The 500 most influential Islamic figures

Here's a link to an article regarding the 500 most influential Islamic figures. Surprisingly, I found TGNA inside it as well, which gave me a slight shock. However, it must be noted that this article contains figures regardless of their sect or organisation, and thus purely based on their influence alone. So, DO expect certain people to pop up as well 'cough' SIS 'cough'.Whatever, hope all of you can make the most out of it and enjoy it as much as I did.


http://www.rissc.jo/muslim500v-1L.pdf

WaAllahua'lam.

Azhar Imam orders niqab off

This news is a bit old. But I still put it up seeing as some of you might or might not be aware of this news. I would be more than happy to hear or read some of your own opinions regarding this new ruling. WaAllahua'lam.


CAIRO Al-Azhar, the highest seat of religious learning in the Sunni world, decided on Thursday, October 8, to ban niqab in all its affiliate girls-only schools, educational institutes and dormitories. "The Supreme Council of Al-Azhar has decided to ban students and teachers from wearing the niqab inside female-only classrooms," said Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi.

Reading out from a written statement, he said niqab would not be allowed in schools where both the students and teachers are females.

Tantawi added that the same rules would apply in university dormitories where the residents and the supervisors are also all females.

During a visit to a school earlier this week, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi ordered a school girl to remove her niqab, telling her the face-veil is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam.

The Muslim-majority country's top religious authority also vowed to ban the niqab all schools linked to Al-Azhar.

Niqab in Focus (Folder) Established in 359 AH (971 CE), Al-Azhar mosque drew scholars from across the Muslim world and grew into a university, predating similar developments at Oxford University in London by more than a century. Al-Azhar, which means the "most flourishing and resplendent," was named after Fatima Al-Zahraa, daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The first courses at Al-Azhar were given in 975 CE and the first college was built 13 years later.

Al-Azhar first admitted women students in 1961, albeit in separate classes.

Also in 1961, subjects in engineering and medicine were added to classes on Shari`ah, the Noble Quran and the intricacies of Arabic language.

Not Anti-Niqab

The Supreme Council asserted that Al-Azhar does not oppose the niqab in the homes, streets or the work place.

But Tantawi asserted that they are against over exaggerations.

Women cover their faces so as not to be seen by stranger men. But it makes no sense to use niqab in a women-only environment, he contended.

Insistence on covering the face in the presence of women only is a form of extremism which Islam opposes.

Tantawi told the state television Tuesday that although he considers the niqab as a tradition, he does not oppose it and deals normally with women who cover their faces.

The majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.

They believe that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the face-cover or not.

Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, which is an obligatory code of dress in Islam, but an increase in women putting on the niqab has apparently alarmed the government.

The ministry of religious endowments has recently distributed booklets in mosques against the practice.

The Education Ministry has reportedly banned students who wear the niqab from being accepted in state-run Cairo University's dormitory.

source: islamonline.com

Apabila solat diremehkan

"Solatlah kamu sebagaimana kamu melihat aku solat." (Hadith riwayat Bukhari)

Without a doubt, solat is one of the most important ibadah as a Muslim. One cannot go wrong as far as to say that the act of solat itself represents the ultimate act of obedience to our Almighty Lord Allah s.w.t.

"Islam itu ditegakkan atas lima perkara: Mengakui bahawasanya tiada Tuhan yang berhak disembah melainkan Allah, mendirikan solat, menunaikan zakat, melaksanakan haji di Baitullah dan berpuasa di bulan Ramadhan." (Bukhari)

I would rather not go into details into things which are based on khilafiah. eg: bersedekap di dada, menggerakkan jari ketika tasyahud ataupun menjatuhkan tangan dahulu sebelum lutut ketika hendak sujud...and so on. However, I would like to bring the readers' attentions to more important issues at hand.

It has always been a bad habit of mine to observe people performing the solat (Don't ask me why...). And apparently, there was one time after I finished performing the solat sunnat rawatib, I noticed an old guy who was performing the solat in front of me. Angkat takbir dengan penuh rasa malas, rukuknya dengan tangannya dan tulang belikatnya tidak lurus, sujudnya dengan tangannya mencium lantai. I don't know about u guys, but it was really a sad and painful sight for me to behold. Hati ini terasa benar ingin menegur pak cik tersebut, tetapi mulut ini begitu berat sekali untuk memulakan perbualan. Lantas hati ini cuba menipu diri sendiri dengan menyangka bahawa pak cik tersebut baru belajar solat.

Daripada Ibn Abbas r.a. katanya: Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: Aku diperintahkan untuk bersujud di atas tulang, (iaitu) di atas dahi (baginda turut mengisyaratkan ke hidung), dua tangan, dua lutut dan jari-jari kaki. (Hadith riwayat Bukhari)

Daripada Barra bin Azib r.a. katanya : Rasulullah s.a.w. telah bersabda: Jika kamu bersujud, letaklah kedua tapak tanganmu ke lantai dan angkatlah kedua-dua siku kalian. (Hadith riwayat Muslim).

Narrated Abu Humaid As-Saidi r.a. : I saw Allah's messanger when he uttered the takbir, he placed his hands parallel to his shoulders, and when hi bowed down, he rested his hands on his knees, then bent his back. When he raised his heads up, he stood erect until the bones of his spine became straight. When he prostrated(sujud), he placed his arms such that they were neither spread out or drawn in, and the tips of his toes were facing the Qiblah, when he sat up, at the end of two rakaáh, he sat on his left foot and put erect the right one, and when he sat up after the last rakáh, he put forward the left foot, put erect the other one, and sat on his buttock. (Reported by Bukhari)

But alas, the misery wasn't over yet. Next come the most painful part of all. Muazzin kemudiannya melaungkan iqamah sebagai tanda solat jemaah akan bermula. I will then grieved in silence as I watched the pathetic sight of our own saff. Imam solat tersebut langsung tidak ambil peduli akan "kerapian dan keseragaman" (this is suppose to be sarcastic) saff-saff di belakangnya. Dalam keadaaan yang kritikal, aku cuba mengambil inisiatif untuk mengajak beberapa makmum untuk merapatkan saff mereka, tetapi mereka bagaikan tidak biasa dengan perbuatanku, lantas kembali merenggangkan kembali.

"Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure." (Al-Saff verse 4)

Narrated Anas r.a. :Allah messenger said: Stand close together n your rows (saff), bring them (the rows) near one another, and stand neck to neck (in straight lines). (Reported by Abu Daud and Nasa'i. Ibn Hibban graded it sahih)

Adakah kita ini sudah beranggapan bahawa solat itu boleh diremehkan. Sesungguhnya solat bagiku merupakan lambang kekuatan dan kebanggaan kita sebagai umat Islam. Ini baru mereka yang menunaikan solat, belum kira lagi berapa ramai antara umat Islam yang tidak menunaikan solat langsung?

"Nay, seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer, it is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit (khusyu')" (Baqarah verse 45)

"The Believers must (eventually) win through (1) Those who humble themselves in their prayers(2) " (Al-Mu'minun verse 1-2)

With that said, I really hoped that this short article will more or less be the starting point for us to better our solat or even at least beneficial in any way to the readers. Not to say that I myself has performed the most perfect solat, as part of the reason as to why I wrote this was for the sole purpose of reminding myself specifically and to the rest of Muslim community in general. There are a lot of other things to discuss regarding the correct way of performing solat, which I hoped that we can discuss in the future.

With that, WaAllahua'lam.

Relevance of implementing a compulsory pass for English in SPM

This is in refer to the recent MoE's (Ministry of Education) proposal to make the English subject a compulsory pass in the SPM examination. And I think this proposal is a good proposal and should be taken seriously.

Of course, if you were to ask me on the relevance of this proposal, my answer would be a definite "yes". But hey, that's just solely based on my opinion who's been constantly indulged in the usage of English for almost 16 years (been learning English since I was 3-Peter and Jane). But taking into account of other people's situations and backgrounds, it would have been a different story, isn't it?

I would rather not go into details as to how disappointing and pessimistic as to certain comments that can be heard and be read from the newspaper or blogs, and I would also rather look into this matter without political influences that would corrupt my objectivity and the relevance of this proposal. (ISA dowh..)

English, without a doubt, is one of the most widely used language in the world. Or in short, if you CAN speak English, you CAN almost survive in any parts of this world. And looking at Malaysia back in the old days, it was necessary for students to have a pass in the English subject in the MCE (a precursor to the SPM). And surprisingly, I found out that Malaysia was one of best in the South East region in terms of the English language quality. But this policy was put into halt later in the 1970's. In my personal opinion, that's where we went wrong.

If you were to ask my dad who's lived long enough from the 1950's, he would strongly agree with you if you were to say that the quality of English among the students has significantly dropped. (I would also agree with that). Ok2, lets go back to the present, shall we? Imagine a form 5 student or worse off, a university graduate who still don't have a good command of English, do you think he would have been successful if he were to apply for a post in a big company, or rather would the potential employee be even impressed with the individual who has scored like, exceptionally well in their exams, but can't speak well in English? (Please don't doubt this, I've already gone through the whole process of job interviewing and working, and English is a definite must if you wanna survive)

Reality hurts. Sure, someone would tell me: "Kesian lah kat orang2 yg duduk kat ulu dengan pedalaman, nnti diorang tak dpt catch up, tak pun ramai yang nnti akan fail dalam peperiksaan SPM.." or even "Dengan mementingkan bahasa Inggeris, kita akan mengabaikan pula bahasa kebangsaan kita nnti atau menjadikan kita kurang patriotik terhadap negara kita sendiri..". Yes, it would be really difficult for them, but just one thing that I can say to these individuals, don't underestimate those students, they have proven countless times that they CAN do really well if you give them the chance AND OUR OWN INITIATIVE OF GIVING THEM QUALITY EDUCATION AND LEARNING MATERIALS. (jst want to emphasize, not shouting...).

To those who think that it is still not the time to implement this proposal, then I would then questioned them as to when will it be the right time to implement this proposal? This is the future of our own generations we are talking about, not some old coot who's only waiting for their death invitation (Ok2, that's rather harsh).

Of course, I would rather not go into rash mode in this kind of proposal. To be able to implement it successfully, as I've emphasized earlier, we have to ensure that we have the necessary resources as to the learning materials and quality education. And self awareness among the parents regarding the importance of learning English would really help as well, as my parents did (that explains the Peter and Jane part...).

And last but not least, by implementing this proposal, it does not make less patriotic nor does it make into some kinda freak who forgot that he is a Malay (personally, I would prefer "Bahasa Melayu hilang daripada bangsa Melayu" rather than "Islam hilang daripada bangsa Melayu"), but by looking into a bigger picture, by having a good command of English, it has made me more confident in my own capabilities of conversing with other people, thus boosting my own self-confidence.

But, this is my own opinion, you must have your own opinion, and I would be more than happy if you were to share it with me or critisize me.

WaAllahua'lam.

Mazhab satu kewajipan?

These days, I've encountered several instances whereby some people will question my stance of my mazhab. In simpler words, whether I'm using mazhab Syafie as my imam. (On a side note, some of them asked me nicely, but some of them were really nasty, oh well..). Hence ,this post. Switch language on to Malay. Malas nak terjemah ayat-ayat kitab to english. Please forgive for my lack of diligence.
But, I have to warn you guys that this post will be quite lengthy, well, happy reading then.

PERTAMA: - bertaqlid dlm hukum hakam agama adalah harus dan bukannya perkara terlarang bagi kita org awam kerana kita semua bukan mujtahid, cuma yg tak boleh dan terlarang adalah bertaqlid beserta ta'asub pada satu mazhab. Dalam hal ini syaikh Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi ada menjelaskan:

"Telah diketahui dengan pasti bahawa tidak ada kewajipan kecuali apa yang diwajibkan oleh Allah dan Rasul-Nya. Sedangkan Allah dan Rasul-Nya tidak mewajibkan kita mentaati orang-orang tertentu sekalipun memiliki ilmu yang luas …… Tindakan (mentaati ajaran mazhab secara mutlaq) bererti menempatkan para imam mazhab sebagai pembuat syari‘at atau menganggap pendapat mereka sebagai dalil syari‘at yang tidak boleh dibantah …… sehingga menyerupai perbuatan para Ahli Kitab yang menjadikan rahib-rahib dan pendeta-pendeta mereka sebagai tuhan selain Allah" (rujuk Fiqh al-Ikhtilaf,al-Qaradawi, m/s. 192)

begitu juga berkata al-Imam Syafie:

"Sesuatu sunnah daripada Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam kemungkinan akan sampai atau tidak sampai kepada seorang itu. Maka apabila sahaja aku menghuraikan pendapatku atau merumuskan sesuatu prinsip dan pada waktu yang sama wujud satu hadis yang sah daripada Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam yang menerangkan sebaliknya maka pendapat yang betul itu adalah apa yang Nabi katakan dan demikianlah juga akan menjadi pendapat aku" (wasiat Imam Syafie, dinukil Ibn ‘Asakir di dalam Tarikh Dimashq, 15/1/3)

berkata Imam Syafie lagi:

"Dalam setiap isu, apabila seseorang ahli hadis itu menjumpai sebuah riwayat yang sahih daripada Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam dan riwayat itu pula bertentangan dengan ajaran aku maka aku menarik kembali ajaran aku yang asal tadi sama ada pada ketika aku masih hidup atau apabila aku sudah meninggal dunia nanti" (wasiat imam syafie, dinukil Ibn al-Qayyim di dalam I’lam al Muwaqqi‘in, jld. 2, ms. 363)

berkata Imam Syafie lagi:

"Apabila kamu dapati di dalam bukuku sesuatu yang bertentangan dengan hadis Rasulullah shallallahu 'alaihi wasallam maka berpeganglah kepada Hadis tersebut dan tinggalkanlah apa yang telah aku katakan itu atau tuliskan" (wasiat Imam Syafie, dinukil al-Nawawi di dalam al-Majmu’ Syarh al-Muhazzab, jld. 1, ms. 63)


KEDUA:- perlu difahami bahawa Islam tidak menutup pintu ijtihad dan Islam juga tidak mengharamkan taqlid, ijtihad dan taqlid kedua2 nya adalah boleh selagi seseorang itu menepati syarat2 taqlid dan ijtihad, dan berdasarkan keadaan ilmu seseorang. Dalam hal ini berkata Syaikhul Islam Ibn Taimiyah:

"Pendapat yang dipegang oleh kebanyakan imam ialah ijtihad dibolehkan dalam beberapa sudut dan taqlid dibolehkan dalam beberapa sudut yang lain. Mereka tidak mewajibkan ijtihad ke atas setiap individu dan mereka tidak mengharamkan taqlid. (Pada waktu yang sama) mereka tidak mewajibkan taqlid ke atas setiap individu dan mereka tidak mengharamkan ijtihad.

Ijtihad dibolehkan mengikut kadar kemampuan masing-masing untuk berijtihad dan taqlid dibolehkan bagi sesiapa yang tidak mampu berijtihad. (Timbul persoalan) adakah orang yang mampu berijtihad dibolehkan baginya untuk bertaqlid ? Dalam persoalan ini terdapat perbezaan pendapat. Yang benar ia dibolehkan, iaitu pada ketika seseorang tidak mampu berijtihad sama ada kerana dalil-dalil yang dimilikinya sama-sama kuat atau kerana kesuntukan waktu untuk berijtihad atau kerana tidak menemui dalilnya. Dalam suasana keuzuran di atas, gugur baginya kewajipan untuk berijtihad sekadar apa yang menjadi keuzuran baginya dan statusnya beralih kepada apa yang di sebaliknya, iaitu taqlid. Ini sebagaimana orang yang memiliki keuzuran untuk bersuci kerana ketiadaan air (maka dia bertayamum).

Dan demikianlah juga bagi orang awam, jika dia berkemampuan untuk berijtihad dalam sebahagian masalah, maka dibolehkan baginya untuk berijtihad. Ini kerana ijtihad merupakan sesuatu yang boleh menerima pemecahan dan pembahagian (kepada tahap dan tingkatannya). Maka yang penting ialah mampu atau tidak (untuk berijtihad). Boleh jadi seorang itu mampu berijtihad di dalam sebahagian masalah akan tetapi tidak mampu di dalam sebahagian masalah yang lain. Akan tetapi kemampuan untuk berijtihad tidak boleh terlepas daripada terlebih dahulu menguasai ilmu yang diperlukan untuk mencapai ijtihad. Adapun jika dia hanya menguasai satu masalah daripada satu bab (atau topik) maka masih jauh baginya untuk ijtihad dalam bab tersebut (rujuk Majmu’ al-Fatawa, 20/202-204)


KETIGA: - juga perlu jelas bahawa hukum bertaqlid berbeza-beza bergantung kepada kemampuan setiap individu. Dan oleh itu, dalam masa kita bertaqlid, kita juga dinasihati agar berusaha up-grade status kita dari seorang muqallid mutlaq (taqlid 100%) kepada Muttabi' (taqlid dengan mengetahui dan mengkaji dalil dan hujah), dan berazam agar dapat berijtihad, dalam hal ini Imam Hasan al-Banna rahimahullah ada menyebut dan menasihatkan, kata al-Banna:

"Bagi setiap Muslim yang belum mencapai tingkat ‘mujtahid’ terhadap dalil-dalil umum syari‘at, diperbolehkan baginya untuk mengikut pendapat salah seorang imam agama (imam mazhab).

Namun sangat dianjurkan agar dia berusaha dengan segenap kemampuannya untuk mempelajari dalil-dalil yang dipergunakan oleh imam yang diikutinya dan tetap bersedia menerima kebenaran dari orang lain yang berhak mengemukakannya.

Selain itu dia harus berusaha menyempurnakan segala kekurangan ilmunya jika dia adalah seorang yang mampu melakukan hal itu sehingga akhirnya dia dapat mencapai kedudukan sebagai seorang mujtahid" (rujuk "Risalah al-Ta’alim", dinukil dari Fiqh al-Ikhtilaf,al-Qaradawi, m/s 206, juga rujuk "Usul Isyrin/Usul 20" Hasan al-Banna)


KEEMPAT: - juga perlu jelas dalam usaha kita up-grade diri kita dari tahap muqallid mutlaq kepada muttabi, kita sama sekali tidak boleh menolak kewujudan dan keperluan dan kepentingan mazhab sehingga menjadi lupa diri, bongkak dan sanggup menyatakan "haram 100% bertaqlid dan haram 100% bermazhab", dalam hal ini syaikh Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi ada menjelaskan:

"Pada abad kita sekarang ini ada orang-orang yang menyatakan diri mereka sebagai mujtahid dan mengajak orang-orang lain untuk turut menjadi mujtahid.Mereka beranggapan mampu mengarah manusia kepada satu arah yang mereka buat dan menyatukan manusia ke dalam satu pendapat yang mereka anuti, sesuai dengan pemahaman mereka terhadap nas syari‘at. Dengan cara ini lenyaplah mazhab-mazhab yang ada dan hapuslah segala bentuk perbezaan pendapat sehingga semua orang bertemu dalam kalimat yang satu.

Tetapi mereka lupa bahawa pemahaman mereka terhadap nas, tidak lebih dari sekadar pendapat yang boleh mengandungi kesalahan atau kebenaran. Tidak ada seorang ulama’ yang maksum pendapatnya, sekalipun dia telah memenuhi segala syarat ijtihad. Dia hanya terjamin mendapat pahala atas ijtihadnya, sama ada benar atau salah. Oleh kerana itu golongan ini hanya akan mewujudkan satu mazhab yang baru di samping mazhab-mazhab yang sedia ada. Selain itu dengan anehnya mereka mengecam para pengikut mazhab kerana bertaqlid kepada para imam mazhabnya padahal mereka sendiri menuntut orang ramai agar bertaqlid dan mengikut mereka !

Janganlah anda beranggapan bahawa saya menolak ajakan mereka untuk mengikuti nas atau mengecam ijtihad mereka dalam memahami nas. Hal ini adalah merupakan hak setiap Muslim yang telah memenuhi syarat-syarat ijtihad. Tidak seorangpun yang punya hak untuk menutup pintu ijtihad yang dibuka oleh Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam untuk umatnya. Apa yang saya tolak adalah kesombongan mereka (golongan anti mazhab) terhadap metodologi para ulama’ umat, sikap mereka yang melecehkan warisan fiqh, tuntutan mereka bahawa mereka sahaja yang paling benar sedangkan orang lain adalah keliru, serta anggapan bahawa mereka mampu menghapuskan perbezaan pendapat dan menyatukan semua orang ke dalam satu pendapat, iaitu pendapat mereka sendiri" (rujuk Fiqh al-Ikhtilaf,al-Qaradawi, m/s 204-205)


------ rujukan:

1- Usul 20, Hasan al-Banna
2- Fiqh Ikhtilaf, al-Qaradawi
3- Majmu' Fatwa, Ibn Taimiyyah


Kesimpulan yang dapat kita ambil daripada petikan di atas ialah:

1) Islam mengharuskan bagi orang awam seperti kita untuk bertaklid. Apa yang dilarang kepada kita ialah bertaklid dan bertaksub membuta tuli. Which happened to the majority of us. Para imam mazhab tidak maksum dan tidak lari daripada probability membuat kesilapan di dalam berijtihad. Tapi itu juga tidak memberi peluang kepada kita untuk mengungkit kesilapan mereka. Kata Imam Az-Zahabi dalam syiar Alam Nubala jil 18 m/s 157:

"Setiap orang boleh diambil dan ditolak pendapatnya kecuali Rasulullah s.a.w. Namun, jika seseorang imam itu tersilap dalam ijtihadnya, tidak wajar kita lupakan segala kebaikannya dan menafikan amalan makrufnya. Bahkan kita beristighfar untuknya dan memaafkannya."

You can also refer to Tablis Iblis written by Ibn Qayyim Jauziyah concerning matters of taklid for common people like us.

2) Kita juga dibenarkan untuk berijtihad sekiranya kita mempunyai kelayakan dan kemampuan untuk berijtihad. Perlu dijelaskan di sini untuk mencapai status mujtahid memerlukan kepada beberapa kriteria yang anda boleh semak dan cari sendiri. (Tak payah pergi jauh, tgk jer kat buku PQS form 5...)

3) Kita perlu berusaha untuk menuntut ilmu supaya kita boleh meninggalkan status taklid tanpa dalil dan hujjah. Yang ni pada saya agak sukar sedikit kerana untuk melakukan perkara sedemikian, perlukan resilience dan azam yang tinggi untuk mencari ilmu serta minat membaca, dan pandai mencari bahan. Anda juga perlu berhati-hati kerana dewasa kini terdapat pelbagai factions atau golongan yang berbahaya seperti Ahbash, tarekat di Malaysia dan lain-lain lagi yang mungkin akan mengelirukan antum semua. Saya sarankan website ini untuk menambahkan ilmu antum semua:

http://al-fikrah.net/

4) Janganlah kita memandang rendah kepada orang lain setelah Allah izinkan kita membuka mata kita untuk mengenali agama Allah dan sunnah dengan lebih dekat lagi. Which happened to me, truthfully. But after learning that there is still so much to learn, I'm really ashamed of myself.

Sebelum terlupa, apakah pendirian mazhab saya? Well, you could say that I'm already practicing different mixtures of opinions between mazhabs. But one thing for sure is that MY IMAM WILL ALWAYS BE MUHAMMAD S.A.W. AND THAT MY GUIDANCE WILL ALWAYS BE THE QURAN AND THE SUNNAH. Funny how Malaysians bragged a lot about being on the stance of Mazhab Syafie, but in practice they're not practicing Syafie's opinions especially when it comes to transactions and zakat, which, if you would like me to, I'll explain it some other time.

And lastly, please, I'm hoping that all of you out there , regardless of your status or gender, as long you are a Muslim, please learn the true Islam. Terdirinya Islam bukan atas dasar taklid, taksub, keturunan semata-mata, tetapi terdirinya Islam atas hujjah Quran dan Sunnah serta keindahan yang terdapat di dalamnya. Love Islam wholeheartedly.

WaAllahua'lam.

Equality vs Respect

A Chinese friend of mine once came up to me asking me as to why Muslim women need to wear the hijab. And I said to him: Its because when they wear the hijabs, it will implies to the other males counterpart that they are only allowed to communicate to them pertaining matters of wisdom and heart, not about something else.

And which is true, btw. Try as hard as I may, I won't be seeing the beautiful long hair of women or even the funny shape in front of their chest when they are wearing the hijab. By them wearing the hijabs, it sends a clear message to me that I will have to acknowledge their equality in a way and respect them by not talking about something other than words which are based on aql'(wisdom) and qalb'(heart). In other words, I won't be talking about something dirty with them, nor am I able to even think about doing something dirty with them as I'm obligated to respect them.

Now, I read about an article which talks about gender equality. While the writer had made some good points about the subject, but I believe that man and women will never be equal.

"(Husbands) are the protectors and maintainers of their (wives), because Allah has given the one more (strength) then the other, and because they support them from their means. (An-Nisa' 34)

"And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable, but men have a degree (of advantage) over them. (Al-Baqarah 228)

Of course, there is much to say about the mentioned verses above relating to Munakahat, but what I'm trying to point out is that, as much as people out there likes to shout out for gender equality, I'd say there will never be equality among men and women, rather, we have to respect each other as both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Hey, if someone were to tell me treat women as my equal, I won't be as considerate as to offer to lend a hand to some lady to help her carry some of her things. And I certainly will be talking to them as the way when I talked to my male friends. And last but not least, I won't give a damn on the philosophy of gentlemen such as ladies first etc.

You see, women are one the special creations of Allah s.w.t. that compliments men weaknesses. Sort of like Yin and Yang, so to speak. There can be a severe mood change when they are coming to their month, and they can be even stronger than us men in a lot of cases (of course, not in comparison of sheer strenght). Only Allah knows the pain and sacrifices that they've made in bearing their child for nine months and during the labour hours, and last but not least, the time they spent raising up the children.

So, if someone out there were talk about gender equality, I would've said "BS" straight away. I will never see them as my equal, but rather, I will respect them and view them as one of the graceful presence in this life to make my day a much more pleasant experience to live by.

But, I'm open to criticism if you think that my way of thinking is wrong though. Until then, WaAllahua'lam.