Hijab: Difference between revisions

The crux of the issue is how this mandate made its way into the Qur'an in the first place? We can find this information in the ahadith by examining the [[Revelational Circumstances of the Qur'an|revelational circumstances]] of these verses.

{{quote |{{Quran|24|31}}|'''Yusuf Ali:'''And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; '''that they should draw their veils over their bosoms''' and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's 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.  

The current perception in Islamic society is that an unveiled woman is asking to be sexually harassed or assaulted. Although not a guarantee, they  believe that the wearing of a veil is added protection against the chance of assault. However as we look at the ahadith, we find that ''none'' of the above reasons are correct as we see when studying the revelational circumstances of these verses. The Hijab verses were sent down in response to a specific situation occurring at the time.

{{ quote |{{Bukhari|1|4|148}}|Narrated 'Aisha:  

A common apologetics tactic for this is that Allah was waiting for Umar to do this so that the situational revelation could come down. However this is not mentioned anywhere, thus there is no evidence for it. Moreover, Umar confirms that he came up with the idea first and then Allah "agreed with him".

{{ quote | {{Bukhari|6|60|10}}|Narrated Anas:  

It appears however, that Umar was a serial toilet-place loiterer, because after the revelation of the verses he had so wanted, he was at it again.

{{ quote |{{Bukhari|6|60|318}}|Narrated Aisha:  

Apparently, Umar wasn't satisfied once he had gotten the Hijab verses he eagerly bothered Muhammad about. He wanted women to be completely unrecognizable.

A common claim by Muslims and apologists is that the Hijab protects women against unwanted sexual attention from men. Well known apologist [[Dr.]] [[Zakir Naik]] takes this line of reasoning in his [[Zakir_Naik:_His_Background,_Views_and_Debates#Hijab|defense of the hijab]] mandate. Before evaluating this claim we must examine a few more ahadith:

A mukhannath (eunuch) used to enter upon the wives of Prophet (peace be upon him). They (the people) counted him among those who were free of physical needs. One day the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered upon us when he was with one of his wives, and was describing the qualities of a woman, saying: When she comes forward, she comes forward with four (folds in her stomach), and when she goes backward, she goes backward with eight (folds in her stomach). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do I not see that this (man) knows what here lies. Then they (the wives) observed veil from him. }}

Given the fact that the verses were first revealed after Umar verbally harassed Muhammad's wives while they were going to the toilet, and that Muhammad told women to wear the veil even in the presence of a eunuch, we must conclude that the veil is only intended to prevent men from evaluating the physical attributes of females. Since eunuchs have no sexual desire, the claim that it is to prevent sexual molestation and not just gossip/verbal harassment is scripturally invalid.   

Furthermore, certain studies carried out in the Muslim world have proven that the widely-held belief that a veil is added protection against the chance of assault is actually false (i.e.  the majority of victims wear the hijab).<ref>Magdi Abdelhadi - [{{Reference archive|1=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7514567.stm|2=2012-12-31}} Egypt's sexual harassment 'cancer'] - BBC News, July 18, 2008</ref> Thus we can conclude that the hypothetical situations like that presented by Naik and other apologist, in favor of the Hijab, are not only scripturally invalid, but also technically invalid, even in Islamic societies.

There are other ahadith that talk of the 'verses of al-hijab' but these are concerning a [[Sex Segregation in Islam|different type of hijab]] (veil) with, of course, a different set of revelational circumstances.  

that he was a boy of ten at the time when the Prophet emigrated to Medina. He added: I served Allah's Apostle for ten years (the last part of his life time) and I know more than the people about the occasion whereupon the order of Al-Hijab was revealed (to the Prophet). Ubai b n Ka'b used to ask me about it. It was revealed (for the first time) during the marriage of Allah's Apostle with Zainab bint Jahsh. In the morning, the Prophet was a bride-groom of her and he Invited the people, who took their meals and went away, but a group of them remained with Allah's Apostle and they prolonged their stay. Allah's Apostle got up and went out, and I too, went out along with him till he came to the lintel of 'Aisha's dwelling place. Allah's Apostle thought that those people had left by then, so he returned, and I too, returned with him till he entered upon Zainab and found that they were still sitting there and had not yet gone. The Prophet went out again, and so did I with him till he reached the lintel of 'Aisha's dwelling place, and then he thought that those people must have left by then, so he returned, and so did I with him, and found those people had gone.''' At that time the Divine Verse of Al-Hijab was revealed, and the Prophet set a screen between me and him (his family).''' }}

== Conclusion ==