In essence, traditional scholars draw the ruling for the obligation of the Hijab from the following verses of the Quran, “O Prophet! Ask your wives, daughters, and believing women to draw their cloaks over their bodies. In this way, it is more likely that they will be recognized ‘as virtuous’ and not be harassed. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (33:59)“…and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils all over their chests and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband’s sons, or their brothers or their brother’s sons, or their sister’s sons, or their women.” (24:31)
The five Sunni schools of thought took these verses to mean that in front of males whom a woman can marry a woman has to cover the following.
According to the school of Imam Abū Hanīfah, as stated by Imam al Haskafi, “The Awrah (i.e. nakedness, parts which must be covered) for a free woman is her full body including her descending hair according to the correct opinion, except face, hands, and feet.”[1] Though Imam al Qudūrī believed that only the face and hands may not be covered. [2] However, Imam ibn Abidīn said that, “(A young woman will be prevented from exposing her face), not because it is part of Awra, rather (for the fear of temptation)”[3].
According to the school of Imam Malik, the awrah is everything except the face and the hands up to the wrists. This is also the dominant opinion of the Shafi school. Imam al-Nawawi writes, “As for the awrah of a free woman, it is her entire body except for her face and palms (i.e. hands up to the wrists)[4]. These according to the two schools must be covered if there is fear of temptation. The Hanbali school and Zahiri school are also of the same opinion despite some disagreement. Dr. Wahbah Az-Zuhaili in his renowned Fiqh Al Islami states, “(According to the Hanbalis), the awrah of a mature free woman is her entire body excluding her face and palms, based upon the preferred opinion according to a group of scholars.”[5].
Had the verses quoted earlier been the only verse relating to this matter, there would have been no debate, however, that is not the case.
However, despite this relative agreement regarding the awrah of a free woman, they do not agree upon the awrah of slave women. Thus, there is no consensus regarding the awrah of a woman. Al Quduri al Hanafi writes, “Whatever is nakedness for a man, that is [also] nakedness for a slave woman, as well as her belly and her back.
Anything else of her body is not nakedness.”.[7] It is worth noting that this is also very similar to the opinion of the Shafites, who opine, “the ‘nakedness (‘awra)’ of female slaves is the same as that of free males, which consists of the area between the navel and the knees.”[8]. Therefore, according to two major schools of law the awrah of a slave woman is more or less the same as that of a free male.
Imam Malik disagreed and said the breasts should also be a part of the awrah of a slave woman. Al Hattab writes, “Malik was asked: Do you dislike a servant-girl to go out bare-chested? Malik said: Yes, and I would punish her for that.”[9].
However, the Hanbalites and Zahirites disagreed with this entire distinction. The
Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh states, “The Hanbali scholars said the awrah of a slavegirl is like the nakedness of a free woman. It is not permissible to look at her other than what is allowed to see in regards to a free woman.”[10]. Imam ibn Hazm writes,
“The awrah of a woman is her entire body except only the face and palms. The free man and male servant, the free woman and maidservant are the same in this respect; there is no difference… As for differentiating between the free woman and maidservant, then the religion of Allah Almighty is one, creation and nature are one.
All of that in respect to free women and maidservants is the same unless there is an explicit text to distinguish between them in any way such that it can be applied.” [11].
However, despite this, even Imam ibn Taymiyyah al Hanbali states, “Maidservants, in the time of the companions, used to walk in the streets with their heads uncovered”[12]. He says that the reason for this was that “they were serving men who had no ill intention”[13]. The question I pose to this is, why didn’t free women
Therefore, there is no consensus regarding the awrah of a woman. The reason for such a difference in opinion is the fact that these scholars did not give much attention to the Quran and instead relied on jurisprudential opinions.
The awrah of a woman is her entire body except only the face and palms.[6]
“Wives of the Prophet! For any of you guilty of blatant vulgarity, there is a twofold punishment for her and this is an easy proposition for God.” (33:30) “And those of you who will remain obedient to God and His messenger and do righteous deeds,
We shall give them their two-fold reward and We have prepared an honorable sustenance for them.” (33:31)“Wives of the Prophet! You are not like common women. If you fear God, do not adopt a soft tone [with these people] so that he who has an ailment in his heart should have any false hope and speak to them in the conventional way.” (33:32) “Abide still in your homes and do not display your finery as was done in the previous age of jāhiliyyah. And attend to your prayers, keep paying zakāh, and be diligent in the obedience of God and His Messenger.
Women of this House! God only wants to cleanse you from [the] filth [these hypocrites want to besmear you with] and to fully purify you.” (33:33)“…[These hypocrites are not desisting from their pranks. So,] believers from now on, do not go into the houses of the Prophet except if you are allowed to come for some meal. Even then you should not wait for its preparation. However, when you are called, enter [at that time]; then when you have eaten, disperse and do not sit conversing about. This bothers the Messenger but he is lenient to you and God is not lenient to anyone in saying the truth. And when you have to ask something from the wives of the Prophet, ask from behind the curtain. This is purer for your hearts and for their hearts too. It is not permissible for you to hurt God’s
Messenger nor is it permissible for you to ever marry his wives after him.” (33:53)
“This is very grave in God’s sight. Whether you reveal something or conceal it, it is equal for God because God is aware of everything.” (33:54) mistook the woman for his slave girl and therefore approached her in a vulgar fashion (33:59), the identities of the perpetrators have also been alluded to, saying that they are the hypocrites (33:60), a verdict for the execution of the hypocrites has been given if they do not desist from scandal-mongering and harassment (33:61),
Allah then declares that this has always been His way with the hypocrites among
From the above verses and their explanation, it is clear that this command to take cloaks over their entire bodies, to cover everything was purely situational and a
To the claim that the Mothers of the Believers (wives of the Prophet) used to observe the veil and cloak, this is indeed true. However, they did so, because of a special commandment of modesty given to them because of being married to the Prophet
Narrated `Umar: I said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Good and bad persons enter upon you, so I suggest that you order the mothers of the Believers (i.e. your wives) to
“It shall be no sin for the Prophet’s wives to come before their fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women of acquaintance, or their slave-women. [O Women of the Household of the
Prophet!] Keep fearing God; Indeed, God observes all things.” (33:55)
From the aforementioned verse, it becomes clear that the Wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were commanded to wear the veil, as they were the Mothers of The Believers, to protect the Noble household of The Prophet (peace be upon him) from hypocrites as well as because marriage with the wives of The Prophet (peace be upon him) from this point forth was made illegal for every Muslim man except
The Prophet (peace be upon him). It was to ensure that no other man should be attracted to them and they should not be attracted to any other man.Hence, they were commanded to wear the veil and to communicate with men other than their
This is what has been addressed in the following hadith of Umm e Salamah; “Umm
Salamah reported, While we were with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, Ibn Maktum was permitted to enter. He entered and that was after the command to veil. The Prophet said, “Veil yourselves from him.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, is he not blind? He cannot see or recognize us.” The Prophet said, “Are you blind such that you cannot see him?” [Al Tirmidhi, Jami, 2778]
Furthermore, the authentic narrations from the hadith collections affirm the Hijab
“Narrated Anas: The Prophet (ﷺ) stayed for three days between Khaybar and
Medina, and there he consummated his marriage to Safiyya bint Huyai. I invited the
Muslims to the wedding banquet in which neither meat nor bread was offered. He ordered for leather dining sheets to be spread, and dates, dried yogurt, and butter were laid on them, and that was the Prophet’s wedding banquet.
The Muslims wondered, “Is she (Saffiyya) considered his wife or his slave girl?” Then they said, “If he orders her to veil herself, she will be one of the mothers of the
Believers; but if he does not order her to veil herself, she will be a slave girl. So, when the Prophet (ﷺ) proceeded from there, he spared her space behind him (on his she-camel) and put a screening veil between her and the people.”[16]
Narrated Anas: I know (about) the Hijab (the order of veiling of women) more than anybody else. Ubai bin Ka’b used to ask me about it. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) became the bridegroom of Zainab bint Jahsh whom he married at Medina. After the sun had risen high in the sky, the Prophet (ﷺ) invited the people to a meal. Allah’s Apostle remained sitting and some people remained sitting with him after the other guests had left. Then Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) got up and went away, and I too, followed him till he reached the door of `Aisha’s room. Then he thought that the people must have left the place by then, so he returned and I also returned with him. Behold, the people were still sitting at their places. So, he went back again for the second time, and I went along with him too. When we reached the door of `Aisha’s room, he returned and I also returned with him to see that the people had left. Thereupon the
Prophet (ﷺ) hung a curtain between me and him and the Verse regarding the order after it? ‘Ata took an oath and said, ‘I saw it after the order of veil.’ I said, ‘How did do so. The wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) used
Firstly, Abu Dawud himself says regarding the man who’s narrating from Syeda
Ayesha, “Khalid bin Duraik did not meet Aisha.”[27] Secondly Qatadah is a mudallis[28] and this narration has his an’ana. Thirdly, Saeed bin Bashir al Azdi has been classed as weak by Imam Nasai[29]. Ibn Hibban records that he makes a lot of mistakes because of his bad memory and narrates from Qatadah that which has no corroboration[30] (this hadith is an example of this phenomenon). Lastly, Yahya ibn
Ma’in regards Al Azdi to be, “laysa bi shay”[31]. Thus Hafiz Zubair Ali classed this
But if you desire Allah and His Messenger and the ˹everlasting˺ Home of the
Hereafter, then Surely Allah has prepared a great reward for those of you who do
The following narratives have been used by many to state that the opinion we have
The first narrative is as follows: It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of
Allah (peace be upon him) said: ‘Whoever drags his garment out of pride, Allah will not look at him.’ Umm Salamah said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what should women do with their hems?’ He said: ‘Let it down a handspan.’ She said: ‘But then their feet will show.’ He said: ‘Let it down a forearm’s length, but no more than that.'”[23] It is evident from this narrative, that Umm e Salamah is referring to women who already observed the Hijab because of their social class. Had it been a commandment of religion it would have been stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) without
Umm e Salamah even asking. The style of the narration shows that.
The second narrative is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Woman is ‘awrah, and if she goes out, the Shaytān raises his hopes (of misguiding her). She is never closer to Allah than when she stays in her house.”[24]All this narrative proves is that women staying at home is recommended, this hadith can be seen in harmony with this narration, “Ibn ‘Umar reported the
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying; “Do not prevent your women from visiting the mosque, but their houses are better for them (for praying).”[25]
The third narrative is, “Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin: Asma, daughter of AbuBakr, entered upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wearing thin clothes. The Messenger of
Allah (ﷺ) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of the body except this and this, and he pointed to his face and hands.”[26] This hadith is weak.
The chain of this hadith is, “Abu Dawood from al Waleed from Saeed ibn Bashir from
Imam Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes regarding these verses, “To protect the society from moral misconduct and to safeguard the sanctity of personal relationships, the above verses outline the norms and etiquette of gender interaction. They are stated in Surah Nur with the warning that these norms of social interaction and communal contact must be adhered to in order to maintain the purity of heart and are the
After the passing of the Prophet (peace be upon him), it is evident from the following narrative that the Hijab became a symbol of free women not just the Mothers of the believers. Anas narrated, “Umar saw one of our maidservants wearing a veil and he flogged her. Umar said: Do not resemble free women.”[33] It is clear from this that veiling or the Hijab had become symbolic of upper-class women in the times of
Sahaba, thus Umar had a slave woman flogged as she was engaging in deception.
Considering Syedna Umar’s reaction it’s clear the deception she was engaging in was intended by her to cause some sort of harm. As Syedna Umar’s personality was such that The Prophet (peace be upon him) said regarding him, “O son of Khattab, by the one in whose hand is my soul, whenever Satan sees you taking a path, then he will take another path.”[34]. Even after the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) passing, it is the opinion of Qabisah ibn Jabir, who said, “I haven’t seen anyone more knowledgeable about the book of Allah and His religion, nor anyone more upholding of the limits imposed by Allah, nor anyone more feared and respected in the breasts
This writer has greatly elaborated upon why hijab is not stipulated by Islam for ordinary women in normal situations, what does Islam mandate for ordinary women? The verses of Surah Nur (verses 30-31) tell us the etiquette for social
“[O Prophet!] Tell those who believe in you to restrain their eyes and guard their private parts [if there are women present in these houses]. This is a purer way for them. Undoubtedly, God is well aware of whatever they do.” (24:30)”And tell believing women to restrain their eyes also and to guard their private parts and to display of their embellishments[36] only those which are normally revealed [37] and for this they should draw their coverings over their chest and necklines. And they should not reveal their embellishments to anyone except their husbands or their fathers or their husbands’ fathers or their sons or their husbands’ sons or their brothers or their brothers’ sons or their sisters’ sons or their women of acquaintance or their slaves or the subservient male servants who do not feel attraction for women or those children who as yet have no awareness of the hidden aspects of women. They should not walk by stamping their feet on the ground so that attention is drawn to their hidden ornaments. Believers! All of you turn to God in repentance [on the sins committed until now] that you may
Islam mandates and obligates its followers to modesty and the guarding of their private parts. This guarding has two aspects, literal and metaphorical, the private parts must be protected by being chaste and not indulging in immorality by
If people follow these norms, they will obtain the great blessings and favors they entail. However, to obtain these, they must follow these norms while regarding the
Almighty to be all-embracing in knowledge and always remain aware of the fact that the Almighty is not only aware of their deeds but also the intentions and
He further writes in another treatise, “These norms are: ..In both types of visited places, if women are present then the divine directive is that both men and women present should restrain their gazes. If there is modesty in the gazes, and men and women refrain from feasting their eyes on the physical attributes of one another and ogling each other, then no doubt the purport of the directive stands fulfilled because the purpose of this directive is not to desist from seeing at all or to constantly stare at the floor while interacting with one another. It means to guard one’s gaze from taking undue liberty and to refrain from staring at one another. iv. One must properly protect one’s sexual organs on such occasions of interaction. This means that neither should these organs have any inclination for others nor should they be exposed to others. In fact, on occasions of gender intermingling, body parts that need to be covered must be covered even more carefully. The primary way to achieve this end is to wear decent clothes. Men and women should wear clothes which not only the ornaments worn but also the sexual organs. Moreover, on such occasions, care should be taken that a person does not expose his sexual organs.
Women in particular must not display any of their embellishments except before their mahram relatives and attendants. However, exempted from this are embellishments adorned on limbs which are generally never covered: ie, make-up and the ornaments worn on the hand, the face, and the feet. Barring the make-up and ornaments worn in these places, women must hide the embellishments worn in all other places. So much so, they should not walk by striking their feet in a manner that draws attention to any hidden ornaments they may be wearing.
Since the chest of women is a means of sexual attraction, and there also may be jewelry worn on the neck, they are directed to cover their chests with a cloak. This directive of covering the chest and the neckline does not pertain to old women who are no longer of marriageable age on the condition that their intention is not to show off their ornaments. However, what is more pleasing in the sight of Allah is that even in this age they are careful and not dispense with this garment in the presence
“A time has been appointed for each nation. Then once its time ends, even for a moment it can neither be pushed back nor moved forward.”(7:34)…“God does not change His dealing with a nation unless it itself does not change its attitude. And when God intends to punish a nation, no one can avert it nor can anyone be their punishment. In reality,] there is not a city that We shall not destroy before the Day of Judgement or not inflict with a severe punishment. This is written in the avoiding such situations and the private parts along with their surrounding areas must be covered, so that they may be well protected. This covering, which is the awrah for men, extends from the navel to the knees. For women, their awrah extends from the neckline to the knees. However when they wear adornments and dress up hiding their beautification and embellishments[40] except for that which is visible on a normal basis[41], is obligatory, so that they may not incur any sexual tension from the unrelated males they are meeting. The Quran itself says, that women may reveal their embellishments to their husbands and their immediate male relatives with whom marriage is forbidden, women (who are not attracted to their gender), and their slaves (women and men who are not attracted to women anymore).
Both genders are recommended to cover themselves completely. They should also not wear clothes which expose the explicit and exact shape of their awrahs; rather, even if they are wearing what the world considers to be ‘western’ shirts and pants they should be loose and leave ambiguity regarding that which they have covered.
Women must take this precaution regarding both their lower and upper garments,
Prayer is a solemn and dignified matter. Thus, during prayer, if one has the amount of pure clothes required to cover the entire body (except the hands, face, and feet), then they should. Regarding this, it has been narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
“None of you should offer prayer in a single garment that does not cover the shoulders.”[42] Furthermore, The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who menstruates (i.e., an adult woman) except with
I have to the best of my ability tried to iterate and articulate the understanding of the Quran that I have chosen to follow out of sincerity. I by no means am against
Hijab or Parda, nor do I view it as a means of oppression. I struggle to approve of and that there is no guideline for what should be covered.
Thus, it is evident that morally bankrupt societies do not maintain their dominance, they come crashing down because of God’s punishment, this established practice
[12] It is worth mentioning that ibn Taymiyyah’s opinion was similar to Malik’s. Ibn
Taymiyyah writes, “The default position is that the nakedness of a maidservant is like a free woman, just as the nakedness of a male servant is like a free man. When she takes on an occupation and duties, her prohibitions are reduced in comparison to a free woman, as a concession to her in showing only what needs to be shown… As for the back and chest, it remains in the default position” (Ibn Taymiyyah, Sharh al
Umdah, vol.1, 275). However, to my knowledge, there is no textual evidence for Ibn
Taymiyyah’s opinion regarding the rules of awrah being relaxed for slave women.
Rather scholars were having trouble trying to reconcile the differences in opinion by using this ta’weel, whereas they should have referred back to The Quran and reevaluated their opinions in light of what The Quran said.
[19]This was so that the sanctity of worship rituals may be preserved.
[20]Had Hijab been for all women Syeda Ayesha would not have asked her to go herself, rather she would have forbidden the lady in question from going.
[21]Only the mothers of the believers took such stringent precautions, no other woman did so, despite being companions of The Prophet (peace be upon him).
[36]According to Imam Zamakhshari and Mufti Shafi Usmani, The term “embellishments” refers to external beautification, Ustaz Imam agrees with this
[37]This refers to, makeup worn on the face, earnings, rings, etc. For details see Al[40]Including hiding their clothes, if the clothes in question are formal, in the words of Ghamidi, “jewelry, makeup and party outfits which women especially wear on occasions of dressing-up (should be covered).” (Tafsir al-Bayan, Surah Nur para. 16,
[41] Thus, embellishments and beautification done on the face, hands, and feet do not have to be covered. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes, “The actual words used for this are: ِم ْن َها ََظ َه َما ِا اَّل. Their correct meaning is: ِِف ِي اَاْل ْص ل َ ُِظ ُهو ِر َعلي ا ْل ِج ِب َّلة َ ا ْل َعا َدة َِج َما ِا اَّل ا ْل ُظ ُه ْور, as pointed out by al-Zamakhsharī, (Al-Kashshāf, vol. 3, 236). It means the embellishments of the body parts which a person does not cover generally and instinctively and they are always left bare. These include hands, feet, face, etc. The reason for this is that according to syntactical consideration, it is: منها الظاهر. It cannot be taken in the meaning of شئ منها يظهر أن as has been done by some scholars.” (Ibid.