PROFESSOR DR
IBRAHIM B SYED Phd D.Sc
IS
HIJAB COMPULSORY
One of the verses in the Quran
protects a woman's fundamental rights. Verse 59 of Surah A1Ahzaab
reads: "O Prophet! T'ell thy wives and daughters and the
believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over
their persons (when outside) : so that they should be known (as
such) and not molested".
According to the Quran, the reason
why Muslim women should wear an outer garmcnt when going out of
their homes is that they may be recognised as
"Believing" women and differentiated from streetwalkers
for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose
of this verse was not to confine women to their homes, but to
make it safe for them to go about their daily business without
attracting unsavoury attention.
Older Muslim women who are past the
prospect of marriage are not required to wear "the outer
garment". "Such elderly women as are past the prospect
of marriage, there is no blame on them if they lay aside their
(outer) garments, provided they make not wanton display of their
beauty; but it is best for them to be modest; and Allah is One
Who sees and knows all things". (24:60).
The Quran does not suggest that
women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the
world of men. On the contrary, the Quran is insistent on the full
participation of women in society and in the religious practices.
Morality of the self and cleaniness
of conscience are far better than the morality of the purdah. No
goodness can comc from pretence. Imposing the veil on women is
the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters,
wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. How can
Muslim men meet non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat
them respectfully, but not acccord the same respectful trcatmcnt
to Muslim women?
To wear the Hijaab is certainly NOT
an Islamic obligatory on women. It is an innovation (Bid'ah) of
men suffering from a piety complex who are so weak spiritually
that they just cannot trust themselves!
Muslim women remained in mixed
company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or 11 th
century (A.C.). They received guests, held meetings and went to
wars to help their brothers and husbands, and they defended their
castles and bastions.
It is part of the growing feeling on
the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to
identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity
as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of
conservative clothing implies.
For these women the issue is not
that they have to dress conservatively, but that they choose to.
In lran, Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the
veil and chador, but in response to large demonstrations by
women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador
is not obligatory, MODEST dress is.