How

does the Quran address the issue of Muslim womans veil

or Hijab?
May 2017
Asma Lamrabet
The question of Hijab or the veil is currently one of the most controversial issues in both
in the Muslim country and the West, where it causes collective hysterical paroxysm. The
issue of the "veil" is undoubtedly the core of a very intricate subject linked -in a fairly
confusing way- to various concepts such as tradition, modernity, freedom, women's body,
tragedies of identity and the challenge of living together in multicultural societies.

All the discussions on this topic have the merit of reveal two major contemporary issues.
The first one is related to the increasingly important visibility of Muslim women in the
West, and hence, the position of Islam in these societies as they undergo a process of
identity construction. The second one is in the Muslims societys where "the veil" issue
has revealed the existence of a deep and serious identity crisis driven by an intensive
"emotional support" of the veil as a symbol of the Muslim identity.
But beyond the question of the right to claim the veil and its religious legitimacy, we
should first go back to the Quran to see how the sacred text addresses this issue along
with the terminology used in relation with the ethical clothing of women.
At first, it is important to highlight the idea that the term "Hijab", which is frequently used,
does not absolutely mean what is supposed to be the scarf that covers the hair of Muslim
women. Nowhere in the Qur'an has the term hijab reflected this meaning. And the
semantic and conceptual interpretation of the Qur'anic term Hijab shows the opposite of
what is supposed to be in reality.
The term Hijab is reiterated seven times in the Qur'an referring each time exactly to the
same meaning. Hijab means curtain, separation, wall and, in other words, anything that
hides, masks and protects somethingi.

But the verse that has been most often used to prove the "obligation" of veiling for women
and that mentions the term Hijab is the following: " O you who have believed, do not enter
the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted for a meal And when you ask
[his wives] for something, ask them from behind a separation (Hijab)" Quran 33; 53.
As indicated here, the Hijab concerns only the wives of the Prophet and meets a
circumstantial requirement in order to respect the private life of the Prophet. Besides, it
does not represent, in any way, a particular model of clothing. The essence of this
requirement aimed, mainly, to educate Arabs of that time to respect the privacy of people
and good manners.

It is therefore quite clear that the term Hijab does not absolutely refer to the meaning
given nowadays as the scarf that should cover the head. The Hijab has nothing to do with
any Islamic female dress. It is rather a symbol of separation between public life and
private life at the time of the Prophet. It aimed to make of the prophet's wives Mothers of
the Believers.
There is another verse that mentions a term that stands for the scarf. This verse says: "...
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private
parts and not to expose their adornment (zinatahuna) except that which [necessarily]
appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers (Khumurihina) over their
chests (Juyubihina) and not to expose their adornment except to their husbands, their
fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their
brothers' sons Quran 24;31
The term Khumurihina (plural of Khimar) stated in this verse refers to the scarf that
women used to wear in the Arabian Peninsula and in all the other civilizations at that time.
The Qur'an invites the believing women to fold their scarves (Khimar) over their chests
(Juyubihina) to cover the upper part of their busts when they are in public. In fact, the
classical commentaries report that the Arab women of Mecca used to uncover their neck
and upper chest. For this reason, the Quran invited the believing women to fold the sides
of the Khimar over their busts.
The majority of Muslim scholars and exegetes agreed that the believing women must
cover their hair by putting on a Khimar and leave only their faces and hands uncovered in
the presence of men who do not have a direct family relationship with them.
Since there is a difference between Hijab and Khimar, we have the right to ask why do we
keep using the term Hijab for what has been named in the Qur'an scarf or Khimar?
This error is currently made unwillingly and mostly reproduced unconsciously, but it is
worth mentioning that this semantic shift was not made innocently or casually
throughout the history of the Islamic intellectual production.
The semantic shifts are usually the result of incorrect translations and interpretations and
socio-cultural factors, which aimed at one point in history to create "made-to-measure"
concepts to serve the political interests. And this is what happened with Hijab when it was
imposed on Muslim women by inserting it willingly in the register of Islamic body ethics.

When we go back to the origin of the term Hijab, which means to "hide" or "separate", and
notice the changing process that it has undergone to bear the name "scarf", we have the
right to wonder if this concept was given this double meaning to religiously justify the
isolation of Muslim women.
The "Hijab" was imposed on Muslim women as a way of "separation" in order to show
them their place in society, and exclude them, in the name of Islam, from the socio-political
sphere. Thus, replacing the Khimar with Hijab means to confuse different and opposing
semantic and conceptual fields in order to endorse, in the name of Islam, the exclusion of
women from the sociopolitical space behind a curtain!
Indeed, to substitute the Khimar with the Hijab is to confuse two different registers. While
Khimar remains, according to the Quranic vision, a sign of womens social visibility, Hijab
undoubtedly symbolizes their relegation to the private space.
In fact, the first Muslim women put on the Khimar as part of the Quranic message of
liberation and a symbol of dignity. This global vision and the holistic approach of the
spiritual message of the Qur'an are important and even essential to understand the deep
meaning of these verses.
It is not the Khimar -that existed before revelation- which is important, but rather its new
meaning and the context in which it was revealed. The Khimar, according to its original
meaning of women's liberation and as a symbol of their participation along with men in
the socio-political space, was therefore gradually replaced by the other Qur'anic concept
of Hijab to prevent women from participating in the social field.
By considering Hijab as sacred and disregarding the Islamic vocabulary of Khimar, a new
Islamic social code is invented to endorse the separation of men and women.
By "veiling" women, they will lose all the rights acquired at the advent of Islam. And the
"veil" or Hijab will remain the single powerful indicator of the deterioration of Muslim
womens legal status, since they will be secluded and excluded from the public space, in
the name of this symbol...
Finally, the confusion between Khimar and Hijab is politically delicate and serves, above
all, the interests of different ideologies including radical Muslims, supporters of the
official Islam of states and the modern Islamophobia which joyfully criticizes the "veil" or
Hijab considered today as the banner of Islam...
Unfortunately, the whole Qur'anic ethics seem today to be reduced to womens dress and
body, to the way they should be covered, the color, thickness and uniformity of the dress
... However, given that the Quran did not insist on a specific clothing or appearance for
women, it would be very simplistic to analyze the few verses on the dress far from the
guidance of the spiritual message about the global body ethics for both men and women.
The Qur'an invites both men and women to behave with "decency" and "integrity", both
physically and morally. The Qur'an does not legislate a strictly religious "uniform" as it is
shown here, and the first spiritual message did not intend to stipulate rigid or "fixed"
dress standards once and for all, but rather to "recommend" an "attitude" or an "ethic"
regarding the body and soul.

But it is really unfortunate that the first intention of the spiritual message of Islam is often
neglected or completely ignored at the expense of a literal reading which keeps no more
than "the obligation of wearing the Hijab out of all the Qur'anic teachings about women!
This contradicts the principles of the spiritual message and its spiritual ethics.
The question of Khimar or scarf is not part of the pillars of Islam, but rather of moral
values, behavior and relational ethics.

The religious faith is meaningful only when it is practiced without pressure. Therefore,
speaking about the obligation of Islam to wear a headscarf or Khimar is spiritually
unacceptable because the Qur'an said: "No compulsion in religion." It is one of the main
principles of Islam.
Reducing the whole global Qur'anic body ethics to the so-called "veil" is to stand against
the same message. And this is exactly what happened in the Islamic history by focusing
on womans dress, and the obligation to "hide" and "conceal "her body. As a result, this
spiritual symbol has become a sign of oppression in the Muslim world.
It is therefore clear that the verses aim to encourage men and women to be free from and
overcome materialism and codes of seduction of each era, which is a reflection of the
dominant ideologies recurring throughout the history of the human civilization.
The Qur'anic injunction calls upon men and women to behave with decency and respect
as indicated in this key verse: But the clothing of righteousness (libass a-Taquwa) is
the best ... Besides, this verse solely highlights a concept that should be taken into account
today in the chaos of ultraliberal consumption and exuberance

i
Verses in which we find the word Hijab: 7 ; 46, 17 ;45, 19 ;17, 38 ;32, 41 ;5, 42 ; 51 , 33 ;53 and 17;45.