In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy

Ataa Bin Abee Rabah [may Allaah have mercy upon him] narrated: Ibn Abbaas [may Allaah be pleased with him and his father] said to me, “Shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This black lady came to the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] and said, ‘I get attacks of epilepsy and my body becomes uncovered; please invoke Allah for me.’ The Prophet said (to her), ‘If you wish, be patient and you will have Paradise; and if you wish, I will invoke Allah to cure you.’ She said, ‘I will remain patient,’ and added, ‘but I become uncovered, so please invoke Allah for me that I may not become uncovered.’ So he invoked Allah for her.” [Saheeh Al-Bukhaari 5652 & Saheeh Muslim 2576]

Let us reflect on the story of this great woman! This woman had faith, truthfulness, honesty, purity, religion and modesty. With this great difficulty and affliction – the epilepsy that afflicted her, made her anxious and worried, hurt and made her restless – she went to the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] to supplicate for her so that the harm and calamity that afflicted her is removed. The Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] guided her to what is greater than what she sought after, which was that she exercise patience whilst facing that hardship, trial and tribulation, and the end result will be Paradise. So, she chose the good end and the beautiful abode – to be among the people of Paradise with the guarantee of Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] if she exercised patience. She [may Allaah be pleased with her] chose to exercise patience, except that she was still worried because of the exposure of some of her body parts that should not be seen (by her non-Mahrams) whenever she had an epileptic fit, even though she was excused whilst in that state of illness that was beyond her control. However, her great modesty, the strength of her faith and the purity of her heart made her worry the most about this exposure. She chose to exercise patience and attain Paradise, but she said to the Prophet, “Indeed, I become uncovered (during the epileptic fit)” -meaning, “I cannot bear this affair even though it happens without my choice”. Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] supplicated for her and thereafter she used to have the epileptic fits, but never used to become uncovered due to the supplication of the Prophet.

The story of this great woman is transmitted in the subject matter regarding noble manners, beautiful qualities, good values, the beauty of modesty and the purity of a heart. She said, “But I become uncovered, so please invoke Allaah for me that I may not become uncovered”. This uncovering, which occurred without volition and choice, and in such a situation she is not blamed, however it still troubled and worried her. When this is her state of affairs – and what a noble state of affairs, then how about a woman who uncovers, reveals her beauty (to other than the Mahaarim (I)), displays her charms, exposes her beauty by her own volition and choice; careless and unconcerned, neither shy nor concerned about (this aspect) of faith?! She hears the verses of the Qur’aan and the narrations of Allaah’s Messenger, hears about the punishments and warning related to Tabarruj (unveiling (II)), but she neither pays attention to any of that nor does she care. (1)

[I] The Mahaarim – By Shaikh Abu Khadeejah [may Allaah preserve him]: https://abukhadeejah.com/mind-map-illustration-showing-the-mahrams-male-chaperones-of-a-woman-for-travel-and-sittings/

[II] The Dangers Of Women Uncovering (At-Tabarruj) – By Shaikh Ḥasan As-Ṣomaalee [may Allaah preserve him]: https://www.salafisounds.com/the-dangers-of-women-uncovering-at-tabarruj-by-%E1%B8%A5asan-as-%E1%B9%A3omali/

Severe Threat From The Messenger Regarding “Dressed But Naked”: https://salaficentre.com/2021/07/17/severe-threat-from-the-messenger-regarding-dressed-but-naked/

To be continued InShaaAllaah

[Ref 1: An Excerpt from (موعظة النساء – Pages 28-29. Slightly Paraphrased] [By Shaikh Abdur Razzaaq Al-Badr (may Allaah preserve him)]