Veil: The Islamic Perspective
By Syed Osman Sher
Mississauga, Canada
Religious phenomenon is always cultural specific with its own challenges, experiences, and the constellation of meanings it generates in the lives of individuals. Each culture is sui generic, one-of-a-kind, irreducible to definitions that pretend to make the meanings of one culture commensurate with the meanings of another. In this background we find that the custom and religious sanctity of putting a veil on the face, or covering the full body from head to toe, or to cover only hair is prevalent among the followers of only those religions which have emanated in the Middle East, viz., Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For the rest of the world, who do not belong to these religions, such a tradition is unintelligible and thus appears meaningless. Had such a practice commanded moral or material usefulness universally, other religions and societies would also have adopted it.
While discussing the issue of a woman’s veil in Islam, we find the following relevant Ayats in the Qur’an: ( 24:31) “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their zeenat (charms) except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should cover their bosoms (juyubihinna) with their coverings (khumurihinna) and not display their zeenat (charms) 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 womenfolk, or those whom they rightfully possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of women’s nakedness.; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden zeenat (charms), and O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss”. Further, the Ayat 33:59 says, “O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when going outside)): that is more proper, that they should be recognized (as such) and not molested. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”.
The Qur’an preaches modesty both for men (24:30) and women in equal measure. However, there are additional orders for women to cover their bosoms with their coverings and not display their zeenat”. Different translators of the Qur’an have given the word “zeenat” different meanings, such as charm, beauty, breasts, bosom, chest, a quality that fascinates, ornaments, adornments, etc. But the use of other words in conjunction with zeenat like ‘what (must ordinarily) appear thereof’, ‘male servants free of physical needs’, ‘small children who have no sense of women’s nakedness’, ‘should not strike their feet’ and ‘hidden charm’ clearly indicate that it denotes the curvature of the breasts that should not be displayed, and, therefore, be covered.
The other Ayat, 33:59 is conditional in terms of time and place. It is addressed mainly to the wives and daughters of the Holy Prophet, extended to the Muslim women of the time. They were asked to put a covering or an outer garment (jilbab) when going out of their homes so that they were recognized as Muslim women, not of easy virtue, and thus not to be teased.
This Ayat can be seen in the context of the sixth century Makkah when it had turned into the most important religious and economic center of Arabia where thousands of pilgrims visited the Kaaba each year, traded goods, and spent their wealth lavishly on festivities. As a result, the social order had broken down. People indulged themselves in gambling, orgies of wine drinking and all sorts of promiscuity and lewdness, accompanied by violence and bloodshed. It was an age of barbaric ignorance or moral darkness, commonly referred to as jahiliya. Abdullah Yusuf Ali writes in the commentary of The Holy Qur’an (published by The Presidency of Islamic Research, IFTA, Mushaf Al-Madinah An-Nabawiyah, on the page 1265, footnote# 3765-66) that “In the East and in the West a distinctive public dress of some sort or another has always been a badge of honor or distinction, both among men and women. This can be traced back to the earliest civilization. Assyrian Law in its palmist days (say, 7 th century BC), enjoined the veiling of married women and forbade the veiling of slaves and women of ill fame”.
We have seen that no Qur’anic injunction exists for covering the face, or full-body, or head but many Muslim women do so as a religious obligation. Covering of face becomes all the more meaningless when it has been ordained to keep it uncovered during one of the most important events of worship, i.e., Hajj. As for the tradition of covering the hair, it is, in fact, a part of the culture of the Middle East because we find this practice among the Jewish and Christian women too. It comes down to us from the olden days when Judaism was the main religion there. At that time, it was the hallmark of nobility, although no such commandment exists even in Torah. It is found only in the instructions of the rabbis with the result that this custom had attained some sort of sacredness. Therefore, the women in the Near East and Mesopotamia covered their heads. In those days, great importance was attached to a woman’s hair so much that in the rabbi’s instructions it was associated with woman’s beauty, rank, nobility, married or unmarried status, divorcing the wife, retribution for Eve’s sin, etc. The head of a woman being uncovered was considered so utterly odious and wicked as she had committed adultery, and her husband was permitted by the rabbi’s instructions to divorce her on this account without paying her dower (mehr).
The significance of this custom becomes more apparent from the fact that in those days it was equally forbidden for a Jewish man to look at the hairs of a married woman. Probably, this phenomenon has assumed additional importance in the Jewish tradition because of the mention in the Torah of the story of Qaroon, as related in Num. R. xviii. 20: "On, the son of Peleth, companion of Korah (Qaroon), was saved through the device of his wife, who, having made him so drunk that he fell asleep, sat with her daughter in front of the tent, both having their hair uncovered. When On's companions came to call for him and saw the women in such an attitude, they turned away; for no one would enter a house where this Jewish custom was so openly disregarded." The mention of this incident in the Torah also makes it clear that this tradition was prevalent there before the Torah’s advent.
Probably, it was in the footstep of this tradition that the later religion of Christianity also was not respectful to a bare-headed woman. It is written in the Bible, Corinthians 11:3-6, “But I (Paul) want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head”.
Noteworthy is the fact that in St Paul’s own homeland Tarsus this practice was being followed with much seriousness, and most probably Paul would have been influenced by that. In compliance with the commandments of the Bible, Christian women generally cover their heads during worship in church, and Christian nuns keep their heads covered.
In the Middle Eastern countries, Judaism came first as an organized religion. After the advent of Christianity, many Jewish people accepted that religion, and the same happened later with the Muslims. Because it was considered noble to cover the head, and it had become a part of the culture of that region, the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women remained attached to their culture and did not abandon the head covering.
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