Is Hijab obligatory? - Javed Ahmed Ghamidi
This question concerns women, and it is with respect to their Purdah (veil).
I would like you to tell us from a religious point of view
about what Allah seeks or makes obligatory and usually we see that those women who
have an affection for the religion but also feel guilty because they are not able to
abide by the religious concepts like purdah and face veil.
What are the Quranic instructions? What is mandatory with regard to covering?
[Ghamidi] I have engaged in a lot of discussions on this topic
and I have given brief answers to this question for years
but then when I realised that people are not able to comprehend
the reasoning behind it, since then I have discussed this issue
in a number of sessions in a series which deals with the 'Objections', on this and other issues.
How the Quran explains this issue, how this issue has been narrated in the Ahadith,
I have in great detail analysed and written about that issue.
If you really want to understand this issue
and if you want to know the disputes about it and the history of the objections
and why those objections arose and the reason for the general impression
that we have, then you can listen to that series.
Through that series, all those questions that arise ...
because I will give you one answer and it is obvious that you will
receive different answers from different sources.
So if you really want to understand the contradictions that you might notice there between
differing opinions then I request you to listen to that series.
I have given a detailed analysis in that series.
Here I am giving you a brief answer.
And the answer is that Allah has told us in Surah Nur of the Quran
that for Allah, what is important is that your physical relationships should
also maintain a purity of the highest degree.
I had just stated that the main objective of religious guidance is purification.
So even in this matter our religion demands purification from us.
It has given certain instructions to maintain this purification in the society.
And those instructions have been given to both men and women.
I don't term it as purdah (veil) because the Quran does not use this word at all.
Even the Prophet (pbuh) of God did not use this word at all.
The correct term is that the Quran has laid down the etiquette,
with respect to the circumstances in which men and women come across each other.
The Quran has given us an 'etiquette' with respect to the occasions
where men have to meet women in public, or at work,
and what etiquette should be taken care of during such circumstances.
In that there are two such instructions which are given to both men and women alike.
One is that both are instructed to restrain their gaze.
Restraining your gaze does not mean that you have to look down, trip and fall over in the process.
It means that you should not engage in staring, and checking the other person out
and you should not leer at each other.
This is an instruction given to both men and women.
and the instruction is given in the exact same words.
If you open the Surah Nur in the Quran
The second instruction that is given to us that is that we need to protect our private parts.
The protection of the privates, in essence, means that it should not lead to physical attraction.
A person should not try to transgress the boundaries within which Allah has
allowed for physical intimacy.
On the other hand, it wants both men and women to be mindful of what they wear.
You should be careful about your clothes in a way that your clothes
cover up your private parts, and that it doesn't let the gaze
of others wander about, in effect, facilitate a 'Hijab' of the eyes.
Allah has made it mandatory for both men and women.
In other words, there is absolutely no difference.
The exact same words have been used.
ayy yahfazoo farujahum, ayy yahfazna faroojahunna
Both men and women should protect their private parts,
both should be circumspect about their clothing, men and women.
And then there is a third instruction which is specific to women alone.
It is that since they are fond of wearing ornaments and makeup in gatherings
and in normal circumstances as well, so if they are wearing extraordinary makeup or ornaments
then they should not make an exhibition of the beautification of their adornment.
So these are the three things mentioned in the Quran.
I am explaining them very briefly because we don't have the time to explain it in detail.
This is what is mentioned in the Quran.
You can choose to call this etiquette of interaction as pardah or else hijab.
The title for this topic in my book is The Etiquette of interaction between men and women.
We should take care of this etiquette.
I have had a very detailed discussion on the instructions on the nature of the
clothes in the Quran in that how they gradually elevate the status of individual
The first stage is to cover your private parts and to cover those parts which are in
close proximity to your private parts.
In other words, you have begun covering yourself.
After this, you rise above this mandatory level and then you to enhance your clothes
so that they hide your body parts even more and you do it with respect
to your own culture and tradition.
So, with respect to the second part, we face certain conditions
where our sisters and daughters start wearing scarfs.
Or else they start wearing such clothes which cover most of the body parts.
So, it begins with the mandatory instruction and then it is up to you
as to how much more you can enhance it.
These are the things that Allah has mentioned in his book
and the sort of things that the Prophet (pbuh) has advised upon in his narrations
Other than that, wearing a burka or covering your face such that
not even a single strand of hair is visible, traveling in a palanquin,
was part of our ancient culture.
To a great extent it has withered away and if it does exist somewhere then
it should wither away too.
Religious instruction is only as much as I have mentioned.