NahidSarvy,
I didn't say I wasn't modest
Nor did I ever attribute such a statement to you. But here you are agreeing that one's dress does have importance and should be reflective of their moral character.
in past discussion to which you have been party, I have explicitly laid out my understanding, which includes covering the jayb and the saw'ât, which is what the Qur'ân tells us to do.Every time I opine on this verse, the thread is mysteriously closed.
I don't recall which discussion you're referring to or which threads you think were closed solely for your post. If you would like to make a comment or seek clarification on the moderation of a thread, please post in the comments and suggestiosn section of this forum.
Still, let us examine your interpretation and see what the evidence is from the Qur'an and Sunnah for the scarf.
Still, I will repeat myself again: I disagree with your interpretation of the words. What is actually said in
Sûratu n-Nûr, 30-31:? A translation comparatively close to the Arabic says the following:
So it says:
- men and women should both cover their private parts
- women should cover their jayb (pl. juyûb), or cleavage, with their khimar.
In the modern world, it is understood that this verse orders believing women
to wear a head-veil, which is what a khimar was in ancient times.
But the khimar was worn by both women and by men in the time of the Prophet; it was an outer garment worn to protect the head from the hot sun. It was a practical and daily piece of clothing.
This verse does not order the Believers
to wear khimar; it orders us to
cover our jayb with the commonly-worn piece of clothing of the day, a large piece of cloth to protect the head from the sun.
This means that if we don't wear khimar, women can cover our jayb with something else.
Is the hijab obligatory in Islam? Let us see.
First, let me quote Keller who specifically refutes the view of those who claim that the structure of the verse does not mandate the Khimar:
The Qur’anic verse, “Say to believing women, that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them drape their headcoverings over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment . . .” (Qur’an 24:31) is a specific requirement for Muslim women to cover their hair.
The word “headcoverings” (Ar. singular khimar, plural khumur), more familiar in our times as the hijab, is a word of well-known signification among scholars of Arabic, at their forefront the authors of the classical lexical reference dictionaries like Zabidi’s encyclopedic Taj al-‘arus or Mutarrizi’s al-Mughrib, both of which define khimar as “a woman’s headcovering”; or Fayumi’s al-Misbah or Fayruzabadi’s al-Qamus, which both define it as “a cloth with which a woman covers her head.” The Taj al-‘arus also notes that a man's turban is sometimes referred to as a khimar “because a man covers his head with it in like manner as a woman covers her head with her khimar when he disposes it in the Arab manner, turning part of it under the jaws nearly in the same manner in which a woman disposes her khimar.” These authorities are cited in the eight-volume Arabic-English Lexicon of Edward William Lane, who describes the khimar as “a woman’s muffler or veil with which she covers her head and the lower part of her face.”
There is no other lexical sense in which the word khimar may be construed. The wording of the command, however, “and let them drape their headcoverings over their bosoms,” sometimes confuses nonspecialists in the sciences of the Qur’an, and in truth, interpreting the Qur’an does sometimes require in-depth knowledge of the historical circumstances in which the various verses were revealed. In this instance, the elliptical form of the divine command is because women at the time of the revelation wore their headcovers tied back behind their necks, as some village women still do in Muslim countries, leaving the front of the neck bare, as well as the opening (Ar. singular jayb, plural juyub, translated as “bosoms” in the above verse) at the top of the dress. The Islamic revelation confirmed the practice of covering the head, understood from the use of the word khimar in the verse, but also explained that the custom of the time was not sufficient and that women were henceforth to tie the headcover in front and let it drape down to conceal the throat and the dress’s opening at the top.
This is why Muslim women cover their heads: because the Qur’an unambiguously orders them to, and there is no qualifying text or hadith or even other lexical possibility to show that the Qur’anic order might mean anything besides obligation. Rather, the hadiths all bear this meaning out, Muslim scholars are in unanimous agreement about it and have been from the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) down to our own day, and it is even known by all non-Muslim peoples about them.
There was thus nothing new or surprising in the Islamic legal opinion promulgated in December 2003 by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Sheikh ‘Ali Jumu‘a of the Egyptian Fatwa Authority (Dar al-Ifta’ al-Misriyya) that “the hijab is an obligation on all Muslim female adults, as firmly established in the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad’s hadiths, as well as unanimously agreed upon by Muslim scholars.” He pointed out that unlike the cross sometimes worn by Christians, or the skullcap worn by Jews, the hijab is not a “symbol” of Islam but rather that “Islam orders female adults to wear hijab as obligatory religious clothing.” It is part of every Muslim woman’s religious practice.
Some ink and words have been spent by some contemporary ethnic Muslim women writers (and an occasional convert) trying to do away with the covering of hair mandated by the Qur’an and the unanimous consensus of Muslims. They say—accurately enough, for a Muslim does not leave Islam merely by committing a sin—that one can take off the hijab and still remain a Muslim. But such a person remains a bad Muslim, who deems aping non-Muslims better than practicing Islam. For what? The Supreme Being knows our benefit better than we do; and if one believes in Allah, Master of every atom in the universe, it is only plain sense to follow Him. When all else fails, read the directions. Those who refuse to wear the hijab are acting out of ignorance or bad faith, and when one meets them, one seldom finds they manage to practice the other aspects of their religion. In the end, it is a matter of hearts. The heart that is alive has a sense of eternity, and knows that the infinite is greater than the finite. The heart that is dead follows the trends of the trend makers because it has turned its back on the Divine and forgotten endless time. (SunniPath Q4813)
Your claim the khimar is not mandatory does not make sense in light of the verse. The verse says draw the khimar of the jayb, which, as explained above, forms the proper headcovering. If you don't have a khimar or headcovering, then you are not fulfilling the verse. The verse does not say to simply cover the bosom, it says to draw the khimar over the juyub.
Your claim is that the verse does not mandate the head-covering. In order to find out the true meaning of the verse we need to see how it was implemented by the Prophet Muhammad pbuh and how it was understood by his companions, the original recipients of the message. Their understanding of the message was the correct understanding.
First we have the explicit directive from the Prophet Muhammad pbuh, narrated in Sunan Abi Dawûd, where he said
O Asma’! When a girl reaches the menstrual age, it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this. He pointed to the face and hands.. If the Prophet Muhammad pbuh stated this, should I not accept the Prophet's ruling? The Qur'an says:
4:65 But no, by your Lord (O Muhammad), they have no Faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction.
Moreover, we find explicit statements from the companions which confirm their understanding of the verse. Abdullah ibn Abbas, Anas ibn Malik, Abdullah ibn Umar, Miswar ibn Makhrama, all explained the meaning of the verse as mandating the covering of the entire body, 'except that which is apparent', meaning the face and the hands. In fact, Aisha ibn Abi Bakr, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh said that when the Muslim women recieved this verse they covered themselves, appearing like crows were perched on their heads because of the head covering. Aisha also explained that the covering women were mandated was "
nothing short of what covers both the hair and skin."
And the truth of this matter is that not a single Muslim scholar, since the time of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh, has differed from the view that covering the hair is mandatory for women. How can one suggest that the unanimous consensus of all Muslim scholars for over a millenia is wrong, and the personal opinion of a few modern secularists (who have no formal education in Islamic sciences) is correct?
The issue here, for men and women alike, is modesty
No disagreement there,
I'm not missing this point, I'm criticising her making equivalent wearing the veil with being Muslima.
The veil is an integral
part of being a Muslima.
Just put one on init!! wah ya waitin 4?
ffended: in case if don't wear hijab. I am a very proud muslimah, Alhamdulilah:sister: I am never impressed with the American immoral dresses, I am only impressed with my modest dressing.......Alhamdulilah
