All female staff at Dubai Bank, Muslim and non-Muslim, must wear a shailah (head scarf) and abaya (black cloak covering the whole body) starting this Ramadan, as reported in Gulf News.
A memo sent to staff on Thursday says the bank has decided that all Muslim and non-Muslim female staff must wear a shailah and abaya.
A Dubai Bank official who would not reveal his name said a memo was issued to this effect by the human resources manager, informing employees that starting from the first day of Ramadan all female employees must wear a shailah and abaya regardless of their religion.
“Our bank is Islamic and must follow Sharia in all respects, which will satisfy our clients,” he said. While the decision takes effect beginning first of Ramadan, it has become a rule and part of the dress code for female employees at all times.
Gulf News has learnt that the proposal on the dress code was made by the bank’s Fatwa and Sharia Supervisory Board in June and it was endorsed by the management. A circular was then issued on Thursday.
The Fatwa and Sharia Supervisory Board’s proposal, a copy of which has been obtained by Gulf News, says the abaya should not have any embroidery or decoration on it and must not be coloured.
It says any female staff who does not adhere to this dress code should be advised by the human resources department at the bank to follow it.
If the staff member insists on not abiding by the law then the matter should be brought to the notice of the executive member of the Sharia supervisory board who can decide upon action to be taken against that staff.
The bank will encourage employees to wear a shailah and abaya by providing staff with them. The head of the human resources department has been instructed to ensure that employees adhere to the dress code.
The bank has given employees a grace period until after the Eid holiday after which it will become mandatory.
The proposal, signed by Shaikh Mohammad Taqi Usmani, Chairman of the Fatwa and Sharia Supervisory Board of Dubai Bank, says the move will gain customers’ confidence and help market the bank’s products.
Many customers, the proposal said, choose a bank based upon its appearance before considering other aspects. The dress code is essential in determining the bank’s identity as a Sharia compliant institution.
[Ed Note: Gulf News has some interesting comments made by Dubai residents on this issue.]
Had mullahs preached birth control to Faraz’s father, we woudn’t have God damn people who support Islamic banks.
lol@Faraz
But really that is one’s personal issue.
I agree with Lt. Gen Ayub Khan. Had mullahs preached birth control to the General’s father, we wouldn’t have such “Goddam” people.
i wish some of these useless Mullahs would preach things like birth control.
Or at least teach the people not to have so many Goddam children.
>I have never heard a mullah advise his audience to practice birth control
>In fact, the mullah at the mosque I go to always starts the Friday and Eid prayers 20 minutes later than the announced time.
@Mr. Lakhani: Do you really expect mullahs who advise people to have 15 children preach birth control? If the khutbah starts 20 minutes late, simply go 20 minutes late, and you will find that you will reach on time and will not have to wait. But you are correct. Khutbah should start on time, and there are a lot of important things in Islam that are not preached by mullahs, such as the rights of a wife and children in Islam.
7 burqas????
i guess the only advantage would be that it would provide good protections against gunfire —from taleban who were furious as to why the woman wasnt wearing 10 burqas
BAN BURQAS IN PAKISTAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lol. No Mr. Lakhani you are mistaken. Or maybe like some other person here you also have the hobby of assuming weird things about others, hm?
I follow what my Rabb has Commanded. nothing more nothing less. I don’t care much about what others do…of course as a Muslim i will practice ‘amr bil ma’roof wa nahi ‘an il-munkar.
My duty is to tell the truth (and so is yours) not to convince. that is up to Allah SWT.
Islam is a perfect religion and not a religion of extremism (i.e. not what you imagine “all Muslim women to wear seven burkhas all the time (even in bed)”).
@Lt. General: I am highly in favour of hijaab….hmmm…refer to my earlier comment- comment #28 for details.
@Irfan: Barakallaho feek! You are absolutely right.
@ Irfan: you’re right, we shouldn’t bother about how long our beards or how low our trousers should be. Unfortunately the vast majority of Muslims (in Pakistan particularly) think these are the important issues. They completely ignore their duties towards their neighbours. They throw garbage from their windows to the streets below, sometimes injuring passersby. And men like Taqi Usmani know that they will be the winners as long as Muslims are ignorant and dependent on the ulema for knowledge. I have never heard a mullah advise his audience to practice birth control or refrain from polluting the environment, or not to make anyone wait unnecessarily. In fact, the mullah at the mosque I go to always starts the Friday and Eid prayers 20 minutes later than the announced time. If I were to tell him that this is un-Islamic, he’d probably have me lynched there and then.
General, if Momina were in charge, she’d make it obligatory for all Muslim women to wear seven burkhas all the time (even in bed).
We are getting too much involved into minutest details,it is incumbent upon us that we should try to revive the Sunnah of Holy Prophet(peace be upon him),however,due to some reasons if we are unable to do that then we have no right to comment on them, unnecessarily.why are we so focused on izzar,should it be above or below the ankle,whatever is stated in Hadith is quite clear,if we can follow it that’s great,but if we cannot than we should not try to find lame excuses.
First of all we should ask this question from our own self are we strictly following the fundamentals of Islam,if the answer is in affirmative,then comes haqooq ul Ibad,are we fulfilling them as well or not?Allah Almigty is “Arha Mur Rahemeen”, izaar’s exact length is too small a things,we all should expect forgiveness from Allah Almighty, on these minor issues,the problems with majority of us is that we get too much involved in these minor issues and we forget the essence of Islam.
Regarding the issue of Abaya in Dubai bank, neither any of us is employ in that bank nor we have an account in that bank,but we are so much worried about the Fatwa,given by Mulana Taqi Usmani,the problem is that we are so much afraid of the word “Shariat”,that we just do not want it to be implemented any where ,as we think one day,its going to infringe on our freedom.
If a nun covers her head with a scarf or an orthodox Jew grows a long beard, no one calls them fundamentalist.Initially,i thought that fatwa also covers, the bank customers,as there was so much of hue and cry,but later on i realized its only for the bank employees.
So we should relax and focus our energies, and try to become a perfect Muslim.