Why do women have to cover?

Why do women have to wear the head-scarf (khimar) and long dress (jilbab)?
Because…

– from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s explanations

Wearing the head-scarf

Women must wear a head-scarf (khimar) when in public because Allah (s) asks they do so in public life in the following verse:

‘… and not display their adornments – except for what normally shows – and draw their head-coverings (khumur) across their breasts (juyub)…’(24:31)

Wearing the long dress

Women must wear a long dress (jilbab) over their normal clothes when in public because Allah (s) asks women to do so in the following verse:

‘O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their outer garments (jalaabeen – plural for jilbab) closely around themselves…’ (33:59)

What is a jilbab?

The jilbab is an outer garment which covers the whole body. This definition comes from the Arabic dictionary definition meaning of the word as well as the Islamic legal meaning of the word.

Dictionary description of the word jilbab as an outer garment:
Ibn Manzur:

“The jilbab is the outer garment, mantle, or cloak. It is derived from the verb tajallbaba, which means to clothe. Jilbab is the outer sheet or covering which a woman wraps around her on top of her garments to cover herself from head to toe. It hides her body completely.”
(Ibn Man.zur, Mu.hammad ibn Mukarram, Lisan al-`Arab, (Bayrut: Dar .Sadir, 1955-56). Vol.7, p. 273.)

Islamic legal description of the word jilbab as an outer garment:

In the following verse of the Qur’an, Allah (s) gives elderly women the option to set aside their outer garments:
‘And as for women past child-bearing age, and no longer have any hope of getting married, there is nothing wrong in their removing their outer clothes provided they do not flaunt their adornments …’ (24:60)

The garment mentioned here must be an outer garment as the verse could not possibly be saying they should discard their normal everyday clothing and be naked.

That is why companions of Muhammad (s), such as Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas’ud, both understood the garment to refer to the jilbab, since that is the outer garment that is worn by women. Both of these men are considered experts in Qur’anic explanation. (al-Qurtubi, Jami li-ahkam al-Qur’an, verse 60 of sura Nur)

Because…

– from a rational point of view

To be truly liberated, you should not be restricted by your insecurities. You should allow yourself to be who you are – a beautiful creation of Allah (s), with the knowledge He loves you and wants the best for you.

Therefore Muslim women cover their heads with a head scarf and their bodies with a gown-like coat because Allah (s) requested they do so.

How can restricting what I wear be good a thing?

If choice is liberating then restriction this choice, logically speaking, would be a bad thing.

However on reflection we all choose within limits – everyone has their own boundaries.

Depending on the place and way you’ve been raised and the way you’ve responded to that environment, what you consider to be inappropriate will be different to another person.

That’s why some women would consider sun-tanning topless on a beach and another woman wouldn’t dream of it. Or perhaps some men would consider going to their local shop without a t-shirt and others wouldn’t.

This difference is not only about confidence, it’s also about boundaries and how you define them.

There was a time in England when it would be considered ‘inappropriate’ to wear an above knee skirt, and now it’s not. So far the legal rules on what a person must wear in public (in the UK) cover nipples and the gentalia – there was a time when this would have seemed shocking to many.

This is where Muslims differ in their approach to the whole ‘boundary’ question. Allah (s) defining boundaries is liberating.

Is jilbab a symbol of oppression?

There are women in this world who are oppressed – some of these are Muslim women, and some of these women wear the head scarf and the body gown.

But oppression is when the God-given rights a woman has towards education, health, trade and politics are taken away. The oppression is not from the material a woman wears but because of a culture that sees her in a particular way.

This is the reason why many women converts to Islam, who grew up in Capitalist countries, wear the head-scarf and body gown. It ensures when men and women meet, they meet to cooperate, and do so more productively because women are no longer just an object.