The Dress Code in the Quran for women
Introduction:
Before presenting the Quranic rules for women's dress, it is essential to be reminded of the following:
1- The Quran is the only source of law authorised by God (6:114).
2- The Quran is complete and fully detailed (6:38, 6:114, 6:89 and 12:111).
3-
God calls on His true believers to make sure not to fall in the trap of
idol worship by following the words of the scholars instead of the
words of God (9:31).
4-
God calls those who prohibit what He has not prohibited aggressors,
liars and idol worshippers (5:87, 7:32, 10:59, 6:140, 6:150, and
16:116).
The following are the Quranic guidelines for women's dress:
First Rule : The Best Garment
O Children of Adam, We have brought down to you garments to cover your private parts, as well as for adornment, yet the garment of reverence is the best. These are some of God's signs. Hopefully they may remember. 7:26
Revering
God is the most important guideline for women when they choose their
dress. The righteous reverent woman will know that God is always
watching her, she will therefore dress modestly and in line with God's
requirements for decency and morality. Any woman knows full well what
clothes are considered decent and what clothes are revealing, she will
not need to be told. This is why God set the rule of reverence as the
first rule.
Second Rule : Cover your Cleavage
The
second rule can be found in 24:31. God commanded women to cover their
cleavage. Before reviewing 24:31, it is necessary to address some key
Quranic words which have been subject to manipulation by those who
enforce non Quranic dress rules on women. The two words in question in
24:31 'hijab' and 'khimar'.
The word 'hijab' in Islamic practice vs its use in the Quran
Hijab
is the term used by many Muslim women today to describe their head
cover. The Arabic word 'hijab' literally means barrier or veil. Other
meanings for the word 'hijab' include, screen, cover(ing), mantle,
curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider, barrier.
The word 'hijab' is used in 7 Quranic verses. The verses are: 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45 and 19:17.
None of these occurrences of the word 'hijab' mean a head cover for women.
God
knows that there would come a time when Muslims will use the word
'hijab' to invent a dress code that God Himself never authorised. God
used the word 'hijab' ahead of them just as He used the word 'hadith'
ahead of them (45:6).
Historical Background:
While
many Muslims call 'hijab' an Islamic dress code, they are in fact
oblivious of the fact that the concept of 'hijab' has nothing to do with
Islam, nor with the Quran.
In fact, the 'hijab' is
an old Jewish tradition that infiltrated the hadith books like many
innovations that contaminated Islam through the hadith. Any student of
Jewish traditions would know that the head cover for the Jewish woman is
encouraged by the rabbis and religious leaders.
Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time, especially in the synagogues, at weddings and religious festivities. This Jewish tradition is a cultural not a religious one. Hijab was observed by women of the civilisations that preceded the Jews and was passed down to the Jewish culture.
Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time, especially in the synagogues, at weddings and religious festivities. This Jewish tradition is a cultural not a religious one. Hijab was observed by women of the civilisations that preceded the Jews and was passed down to the Jewish culture.
Some
Christian women cover their heads on many religious occasions while the
nuns cover their heads all the time. The tradition of covering the head
was practiced thousands of years before Muslim scholars claimed the 'hijab' as a Muslim dress code.
The traditional Arabs, of all religions, Jews, Christians and Muslims used to wear 'hijab', not
because of Islam, but because of tradition. In Saudi Arabia for
example, all men cover their heads, not because of Islam but because of
tradition.
North Africa is known for its Tribe (Tuareg) that have the Muslim men wearing 'hijab' instead of women. Here the tradition has the 'hijab' in reverse. If wearing 'hijab' is the sign of the pious and righteous Muslim woman, Mother Teresa would have been the first woman to be counted.
In brief, 'hijab' is
a traditional dress and has nothing to do with Islam or religion. In
certain areas of the world, men are the ones who wear the 'hijab' while in others the women do.
Mixing
religion with tradition is a form of idol-worship since it implies
setting up other sources of religious laws besides the law of God.
The word 'khimar' in the Quran:
The
word 'khimar' can be found in the Quran in 24:31. While the first basic
rule of Dress Code for the Muslim women can be found in 7:26, the
second rule of the dress code for women can be found in 24:31. Some
Muslims quote verse 31 of sura 24 as containing the 'hijab', or head cover, by pointing to the word, khumoorihinna, (their khimars), forgetting that God already used the word 'hijab',
several times in the Quran, but none to mean head cover. Those who are
not shackled by pre-conceptions will easily see that there is no command
in 24:31 for women to cover their heads. The word 'khimar' does not
mean 'hijab' nor
head cover. Those who quote this verse usually add the words "head
cover" or the word "veil" after the word 'khumoorihinna', usually
between brackets. These additions are their own words not the words of
God and they are clearly added to the text to imply a meaning not found
in God's words. The words of 24:31 are:
And
say to the believing women to lower their gaze and to guard their
private parts and not to show their beauty spots except that of it which
is normally shown. They shall also cover their cleavage with their 'khimars'.
They shall not show their beauty spots except in the presence of their
husbands, their fathers, the fathers of their husbands, their sons, the
sons of their husbands, their brothers, the sons of their brothers, the
sons of their sisters, other women, what their right hands possess, the
male attendants who have no sexual desire and the children who are yet
to attain awareness of women's nakedness. They shall not strike their
feet so as to reveal details of their hidden beauty spots. You shall
repent to God, all of you, O believers, so that you may succeed. 24:31
The
Arabic word khimar means cover. Any cover can be called a khimar, such
as a curtain, a dress. A table cloth that covers the top of a table is a
khimar. A blanket can be called a khimar, and so on. The word 'khamr',
is used in the Quran for intoxicants. It is a derivative of the word
khimar. Both words mean: that which covers. The khimar covers a window, a
body, a table and so on, while khamr is that which covers the mind.
Traditional translators, obviously influenced by hadith and culture,
claim that khimar in 24:31 has only one meaning, and that is the head
cover. Thus, they mislead women into believing that 24:31 commands them
to cover their hair!
In
24:31 God instructs women to use their khimar (cover/garment) to cover
their cleavage. Covering the chest can be done by a dress, coat, shawl,
shirt, blouse, a scarf and so on.
Third Rule: Not to reveal their beauty spots
The
third rule can also be found in 24:31. Here God commands women not to
reveal their beauty spots except what is normally apparent such as the
head (face and hair), arms, lower legs, etc.
Not to show their beauty spots except that of it which is normally shown.
This expression may sound vague to many because they have not understood the mercy of God. God used the general phrase "what is normally shown" in
order to allow women the freedom to decide, at different occasions,
what is shown of her body. Righteous women will always make the correct
decision so as to conform to the general code of morality, and also
according to the time, place and occasion.
The
great wisdom of God in granting women this flexible concession can be
witnessed every day and in every place. The following example
demonstrates the application of this concession:
A
woman attending the masjid for prayers, or attending a funeral would
wish to wear fairly conservative clothes, but a woman playing sports for
example, would wish to wear simple light clothes that do not hinder
movement. If
God did not grant this merciful concession in 24:31, it would mean that
all women would have to wear identical clothes at all occasions!
The
word 'zeenatahunna' (beauty spots) in this verse refers to the woman's
beauty spots which carry a sexual connotation, examples are: thighs,
breasts, back side. At the end of the verse, God tells the women not to
strike with their feet to show their 'zeenatahunna'. The way a woman
strikes her feet while walking can expose the outlines of certain parts
of the body.
For a more detailed analysis of 24:31 please go to: Corruption of 24:31
Fourth Rule : Lengthen your Garments
O you prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to lower their garments. This is better so that they will be recognised and not harmed. God is Forgiver, Merciful. 33:59
When
we reflect on the above words, we would understand the great wisdom of
God. In this verse, God, deliberately said that women should lower their
garments, but did not say any precise details of how much to lower. God
could have said to lower their garments to their ankles or to their
mid-calf or to their knees, but He did not. God knows that we will be
living in different communities and have different cultures. Thus God
left the exact amount of lowering of a woman's dress left for women to
decide for themselves, as long as righteousness is always maintained.
Some
scholars have claimed that the Quran commands women to cover all their
bodies and not just lower their garments, for the details please see: Manipulation of 33:59.
Relaxing the Dress Code:
Within
a family setting, God put no hardship on women, permitting them to
relax their dress code. This is apparent from the words of 24:31
(above). In addition, elderly women who no longer expect to get married
can also relax their dress code:
Regarding
the elderly post-menstrual women who no longer seek marriage, there is
no blame upon them for relaxing their clothes, provided they do not
flaunt their beauty spots. Indeed, to maintain morality is better for
them. God is Hearer, Knowledgeable. 24:60
Reply to those who claim that a Muslim woman should be covered except for her face:
Many
Muslim scholars have invented extreme rules for women's dress which are
not found in the Quran. Some say that women should be totally covered
except for her face, while others who are even more extreme, say that
all women must be covered from head to toe except for two holes for the
eyes to see!
1- There are no words anywhere in the Quran which command women to cover all their bodies. Those
who preach such un-Quranic rules cannot find words in the Quran to
justify this extremity, so they manipulate various words in 24:31 and
33:59 to justify the falsehood.
2- The
fact that God says in 24:31 to specifically cover the bosom indicates
clearly that there are other parts of the woman’s body that do not have
to be covered. To elaborate on the indication of the words in 24:31, let
us ponder on the following example:
Think
of your house and in it you have a garden. You have a gardener who
comes to look after your garden. One day you tell the gardener: please
water the area under the big tree and also water the back of the garden.
What does this example tell us?
It tell us that since you specified only areas to be watered, then this is a clear indication that there will be other areas in the garden that are not to be watered. If you wanted the gardener to water the whole garden you would have said: Please water the whole garden.
It tell us that since you specified only areas to be watered, then this is a clear indication that there will be other areas in the garden that are not to be watered. If you wanted the gardener to water the whole garden you would have said: Please water the whole garden.
When
we apply this example to the issue of women’s dress code in the Quran,
the same principle applies. If God wanted the whole body of the woman to
be covered, God would not have specified the chest to be covered, but
would have issued a command for all
the body to be covered. But since God specifies certain parts of the
woman’s body to be covered, then there are other parts that do not have
to be covered, as long as they are not beauty spots of a sexual
connotation and as long as righteousness in dress is maintained.
3- The command to "lower their garment" also
proves that the woman is not commanded to be covered from head to toe.
For if that was the case and women must be covered down to their toes,
there would be no meaning to "lower their garments". How can a woman lower a garment that is already down to the ground?
Related Subjects:
- What is the Aurat of women?
Related Subjects:
- What is the Aurat of women?
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