MUSLIMAH FASHION VS WESTERN FASHION.

In general ,fashion ,as stated in the Oxford Learners Advanced Dictionary can be define as the style of dressing or behaving that is the most popular at a particular time. Fashion in clothes has allowed wearers to express emotion or solidarity with other people for millennia. However, fashion may vary significantly within a society according to status, age, social class, generation, occupation and geography as well as over time. As fashion plays the main role in the society, there are a lot to be discovered from fashion. Hence, it is really interesting to know about fashion in depth to ensure that we are not one of the fashion victims. Yet, we are not making a sin from our wearing. As fashion also undergoes invention, there are changes in fashion from time to time. Here, we would like to compare the muslimah fashion to the western fashion based on some features which are the style, fabric, accessories, and length.

First and foremost, what makes muslimah fashion so much different from the western fashion is that the style itself. Unlike the western fashion, muslimah fashion promotes a modest form of clothing with a loose cutting that covers all parts of body very well. However,
Muslim women can dress in line with both their faith and western styles as long as they are dressing according to the Islamic rules and regulation.

"	Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.
	— Qur'an [24:30]

This verse precisely mentioned about the obligation as a muslim to dress in accordance to the Quran by covering some parts of their body. Some examples of the muslimah clothing are khakis, long tunic, long shirt and skirt and others. However, the western fashion encourages sexy, revealing, and lumpy clothing which does not have a specific guideline to be followed. The examples of clothes are mini skirt, legging, baby tee, jeans and others.

Moving to the next point, there are slightly differences between the fabric used in making muslimah clothes and western clothes. It is because the western people dress according to the seasons as they have four seasons in a year. For instance, they will wear fewer clothes on summer and yet have thick clothes such as the coat from the sheepskin in winter. It is totally different in the Islamic country like Malaysia which only has one season. Therefore, their dressings are the same at all time and they have to cover the certain parts of the body at anytime and anywhere.

In addition, both the muslimah fashion and the western fashion differ in the term of accessories. Muslims women always have their accessories in a modest way .They are not exaggerating too much in their dressing. The accessories are worn in very minimal and simple style. The motifs of the accessories are mostly from floral and geometrical and do not symbolize any other religions. In Islam, when wearing any accessory, the accessory should not symbolise other religion since it counted as a big sin. However, the western fashion promotes accessories that are weird and not really practical. The best example of the weird accessories can be clearly seen by the famous Hollywood celebrity, Lady Gaga. The celebrities that always come with a muslimah fashion are Wardina Saffiyah and Farah Adeeba.

Last but not least, both muslimah and western fashion are different in length. For muslimah fashion, it is compulsory to wear clothes that are not too short that covers certain parts of the body. Normally, the clothes must exceed the hips and the hijab must be lower than the bosoms. For western fashion, there are no actual limits in dressing where they can wear whatever they like, whenever they want.

"	And say that the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms ...
	— Qur'an [24:31]

Basically, as the fashion has undergoes series of inventions, there are not much difference between the two types of fashion. This is because the muslimah fashion has transforms to provide the muslims with latest fresh design that is more modern and easy-to-wear style. Therefore, there are no limitations for the muslims to be fashionable. They can also feel free to choose all colours by not just sticking to dark colours such as black. As long as the colours do not attract the attention of the men, it is okay to wear any colour that suits them.

To put it laconically, invention in fashion has make the people to dress in a proper way depending to the occasions. Many designers have come out with stunning designs to provide the people with the best outfits but still covering the aurah and following the lines of clothing as a muslim. It is because fashion reflects the personality and identity of a person. Therefore, we as the muslims should stick at our fashion and not to imitate the western fashion. Don't let our faith shaken by the western fashion ideology.

With love,

NUR FARAH ASYIQIN BINTI HAMDAN

&

MUFIDAH BINTI MOHAMMAD

Why do some ladies prefer men's shoes?

Generally,most women choose their footwear according to vibrant colours and up-to-date design of shoes.Some of women nowadays are tend to wear high heels and some of them are comfortable with wedges.However,according to an internet article,some women do wear men's shoe and this new phenomenon make people keep questioning what are the reasons.In this essay,we will explore the reasons that contribute to this phenomenon through different views such as the comfortness,design,and concern towards other people.

Nowadays,women do consider on different types of footwear for different kinds of situations and occasions.Since the men's shoes has a bigger surface area,they consider wearing them as they are also much more comfortably used in any critical conditions such as during a rainy day or when people tend to be too busy going from one place to another in a day.In this case,not many would prefer to use the women's footwear since they usually have a smaller base area and are not suitable in all conditions such as stilettos.We can also observe that women or preferably female teenagers do prefer men's shoes since has not much details in it and are not vibrant in the choice of colours compared to the women's footwear.

Now,let us move on the aspect of comfort between these two designs of shoes.As for the men's shoes, they are usually used by women with hectic jobs and for those having outdoor activities simply because it gives the best comfort and space needed for the feet.The men's footwear could also hinder the feet from getting blisters and get swollen compared to the women's shoes that do allow the feet to get blisters just for the sake of having shoes with fabulous designs.The women's shoes,on the other hand,usually are not suitable enough for outdoor activities especially those with high cut heels but are much more used in occasions or for office wear.

Considering the aspect of concern on the others, the men's shoes should be given a higher rank since they are very appropriate for women who have feet that are larger or wider than normal while the women's shoes are much more appropriate for normal-sized women.The reason for this statement is simply because of the fact stated by Gregg Hall,an author from New York that says women who have feet that are larger than normal do consider wearing men's shoes since usually shoe manufacturers do not concentrate enough on making shoes widely accessible for these individuals.The expectation is for people in such a category to pay more for customs shoes. Since many women cannot afford for that,they usually would consider just buying men's shoes.They might feel embarrassed at times but it is the best resolution to get footwear than setting overpriced custom footwear.Currently,sales also show that women's shoes especially the international brands are getting a little expensive than before thus making women be spendthrifts since this is not allowed in Islam.

In conclusion, women nowadays do choose men's shoes instead of the women's simply on certain major reasons. Both kinds of shoes do have their pros and cons towards the daily lives of women.It is also advisable for women to practice modesty especially for the Muslims out there in order to follow the laws of Islam.

truly,

SYAMIL SOFIAH BINTI HUSSIN
&
SITIAISYAH BINTI KAPLI

fast food invention

Fast foods are one of the most favourable take aways or immediate lunch for the most people in the society. The increasing of profit among fast food restaurants also make a solid proof that all and sundry are into fast foods. There are many kinds of restaurants that are selling fast foods as the core businesses such as KFC, Mary Brown and many more. However, there are slightly differences in the society resulting in the presence of the fast food restaurants. Let us now look into the differences before and after the invention of fast food from health aspect.

Before fast food is even invented in our daily life, we are in a better health state since we only eat home-cooked dishes which are better than fast food. Home cooked food uses only natural sources compare to fast food which undergoes many chemical processes. Besides that, home-cooked delicacies has a guaranteed level of cleanliness because we know the way how it is prepared despite the fast food that we just buy from restaurants. Even though it seems clean and delicious, we do not really know the content in the food itself. Before the invention of the fast food, we can say that we are guaranteed enough about the quality of the food and how it’s affect our health.

Since the fast food era begins, the trend of the disease in the world has changed. We all know that fast food is addictive. Once you eat it, you will feel that you want it more. This type of food is one of the major contributors to obesity problems especially in America. Obesity in children is on the rise and a direct link is being cited between fast food and obesity in children because their culture and habit teach them to eat that way. When you are obese, another disease will come along such as heart diseases, diabetes and other dangerous health problems. So, life after the invention of fast food has carried quite a not good scenario of health among the people.

To put it laconically, the presence of fast food companies have resulted in the human health and behavior. Humans tend to be less sensitive on their health by eating fast food instead of homemade food. For the sake of simplicity, we should always bear in mind that these fast foods could bring many negative impacts on our health since the chemicals and preservatives used could endanger the body system.

extinction~the causes and awareness

In the globalisation world today, the issue of extinction of animals has not been very popular to be dicussed of.The lack of attention taken to this issue has made the animals population be at the verge of extinction.Most of us act ignorantly towards this plight since we believe that there sure would be authorities or any other people that would take care of this problem.However,most of us do not realise that basically, mankind is the main culprit that has caused the problem of extinction.In order to solve this problem of extinction of animal species,let us know the causes of extinction.Then, we should go deeper into this issue and come out with brilliant ideas on how to provide public awareness regarding to this topic.

There are a lot of causes that has lead to the extinct of animal species throughout the decades. The main factor is through habitat loss especially in rainforests.The status quo shows that rainforests are cleared for wood,timber resources and cash-crop plantation.The habitat loss has made the larger,wide-ranging species,such as large carnivores suffer first. Since these groups often contribute to healthy ecosystem processes, a wave of secondary losses may follow their decline.Besides that, the national and international wildlife trade is another common threat.Fur trade,as an example, was very popular in the 1960's where the pelts of more than 10,000 leopards,15000 jaguars,3000 cheetahs and 200,000 ocelots were being imported legally in the United States and Europe each year.Although this activity is virtually non-existent now but it would have contributed to animal demise during its peak period.According to the Islam perspective too, it is forbidden for the soldiers to kill woman,children and even animals during war,and why is it so?Basically it is because Islam does not allow its people to harm animals and be cruel to them for mankind purposes.This goes the same for people who continues to poach and hunt for animals.You should have the concern towards the creatures that you are killing and torturing.Global warming is also categorized as other causes of extinction.It has been recently suggested that warmer global temperatures may be affecting animals in different ways.Polar bears have become"poster children" for the melting of Arctic due to climate change.Melting ice reduces the ability of polar bears to find enough food as they prefer to use ice as a platform to hunt for prey.

Every problem has its own solution. So does this issue. There are several ways to create awareness of the extinction of animals in the mankind.Firstly, we can join one of the organizations that promotes to the prevention and conservation of animals such as the World Wild Fund(WWF). This organization is a non-governmental organisation that helps in protecting the endangered animals from being extinct. The act of becoming a member of this organisation will create awareness towards this severe problem.Furthermore, we should not buy products made from animals including its fur,skin,horn and so on so forth. This is because many animals are in endangered condition as they have been hunted for their fur in order to make fur coats and other products.This situation should not be continuing any longer.Moreover, we should start buying recycled papers and yet make ourselves used to implementing the idea of recycling in our lives in order to help conserve the forest. This ensures the trees from being cut down which results in the destroying of the habitat for millions of species of animals. As a consequence, the animals population would decrease in number and at last face the problems of extinction.

To put it laconically, the extinction of animals is mainly caused by the human beings. We should have a high level of awareness towards this issue since we are the ones who are supposed to protect these animals from suffering extinction.It is also our responsibility as Muslims to care for the problem thus prevent this problem from getting worst still. Therefore, strict actions should be taken to those who have "contributed" to the extinction of animal species.So what are we waiting for?Let's stop these animals from being extinct!!

showing love isn't a crime

SHOWING LOVE ISN’T A CRIME

“I have a mom and I love her deeply but sadly I ‘m the one who always hurting her.

I LOVE YOU…..How could I tell you this,mom???Oh,help me!!!”

This is one crucial problem faced by a teenager who has problems in expressing his love towards his mom. Uttering a word “LOVE” to parents is a must for every child in this world. But what is exactly the best way to say it?-post it on classified, carve it on sand, mow it on the lawn it in the garden or say it out loud???

Here are some advice for all of you out there who are having this kind of problem….

· A question to ponder….

"Why is it so hard for you to say “I LOVE YOU MOM” or “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH DAD” rather than “I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART,DARLING!” even though your parents are the ones who have raised you up and have been giving you unlimited love and yet money to buy presents for your lover. Isn’t it a shame???"

· Appreciate the ones who are always there for you whether you are in a gloomy day or when you are happy…-parents of course!!

· Give presents or cards or just a simple wish on their birthdays or anniversary, father’s day and mother’s day will be perfect. It is a way to show your love towards them without having to say it out. Sometimes, it is easier to express feelings in writing rather than words. Action speaks louder than words, right??

· Stop acting like an egocentric person. You may think that your parents are old-fashioned in their thinking, but always think beyond that. They have a lot of experiences although they are not in your generation…..-they have the true instinct!!

· First thing first-familiarise yourself with petty things that you may think that are not important to yourself but all these things may mean a lot to your parents.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS! :)

o HUG-a person who is lack of touch is the one who is lack of love. Are you one of them?!

o HOLDING HANDS-make a relationship become closer

o CHATTING TOGETHER-know each other well

o SHARING SECRETS-enhance trustworthy

o TREAT THEM LIKE YOUR BEST BUDDIES-not to put a boundary in the relationship

o KISS THEM ON THEIR CHEEKS-to express love and care

o GREET THEM WITH WARMTH-showing respect

o ALWAYS CALL TO KNOW THEIR CONDITION-showing that you always care for them

o SAY THAT YOU MISS THEM

o TALK TO THEM NICELY

You may think that all these actions are ALIEN to you but face the reality-you will get used to it along with the time. Don’t be shy to say “I LOVE YOU” and you will feel better then.

Best of luck and happy trying!!!