What is the wisdom behind being covered while praying and being alone?

- If the purpose of being covered is to protect chastity, the person is alone anyway.

Dear Brother / Sister,

We will present some facts that have been overlooked so that we can fill in the gaps in knowledge that form the basis of the question.

- The main reason for the decrees in Islam is Allah’s commands and prohibitions. Things are done because Allah commands them, and things are avoided because Allah forbids them. Accordingly, the real reason for and true wisdom behind a decree is Allah’s command - positive or negative. It is also called the real “reason”. The other benefits are those that are intended to satisfy the human intellect, which is also called “wisdom”.

- It is understood from this that a decree laid down by Islam has a trans-temporal and trans-spatial status - unless it is abrogated by Allah.

- A woman has to cover her whole body while performing a prayer, except for her hands and face (and, according to one view, her feet). There is no disagreement among the majority of the scholars on this issue. The real reason for this covering is the command of Allah. Protection from others is an instance of wisdom. The command of Allah is fulfilled regardless of whether the wisdom is known or not.

- If the real reason was only about the gaze of others, it would be permissible for men to perform prayers naked in a place where they were alone.

- Although the wisdom behind some of the decrees on worship is known, the wisdom behind others is unknown. The satisfaction of the mind is in question in the decrees whose wisdom is known while the submission of the heart is in question in those whose wisdom is unknown.

- As for the issue that Allah sees all parts of us anyway, this judgment is definitely correct. Nothing is hidden from Allah, and He sees the most vulgar parts of human beings. However, a person’s being covered represents the sense of haya (feeling ashamed), which represents his or her state of mind and which is inherent in him or her as a human being. Our infallible guide in this regard is the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It is known that he never remained naked even in his bed. It is known that he did not remain completely naked even while bathing. Allah deserves to be respected more than anyone else. Angels are as worthy of respect as a righteous old person. They are always with us.

- On the other hand, Allah wants to show that His art is beautiful; He veils detestable things; He attracts attention to His bounties by decorating them. So too, He wants to show to conscious beings that His creatures and servants are beautiful. Their appearing in ugly situations is a sort of rebellion against His names of Beauteous, Adorner, Subtle and Wise, and is contrary to courtesy. That is one of the thousands of reasons why being covered is necessary when one is alone.

- Professionally, a doctor may examine the private member of someone who is canonically a stranger to him, and, if necessary, it may be shown to him and this cannot be said to be discourteous. Indeed, it may be said that the conduct of medicine requires it. But the same doctor may not examine the member as a man, or as a preacher or teacher, and courtesy cannot issue a fatwa permitting it to be shown. To do so would be shameless. In just the same way, the Glorious Maker has numerous names and each has a different manifestation. For example, just as the name of Oft-Forgiving requires the existence of sins and Veiler, the existence of faults, so the name of Beauteous does not wish to see ugliness. Names pertaining to divine beauty and perfection like Subtle, Munificent, All-Wise, and All-Compassionate require that beings be in the most beautiful form and best possible situations.

- Such names want to display their beauties in the view of angels, spirit beings, jinn and man through the beautiful states and fine conduct of beings. Thus, the conduct of the practices are the signs of this elevated conduct, and its principles and samples. (see Nursi, Lemalar, On Birinci Lem’a)

- While performing a prayer, it is not necessary to wear the thick clothes worn outside. A thin, long skirt that covers the body and does not show the skin, a suitable shirt and a headscarf are sufficient. It is not be difficult to put them on and pray for five minutes to open the door to Paradise.

- It is the most distinctive sign of being a servant of Allah to follow the route determined by the following verse, which is an infallible compass: “Therefore stand firm (in the straight Path) as thou art commanded” (Hud, 11/112; ash-Shura, 42/15).

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