Hijab
Hijab or ħijāb (حجاب, pronounced: [ħi.ˈdʒæːb]) is the Arabic term for “cover” (noun), based on the root حجب meaning “to veil, to cover (verb), to screen, to shelter”.
According to the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, the meaning of hijab has evolved over time:
The term hijab or veil is not used in the Qur’an to refer to an article of clothing for women or men, rather it refers to a spatial curtain that divides or provides privacy. The Qur’an instructs the male believers (Muslims) to talk to wives of Muhammad behind a hijab. This hijab was the responsibility of the men and not the wives of Muhammad. However, in later Muslim societies this instruction, specific to the wives of Muhammad, was generalized, leading to the segregation of the Muslim men and women. The modesty in Qur’an concerns both men’s and women’s gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia. The clothing for women involves khumūr over the necklines and jilbab (cloaks) in public so that they may be identified and not harmed. Guidelines for covering of the entire body except for the hands, the feet, and the face, are found in texts of fiqh and hadith that are developed later.
Texts implicating the value and purpose to the use of hijab
- Qur’an
The Qur’an instructs Muslims to dress in a modest fashion. The following verses are generally interpreted as applying to all Muslim men and women.
Surah an-Nur ayah 31 states:
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And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings (khimars) over their bosoms (jaybs), and not display their ornaments except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together Towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss. (Qur’an 24:31) |
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In the following verse, Muslim women are asked to draw their jilbab over them (when they go out), as a measure to distinguish themselves from others, so that they are not harassed.
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Those who harass believing men and believing women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) A calumny and a grievous sin. O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad) That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. ( Qur’an 33:58-59) |
- Hadith
The Arabic word jilbab is translated as “cloak” in the following passage. Contemporary salafis insist that the jilbab worn today is the same garment mentioned in the Qur’an and the hadith; other translators have chosen to use less specific terms:
A’isha reported that Muhammad’s wives went out at nighttime to open fields in the outskirts of Medina to relieve themselves. Umar said “Muhammad, ask your ladies to observe veil.”[citation needed]
Narrated Anas ibn Malik: I know (about) the Hijab (the order of veiling of women) more than anybody else. Ubay ibn Ka’b used to ask me about it. Allah’s Apostle became the bridegroom of Zaynab bint Jahsh whom he married at Medina. After the sun had risen high in the sky, the Prophet 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 Apostle 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 hung a curtain between me and him and the Verse regarding the order for (veiling of women) Hijab was revealed. Sahih Bukhari 7:65:375, Sahih Muslim 8:3334
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin: The Prophet said: Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty unless she wears a veil. Sunnan Abu Dawud 2:641
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin: Asma bint Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah while she was wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah 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 body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands. Sunan Abu Dawud 32:4092
Posted: August 15th, 2008 under Hijab.
Tags: Hijab