Meanings of Hijab - A response

Meanings of Hijab - A response
Syed Munir Islam

In response to Shah Abdul Hannan

Dear Mr. S A Hannan:

Greetings. It is indeed a pleasure to see you participate directly on this forum. I am just a member on this forum but, in my capacity as moderator of a fairly well-known and one of the oldest forums, when I had occasion to communicate with you directly, it was always a respectful exchange and I appreciate your kindness and interpersonal respectability.

Speaking on the context of Hijab, you're absolutely right: Your comments may not impact opinions of others who may not share your point of view on this issue due to a variety of reasons, the bases of which may be more defensible logically and rationally than a claim of faith that Allah wants women to be clad in the manner you have specified. That speculation is however proportional to the reality that others' opinions, no matter how defensible, may not impact your opinion on Hijab. I have three sets of questions on which I request your kind explication from an Islamic perspective. The first is directly related to Hijab.

[A-1] If one disagrees that a faith-based claim of fact is interchangeable with verifiable fact and asserts that, beyond the domain of faith, it is impossible to prove a Muslim man knows, first of all, his Allah exists just as he claims He does, let alone He ever talked to Muhammad and, specifically, that He mandated this garb, the entire discussion about its mandate on women becomes an utterly moot point, or do you disagree?

[A-2] When an adult Muslima tells her little girl this is what Allah wants, is she lying or should her sincerity of faith in Allah automatically redefine the nature of her claim as truth, and nothing but?

[A-3] With that childhood indoctrination when a Muslim girl grows up endorsing its need in the same manner she was TOLD since childhood, and if she feels socially pressured to wear it, will it NOT be a lie to claim she wears it simply and only because she chose to, as a liberated woman in Islam?

[A-4] When in a Muslim majority country the government takes it upon itself to define people's morality in this context and enforces this garb on women, both Muslims and non-Muslims as it is the case in Saudi Arabia, (I admit I am not 100% sure if it is indeed the case for non-Muslims in SA), is it more reasonable to suggest they are being moral bullyies when Islam accorded no preferential treatment to the ruler as a moral arbiter for others, or might you consider that enforced morality acceptable by Allah?

The next set of items is outside of the Hijab context but relevant in the context of women in Islam.

(B-1) Should a Muslima be allowed to drive a car on her own and go outside the house without a Muslim relative?

(B-2) If a Muslima chooses NOT to wear any type of Hijab, should her society and men respect her such freedom to choose or should she be forced to conform, even though Islam suggests no compulsion in religion?

(B-3) Would it displease Allah if we respect our children's human right to grow up first and learn the reality of various faiths, and then choose if they wish to belong to any one of them or live without endorsing any, or ought we to force-indoctrinate them in our beliefs when they are too young to have a say in the matter?

(B-4) Are we not imposing our beliefs on our children and, in that process, disrespecting their freedom to choose what they want when they grow up?

(B-5) If you contend we might displease Allah if we did not indoctrinate our kids in Islamic dogma, what is the evidence it is indeed the case if we think about the issue from outside the domain of belief and more from a humitarian angle?

(B-6) If a Muslim parent argues she has a parental right to indoctrinate her little girl in any manner of her choice, should she acknowledge the right of mothers who endorse other faiths to indoctrinate their daughters the same way? Might there be room for a humanitarian concern that such indoctrination of a claim of faith that each religion is the best would have a corollary, which is all other faith systems are not as good? Could this be a reconstructionist approach to social reality the defense of which might not be very sound outside the domain of faith?

(B-7)  How do you see (B-6) as compatible with global Muslims' desire for peace and tolerance?

These are humanist questions and concerns, as their answers affect the way we raise our kids. Hence I hope you won't feel offended. It only seemed reasonable to request your Islamic perspective on these real-life issues that many of us face daily. I ask this because, no matter how noble and great the initial Islamic rationale was to approve all of the above, if it did, over the centuries that Muslims have followed this much of the world around them has changed due to a variety of reasons.

We can contend the same mandates and provisions will hold for all times and for all people, but we surely do not claim that for ALL Quranic provisions, and Islamic tradition of Sunnah and Hadith.

Otherwise Muslim men would still opt for four wives if they promised to love them equally; they'd still have sex with female slaves and sex with women from war booty, just as the chit chats in that regard in shahi Hadith traditions confirm; and claim, if only to attain Sunnah, that they dreamt of six year-olds whom Allah told them to marry. Unlike the Arabic tradition at the time of Muhammad, Muslims no longer marry 6/9 year-old girls. Clearly some traditions are followed differently now than those were in the past.

[C-1] Islamic history clearly tells us how the Prophet lived and what he chatted about sometimes. But has there been an addendum from God to alter some of it, a few examples of which I enumerated above? Why did we need interpreters of verses when their applications can be noted in Islamic history? Why reinvent the wheel? Besides, how could Islam be a simple religion when it needs scholastic interpretation of "context"-based exceptions almost every time a verse or hadith tradition seems to jar our modern senses of interpersonal respect, intergender fairness, and inter-religion tolerance?

[C-2] Why was Bibi Ayesha's age a non-issue for centuries but, only in recent times, there seems to be disagreement among Islamic apologists about her age? Were the Muslims, including Imam Bukhari, grossly erroneous in quoting Ayesha's age? If yes, what new discovery have modern Islamic apologists made, and where, by which to override some shahi hadiths?

[C-3] Last but not least, how do you propose Muslims establish a tolerant common ground with people of all other faiths when the very purpose of the Quran was to deliver Allah's last words and when it claims it supercedes all previous texts from God? When others with whom Muslims seek to establish common, tolerant ground may not agree with this faith claim of superiority.

[C-4] Could this direct claim from Allah be subordinated in Islam without deviating from His wishes, just so that Muslim negotiators of common ground could offer a truthful frame of equal respect of other faiths in Islam?

Mr Hannan, we 'll probably agree there is much misinformation on the internet about Islam currently. The tragedy of 0911 served as gateway for many communal sentiments to unleash their hatred of Islam. But the intolerant attitude of many Muslims did also contribute to justify the backlash. I have argued with anti-Islamists for months whenever I considered their conclusions logically indefensible, such as eradication of Islam (implied force), while also claiming to uphold people's freedom to choose.

Afterward I protested some Islamists who'd refuse to admit the basis of their arguments was nothing but a belief of truth which was NOT factual truth. I protested those Islamists who sought global peace but who also refused to compromise many Islamic tenents that can be seen as clear contradictions to that noble goal. I protested those Islamists who'd clamor to include religion in politics but, when I asked them to enumerate what exactly it was from Islam Muslims wish to bring to a modern discussion of politics that we couldn't use reason and logic to reach equally deftly, they went into hibernation. To catch their piously veneered hypocrisy a discerning reader only needed freedom of mind and ability to ask questions.

You however appear to be sincere and respectful, someone who could prefer global peace and women's freedom to choose, unless of course you'll disagree. Hence I wanted to learn your sincere Islamic perspectives on these real-life matters.

I hope you'll be kind to read this albeit your presumably busy schedule, and share with us your reasoned opinions focusedly on the above points.

My thanks for your kind reading.

Yours truly,

Meanings of Hijab
Shah Abdul Hannan.

Dear Moderator:

Assalamu Alaikum,

I have seen some of the correspondence on Hijab in Banglar Nari Mailing list. I can not probably change the position of some of the writers by my comments. However I feel that part of the confusion can be removed if we can properly understand the meaning of the word “Hijab” and its application on the dress code of Muslims Women.

The meaning of Hijab in some of the dictionaries are as follows :

1.        Hijab means cover, wrap, drape, curtain.
(A dictionary of Modern Written Arabic edited b J.Milton Cowan)

2.(a)Hajaba means to cover, shut out

   (b)Hijab means veil, curtain.
              (John Prentice:Adictionary of Glossary of the Quran)

3.Hijab in Lugat(Dictionary or language) is Satr(cover)
              (Encyclopedia of Fiqh,Kuwait)

4.Hijab means Satr( or cover).(Lisanul Arab)

5.Hijab means to obstruct. Cover is called Hijab as it obstructs seeing.
                                    (Al Misbah Al Munir)

There are many other dictionaries explaining the meaning of the Quranic/Arabic. words which give more or less same meanings.

The above clarifies that Hijab essentially means cover of all kinds (whether of dress or curtain or darkness or otherwise) which obstructs seeing.

In this context the use of the term Hijab for dress code of Muslim women is nothing wrong. If others want to use other terms for Muslim Women dress code, they can do so.

There is no disagreement among scholars on the extent of cover of the Muslim Women (except in the matter of face, feet and forehand) A few opinions of non-experts do not matter.

Terms develop over time to express ideas. In the history of Islam so many words have taken gradually technical meaning such as Sunnah, Ijma, Qiyas, Istihsan. Hijab has also now taken a technical meaning for Muslim Woman’s dress here is nothing wrong in it.

I hope the explanation will be helpful to the members of the group.

Yours sincerely

Shah Abdul Hannan.


Women	Human Rights violation		Great Personalities		Humor