"Hijab", a head covering worn by Muslim women, is probably one of the most controversial issues in Islam. If I believe in Quran as the book that is true for ever and is applicable to all humans, cultures and places at all times ,contrary to "Hadith" and "Sunna", I would like to know what Quran says specifically about this matter so that I can comply with God's words. Below are probably all the related verses we can find in Quran.
24:30
"Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do."
24:31
"And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed."
24:60
"And women of post-menstrual age who have no desire for marriage - there is no blame upon them for putting aside their outer garments [but] not displaying adornment. But to modestly refrain [from that] is better for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing."
33:33
"And abide in your houses and do not display yourselves as [was] the display of the former times of ignorance. And establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah intends only to remove from you the impurity [of sin], O people of the [Prophet's] household, and to purify you with [extensive] purification."
33:59
"O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful."
24:30
This verse is clearly instructing men, firstly, not to stare at women and secondly, it is specifying men's Hijab which is to cover their private parts. Interestingly, the same two requirements have been repeated for women in the next verse. Therefore, we can say the basic "Hijab" requirements are the same for men and women.
What is impressive most in this verse and in the one after is the order to restrict our look because no matter how much men or women cover their body, at the end of the day we will need to keep our sight away from situations that we personally find provocative. In other words, women's body could be entirely covered as dictated by the norm or by the law of a society but still they prove to be erotic judging from men's behaviour in those places. This is exactly the case in a number of Middle Eastern countries, I found this recommendation amazing because it is true regardless of cultural differences and it is a timeless fact.
Last but not least in this verse, is the relationship between the voluntarily diverting your attention from sexually exciting scenes and becoming purer. This means we can purify our soul by avoiding something for the sake of God, which is neither illegal nor does it hurt anyone evidently. This will guide us to understand the fact that the more we align our choices for God the purer our soul will become, which is all we need in life to be saved by God.
24:31
I believe the main criteria of "Hijab" is defined in this verse in which the particular requirement for women is commanded in addition to the two previous requirements in common with men. That is women need to cover their adornment (jewellery) particularly their necklace over their chest. It is stated that worn jewelleries have to be covered as far as one can control it. If they get out of their cover while moving or unintentionally it is understandable. It is also emphasized that women should cover their chest and if they have under cover jewelry they should not use them to attract attention indirectly, by making them sound for example.
In other words, what is this verse implies above all is that the distinctive necessity for women is to avoid being erotic by showing any particular parts of their body or their adornments or in any other way. Moreover, this verse defines the meaning of modesty particularly for women in the way they should avoid being seductive in their pose and in their manner.
This verse is clearly instructing men, firstly, not to stare at women and secondly, it is specifying men's Hijab which is to cover their private parts. Interestingly, the same two requirements have been repeated for women in the next verse. Therefore, we can say the basic "Hijab" requirements are the same for men and women.
What is impressive most in this verse and in the one after is the order to restrict our look because no matter how much men or women cover their body, at the end of the day we will need to keep our sight away from situations that we personally find provocative. In other words, women's body could be entirely covered as dictated by the norm or by the law of a society but still they prove to be erotic judging from men's behaviour in those places. This is exactly the case in a number of Middle Eastern countries, I found this recommendation amazing because it is true regardless of cultural differences and it is a timeless fact.
Last but not least in this verse, is the relationship between the voluntarily diverting your attention from sexually exciting scenes and becoming purer. This means we can purify our soul by avoiding something for the sake of God, which is neither illegal nor does it hurt anyone evidently. This will guide us to understand the fact that the more we align our choices for God the purer our soul will become, which is all we need in life to be saved by God.
24:31
I believe the main criteria of "Hijab" is defined in this verse in which the particular requirement for women is commanded in addition to the two previous requirements in common with men. That is women need to cover their adornment (jewellery) particularly their necklace over their chest. It is stated that worn jewelleries have to be covered as far as one can control it. If they get out of their cover while moving or unintentionally it is understandable. It is also emphasized that women should cover their chest and if they have under cover jewelry they should not use them to attract attention indirectly, by making them sound for example.
In other words, what is this verse implies above all is that the distinctive necessity for women is to avoid being erotic by showing any particular parts of their body or their adornments or in any other way. Moreover, this verse defines the meaning of modesty particularly for women in the way they should avoid being seductive in their pose and in their manner.
The verse continues to define the circle of relatives who are exempt from the third requirement of "Hijab" for women. When we go through this list of people we notice that these are in fact our closest relationships with whom one feels so close and so familiar that normally sexual attraction would never arise by seeing the adornment or erotic body parts.
24:60
For elder women covering the sensual body parts are not as strict although they are still required to cover their adornments. In this verse again the main principle of modesty is highlighted, which is a very relative concept. That is to say, "Hijab" in general sense would vary community to community based on the norm of clothing for every community. Therefore from this perspective, the exact meaning of "Hijab" is the limit of showing body parts. In reality, it is the personal sense of modesty and shame which determines what exactly to wear and how to behave. Most people find themselves very uncomfortable if they cross beyond the limits of their individual modesty toward shamelessness. Needless to say, if someone insist they will find comfort even in wrongdoings but it usually results in emotional disorder over the long term.
Giving an example, we can consider the naked public events that take place every now and then in different parts of the world. Events such as nude biking or dancing and so on. What is interesting about these events is the fact that most people find them disgusting and indeed very few people really participate. Otherwise we would have seen an increasing participation trend which is absolutely not the reality. There are however, always people who make a crowd of audience. It can be argued that even the public don't identify itself with these activities, judging from the constant number of contestants. In my opinion, there is an enormous pressure on the consciousness of both contributors and spectators. That is because they have neglected their feeling of modesty and shame which, in essence, is the way God distinguishes between virtue from vice inside us. I believe our consciousness is our virtual heart that differentiates good from bad.
33:33 & 59,
The last two verses are primarily addressed to the Prophet's wives considering the preceding verses (33 is exclusively for Prophet's wives and 59 primarily, to be exact). In the latter one, it seems that the purpose of bringing down the outer garment is for the wives of Prophet and for the wives of believers to be disguised among the crowd so that they would not be recognized and would not be harmed. We can infer from this verse two facts, first it shows that the norm of clothing for women at the time was long garments. Second, which applies to our time, based on the context of this verse we can submit that if we are likely to be ridiculed or be harmed in anyway due to our beliefs we can make our appearance look like others conforming with the norms of the community.
In conclusion, to my understanding the underlying message of Quran with respect to "Hijab" is the following :
While "Hadith" meaning the words of our dear Prophet are the most cherished and most loved words to us ever said by any human, there are two issues with them. For one, they are not definitely verifiable in terms of their authenticity and their historic context. Secondly, they seem to be applicable only to the time of Prophet in most cases. Perhaps "Hadith" has never been meant to be the best way of life for ever as opposed to Quran's message. Otherwise muslims would have lived their lives in all aspect of life exactly as 1400 years ago, which is needless to prove that is not the case and will never be. In contrast, Quran invites us to listen to all ideas and choose the best one, or in modern terms Quran is the first promoter of open mindedness.
39:18
"Who listen to speech and follow the best of it. Those are the ones Allah has guided, and those are people of understanding."
صدق الله العلي العظيم
For elder women covering the sensual body parts are not as strict although they are still required to cover their adornments. In this verse again the main principle of modesty is highlighted, which is a very relative concept. That is to say, "Hijab" in general sense would vary community to community based on the norm of clothing for every community. Therefore from this perspective, the exact meaning of "Hijab" is the limit of showing body parts. In reality, it is the personal sense of modesty and shame which determines what exactly to wear and how to behave. Most people find themselves very uncomfortable if they cross beyond the limits of their individual modesty toward shamelessness. Needless to say, if someone insist they will find comfort even in wrongdoings but it usually results in emotional disorder over the long term.
Giving an example, we can consider the naked public events that take place every now and then in different parts of the world. Events such as nude biking or dancing and so on. What is interesting about these events is the fact that most people find them disgusting and indeed very few people really participate. Otherwise we would have seen an increasing participation trend which is absolutely not the reality. There are however, always people who make a crowd of audience. It can be argued that even the public don't identify itself with these activities, judging from the constant number of contestants. In my opinion, there is an enormous pressure on the consciousness of both contributors and spectators. That is because they have neglected their feeling of modesty and shame which, in essence, is the way God distinguishes between virtue from vice inside us. I believe our consciousness is our virtual heart that differentiates good from bad.
33:33 & 59,
The last two verses are primarily addressed to the Prophet's wives considering the preceding verses (33 is exclusively for Prophet's wives and 59 primarily, to be exact). In the latter one, it seems that the purpose of bringing down the outer garment is for the wives of Prophet and for the wives of believers to be disguised among the crowd so that they would not be recognized and would not be harmed. We can infer from this verse two facts, first it shows that the norm of clothing for women at the time was long garments. Second, which applies to our time, based on the context of this verse we can submit that if we are likely to be ridiculed or be harmed in anyway due to our beliefs we can make our appearance look like others conforming with the norms of the community.
In conclusion, to my understanding the underlying message of Quran with respect to "Hijab" is the following :
- "Hijab" is a relative concept which is determined by convention of a society and its limit is defined by the feeling of modesty that makes a woman refrain from appearing seductive in public.
- There is no explicit command to cover the hair for women whereas it is unambiguously stated that women must cover their adornments and their chest specifically.
39:18"Who listen to speech and follow the best of it. Those are the ones Allah has guided, and those are people of understanding."
صدق الله العلي العظيم
Quranic Quotes from www.Quran.com
