"No to Hijab: means "no to
the Quran and God"
January 13 , 2008
Concerning the statement, 'no to Hijab' I would like to share the following.
The issue of Hijab is a Quranic issue. If you review the following Quranic
verses we would find the meaning of the word hijab being screen in between and
separator etc. These are the references: 33:53, 7:46, 17:45, 19:17, 38:32, 41:5
and 42:51. So, hijab does not necessarily mean woman dress or of covering their
face, but it could be overlapping these codes as well, not literally but
figuratively.
For the specific issues of woman's covering their body, bosom, head, and
face including socializing with the outside society and making their voice
public, references have been found in the following verses: 24:30-31, and 33:32-33,
59. One may interpret these verses in different ways, but they are definitely
relevant to the issue at hand.
There is also a verse that unbound the injunction of conservative dress
code upon women who are elderly, let say passed 55 years of age: 24:60. That
means the issue of hijab and dress code is relevant to the younger woman. For
the elderly woman, however, the ruling is optional.
One small note, many things happened in the history of Islamic civilization
that contributed to the deviation of Muslim ummah from the Quranic and Sunnaic teaching of Islam, especially during the time of
Umayyad and late Abbasid period, even beyond that period, but that should not
be used to make a general conclusion on any issue of Islam, including the issue
of hijab. Similarly, not to use the issue of Aqsa in order to advance any
body's agenda against Islamic institutions but carefully. Hijab is an Islamic
institution introduced by the Quran and Prophet, sm. With all that they did to
distort the teaching of the Quran, the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, and
Ottomans did not introduce hijab to Muslims. To say that they did is incorrect.
Even the issue of slave castration, it was widely practiced by the pre-Islamic
society under the Byzantine and Sassanid powers that Islam and Muslims only
inherited and eventually purified the society by banning the practice of
castration. It took time, but it was banned by the Muslim rulers. So, please be
careful in making such general statement and attack on any Quranic institution,
small or big. We do have problem, but we do also need to be careful in dealing
with those problems.
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