I still remember when we first came to the US. There was one time when I spent 3 days with a Somalian 'alim, Syeikh Yahya, at Syracuse masjid. Joining me, as always, my all-time buddies: Karkun 1 & Karkun 2. I somewhat liked this Syeikh really; He is very warm & friendly. Besides, he is proficient in multiple languages: Arabic, Urdu, English & Somalian native language. Being in our company, he even learnt some Malay!
Once at mealtime:
Syeikh Yahya: "How do you ask someone's name in Malay?"
We: "Siapa nama kamu. Siapa is who, nama is name, kamu is you."
Syeikh Yahya: "Oh. Similar to Urdu. aapka kya naam hai. I can learn Malay!"
Syeikh Yahya (all of a sudden, coming up with his very own sentence): "Siapa saya? Siapa saya?" (hilariously)
We: (couldn't help laughing)
At another mealtime, I got the honor to eat in the same plate with him. This is when he told us about his giving dakwah in Germany. He was at a train station when a German guy came up and shot him a question about Islam. From his sunnah wearing, people can tell right away he is a muslim. So this was the question, "Why do women have to cover in Islam?" This was more or less what he answered; "Because in our religion, women have a very high status. They are precious and of high value. See, you don't keep pebbles the same way you keep diamonds? You can find pebbles scattered everywhere, but not diamonds. Pebbles...everyone can touch it, hold it, throw it or do whatever to it. But this is not the case with diamonds. We keep diamonds in a sealed, secure box so they won't get stolen. In Islam, women are our diamonds. That's why they have to be covered, so no filthy hands can grab them at will, no strangers can lay wild gazes on them. Their beauties come in a high price, and only the ones who can pay the price qualify to keep them." (So ladies, which one would you rather be?)
In another slot, he was describing the women of paradise (the Hoor al-Ayn.) This is sure a topic of interest! Basically, the women of Jannah are divided into two;
Hoor al-Ayn are the women whom Allah swt created as the original dwellers of Jannah, meaning they never step foot into this world. They are the women of absolute purity and modesty. They have never been touched by human nor jinn ever since their creation. Their beauty? unimaginable. No matter how explicit a description one can get about them, they are beyond imagination. If one of them were ever to dip their foot into this world, the nur (light) radiated will blanket this entire world as the sun lights up the Earth. The women of this world have come nowhere close to them in beauty; let it be Aishwarya Rai, Fasha Sandha, Siti Nurhaliza, or any other celebrities or models. YET, the righteous women of this world are said to be superior to the Hoor al-Ayn; "Daripada Umm Salamah, isteri Nabi saw, katanya (di dalam sebuah hadith yang panjang); Aku berkata, "Wahai Rasulullah! Adakah wanita di dunia lebih baik atau bidadari? Baginda menjawab, "Wanita di dunia lebih baik daripada bidadari sebagaimana yang zahir lebih baik daripada yang batin." "Dengan solat, puasa dan ibadat mereka kepada Allah, Allah akan memakaikan muka-muka mereka dengan cahaya dan jasad mereka dengan sutera yang berwarna putih, berpakaian hijau dan berperhiasan kuning...(hingga akhir hadith)" (Riwayat al-Tabrani)
The other women of Jannah are those righteous and faithful women of this world who, by the mercy of Allah swt, qualify to enter Jannah. Their beauties will be even more superior to that of the Hoor al-Ayn. Allah swt will grant them with unprecedented beauties. And therein, they will stay married to their husbands of this world. It is said that a woman who sends out her husband in the path of Allah swt and stays at home by herself, maintaining her honor and dignity (i.e. protecting herself against temptation and dishonesty) will enter Jannah 500 years before her husband while seventy thousand angels and Hoors (sweet damsels) will serve her. She will be given Ghusal in Jannah, and sitting on a mountain of pearls, waiting for the arrival of her husband. There will be a time when these two women of paradise will sing to each other, proclaiming & comparing their beauty and purity. To this beautiful singing, the trees will start waving, the rivers will stop flowing, and the birds will find branches for landing. (Even David Archuleta's singing can't do this.)
The Syeikh wouldn't go into details...since we only had one bathroom in the masjid, and they were like 8-10 of us in the jama'ah. He was worried that we would crowd around the bathroom in a queue. Get that? =)
p/s: on "Glad Tidings of Jannah for Women"
