Women, Islam, and Hijab

Background

 The actual practice of hijab among Muslim women is one depending on religious doctrine, although the Qur’an does not requirement it. Instead, it comes from the Hadith associated with Sahih Bukhari. The Hadith, the “tradition associated with Mohammed, ” reveals the teachings of the Prophet in order to believers. Bukhari’s version of this text is generally considered to be the standard one, although numerous versions can be found. In a very broad sense, the relation the actual Hadith has to the Qur’an resembles the New Testament’s towards the Old in Christian scriptures.

Based on the Hadith, “My Lord agreed beside me (‘Umar) in three things … (2) And as respect the veiling of women, I stated ‘O Allah’s Apostle! I wish you ordered your spouses to cover themselves from the men because negative and positive ones talk to them. ’ Therefore the verse of the veiling of the women had been revealed” (Bukhari, v1, bk eight, sunnah 395).

Surah XXXIII, Passage 59 of the Qur’an is most often cited supporting veiling. It states “O Prophet! Inform thy wives and thy daughters and the women from the believers to draw their cloaks close surrounding them. that will be better, so they may be recognized and not annoyed. Thor is ever forgiving, merciful…” (from The. Yusef Ali’s translation of the Qur’an; other variations translate the original Arabic as “veils” where Ali utilizes “cloaks”).

The veil is not a distinctively Islamic convention; the practice has a long history within the Judeo-Christian tradition. Catholic nuns engage in the exercise, of course , and there are several references towards the practice in both the Old and New Legs (King James Version). Ironically, the representation associated with veiling in the Bible is much more problematic than patients in the Qur’an or the Hadith, since the Judeo-Christian sources imply that women should be covered because of the inherent inferiority. I Corinthians eleven: 3-10 offers one example:

But I might have you know, that the head of each man is Christ; and the head from the woman is the man; and the head associated with Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying getting his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But lady that prayeth or prophesieth with her head discovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all 1 as if she were shaven. For if the lady be not covered, let her also be shorn or even shaven; but if it be a shame for any woman to be shorn or shaven, let the girl be covered. For a man indeed ought to not cover his head, for as much as dr. murphy is the image and glory of God: however the woman is the glory of the man. For your man is not of the woman; however the woman of the man. For this cause really need the woman to have power on her head due to the angels.

For more information regarding veiling in the Judeo-Christian Tradition, see Women in Islamic Versus Women in the Judeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth and also the Reality by Doctor Sherif Abdel Azeem.

The Ongoing Discussion

Among Muslim women, the debate about jilbab takes many forms. Many believe that the veil is really a way to secure personal liberty in a world which objectifies women. Several women have argued that hijab enables them freedom of movement and control of their health. Understood in such terms, hijab protects females from the male gaze and allows them to become independent subjects. Others have argued that the veil only offers the illusion of protection and serves to absolve men from the responsibility for controlling their behavior.

Each positions assert that Islam is not accountable for sexism. In fact , the Qur’an supports the idea of gender equality. As scholar Fatima Mernissi places it “the existing inequality does not rest with an ideological or biological theory of women’s inferiority, however the outcome of specific social institutions designed to restrain the girl power” (Beyond xvi).

Mernissi views the current rise of women’s repression in some Muslim countries like a rejection of colonial influence:

The truth that Western colonizers took over the paternalistic defense from the Muslim woman’s lot characterized any changes in her problem as concessions to the colonizer. Since the external facets of women’s liberation, for example , the neglect from the veil for western dress, were often emulations associated with Western women, women’s liberation was readily recognized as succumbing to foreign influences.