When they indulge in acts of profanity, they say : 'We found our fathers to be doing it and Allah Himself has enjoined it on us!' Say to them : 'Allah does not enjoin profanities! Dare you ascribe to Him that about which you have no knowledge?'

(During the days of paganism and ignorance when the Ka'ba was a spiritual centre for idolaters of Mecca and housed their gods, men and women used to observe the crude ritual of circling it in the nude, without any shame. Their excuse for indulging in such profanities in the name of religion was either that they were following the rituals set up by their ancestors in the past, or that Allah Himself commanded them to do so.

Even though the verse was revealed to distance Allah from such ignoble customs and stop the desecration of a holy sanctuary constructed by Abraham and Ishmael for all mankind at His behest, a mass congregation of men and women in the nude is an act of defilation by anyone's standards; it is an affront to our sense of decency; it is revolting and it is indefensible. The nude figures carved by the Greek sculptors depicting mythical gods and goddesses, and subsequently incorporated into Christian Classical art by the Romans as Biblical characters to adorn their chapels and cathedrals generate equal revulsion, as do the carvings of bulging breasts and grotesque genitals on Hindu temples, which are better off concealed than revealed in such a crude manner.

Apparel is said to be the most eloquent index to the mettle of every society. One of the main contributory factors to the depravity and promiscuity which is prevalent in Western countries is the provocative way in which their young women dress these days, concealing from the eye of the beholder as little of their bodies as possible, understandably, - perhaps even deliberately, - aimed at arousing desire and lust in the minds of their opposite sexes, a practice which has led to dangerous consequences, such as easy virtue, teenage pregnancies, loss of virginity without entailing responsibility and the spread of deadly diseases like AIDS.

Although the East is theoretically believed to be less prone to this kind of incontinence and such excesses, this sickness of mind is beginning to take root in the otherwise moderate societies of India and Pakistan too, what with the corrupt influence exerted by the so-called Bollywood syndrome and what with the deteriorating standards of decency and modesty observed by families as a whole.

Islam proscribes nudity to such an extent that stringent rules are laid down in the Qur'aan on how to dress and how best to protect our modesty, especially in the case of women, although men are also not exempt from conforming to the prescribed standards. External outlook is as important to spiritual cleanliness as physical cleanliness is and hence exposure of body parts is required to be kept to a minimum except where it is lawful and permissible to do so, such as between husbands and wives in the privacy of their bedrooms. Allah created the human body with thoughtfulness and has rendered it sacrosanct so that it can discharge its functions with efficacy and decorum rather than with lewdness or immodesty. It is, therefore, of utmost significance that we treated it with respect and tenderness instead of deriving innocuous pleasure out of watching the belly dancers as they do in the East, or the sensuous cabaret performances so popular in the West)