1. Hijab In the
Qur’an
Sheikh Ahmad Haneef

2. Hijab In the Qur’an
Hijab or the Islamic modest dress is a way of covering
the body according to certain principles in order to
make Muslim women identifiable in society and to
minimize the social influence of sexual stimuli. Now let's
look at the most comprehensive verses on hijab or
modest dress in the Qur'an.

3. Hijab In the Qur’an
These are verses 30 and 31 of surah al Nur:
Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and protect their
private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is All-aware
of what they do. (Quran, Nur/24:30)
And tell the believing women to lower their
gaze and protect their private parts.

4. Hijab In the Qur’an
These two commands indicate the spirit of hijab. It is
first and foremost, an attitude and response towards
that which is sexually improper in society by resisting
their influence on the soul.
The eyes, it is said, are windows to the soul and the
pious Muslim shuts the doors of his or her soul to the
influence of such stimuli.

5. Hijab In the Qur’an
This is indicated by the phrase "lower their gaze". The
other is that the Muslims themselves should not act in
sexually inappropriate ways such as fornication as is
encapsulated in the phrase, "protect their private
parts."

6. Hijab In the Qur’an
The spirit of hijab, which includes both men and
women alike, is then followed by rules on clothing
which are the outward or physical aspect of hijab.
These are exclusively directed to women, indicated
by the gender of the verbs involved.
and do not show off their adornments except that which is
apparent.

7. Hijab In the Qur’an
This could be because, as has been scientifically proven,
men are sexually more subject to the effect of visual stimuli
than women. And it is probably due to this psycho
biological fact, that the conditions determining the extent
of clothing to be worn would be logically more extensive
for women than for men.
According to the hadith, "adornments" (zeenat) here
means both the body as a potentially sexually attractive
object and those external accessories that are used to
beautify it.

8. Hijab In the Qur’an
"What is apparent" means those parts of the woman's
body that are allowed to be exposed to the public
and they are the face, hands and, according to a
number of ulama, the feet, whereas for the husband,
the woman's entire body can be exposed.

9. Hijab In the Qur’an
The amount of adornment or beauty that can be seen
depends upon three categories of witnesses: the general
public, the mahram, (which is a category before whom a
woman can appear unveiled) and the husband.
The public, as we have mentioned earlier, can be exposed
to the face, hands and according to some ulama, feet of
the non mahram woman; the mahram, for the practical
purposes of domestic life, still more; and the husband has
the privilege of seeing the entire body of his wife and all
the accessories that go along with it.

10. Hijab In the Qur’an
This shows that Islam is not a prudish religion at all, but
is just restrictive about sexual expressions and
enticements in the public sphere. The verse continues:
and to draw their head coverings (khumurihinna)
over their bosoms (juyubihinna).

11. Hijab In the Qur’an
This phrase indicates the origin of the classical hijab
look:
A head covering or khimaar, which is a single piece of
cloth that covers both the head and the chest, and
leaving the face exposed, a form of which is reflected
in what we call the maqnah, and is called the 'hijab'
today even though it is not hijab in its entirety.

12. Hijab In the Qur’an
Thus when people say that hijab, meaning the khimaar is
not in the Qur'an, this verse makes them incorrect.
Indeed the word 'hijab' does not appear in the Qu'ran in
this context and this is simply due to the fact that the word
was coined after the fact to denote this principle of Islamic
dress. If the word 'hijab' doesn't appear in these verses it
does not invalidate its existence as a precise set of
principles of modest dress.

13. Hijab In the Qur’an
If we dismiss the concept of hijab because the word
does not appear in the Qur'an, we should also be
prepared to dismiss the concept of martyrdom
because the word shahadat is not used to indicate
it, and the heavenly journey of the Prophet because
the word Mi'raaj is not used to name it.

14. Hijab In the Qur’an
Thus we see that the holy Qur'an is very clear on the
issue of hijab. To ignore the observance of hijab in the
form described in the Qur'an, is to directly disobey an
order of Allah and in so doing, put ourselves in danger
of being agents contributing to the breakdown in
social sexual morality and the disastrous
consequences that would follow in this life and the
Hereafter.

15. The End