Islam Guidance

The Scientific View
Human behavior and actions are controlled by information that our brains and nerve cells store. This information is received and perceived through our senses and stored within our brain as memories, thoughts, emotions and ideas. The stored information drives processes that affect one’s decision-making to a great extent, finally resulting in one’s outward behavior and actions.
Surprisingly enough, around 80% of all sense perception reaching our brain comes from the eyes alone! One can imagine the significant role played by the eyes in driving our mental processes and behavior. Whether it is watching a movie, playing videogames, or regular day-to-day activities that our eyes perceive – they all play an important role in affecting our thoughts, actions and behavior. If one is not selective about filtering indecent and inappropriate scenes from being viewed, one can be assured that it will bring about negative responses and unworthy behavior!
In a society where the eyes are not protected from viewing indecent or provocative sensory information, it should not be alarming to see the decay of modesty and higher morals in society. This is where one must realize the blessing of Hijab; the physical Hijab as well as the Hijab of the eye are a divine blessing for believers to avoid pitfalls and create a healthy society.

The Islamic View
The very reason that Islam considers mixed gatherings as prohibited is because they violate physical and social Hijab to a great extent. Our respected Maraja Taqleed and scholars unanimously agree with the impermissibility of mixed gatherings.
Imam Sadiq (A.S) said: “Whenever the eye looks at something forbidden, a knot of desire is tied in the person’s heart, and that knot will only be untied by one of two conditions: either by weeping out of grief or regret in true repentance, or by taking possession of what one desired and looked at.” Clearly, the non-observance of physical Hijab by women has the potential to encourage forbidden gaze by the opposite gender. Indeed the dangers of not observing Hijab can be realized through the wisdom of our infallibles.
In addition, lack of modesty in the society has the potential to impede its growth and corrupt it through diverting minds into unnecessary or indecent thoughts and behavior.
Every society or country chooses to impose a dress code for its citizens. What better dress code can one impose than the Islamic Hijab? In the eyes of a believer, is there anything better than the Islamic standards of modesty?
In conclusion, the beautiful blessing of Hijab extends itself from being just a personal choice to one that impacts greater good of the society. By choosing to observe Hijab, Muslim men and women not only elevate their own spirituality but they in fact help in elevating our social fabric and together prepare for the return of our awaited Imam (A.S).

Taken from: Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission

British Muslim women who wear the hijab feel generally better about their body image than those who don’t wear the hijab suggests research published in the British Journal of Psychology today.
The research, conducted by Dr Viren Swami from the University of Westminster and colleagues looked at body image issues amongst British Muslim women.
Dr Swami explained: “In the West anxiety about body image, for women, is so prevalent it’s considered normal. This study aimed to explore how these attitudes differ within a British Muslim community.”
A total of 587 Muslim women aged from 18 to 70 years from London participated in a number of tests. From this group 218 women stated they never used the hijab and 369 women said they used some form of the hijab at least now and then.
Participants undertook a number of questionnaires that asked them to rate their own feelings of body dissatisfaction, how much pressure the media put on them to be attractive and how religious they were. They were also asked to match their own figure to a set of female silhouette images that ranged from emaciated to obese.
The results showed that women who wore the hijab generally had a more positive body image, were less influenced by the media’s beauty ideals and placed less importance on appearance.
Dr Swami said: “Although the results showed only a small difference between those who wear or don’t wear the hijab it does suggest the hijab offers Muslim women a small protective effect in terms of feeling positive about their body image. It appears that those who choose to wear it are better able to distance themselves from the Western thin ideal.
“These results may have useful implications for intervention programs aimed at promoting healthier body image among Muslim women in the West. For example, by identifying those aspects of hijab use that are associated with more positive body appreciation in future studies, it might be possible to isolate factors that can be targeted in intervention programs.”

This article borrowed from Aim Islam