I want to clarify the fundamental issues over the exact instruction of the Quran on the Islamic dress code and the controversial veil and I want any misinformed person to verify from Islamic scholars and save me from wasting my precious time.

Please, read and be enlightened!

[b]The Islamic Concept of Veil
By: Prof. Maqsood Jafri

Two verses of the Holy Quran succinctly and candidly deal with the basic concept of veil in Islam. First; in Sura An-Nur (The light) the Quran says: “And tell the believing women to lower their gazes and be modest, and to display of their adornments only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms.”(24:31)

In this verse it is clearly mentioned that sex parts must not be exposed and must be covered. “Adornment which is apparent” alludes to the common body parts between male and female sexes. The face, hands and feet are common parts and are exposed without any indecency or immodesty. Second; The other verse of the Holy Quran is in Sura Al-Ahzab (The confederates). The Quran says: “O; Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go outside). That will be better, that so they may be recognized and not molested”. (33:59). The ancient Arab history reveals the fact that the immodest and immoral ladies used to expose their bodies and walk in market without veil. They were purchasable commodities. They did not wear hijab or scarf. They were improperly dressed. The corrupt people could easily decipher and unravel about their character or profession. They were prostitutes. Hence the Quran announced that pious ladies must be properly and modestly dressed so that when they go out of their houses people should recognize them as domestic chaste, pure and pious ladies and they should not be teased or chased. From these two above-mentioned Quranic verses it is clear that God ordains to cover the bodies and strictly rejects and condemns nudity and obscenity.

Now the question arises as to what is the concept of veil in Islam. Different jurists and interpreters have differently interpreted the above-mentioned Quranic verses about veil. Here I would like to cite from two illustrious contemporary scholars. Maulana Moududi of Pakistan in his Urdu book entitled “Pardah” (The veil) considers the covering of face obligatory for a Muslim woman. On the other hand Ustad Murtaza Motaheri Shaheed of Iran in his Persian book entitled “Hijab” (The veil) does not consider the covering of face obligatory. But both scholars of eminence believe that a Muslim lady must wear “scarf” and cover her head for identity and sobriety. They also in detail discuss that covering of sexual parts was obligatory in ancient Greek and Roman culture and was religiously obligatory in the society of the Jews and the Christians as well. They have given examples that only immodest and indecent ladies used to expose their bodies. To date the ladies who expose their bodies in the name of modernity and progressive civilization represent the ladies of ancient times who were considered the ladies of market having no value and culture. The history is repeating itself. In the name of freedom we are exploiting and insulting the women folk. The woman has been turned into a purchasable commodity. It is happy omen that the Muslim society believes in the covering of the womenfolk but it is divided in its concept and practice as mentioned earlier. The Muslim world is divided in to three groups. First; those who claim to be modern wear European dress. They do not care about the Quranic injunctions. They pay lip service to Islam. We can find some Muslim ladies wearing skirts or mini skirts in some Muslim countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and the Middle East. Second; there is an extreme known as retrogressive ladies. These ladies cover their bodies from top to toe. It is known as ‘Burqa’. It is a kind of veil with eyeholes to it, covering the whole body from head to foot. You cannot see the face, hands or feet of the women. It is rampant in Saudi Arabia and in some other states. Third; we find some moderates who do not believe in extremism and give the moderate interpretation of religion. These ladies neither wear western dress nor Saudi dress. They cover their bodies but do not cover the face, hands and feet. Some of them wear scarf and some do not. They do not make “scarf” an issue. They are more concerned about sex parts and the matter of their covering. Majority of them believe that scarf is the part of Islamic dress while some others do not consider scarf the part of Islamic dress, as there are no clear Quranic injunctions about headscarf in the Quran. But the Muslim history testifies this fact that wives of the holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) used to cover the head with a sheet or scarf. Hence such ladies consider scarf an Islamic obligation. Such ladies are mostly found in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Malaysia and Indonesia. During the performance of pilgrimage the Muslim ladies cover the head with a scarf but do not cover the face, hands and feet. It seems the pilgrimage gives women respect, place, position and status on the bases of knowledge, character, dignity and modesty. Islam does not make womenfolk as sex commodities or play things in the hands of commercialism. The female body is used for selling everything from cosmetics to clothing. The woman has been made a marketable commodity in the name of so called freedom. We must resist. We must give natural honor to women through Islamic teachings.

In the end it is necessary to mention that the prohibition of scarf in schools or offices by the French government is discriminatory. It is against human rights. The French officials say that hijab is a religious symbol and must be prohibited. But the crux of the matter is that if some ladies are free to wear miniskirts or reveal their bodies how the other ladies can be asked not to cover their bodies. If the Jews can wear the Star of David or Yamaka (A skull cap worn by the Jews) and the Christians can wear the cross, then why only the Muslim women are asked not to wear scarf. It is a discriminatory law and exhibits prejudice against Muslims. Let us respect the religious symbols and right of all believers and be tolerant to maintain a culture respecting Inter Faith dialogue and religious co-existence.
http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_151_200/islamic_concept_of_veil.htm


nowhere in the Quran, except in Sura 33: 53, is the word hijab used to speak about a
particular dress code for Muslim women. And nowhere, including in Sura 33:53 is hijab
used to describe, let alone to prescribe, the necessity for Muslim women to wear a
headscarf or any of the other pieces of clothing often seen covering women in Islamic
countries today. Even after reading these passages dealing with the female dress code,
one continues to wonder what exactly the hijab is: is it supposed to be a simple scarf? A
purdah? A chador? Or something else? Which parts of the body exactly is it supposed to
cover: just the hair? The hair and neck? The arms? Hands? Feet? Face? Eyes? What
colour is it supposed to be? More often than not, the Quranic ayat seem to offer a new
use for an existing piece of clothing (it is a well kown fact that women in the Roman, and
therefore pre-islamic, world, but also in the Jewish and Christian traditions wore veils).
If the word hijab is used indeed in one passage, namely Sura 33:52, it does not in any
case refer to what is today commonly understood by the word, namely a headscarf of
some sort to be worn by all Muslim women. For this prescription is addressed clearly
and specifically to the wives of the Prophet, and not to all Muslim women. Moreover,
when one considers the circumstances surrounding the specific revelation of this sura,
one realizes that the meaning of the term hijab here seems to have been vastly
misunderstood by succeeding generations. For sura 33:52 was revealed at the time of the
Prophet's marriage with a new bride and speaks of his desire to consummate his marriage,
a desire which was frustrated because some guests were overstaying their visit. God has
thus sent in this revelation in order to separate the guests through a veil from the private
chambers of the Prophet and his bride. When one thus contextualizes the Quranic
revelations and their prescriptions, one sees that the hijab in this aya was meant to be a
physical object aimed at securing the privacy of the Prophet and of his family and not, as
is still often believed, a piece of clothing for women to wear. Evidently, the use of the
word hijab here may not be interpreted as a prescription for any specific type of Islamic
dress code for women.
Another example of a misinterpretation in the Quran as it relates to the headscarf is found
in sura 33:59. Once again here the dress code that is advised ("to draw their wraps a little
over them" is not aimed at prescribing the wearing of a hijab for Muslim women; rather
it is meant to distinguish between the clothing of free aristocratic women from that worn
by the female slaves. The dress code here is a social marker, and has nothing to do with a
gender dress code.
Finally, sura 24:30-31 is particularly valuable to this discussion of the dress code for the
Muslim faithfuls because before even addressing the particular dress code for women, the
Quran speaks first of the Islamic dress code for men. And it does so in the same words as
it does for women. This sura is interesting because throughout the Islamic world and in
the West, one never hears anything said about the way men must dress or conduct
themselves in public. The focus has always been and continues to be on women.
These examples demonstrate that the exclusive focus placed on the hijab (veil) as it
relates to women and the implications the veil has for the female body clearly constitute
another form of veiling, this time of the prescriptions that the Quran specifically

Page 9
addresses to men. By focusing on women, Muslim men have allowed themselves to be
removed from any type of responsible behavior, and have ended up maintaining an
inequality of the sexes, despite ofIslamic prescriptions on the subject of equality,
because the latter is viewed as a threat to their power and political monopoly.
In conclusion, it seems that the hijab is a construction created shortly after the Prophet's
time and maintained till today by patriarchal society in order to keep women in a
subordinate position. Because of the vagueness of its prescriptions on the dress code for
women, the Quran has been manipulated at various historical times, including in our own
times, in order to uphold various political agendas. Fatima Mernissi, in her famous The
Veil and Male Elite, has poignantly explained the political construction of the veil
throughout the post-islamic times. She has described how shortly after the Prophet's
time, Muslim men attempted to keep the privileges they enjoyed in the pre-islamic world
over women by denying women the equality of the sexes preached by Islam, by
discouraging education even though the first words of the Quran revealed to the Prophet
were precisely "to read;" by not allowing women to go out to wars and collect booty,
thereby maintaining them in an economically dependent position vis-à-vis them, etc.
These injunctions have translated into the modern period by the imposition on women by
men to wear the veil, to remain in the house, and not participate in the socio-political
world. In the 19
th
century, the question of the Islamic Veil became a particularly heated
item during the Western colonization of the Arabo-Islamic world, and was used and
misused by the West in its claim to bring civilization and liberation to Muslim women
from their socio-cultural oppression. The same debate surrounding the Veil continues in
France today even though the terms of the debate have changed (laïcitéand equal
opportunity instead of oppression and cultural superiority). Evidently, the history of the
meaning of the veil teaches us that the veil is a construction that has little to do with
Islamic prescriptions over a particular dress code for women, but is rather a space where
conflicts of male superiority and patriarchy on the one hand, and power relations between
the Islamic world and the West on the other manifest themselves.
*: Mainstream dailies: Le Figaro (conservative), Le Monde (independent), Libération (liberal),
L'Humanité (communist), The TImes (conservative), The Independent (independent), The Guardian
(liberal), Morning Star (communist)

Page 10
Religious papers: La Croix (Catholic), Church Times (Anglican)
Education papers: Le Monde de l'Education, Times Educational Supplement
Lina MOLOKOTOS LIEDDERMAN-1/99
Back to introduction text
www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/Veil-sa/veil_islam-amer.PDF+The+veil+in+Islam&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=2">http://209.85.129.104/search?q=cache:fnnd_8IqWCkJ:www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil2000/Veil-sa/veil_islam-amer.PDF+The+veil+in+Islam&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=2[/b]

wouldn't that ojuju calabar above give a child some violent seizures?

babyosisi:

wouldn't that ojuju calabar above give a child some violent seizures?

Babyosisi,
Leave the Muslim babe alone oh!

Anyway, my historical romance on the veil is ready for the world as detailed below.

Unveil Me My Love: A Religious Love Story

I am happy to tell you that the first edition of Unveil Me My Love is ready after the approval of my editor on http://www.lulu.com/content/474814.

The novelette will also be published in Nigeria and launched during the celebration of the 2007 Valentine's Day by the infinite grace of God who has given me the power to write it and publish it first.

This is perhaps the first historical romance written by a Nigerian in Nigeria on the last days of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

I won't say anything more until you read it first and you tell me what you think.

Unveil Me My Love (Hardcover)
by Orikinla Osinachi

$2.00 Download
$16.79 Hardcover Print

Description:
"Unveil Me My Love" is the love story of one of the captains of Prophet Muhammad in Arabia. He was loved by the leading ladies of Islam whilst he was in love with Aisha bint Abu bakr the beloved youngest wife of the prophet. But he later gave up his quest for Aisha and returned to his homeland Abyssinia where he abandoned Islam and became a Christian.

Product Details:
PDF (1044 kb)
Download: 1 documents (PDF), 1044 KB
Printed: 39 pages, 6.00" x 9.00", casewrap-hardcover binding, 50# white interior paper, black and white interior ink , 100# exterior paper, full-color exterior ink
Publisher: Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi
Copyright: © 2006 By Michael Chima Ekenyerengozi
Standard Copyright License
Language: English
Country: Nigeria
Edition: First Edition
Version: 1

Keywords:
Christianity Islam Religion Sex love, historical, romance.

Here are extracts never seen before:

Aishah was once suspected of committing adultery whilst on a journey in the caravan escorted by Shafwan ibn Muatthal. This was after the prophet married Maria al-Qibtiyya. But the rumour only circulated in whispers among the sheiks of Arabia. The prophet only queried her and never summoned any man suspected to have dared to even attempt such an abominable act and be beheaded. It was a scandal that would have cost Aishah her life. Aishah maintained her innocence that she lost her necklace and whilst looking for it, she was left behind by the caravan until she was able to find her way back to Medina. Sunniyah told me that Aishah later said the prophet told her that he had a revelation that four witnesses would be required to convict her of adultery. And her conviction would mean her death by stoning. What the prophet would not even think of. Condemning and sentencing his most beloved and youngest wife to death! God forbid.

I did not want to discuss the circumstances of that scandal again. Because, after all the accusers of Aishah were reprimanded, the prophet did something that really baffled me. Because one of the chief accusers of Aishah, HasAn got what I have always called the most benevolent punishment in our history. Why did the prophet give HasAn the great castle of BIr HA in Medina? Why? The prophet wanted to thank him for accusing his beloved youngest wife of adultery? So that HasAn the poet would not deride her in his lampoons as he derided Safwan? And as if that was not enough, the prophet also gave his poet laureate the beautiful Coptic maiden Shirln whilst the prophet married her sister Maryam. Then in appreciation HasAn wrote eulogies on the beauty, chastity and graceful figure of Aishah. This was one of the reasons I made up my mind to return home. Sunniyah told me Aishah had forgiven HasAn. Hmm.

“It’s already a success,” I said.
“Yes. But some Islamic clerics are already disputing the authenticity of the manuscript,” she said.
“Naturally. But the Carbon-14 dating experts will soon prove it,” I said.
“Babbi, you have to grant some important interviews. You cannot ignore the media majors. We need this publicity to make the publication a bestseller, “ she said.
I sighed.
“All right,” I agreed.

As I was driving back to West End, I saw a banner with the following message written on it:
Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."~ John 8:32.

The news of Unveil Me My Love was spreading like bushfire in the dry season in my village. But for security reasons, I became incommunicado and preferred to stay somewhere in Norway whilst my publishers and publicists did their best to diffuse the religious tension over the publication of Unveil Me My Love.

@Orikinla: It seems that you are ignorant of Islam. The best way for you, really, is to laern about Islam. You should do this with open mind and ask God to help you to its truth. I will not engage in an empty debate with you, this time around. Your obsession with Islam is very obviuos, yet you refuse to learn its truth.

olabowale:

@Orikinla: It seems that you are ignorant of Islam. The best way for you, really, is to laern about Islam. You should do this with open mind and ask God to help you to its truth. I will not engage in an empty debate with you, this time around. Your obsession with Islam is very obviuos, yet you refuse to learn its truth.

Olabowale,
Address the post within the context of the subject matter of Prof. Maqsood Jafri on the veil and leave Orikinla alone.

olabowale:

@Orikinla: It seems that you are ignorant of Islam. The best way for you, really, is to laern about Islam. You should do this with open mind and ask God to help you to its truth. I will not engage in an empty debate with you, this time around. Your obsession with Islam is very obviuos, yet you refuse to learn its truth.

There is no one in their right mind today that is ignorant of Islam.
We have seen your handiwork.

@Babyosisi: Ignorance does not only means unaware, but in this case, for you and Orikinla and the passes who can not write except that they are loud and caustic, it is knowingly hiding the truth.

Afterall, Islam is meant for those who think, observe, reflect, etc. I read how you bend anything islamic to advance your cocept of christianity's understanding of jesus, from the eye of paul.

It is a good thing that zainab, who is a Lawyer has heart of Gold to accept Islam, the moment she heard about it. God will give her double reward. One portion for believing what she believed before, then an equally complete full portion as she accepts the lastest truth that will last for eternity. Yet, she is young and from the royalty of Owerri, part of the heart of Igboland!

Whether you want it or not, or even if the whole Islamic nations reject it, Allah will raise a new people who will Love Him and He will love them back. See, in America, indeed, the relatively new world, which include Europe, the indegenous are tripping over oneanother in their coming into islam.

Indeed, former Cat Stevens is a good English example. In America, indeed, David Wolf, an ethnic Jew,an a senior journalist from ABC-News is a good example. Islam cut accross ethnic, financial and academic lines. The issue is that you should safe yourself and your family, while each is stillalive. Jesus or anyone, except God Himself is not the Atimate DECIDER!

olabowale:


Afterall, Islam is meant for those who think, observe, reflect, etc. I read how you bend anything islamic to advance your cocept of christianity's understanding of jesus, from the eye of paul.

Yeah, the kind of "observation, thinking and reflection" currently taking place in Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine! The type of "reflection" that makes you rape a 9yr old! Great thinkers like Olabowale who cannot string more than 2 decent phrases together!
Wow! So much reflection!

Davidylan,
Olabowale is still learning.

Let us help him to see the truth. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

i don't see why a lady should wear a veil,when she isn't praying,its so absurd

Go to the thread below for some insight
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-359131.0.html

is it enough to wear a veil while you ave no morals?i think a lot of muslim women wear it out of hypocrisy and compulsion.i ave a muslim friend who once told me she hates the veil and will do away with it when she gets to campus.

A true muslimah will not say as the same as your saying dude,always xtians are competent in creating a comfused among themselves while they don't know due to their ignorance.