Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Subject: Mens awrah

Asalaamu Aleikum

I was wondering, when one looks at the awrah of a female, many believe that only the hands and face are allowed to be revealed right? Well Alhamdoelilah, i dont have a problem with that and would encourage women to uphold this practice. But i was thinking...Men's awrah, as we've been taught in Madrassah, is between the navel and the knees. Now i want to know, what about the ( and maaf for being kind of Graphic- its just to get my point across) beauty of them that lies in their biceps and triceps (arm muscles), abdominal muscles (six-pack/abs), shapely back muscles, lower calf muscles, and neck muscles and lets not forget the beautiful voluptious head of hair and beautiful face...How come these arent covered up either...it surely may evoke unwanted / haraam feeling and emotions in the bodies and imaginations of "strange women" and may cause women to even treat these men with out respect, verbally or even physically abusing them? And how come men can wear perfume in public, but women cant? Can men who smell amazing not arouse desire in women whom they shouldnt be?

These are but a few, and its been bothering me, the fact that i dont seem to be getting a inspiring answer, so that i can go back to my christian and agnostic friends and show them the beauty in this ruling of Islam...(My two friends have asked me this question and i couldnt give them a good enough answer) I hate that feeling, and it gives them a bad impression of Islam and the Shariah...

Please research this thoroughly.

Yours in Islam

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Answer:

Can men attract women by look

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: Now i want to know, what about the ( and maaf for being kind of Graphic- its just to get my point across) beauty of them that lies in their biceps and triceps (arm muscles), abdominal muscles (six-pack/abs), shapely back muscles, lower calf muscles, and neck muscles and lets not forget the beautiful voluptious head of hair and beautiful face...How come these arent covered up either...it surely may evoke unwanted / haraam feeling and emotions in the bodies and imaginations of "strange women" and may cause women to even treat these men with out respect, verbally or even physically abusing them?

The Lord Creator Who created everything in existence also bestowed on each its specific nature. In His Wisdom and Knowledge, Allah Subhanah has bestowed the men with a natural physical attraction towards the physical beauty of the women which is far far beyond and much more when compared to the natural attraction of the women towards the physical beauty of men.

Although it may seem politically incorrect to make such statements in these modern-educated but ignorant and un-Godly times that we live in today, the prime and almost instantaneous attraction for a man is the physical appearance and beauty of the woman; it is not to say that men are not attracted by the women’s intelligence, character, family, lineage, knowledge, status, etc. but all these qualities come a distant second.

But the bestowed nature of women is such that although they might be attracted by the physical looks of the man, the attraction of his status, or his reputation, or his intelligence and knowledge, or his character, or his lineage, or his wealth, or his accomplishments and position in life take precedence over the physical appearance and looks of a man in comparison.

Because this modern-educated but ignorant times we live in today propagates a theory that men and women are both equal, they assume, against absolutely all logic and evidence, that even their nature must be equal; and thus their this false belief and understanding of the bestowed nature specific and distinct in men and women might at times give rise to such contradictions!

If one studies the statistics, or even if one simply uses one’s faculties of logic and common sense, one would be forced to admit that it is the men of society who are predominantly guilty of eve-teasing, staring, passing ‘sexual’ comments, or initiating ‘sexual’ abuse towards any passing woman, whether they know her background or not! How often has it happened that a man complains that he is being regularly adam-teased by the women on the streets, or that the women constantly stare at him because of his beauty, of that the women who do not know him at all make ‘sexual’ comments at him, or that he is being ‘sexually’ abused at his work place at the hands of women??? How often has it happened that a man files a complaint that he was ‘sexually’ harassed or raped by women?? How often does one hear that women in society pay to visit ‘massage parlors’ of men, or frequent brothels of men, or pay to see men ‘strip-tease’ in ‘go-go’ bars, or brothels of men are springing up all over town?

Your Statement: it surely may evoke unwanted / haraam feeling and emotions in the bodies and imaginations of "strange women" and may cause women to even treat these men with out respect, verbally or even physically abusing them?

Beloved Brother, if a man is extremely handsome and elegant (like the story and incident of Prophet Yusuf (a.s.) in the Glorious Quran) it indeed might happen, albeit rarely, that a man’s physical beauty ‘might’ evoke unwanted feelings and emotions in the bodies and imaginations of women; but that is truly far and far between!

Besides, if such feelings do arise in any believing woman, she is still bound by the dictates and commands of her Lord, which He made to both the believing men and the belieiving women, to lower their gaze and guard their modesty.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Nur verses 30-31:

30 Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.

31 And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands their fathers their husbands' fathers their sons their husbands' sons their brothers or their brothers' sons or their sisters' sons or their women or the slaves whom their right hands possess or male servants free of physical needs or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah that ye may attain Bliss.

Your Statement: These are but a few, and its been bothering me, the fact that i dont seem to be getting a inspiring answer, so that i can go back to my christian and agnostic friends and show them the beauty in this ruling of Islam...(

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Hijr verses 39-43:

39 (Iblis) said: "O my Lord! Because Thou hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them (mankind) on the earth and I will put them all in the wrong

40 Except Thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy grace)."

41 (Allah) said: "This (Way of My sincere servants) is indeed a Way that leads straight to Me.

42 For over My servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in the wrong and follow thee."

43 And verily Hell is the promised abode for them all!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 29 Surah Ankaboot verse 38:

Shaitaan made their deeds fair-seeming to them and misled them from the right path, although they were sensible people.

Beloved Brother in Islam, this constant struggle between recognizing the Good from the evil is a test Decreed by Allah Subhanah upon mankind. The accursed and avowed enemy of mankind, the Shaytaan, is the one who has made it his mission to make the all evil fair-seeming, and make the good seem evil to man! And unfortunately in the name of modernism and freedom, a multitude amongst mankind have indeed been seduced by the evil falsehoods, and at times, unnatural fallacies of the Shaytaan which he has made fair-seeming to man!

If one faces such questions, one need not blindly submit to the popular and seemingly ‘politically-correct’ self-invented opinions and theories of man ; but rather one should, in the least, depend on one’s bestowed faculty of intelligence, logic and common sense to ascertain the Truth from the falsehood. And if one arms himself with the ammunition of Truth from the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, then no amount of such ‘popular’ but absolutely illogical falsehoods would ever be able to penetrate or stand against the power and strength of the Truth.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Bani Israel verse 81:

And declare, “The Truth (Guidance) has come and falsehood has vanished. And falsehood is a thing, that must by its nature, vanish!”

Beloved and dear Brother in Islam, if you need to answer the questions of any of your non-believing friends regarding anything about Islam, you may post your question on this forum and we shall strive to the best of our ability to address their questions in light of the guidance of Truth from the Quran and the Sunnah, Insha Allah. We assure you brother, that the Truth from the Quran and the Sunnah not only will satisfy your friends through its doctrine, but if Allah permits them to open their hearts and ears to the Truth, they will be convinced through its absolute logic and common-sense, Insha Allah.

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), he can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), he can be assured of being led astray.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother and sincere well wisher in Islam,

Burhan