So, basically, the women don't have to wear the face veil.
No. It is optional.
Would a muslim woman ever dress like a woman in the united states? (Ex. Jeans, t-shirt, sandals/flip-flops)
If the jeans were *extra* loose and the shirt covered her completely to the wrists, then there is nothing wrong in this. Sandals/flip-flops are permissible.
Do Muslims think that women showing skin is wrong?
Yes, we find it morally abhorrent.
Why doesn't all this apply to muslim men??
I'm saying why doesn't modesty apply to muslim men?
Modesty does very much apply to men in Islam. Men are enjoined to be modest. In fact, it is said that Prophet Muhammad (s) had more sexual modesty than a shy virgin woman.
However, man and woman are physically different. Woman's most sexually attractive part is her body, including her breasts and curves. Therefore, the focus in Islam is to cover these parts with loose clothing. As for the man, the most sexually attractive part of the man is considered the jawline, and it is considered sexually immodest for a man not to cover this up with his beard. Therefore, Muslim men are enjoined in the religion to grow out big beards as a sign of modesty. Muslim men are also strictly commanded to cover their private parts (obviously).
As for covering of the head, this is enjoined on both men and women. Men wear turbans and women wear the
Hijab (headscarf). Both are advised to wear loose clothing.
But special emphasis is given to women because it is they who are known to "go crazy" in this aspect. An unbiased view of our society today confirms this. It is woman's body that is exploited on every street corner, on every magazine rack, and on every billboard. Nobody could intelligently ask why there is a focus on women in this matter. The evidence is obvious: one simply has to look outside in which it is naked women everywhere.
In fact, it was only very recently that men started "catching up" in this respect, but even still, they are way behind. But Islam warned about this period, in which men would start acting like women, and therefore advised that when this time came, that men should also covering up strictly. Indeed, whenever there is fear of
Fitnah (evil), then the Muslim is warned to be extra cautious.
Probably the reason why men don't wear mini-skirts and other feminine modes of dress...
Exactly.
Solutions are given in Islam for problems that *exist*, not pure ideological banter. In society, it is women that are half-naked all over the place and not men. If you go to work, it is men who are dressed in suit and tie, without any part of their bodies exposed. Men do not have low necks showing their cleavage. On the other hand, even the woman's business suit is sexualized, and she has a low neck exposing her cleavage, and her calves and legs are exposed. The suit itself is designed tightly so that it clings to her body and is form-fitting.
Therefore, Islam was practical and its emphasis is on practical problems that exist. It is women that are the major problem when it comes to physical displays of sexual immodesty and therefore they are advised with extra caution in this regards. Men are warned too; however, not as much as emphasis is put in this warning, since it is not needed.
This whole covering someone's body or face from various religions just seems to be a cover up as a mean to prevent their counterparts that they are attracted phisically. This also sound like having sex is a sin, or just the fact that you can have 'sexual thoughts' is a sin just blow my mind away.
How are you suposed to have offspring if you don't have sex, if you are not physically attracted to someone? Isn't having a familly and lots of kids written in those holy books to be a good muslim, christian.. whatever religions?
It is very sanctimonious for a people who come from a culture that thinks about sex all day long to say that men should just not think evil thoughts. Is it not this forum that has a "babe thread"? This Western society has collapsed into sexual immodesty and social degradation. Therefore, they are obviously doing something wrong. Islam has the solution to this. Do not lecture about how "Muslim men" should have self-control so there should not be any need for Muslim women to cover up. For your information, Muslim men are enjoined in the Quran to lower their gaze away from looking at stranger women and to show self-control. But not everyone in the society is Muslim. There are non-Muslims, as well as non-practising Muslims.
There is no way to create a society in which women can be showing "T&A" and the men just show "self-control" and everything is hunky-dory. If you can show me one such society in all of history, then I will give you all of my father's possessions as a concession to my defeat. The fact of the matter is that whenever women show their stuff in any society, that society spirals down into a state of moral degradation.
Is it not America in which 90% of men and women have pre-marital affairs? Is it not America that has one of the highest rates of bastard children being born, so much so that the very meaning of bastard has been lost? Is it not America that the family unit is destroyed, and the divorce rate is sky-high and there are broken families. The destruction of the family unit is a result and consequence of the sexual immodesty and obscenity that is so prevalent in the society.
If America and the West had a working society to compare to the Muslim model, then fine and well. Then maybe I would concede that there could be a society in which women can show off their "T&A" and everything works out fine. But since there is no such society that has ever existed in *all* of history, then I think it's safe to say that women covering up is an important part of morality and the social fabric of a society.
The West has won the race in technology and wealth, but they have lost the war of morality, and they are seeped into moral degradation and disarray.
I assume that a woman doesn't keep herself covered in front of her husband, so it wouldn't impede sexual attraction.
In fact, both husband and wife are encouraged to sexually attract each other. Both are encouraged to "adorn themselves" in an attractive manner inside the house. Again, Islam simply discourages all sexuality outside of marriage. But inside marriage, sexuality is encouraged as something very healthy and productive, as it creates stable marriages and therefore stable family structures. On the other hand, sexuality outside of marriage leads to the destruction of stable marriages and then leads to broken families.
No he already explained that Islam does not recognize men and women as equals.
Your language is designed to be sarcastic in nature. I do not appreciate this.
I clearly said that Islam recognizes men and women as spiritual equals. However, there are certain matters which differ due to the basic differences in men and women.
It is not right for the female to burden the male by revealing her 'awrah. '
Once again, your sarcastic use of language is a bit...annoying. You used the word "burden" simply to impart to your sentence an anti-Islamic flavor. Is it tongue-in-cheek.
The fact is that religious and moral societies have always advised their women to dress modestly. You can use whatever language you want to describe it, but this is the case. Why in the world do Christian nuns dress like they do? In fact, Christian nuns dress pretty much *exactly* like Muslim women are advised to dress: in loose outer garments and with a headscarf. So why do people have such a big issue with Muslim women but somehow they look upto and respect nuns?
I am sure Salah-Al-Din will agree that to satisfy the total requirements of the Islamic veiling fatwa as per Holy Quran and Sunna, women should wear clothing to cover her beauty so that they can be protected from the hands of the weak and sick hearts in the Muslim society. It is the women that are the source of temptation while the innocent man plays the role of the victim.
No, Salah-Al-Din does not agree with you. Who says the men are portrayed as innocent and who play the role of victim? Far from it. In fact, the man who looks at women and checks them out is condemned in the harshest tones in the Islamic canon. It is said that molten lava will be poured into his eyes in the Next Life. If Islam were saying that the man is the victim, then why would the punishment for checking out a woman be molten lava in the eyes?
Therefore, Islam's stance is that the woman showing off her body is sinning and the man looking at her is sinning. Both are in a load of trouble. Neither are innocent victims. It is the same as the case with prostitution: a woman prostitute is to be condemned, but the man who buys her is also to be condemned.
As far as I am concerned veiling women will never solve the problem of weak men with sick hearts. Men should learn to respect women as human beings and to achieve that, men should wear the veils and burqas around their own sick hearts.
In fact, Muslim men are enjoined and ordained to purify their hearts and to refrain from looking at women in that manner. In fact, there are even religious "recipes" and prayers that are used to cure a man's sexual drive when it comes to stranger women.
You say that veiling women will not cover the problem for weak men and sick hearts...firstly, I'd like to say that Islam would consider most of the men on this forum to be in that category. The babe thread is just one example. The society of the west is full of such men, so I do not see how they can sanctimoniously imply that it is only Muslim men who are such.
Secondly--and I will bold this part--you say that it would not solve the problem if women cover up. But indeed it does! A woman who covers herself up cannot be looked at it the same lustful manner. Your logic is like saying that police officers shouldn't wear bullet proof vests because it doesn't solve the problem of bad guys with guns and bullets. Yes, wearing the protective vest won't eliminate bad guys off the streets, but it would certainly protect that particular police officer from being shot and wounded. The Muslim woman covering her body is therefore a defensive mechanism that most definitely protects herself from harm, even if it does not eliminate the bad guys off the streets.
To conclude, Islam ordains that both men and women dress and look modest, and it enjoins on BOTH to lower their gaze and refrain from looking at the other and thinking vile thoughts.
Take care and apologies if I sounded harsh.
I have sworn off drinking and other things. I won't give up music though 
