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Hijab: Difference between revisions
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==Reasoning on the hijab== | ==Reasoning on the hijab== | ||
=== Protection of chastity and against assault === | ===Protection of chastity and against assault=== | ||
While Islamic legal scholars are assiduous in pointing out that Islamic laws, being direct orders from God, need not provide practical benefit to merit fulfillment, most today hold that the practical reasoning behind the obligation of the hijab is that it protects women from sexual assault by suppressing their attractiveness and serves to help them guard their own chastity. The following hadith | While Islamic legal scholars are assiduous in pointing out that Islamic laws, being direct orders from God, need not provide practical benefit to merit fulfillment, most today hold that the practical reasoning behind the obligation of the hijab is that it protects women from sexual assault by suppressing their attractiveness and serves to help them guard their own chastity. The following hadith account is often referenced in this vein of reasoning. | ||
{{quote |{{Muslim|26|5416}}|'Abd bin Hamid reported from 'Abd Ar-Rizaaq reported from Ma'amar, reported from Az-Zuhri, from 'Urwa, from 'A'isha that a eunuch used to come to the wives of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and they did not count him as a male with sexual desire. Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) one day came as he was sitting with some of his women and he was busy in describing the bodily characteristics of a lady and saying: when she approaches you it is with four (folds of fat) and if she goes away from is it with eight (folds of fat). Thereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: Do I not see that this one knows what, behold, is here, the women ought not to be exposed like this. She (" A'isha) said: Then they began to wear hijab around him (the eunuch)[<i>sic</i>]}}{{quote |{{Abudawud|32|4095}}|Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: | {{quote |{{Muslim|26|5416}}|'Abd bin Hamid reported from 'Abd Ar-Rizaaq reported from Ma'amar, reported from Az-Zuhri, from 'Urwa, from 'A'isha that a eunuch used to come to the wives of Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and they did not count him as a male with sexual desire. Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) one day came as he was sitting with some of his women and he was busy in describing the bodily characteristics of a lady and saying: when she approaches you it is with four (folds of fat) and if she goes away from is it with eight (folds of fat). Thereupon Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: Do I not see that this one knows what, behold, is here, the women ought not to be exposed like this. She (" A'isha) said: Then they began to wear hijab around him (the eunuch)[<i>sic</i>]}}{{quote |{{Abudawud|32|4095}}|Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: | ||
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 sexual desires. 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. }} | 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 sexual desires. 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. }} | ||
==== | ====Traditional counter-perspectives and modern criticisms==== | ||
While modern scholars have inclined precipitously toward the rationale of chastity and assault protection, most probably due to its appealing to some form of practical reasoning, the traditional understanding and the understanding most straightforwardly found in the Islamic scriptures themselves appears to be that the hjiab serves to obscure the public identity of women to some extent and to prevent men from observing their physique. One criticism that has been presented against the above interpretation of the account regarding the eunuch found in the hadiths is that if Muhammad's concern had been the chastity and protection of the women from assault, then whether or not they wore the hijab in the presence of eunuch should not have made a difference. A eunuch, after all, could not pose any threat to the women's chastity or safety. The reason Muhammad did give in the hadiths is that he did not want the eunuch to observe the women. This, rather than the protection of women as such, appears to better fit both the legal requirements of the hijab and narratives presented in Islamic scriptures. | |||
A more poignant criticism presented by critics, however, has been that if the hijab seeks to protect women from sexual assault, it wholly fails to serve this purpose. Islamic countries where the overwhelming majorities of women observe the hijab have been found to have some of the highest rates of women experiencing all manner of sexual harassment. In Egypt, for instance, women and young girls are harassed 7 times every 200 meters<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.ghanamedianews.com/us/sports/item/1072-egypt’s-ncw-chief-says-women-harassed-7-times-every-200-meters.html|2=2012-12-31}} Egypt’s NCW chief says women harassed 7 times every 200 meters] - GhanaMed, September 6, 2012</ref><ref>Manar Ammar - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.bikyamasr.com/77158/sexual-harassment-and-pedophilia-await-egyptian-girls-outside-schools/|2=2012-09-14}} Sexual harassment awaits Egyptian girls outside schools] - Bikya Masr, September 10, 2012</ref> and in Saudi Arabia, where the observance of hijab is strictly enforced throughout the country, women experience one of the highest rates of [[Rape in Islamic Law|rape]] in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://womanstats.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/the-high-rape-scale-in-saudi-arabia/|title= The High Rape-Scale in Saudi Arabia|publisher= WomanStats Project (blog)|author= |date= January 16, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomanstats.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F01%2F16%2Fthe-high-rape-scale-in-saudi-arabia%2F&date=2013-07-13|deadurl=no}}</ref> | |||
==Different Types of Veiling== | ==Different Types of Veiling== | ||