“And as for women past childbearing who do not expect wedlock, it is no sin on them if they discard their (outer) clothing in such a way as not to show their adornment. But to refrain (i.e. not to discard their outer clothing) is better for them. And Allaah is All‑Hearer, All‑Knower” [al-Noor 24:60]
men respond to visual stimuli more actively than women. from one abstract:Men tend to be more interested than women in visual sexually arousing stimuli. Now we learn that when they view identical stimuli, even when women report greater arousal, the amydala and hypothalamus are much more strongly activated in men. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15004563 http://www.nature.com/ijir/journal/v18/n5/abs/3901449a.html http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v7/n4/abs/nn0404-325.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17668311 (most articles above require subscription and you may not be able to view the articles; but the abstract is sufficient for non-specialists like us) one key point: Men spent more time, and had a higher probability of, looking at female faces. there is discussion also on non-sexual stimuli and the difference of men and women looking at bodies. etc., etc., -------- the other issue of dressing is that even men should dress modestly and women should lower their gaze. and indeed, as brother suleiman pointed out: sam'iyna wa 'ata'na. wAllahu ta'ala a'alam.
BismiLlah... as-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatuLlah... Men and women are not equal, rather their rights and responsibilities are complimentary. There are many examples of this such as the inheritance laws. Moreover, at the end of the day, the rules of Allah are his rules and he has ordained happiness in both worlds upon following these. Some are ma`qul i.e. have a clear reason and some do not. As for the wisdoms of hijab, we all know that men have higher levels of testosterone than women, and hence their desires are much more physical than women. was-salam
slm i was having a discussion re the concept of hijab with a sister when she posed a question i was unable to answer. She asked if islam is a religion equality why is there is a far stricter dress code for women. I tried my best to explain that a woman is greater fitna if immodestly dressed than vice versa but she argued that women too have desires hence men somehow hav it easier. Was i ryt in wot i said and is there any proof to substantiate the levels of desire being different in males and females.
