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| What Exactly is the Hijab? All Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. We praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the adverse consequences of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, there is none that can misguide him and whoever He misguides, then none can guide him. I bear witness and testify that there is no deity that is worthy of worship except for Allah; He is alone, having no partners. I bear witness and testify that Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam) is His perfect worshipper, and messenger. As to what follows, then the best speech is the Speech of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (sallallahu alaiyhi wa sallam). And the worst of all affairs are newly-invented matters and every innovation is a misguidance and every misguidance is in the fire of Hell. The word "hijab" in Arabic means screen or curtain. The first verse to be revealed regarding the hijab is found in Surat al-Ahzab 33:53, "O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses until permission is given to you for a meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation; but when you are invited, enter; and when you have taken your meal, disperse without seeking vain talk. Such (behavior) annoys the Prophet (SAW); he is ashamed to dismiss you, but Allah is not ashamed (to tell you) the truth. And when you ask (his wives) for anything you want, ask them from behind a screen (hijab); that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs. Nor is right for you that you should marry his widows after him at any time. Truly, such a thing is in Allah's sight, an enormity." The issue here is what the hijab is. In the following verses, Allah tells His believing women creation, how to cover up with the hijab: "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters , and the believing women that they should cast their jalaabib (outer garments) over them; so that it is more likely that they will be known (as Muslims) and not harmed (or molested); and Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah al-Ahzab 33:59) This verse address all the believing women and not only to the wives of the Prophet SAW. Allah says that women should wear jalaabib or jalbab? The jalbab in this verse is not the jalbab of the modern day. The renowned Sahaba (radiallahu anhum) stated what the jalbab is: Ibn Mas'ood said that the jalbab is that sheet of cloth, which is worn on top of the scarf. Ibn Abbas, whose nickname is Tarjuman al-Qur'an, or Interpreter of the Qur'an, describes it as follows: "Allah commanded Muslim women to pull this sheet on top of them and cover their bodies, except for one eye, when it is necessary for them to come out of their homes." (Ibn Katheer) Ibn Jarir and Ibn Al-Munzir described the method of wearing the jalbab according to Ibn Abbas and Qatadah: "The sheet should be wrapped from the top, covering the forehead, then bringing one side of the sheet to cover the face below the eyes, so that most of the face and the upper body (neck and bosom--24:31). This will leave both the eyes uncovered (which is acceptable under necessity). Now that we know how the hijab is to used, it can be concluded that the hijab is a cloth that covers the entire body and is not only the headscarf, which is what we refer it as nowadays. Fathul Bari narrates a hadith from Aysha RA: "A woman in a state of Ihram (during Hajj and Umrah) should stretch her head - cloth over to her face to hide it." Here Aysha RA says that it is a duty for a Muslim woman to cover the face, even in the state of ihram (as long as the cloth does not touch the face). As stated earlier, "hijab" means screen or curtain. If a screen or curtain is put in between two people, they would not be able to see eachother and this is the hijab for women, to cover themselves entirely, including the face. It must be remembered that the main attraction and beauty of a women lies in her face and wearing only a headscarf does not do a sufficient job of covering the beauty as Allah commanded: "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils (khymar) over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss." 24:31 Notice how Allah commands twice: NOT DISPLAY THEIR BEAUTY. We will not delve further into this topic at this time, but it should also be noted that the hijab also constitutes the actions of a Muslim woman. A Muslim woman is required to be modest and shy in how she acts, as well as how she speaks, since this characteristic goes hand-in-hand with iman (faith) as the Prophet SAW said, "If one leaves, so does the other." And Allah knows best. May Allah, Most High, Most Wise guide us to what pleases Him best. Ameen, Alhumdulillahi Rabil Alameen. |
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