Hijab & Niqab in the Qur'an
The Qur'an is the revelation from the Almighty, the All-Wise, Who created human beings both men and women in His infinite knowledge and might. The Qur'an showed the right path in all matters to generations that went before, as well as to those present today. However, to understand the Qur'an and what Allah expects of us, we must look at the Qur'an itself.
Since the Qur'an is the Book sent down by the creator of human beings, Allah, we logically follow that Allah has laid all His commandments and way of life in the Qur'an compatible with the way He has created human beings and their nature. For example, Allah has made people as male and female to be together and has decreed the system of marriage in religion for them to come together. Or for example, Allah has designed the human tongue with thousands of taste buds, then created fruits of various kinds to be suitable for tasting them using our tongues - he has permitted us to enjoy taste of all the permissible food so long as we show thanks in return. He does not forbid the use of the tongue while having created to perform a feature or he does not forbid men and women to enjoy intimacy having created them in two genders in need of one another.
Allah has created human beings outer appearance to be pleasing to behold. This applies to both men and women. We do not find human beings repulsive. This is so that when we speak with one another as human beings, we find it comfortable to interact. Imagine human beings on earth were created with hideous appearances - this is possible by Allah - undoubtedly, we would find it repulsive to be with one another...difficult to communicate with each other, hold conferences, be friends etc. This is not a matter of good looks, rather a natural human appearance which is inherently pleasant in all humans. Allah draws mankind's attention to this important fact in His verses as follows:
"(People), do you not see how Allah has made what is in the heavens and the earth useful to you, and has lavished His blessings on you both outwardly and inwardly?" (Qur'an 31:20)
In another verse:
"Children of Adam, take your adornment / pleasantness to every Mosque" (Qur'an 7:31)
Where "Children of Adam" includes both men and women. This humanly pleasantness in everyone Allah speaks of is something for us to thank Allah and appreciate in all human beings, both men and women.
Over the centuries, in the name of Islam, some of the most concealed ways of dressing has been suggested for 'Muslim' women by clergy, who consist mostly of men. According to them, the "best" way of dressing for a woman involves, in their chosen words, to appear as a black "crow", concealing every part of her including the face, eyes, hands and feet in black drape. In this way, even the simplest shape or form of a human being's appearance is taken away from a woman and she is reduced to a 'mere shadow'.
Though different levels of dressing for women was suggested, this is said to be the 'best level' according to them. They also teach that the eyes also be covered with the veil! Visible yet in this picture!
Understanding the way Allah created the Human:
The human body is a miraculous act of creation by Allah. Every function of the body is placed through superior wisdom. The human body has five primary senses to interact with the world. These are:
1) Vision 2) Hearing 3) Smell 4) Taste 5) Touch
Each of these senses have unique sensing devices that are especially designed to accomplish their respective sensing functions. Sense of touch is done by the skin on every part of our bodies, but we use our hands to accomplish everyday task. The sensors for vision, hearing, smell and taste are all concentrated on the human head. This is for an important reason. The reason being solely the fact that the head is intended by Allah to be exposed to the environment.
All organs that requires to be fully exposed to the environment are strategically placed on the head so that it can work at its best performance without hindrance.
In the creation of the human, Allah intended the human head to be completely unobstructed in order for all the systems to function optimally. This is how:
The Eyes
Light rays from reflecting scenery are to fall on the eye through an unobstructed passage in order to perceive the true intensity and the colour of the scenery. A barrier would block light. This is an important reason why the eyes are on the head, since the head is expected to be left uncovered.
Mouth & Nose - Breathing
The exhaled breath contains a relative humidity of 100% - that is, it is highly moisture rich. This moisture as well as heat has to diffuse into the surrounding environment and not get trapped, if it does, then heat and moisture would cause discomfort on facial skin. This is a reason why nose and mouth are again placed by Allah on the head, so that an unobstructed passage is maintained with the environment, allowing diffusion of heat and moisture optimally.
Ears
The pinna (outer ear) which is visible on every person is a special acoustic device. Its purpose is to gather sound waves, amplify and direct it to the eardrum, as well as to help "localise" the sound that arrives there i.e. to help determine the direction the sound is coming from. It is obviously intended to be in an unobstructed location. Its performance deteriorates when it is obstructed by anything - both localisation and amplification. Once again, this is why the ear is located along with the eyes, nose and mouth which require a clear passage to the surrounding to work optimally, as designed.
Mouth & Nose - Speech
The voice box produces speech sound that emanates from the mouth. Not only does the mouth need to be exposed for adequate heat and moisture diffusion from breathing, vocal sound originating from there need an unobstructed path to reach the target without attenuating or sounding muffled to any degree, thus the location from which sound is produced is also on the head.
Eating
To eat, there cannot be an obstruction in front of the intake. Thus, the eating channel, the mouth, is located here along with the rest that need open space.
Imagine if our mouth and nose was placed on our chest which women do need to cover, it would be difficult to breath over the shirt / dress, difficult to eat, and our voice would sound not as clear as it does now!
Facial Expressions
One amazing manifestation of Allah's power is how he manages to integrate all the above functions of human body on the human head seamlessly, yet make it a work of art.
One of the most important features of human head is the overall face itself - the face has hundreds of muscles and is capable of making countless expressions which convey the emotional state of the person. When speaking to a person, the human face continuously changes to convey important information such as acknowledgement of a message understood, confusion, happiness, distress and the like. Thus the face is an important communications medium when speaking to someone. It is for this reason the human face, consisting of the eyes, mouth, nose and ears are all concentrated on the head, because the human head is designed and expected to be left uncovered in the blueprint, or master-plan of Allah. This fully applies to both male and female, because the functions and systems of the head are identical in both men and women.
The eyes, ears, nose and mouth all require an exposed environment to work as designed, which is why Allah has placed them all on the head. This is why the head is 'designed' to be exposed and not covered.
Understanding the Quranic verses
First of all, it must be understood on part of the thinking reader that the true religion of Allah is in full harmony with Allah's created mechanisms and intentions in nature.
Does the Qur'an command the covering of hair for women ("Hijab")?
The word "hijab" is never used in the Qur'an in the context of women's dress. This word used only in its general meaning of "barrier" in other contexts, but not women's dress or modesty, yet it has developed a completely unique applications among the majority. There is no use of the word 'hijab' in terms of women's dress in the Qur'an.
One part of a verse of the Qur'an has been attempted to be shown to command the covering of hair. This is the 31st verse of Surah An-Nur quoted as follows:
وَقُلْ لِلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ (Qur'an 24:31)
"Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts, and that they shall not flaunt their charms except what is apparent, and let them put forth their covers over their cleavage" (Qur'an 24:31)
The portion used to mean cover the hair is the underlined portion. It should be understood that the ordainment, or the commandment here is for a believing woman to cover her cleavage. It is not commanding her to cover her hair. The Arabic word, here translated as "cover", should be translated with due regards to several factors. These include 1) The immediate context which is ordering the covering of the chest-line with no mention of hair. 2) The logical and reasonable understanding we drew from the nature in which Allah created the human head (ears need unobstructed passage and the hair is part of "natural" human pleasantness). 3) The Arabic root, shares meanings with more general "covering" or "concealment". 4) Men tend to cover all their chest and women reduce their neck-line in a disbelieving society. Therefore, a commandment to cover the cleavage area is a strong logical understanding.
In the beginning we saw how all people have been given natural pleasantness as human beings:
"Children of Adam, take your adornment / pleasantness to every Mosque" (Qur'an 7:31)
Human hair on a woman is part of her natural 'human' aesthetics or pleasantness. Consider a bald woman, just how much this deteriorates her natural human aesthetics! Woman's hair, therefore shares a function in similarity with a man, by being part of a woman's natural human appearance and is considered to be in the Quranic expression "what is apparent" in the portion, "they shall not flaunt their charms except for what is apparent".
Therefore, it makes perfect sense for verse 24:31 to order believing women to ensure their cleavage area is covered. As stated, we observe in society the differences in the dresses between men and women - men's chest area is almost always concealed to the neck, whereas women's are often left much lower, sometimes to the point of exposing the cleavage. This tendency among people, provides realistic reasoning to why Allah orders the covering of cleavages for believers as a word of extra caution.
Believing women take pride in the artistic design of Allah in which they have been created (See Women & Beauty - A Secret Revealed in the Qur'an). They take good care in appearing neat and presentable to others, but at the same time, they instinctively know how to practise the verses of Allah by the guidance of their conscience.
Where in the Qur'an is the covering of the face?
There is absolutely no indication of this in the Qur'an. It is obvious that such a command would conflict with the nature and intentions of the designs of the human head, and Allah's commandments are in harmony with his creation - think of breathing, speech, eating and facial expressions, the head is designed intentionally to be exposed. It is paramount to bear in mind that people with perverted intentions, who seek to find justifications for their personal cultures and agendas will go to any lengths to find verses they can use to promote their ideas. It is necessary for a true believer to remain sincere and objective, and use an unbiased approach to Allah's verses to dispel the myths. Such people depict a twisted view of religion and devotion to Allah, keeping people away from reading the Qur'an and surrendering to Allah the true Quranic way.
A verse used in an attempt to convince the face veil is 33:53, where believing men are told to speak to the prophet's wives from behind a 'barrier'. This verse has nothing to do with covering the face. See Understanding "Speak to the Wives of the Prophet from Behind a Barrier" (Coming Soon).
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