IS IT TRUE THAT COVERING AURAT CAN PROTECT A WOMAN FROM BEING HARMED?

Assalamualaikum....w.b.t..is it true that covering aurat can protect a woman from being harmed?Actually, a lot of professional Muslim women today and those with insufficient Islamic knowledge do not like to discuss about this topic and they don't even believe that covering aurat could prevent harm from inflicting them. Some is even of the opinion that covering the aurat is a form of oppression that the males have enforced on woman. The view always come across with this argument presented in the mass media.

In reality, as a servant of Allah SWT and the follower of Rasulullah SAW, we are taught to always come back to Al-Quran and Al-Hadith to obtain assurance about the permissibility of a matter. Regarding this, Allah SWT said:-

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاء الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ ذَلِكَ أَدْنَى أَن يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be molested. "(Al-Ahzab: 59)

Jilbab is a dress (of similar width to ‘baju kurung') worn by women to cover their bodies. Syeikh Dr Yusof Al-Qaradawi explained that when some women during the Jahiliah period left their houses, they loved to display some parts of their beauty such as the chest, neck and hair until they were being harrased by those wicked men who like to commit zina. Then, the above ayat was revealed commanding the Muslim women to extend their jilbab so that the parts that could lead to fitnah will be covered. In this way, they would be identified as women who are protected (‘afifah). As a consequence, they would not be molested.

Therefore, the main reason (‘illah) for the above ruling is to prevent Muslim women from being molested by wicked men. Attires that display women's beauty or women walking and talking in a seducing manner could arouse a man's sexual desire. Such behavior is an indirect invitation to the male for teasing and molestation. (Adapted from kitab Al-Halal wal Haram fil Islam with modification).