nakedness...".^[9]

Another word which almost has the same meaning of awrah, is the word farj or furuj.^[10] Another quote concerning covering the awrah is:

"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, and the believing women, to draw their cloaks (veils) over their bodies. That will be better that they should be known (as respectable woman) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." -Al-Ahzab:59 (Qur'an)

In the Hadith[link]

The author of Majma' Al-Bayan has commented on this Hadith:

Awrah refers to anything which can be easily harmed just like a bare or exposed place. Therefore it becomes clear that the body of a woman is referred to as vulnerable because it is like a house which contains no walls and can be easily harmed and must be covered with the appropriate clothing.^[11]

Differences between men and women[link]

Men[link]

In Sunni interpretations, the awrah of a man refers to the part of the body between the navel and the knees which must be covered when in public and also during prayer.

Women[link]

Women's awrah is a more complicated issue and it changes according to the situation:

A Yemeni woman covering her face with niqab. Some women who wear the niqab believe that a woman's face is also part of her awrah

• In ritual prayer: a woman should cover her entire body excluding her face and her hands from the wrist to the base of the fingers. She should also cover part of her forehead and the area under the chin. A woman should cover her hair and body while performing the ritual prayer, whether she is praying in presence of her husband or she is praying alone in her chamber, as the basis for covering in prayer is different from the basis for covering in front of people.
• In front of her husband: There is no restriction in Islam on what body parts a woman may show to her husband in private. The husband and wife can see any part of each other’s body especially during sexual intercourse.
• In privacy: It is recommended that a person cover his or her sexual organs even when alone in private. There are exceptions such as when taking a shower or going to the toilet.
• Among other women: The awrah of a woman amongst other women is the same as the awrah of men (from her navel to her knees). Awrah in front of non-Muslim women is a point of debate. Some scholars say that women should cover all but the hands and face, while according to the most preferred opinion, a Muslim woman can reveal in front of a non-Muslim woman as much as she would in front of other Muslim women.^[12][13][14]

A Turkish woman wearing a headscarf. Some Muslims hold that the face and the hands are excluded from awrah parts.

• In front of a mahram (close male relative): a woman can show her face, head, neck, hands, forearms, feet and calves while covering the rest.^[15][16][17]
• In front of male children: If the child understands what the awrah is, then it is not considered permissible for a woman to uncover her awrah in front of him.^[18][19]
• In front of non-mahram men: There is a difference of opinion on which body parts a woman should cover in front of men who are not her mahram. In the contemporary world, most Muslims hold that entire body of the woman, except her face and hands, is part of her awrah, so those are the parts of her body that must be covered during prayer and in public settings.^[20][21][22]

The majority of Salafi Muslims, however, believe that a woman's awrah in front of unrelated men is her entire body including her face and hands.^{[23] [24][25][26][27][28][29]}

The practise of covering the face is common in some Muslim countries (such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, Pakistan) but not in other countries (like Malaysia, Indonesia, present-day Iran, and Turkey).

This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (December 2011)

One should note as Islam is a global religion and not just for one nation, it has the possibility of different interpretations of the Divine Law within itself. Therefore, fuqaha can draw different results from the Islamic sources, according to the needs of different societies.

[edit] Relation with hijab

Women wearing shuttlecock burqas, the most concealing of all Islamic veils. It covers the entire face and body, leaving just a mesh screen to see through.

As exposing the awrah is sin regarded as in Islam, men and women are required to wear clothes that do not reveal their awrah . The concept of awrah is, therefore, linked with hijab. In fact, modest dress is considered a means to fulfilling the covering of awrah but the debate is focused on how much of the male or female body should be covered.

Many Muslim women, particularly those living in Europe or in South East Asia, wear the headscarf.^{[citation needed]} The type most commonly worn in the West is a square scarf that covers the head and neck but leaves the face clear.^{[citation needed]} Other styles also cover the hair, neck and shoulders completely, but the face and the hands are not covered, as they are not considered awrah for those Muslims who wear it.

Salafi women in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen veil their faces by wearing the niqab because they believe the face of a woman is considered awrah .^{[30] [31][32][33]}

Female voice[link]

According to most scholars, the woman’s voice is not awrah in principle, for according to the Hadith, women used to complain to the Prophet and ask him about Islamic matters.^[34] However, women are not allowed to speak in a soft or alluring voice.^[35]

In Islam, women may generally be allowed to sing, but they are not allowed to call the Adhan or pronounce the Talbiyah aloud in Hajj. As narrated by Hazrat Aisha (the wife of Muhammad): "That once Abu Bakr came to her on the day of 'Id-ul-Fitr or 'Id ul Adha while the Prophet was with her and there were two girl singers with her, singing songs of the Ansar about the day of Buath. Abu Bakr said twice. "Musical instrument of Satan!" But the Prophet said, "Leave them Abu Bakr, for every nation has an 'Id' (i.e. festival) and this day is our 'Id."

Also, according to the tradition, in the ritual prayer, a woman should invite the attention of the Imam by clapping, instead of saying "Subhanallah" which is for men. There is a difference of opinion whether or not a woman can recite the Quran when in the presence of non-mahram men.

Certain scholars have concluded from the above differences that a woman's voice is also her awrah in some cases.^[36][37][38]

[edit] Challenging awrah restrictions

Muslim Indian-American writer Asra Nomani wrote of her own struggles with clothing restrictions based on awrah as she attended school and college, and after. She wrote in the context of Sıla Şahin's posing for German Playboy in May, 2011 -- "not [as] a fan of porn as a symbol of empowerment, but ... understand[ing] why Şahin has responded to our community sanctions about honor, shame and modesty" as she did. Nomani also related these accounts to France's banning of the veil "in part because [the veil] perpetuates the notion that a woman's body is forbidden." Ultimately, Nomani wrote that in the search for "a happy medium of sexual freedom ... perhaps acts like Şahin's will prove liberating" and also a step towards "finding a middle ground" in the way Nomani's own "experimentation of ... youth settled down into [her] own sense of modesty in [her] 40s."^[39]

See also[link]

	Islam portal
	Gender studies portal

References[link]

External links[link]

• Women's Awrah
• Is The Female Voice Awrah?
• Ruling on covering the face, with detailed evidence
• Ruling on covering the face, with evidence
• Niqab is not Fard
• Why I wear Hijab, Not Niqab

Khalid Yasin
Khalid Yasin speaks on evolution in a public lecture.
Born	1946 (age 65–66) Harlem, New York, United States
Residence	Seattle, Washington
Nationality	American
Other names	Abu Muhammad, Abu Muhammad Khalid Yasin
Religion	Islam

Khalid Yasin (also known as Abu Muhammad^[1] and Abu Muhammad Khalid Yasin^[2]) (born in 1946) is an American convert from Christianity to Islam who lectures in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.^[1]Yasin lives in Manchester, England and has operated a "da'wah" organization which has had various names. It was dissolved in 2010.^[3]Yasin frequently travels overseas to spread his faith. He has called himself a "media-bedouin," remarking that the bedouins are willing to settle wherever there is "water and shelter".^[4] Yassin is outspoken about a variety of issues in his speeches and media appearences.

Background[link]

Yasin was born in Harlem, New York and raised in Brooklyn as a Christian along with nine siblings. Although not an orphan, he grew up in foster homes from the age of three, along with some of his siblings, until he was fifteen. He describes each foster home as having a different Christian denomination, so he covered a wide spectrum of Christianity. He was put up for adoption due to his family's financial state.^[1]

Yasin has described his youth in "the ghetto", where it was "Me and my two brothers Sam and Julius, against the world. We had nothing but converting and accepting Islam now we have everything". When first reading about Islam, he often used Encyclopedia Britannica as a reliable source on Islam and its concepts.^[4] Yasin felt the grief of African-American people, and he was especially influenced by the turbulent 1960's and figures like Malcolm X.^[4]

Yasin converted to Islam in 1965.^[5] He began his ministry as the "Amir" or leader of Jammat Ita'hadul Iqwa on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn (often referred to^{[by whom?]} as the McDonald's Mosque, due to its proximity to a McDonald's).

Yassin has been accused of espousing a radical form of Islam. "Channel Nine" in Australia described him as "a charismatic preacher who’s capturing the hearts and minds of young Australian Muslims with a radical mix of pleas for the understanding of terrorism, anti-Western conspiracy theories and radical homophobia.^[6] Rather differently, the Oman Tribute described him as a "learned scholar" who "regularly tours different countries debunking the misinformation about Islam".^[5]

Discussing his leisure time, Yassin said, "I’m a fairly avid horseman, I swim, martial arts, I box, I read quite a bit. Probably once every two years I visit Mecca and I cleanse myself spiritually by performing the Omrah or the Haj, and then daily I pray five times a day.":^[7]

Notable views[link]

During Yasin's stays in Australia in mid-2000, he received media attention regarding his views on Islam.

In a speech that Yasin delivered at Bankstown Town Hall in Sydney, Australia, as well as in a televised interview, seen as critical of Muslims befriending non-Muslims, Yasin said: "There's no such thing as a Muslim having a non-Muslim friend, so a non-Muslim could be your associate but they can't be a friend. They're not your friend because they don't understand your religious principles and they cannot because they don't understand your faith."^[8] He later contextualized his comment, explaining that Muslim people, including him, invariably have friends, neighbors and colleagues who are non-Muslims, but that does not mean that non-Muslims should influence Muslims' religious or moral decisions.^[4]

Yasin has lectured to students at universities as a guest speaker and on debate panels. He also addresses crowds at events aimed at young people. Yassin has made statements describing western civilization's academic tradition as difficult to reconcile with Islamic religious life: "University is a gateway for deviation,you forget your Islamic direction. Now you have become compromised through some kind of intellectuality."^[8][9]

Yasin was allegedly quoted by an Australian newspaper instructing a light beating as discipline for disobedient wives.^[8] Yasin denies ever saying this, and says that the Koran does not include any such instructions in its 6626 verses.^[4]

In Australia in 2005 Yasin was quoted as saying that: "The Koran gives a clear position regarding homosexuality lesbianism and bestiality. ... They are aberrations punishable by death. ... We can’t walk around society slandering them because there is legislation against doing that but we don’t have to like them we don’t have to promote them and we have the right to say that that’s a moral aberration.”^[6] In a 2010 documentary, Yasin said that "in the eyes of God everyone is equal, not the same, but equal" and that, "according to the principles of Islam", homosexuality is "a perversive behavior and a criminal behavior. But we need to be tolerant. We are citizens, we need to be tolerant".^[9]

Yasin believes that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is probably man-made and that the US Government is the likely culprit. He said that “missionaries from the World Health Organisation and Christian groups ... went into Africa and inoculated people for diphtheria, malaria, yellow fever and they put in the medicine the AIDS virus.”^[6][4]

Yasin accuses Israel of state terrorism. He refers to "an occupation of Palestinian land by the criminal state of Israel ... and they are still committing terrorism after 50 years".^[9]

Regarding capital punishment by some Muslim states, Yasin has said: "Then people can see, people without hands, people can see in public heads rolling down the street, people got [sic] their hands and feet from opposite sides chopped off and they see them crucified ... They see people put up against the pole and see them get lashed in public. They see it, and because they see it, it acts as a deterrent for them because they say I don't want that to happen to me". Yasin made these comments during an investigation for a British Channel 4 documentary, "Dispatches: Undercover Mosque", which investigated the intolerance and fundamentalism reportedly being spreading through Britain's mosques from the Saudi Arabian religious establishment closely linked to the Saudi Arabian government. Yasin responded that his comments should be considered in context and that he did not support or promote Saudi Arabian government religious rhetoric and that, in any event, capital punishment occurred in many countries. "The lecture," he stated, "was aimed at reforming the Muslim people, the Muslim society and the Muslim world … to be adjudicated by the Sovereign Islamic State" when one exists.^[10]

On September 7, 2003 Yasin appeared on Australian program Sunday Nights With John Cleary:^[7] On Islam's position in the West, Cleary asked Yasin, how he as a teacher dealt with Islam getting a very rough trot in the West today. To this Yasin answered that he saw two options, one for himself and one for other co-religionists. He spoke of the need to be tolerant and said Muslims need to personify with the core principles of the religion as then at least Muslims could not be held responsible for people taking a radical view of them. As a second thing he mentioned that he assesses people, who he speak to so to enable himself to correct any misconseptions about Islam from their perspective as that's what an educator does."^[7]

Discussing international governing bodies and the lack of them in Islam, Cleary asked where Sharia fits into that and Yasin replied; "Well the Sharia is the cement that keeps all the bricks together. The Sharia is the legislative element. The Sharia is the judicial element. This is where rules, this is where juristic decisions, this is where the courts, this is where law. And I mean if you don't have a people that is governed by Sharia, then you have a lawless people."^[7]

Denmark[link]

In 2010 Yasin lectured in Copenhagen at a Muslim youth project called "North Bronx" - From Gang Member two Conscious Muslim, with one of his credentials being the fact that Yasin is a former gang member from Harlem. His participation stirred political debate whether Yasin was a suitable role model for keeping youths out of gangs. The organizer of the event defended Yasin and stated that, "He has totally changed his position and entered the fight to prevent radicalization and crime".^[11][12]

Netherlands[link]

In 2009, Yasin travelled to the Netherlands and taught lectures on several occasions, including at the private Muslim university of Rotterdam. Several Dutch parties tried unsuccessfully to deny him access to the country. The most visible campaign against Yasin was led by right-wing politician Geert Wilders and his Party for Freedom.

On a Dutch-Muslim feature interview Yasin compared the controversial reaction he and Islam stirs to "someone walking in the dark, without knowing where they are going", and to people being afraid of things they are not familiar with.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shaykh Khalid Yasin's official website
• Khalid Yasin audio and video lectures

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Israr Ahmad (December 19, 1940 – April 2, 2010) was an Indian theoretical nuclear physicist and professor at Aligarh Muslim University since 1961. He was known for his work in quantum scattering theory.

He was an associate member of the International Center for Theoretical Physics located in Trieste (Italy), a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Indian Physics Association. He was Founding Director of the Center for Promotion of Science at the Aligarh Muslim University from its inception in 1985 to 1991, and Chairman of its Department of Physics from 1988 to 1991. He was editor of the monthly Urdu journal Tahzibul Akhlaq of Aligarh Muslim University from June 1986 to 1990. In addition, he had served as professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia. He was married to Mahe Laka (daughter of Dr. Qammrudeen).^[1][2]

Centre for Promotion of Science (CPS)[link]

Apart from his scientific work, Ahmad was keen in spreading the message of Islamic reformer Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. He was one of the strong supporters of the Aligarh Movement and revived the mission of Sir Syed to promote modern education, especially science, among oriental students and seminaries. To achieve this, with the support of Dr. Abdus Salam, he established the Centre for Promotion of Science (CPS) at AMU Aligarh in 1985, and was appointed as Founder Director of the center.

The center played a key role as a bridge between the Madrasah and a modern institution. It organized several refresher courses, seminars, series of lectures for Madrasah students and seminaries. In these, Ahmad organized a number of conferences on 'Religious Seminaries and Science Education', and conducted several introductory science courses for the teachers of Muslim religious seminaries. He established an independent office of CPS next to the Department of Physics and Dean Faculty of Science. He served CPS until 1991 and handed over his post to his student Dr. Abdul Qayum.

[edit] Tahzibul Akhlaq

In 1864 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan started the Urdu journal Tahzibul Akhlaq to spread awareness of contemporary socio-economic and educational developments in the Muslim community. Tahzibul Akhlaq was discontinued in 1881, but 100 years later, his ardent supporter, the then Vice-Chancellor Syed Hamid, revived it in 1981. Ahmad took an interest in the project and its promotion and was appointed its editor in June 1986, taking over this position from Prof. Noorul Hasan Naqvi. He played a key role in making Tahzibul Akhlaq a viable journal. As a science fiction writer in Hindi, Urdu, and English, Ahmad wrote several articles in different journals. He served as the editor of Tahzibul Akhlaq until 1990, when he handed over the post to Prof. Kabir Ahmad Jaisi.

Death[link]

Ahmad died on 2 April 2010 at Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi. His body was brought to Aligarh and was buried at the Aligarh Muslim University graveyard. He left behind a family which including his wife, sons Shahid Israr and Khalid Israr, and daughters Sabiha Alvi and Subia Wahid.

See also[link]

• List of physicists
• List of theoretical physicists
• String Theory
• Theory of everything
• Unified Field Theory

References[link]