Covering Hair in Islam

Greetings to you Haizana.

I personally believe that this is a kind of recent question. Not every law is from the Qur'an. The Qur'an is a continuation and the final edition of the 'Books'.

Covering the hair is simply part of the accepted law that was already in place for the people of the Book. Look at Mother Mary, or the Christian Nuns. Asked them why they cover their hair.

For me, I was married to a modern Muslim. She didn't cover her hair. I was brought up in the liberal Muslim environment.

After over 20 years of marriage, I divorced and married someone who covered her hair.

I never felt special before, and I do now.

format_quote Originally Posted by haizana

What is the relevance behind asking a woman to cover her hair when God created all that.? What is the point of giving a woman something but withold it? I would like to know if Quran actually ask woman to cover hair or was it just interpretation of Scholars and Leaders of that point of time trying to take control of women. The reason I am asking is because I dont see how does a woman covering or not covering her hair is of any issues. It is different when we talk about private part or being modest. That is acceptable. But hair is a bit illogical. Would appreciate if I could get a different perspective

The first and foremost point that needs to be mentioned is that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is our Creator and the Lord of everything that exists. Allah سبحانه وتعالى created us when we were nothing and He taught us when we had no knowledge. His commandments and prohibitions are filled with wisdom and benefit. Therefore, it makes no sense to question Allah سبحانه وتعالى when our intellect is extremely limited and it is not our place to do so. This is different to obeying Allah سبحانه وتعالى whilst trying to ascertain the wisdom behind certain rulings for a deeper appreciation. But accusing His commandments as being 'illogical' etc. is mere arrogance and nonsensical. Islam means submitting to Allah سبحانه وتعالى. The believer follows the command of Allah سبحانه وتعالى even if he does not know the wisdom behind it or he does not find anything to convince his reason for it, because his obedience of his Lord and his submission to His command take priority over all other things. I am mentioning this with your other thread in mind, where you made a number of statements which reflect a very poor understanding of whom Allah سبحانه وتعالى is. If you first learn about Allah سبحانه وتعالى, His Names and Attributes and why we believe in Him then a lot of your doubts will be swept away.

Secondly, Muslim women must cover their hair in the presence of non-mahram men. This is a clear commandment of Allah سبحانه وتعالى stated in the Qur’an:

And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women... [An-Nur: 31]

When the command for women to cover was revealed, ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها narrated:

By Allah, I never saw any women better than the women of the Anṣār or stronger in their confirmation of Allah’s Book! When Sūrat al-Nūr was revealed, ‘and to draw their khumur over their chests’, they all tore up their waist-wraps and covered themselves with them. [Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,no. 4758; Sunan Abī Dāwūd,no. 4100]

Dr. Tesneem Alkiek writes:

This narration is extremely powerful for a number of reasons. First, it is important to recognize and appreciate that—like the thousands of other hadith she narrated—this hadith is narrated by ʿĀʾishah (rA). She was not only the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, but one of the foremost juristic scholars in our religion. She was also a woman who never held back on protecting the rights of women nor on what she understood to be the truth. A common criticism of the obligation to cover is that this command is ostensibly one propagated by male scholars alone. Yet, one of the most powerful evidences for the command comes through this narration by none other than ʿĀʾishah. Moreover, in this narration, we learn how the women around the Prophet ﷺ responded to the verse. ʿĀʾishah praised them for their immediate response in fully covering their bodies and thus embodying the intended meaning of the command. If one rejects this tradition as insignificant, one simultaneously rejects the voice and agency of the female Companions in both interpreting and applying this verse.

What often also goes unaddressed in discussions on dress is what seemingly unrelated traditions can tell us. By this, I am referring to narrations that indirectly describe the way female Companions embodied their obligation of covering. These traditions relay to us the natural result of how these women understood Qur’anic injunctions of modesty. One such example is the hadith narrated by Ḥafṣah b. Sirīn in which she noted that young, unmarried women and women who were menstruating were culturally required to stay at home. Once, a lady came to Ḥafṣah and told her about her sister who joined her husband in six battles to help care for the wounded. This sister had asked the Prophet ﷺ, “Is there any objection for a woman to stay at home if she doesn’t have an outer garment (jilbāb)?” In other words, some women were unable to come out in public to help because they did not have the means to cover themselves. In response, the Prophet ﷺ—rather than affirming the cultural practice at the time, or simply allowing women who could not cover themselves to stay at home and promise them good deeds for their intentions, or even encourage them to stay home for their privacy being better for them—said, “She should cover herself with her companion’s jilbāb [i.e., borrow clothing] and take part in the good deeds and in the religious gatherings of the believers.” [Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī,no. 1652; Saḥīḥ Muslim, no. 890c]

This authentic narration elucidates a number of noteworthy implications. For one, we see how covering vis-a-vis jilbāb, or clothing that covers the entire body, was one taken for granted—so much so, that the female Companions recognized that they could not leave their homes without it. This once more confirms the interpretation of the Qur’anic verse as one in which the entire body must be covered with the identified exceptions. This hadith, moreover, is a powerful reminder as to the purpose of covering. It was not a means of shaming the female body, nor relegating women to the private sphere. Rather, it was a means of protecting and empowering women to actively engage in the community, to the extent that a customary practice at the time that could have been adopted by Islam was actively rejected in favor of women’s participation.

It is a mercy from Allah سبحانه وتعالى that He taught us what etiquette would be best for society. Within those teachings He has mandated a dress code for both men and women.