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?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

What about the beauty of Men

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.

Dear and Beloved Sister in Islam, The One Who created mankind is the same One Who, in His Perfect and Absolute Wisdom and Knowledge, bestowed each amongst His creation its unique nature. Although it is in the bestowed nature of the man and the woman to be attracted to each other, and as much as it is convenient to believe that the purely physical attraction between a woman towards a man is as strong or as apparent as between a man towards a woman; this would be an incorrect understanding of the bestowed physical nature.

From amongst the things that attract a man towards a woman, the absolutely prime motivation is her physical appearance and beauty; and only after that does he give consideration to the other characteristics like intelligence, character, lineage, wealth, status, etc.

On the other hand, although the physical appearance and beauty of the man is a factor of attraction for the woman, it is not the prime factor. It is in the bestowed nature of the woman that she gives more weight to factors like intelligence, reputation, status, lineage, wealth, etc. than simply the physical appearance.

If however a woman fears that she would be attracted to a man primarily on his physical appearance and beauty, or that she ‘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’ ; she should fear Allah, strive to lower her gaze and guard her modesty, and not associate unnecessarily and without reason with non-mehram members of the opposite sex.

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…

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan