There has been a sparked interest within the past few months in the media about women in Islam, particularly the manner in which Muslim women dress.
Hadia Mubarak, a doctoral student of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University and a panelist for the Washington Post/NEWSWEEK On Faith Web site, wrote an article in the May 4, 2009 issue of Newsweek about her experiences as a Muslim American woman wearing the hijab-Muslim women’s covering.
In June, 2009, The Daily Texan online published an interesting piece about Spencer Wall, a Christian from West Texas and fourth-year English and sociology major, and her year-long journey dressed as a Muslim woman. Or, most recently, the ongoing burqa debate in France, where President Nicolas Sarkozy declared in June 2009 that the covering was "not welcome" in France.
What is the Hijab?
In Arabic, "hijab" literally means “cover.” The hijab is the religious garb (worn in submission to Allah – Arabic term for God) that Muslim women wear to cover most of the body and hair, leaving only the face and hands exposed. There are certain conditions of hijab Muslim women must abide by.
Scholars have provided the following guidelines for the hijab:
- It should not give a representation of the woman’s figure nor give an outlining of her body. It should be loose because if the garment depicts any part of the body, it contradicts the specific manner of Islamic dressing.
- It should not be transparent.
- It should cover the whole body.
- It should be different from men’s way of dressing.
- It should be clean and smelling fresh but not “redolent with scent.”
In Islam, there is the blessing of having differing views of scholars. The majority of scholars believe that a woman’s hands and face can be exposed; however, there are scholars that believe a woman’s face and hands need to be covered. Essentially, these are legitimate opinions and the decision then is based on the individual's personal decision and the Muslim country’s rulings.
Why Do Muslim Women Cover their Body and Wear the Hijab?
What compels Muslim women to cover their body?
As Amr Khaled, a prominent Muslim activist who ranked number 13 of the world’s most influential people by Time Magazine and sixth as most influential intellectual in the world by Prospect magazine, explains that hijab, “describes the self-covering of the body for the purposes of modesty and dignity. Broadly, it should be regarded as a prescribed system of attitudes and behavior regarding modesty and dignity.”
The hijab is not merely a cloak to cover one’s body; it also covers behavior, manners, speech, and appearance in public. Women do not wear the hijab day in and day out; rather, women do not have to wear the hijab in front of their husband, brothers, uncles, father-in-law, sons-in-law, sons, and grandsons.
As for wearing the hijab in front of other women, there are differing opinions. Some scholars believe that a Muslim women should not take off her hijab in front of any woman, Muslim or not, if the hijab-wearing Muslimah is not confident that other women do not understand that she should not go and describe the woman’s features to other people. Other scholars believe that a Muslim woman is permitted to take off her hijab in front of women as long as what she wears covers from the navel to the knees.
This “prescribed system” is a duty enjoyed by many Muslim women across the world because the women know that the hijab elevates and promotes the dignity of females. A true testament to this is the fact that most converts to Islam are women and that most women in France that wear the burqa are French women converts.
*Reference: Amrkhaled.net
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