FAQ: Hijab And Women

HIJAB

45. How do Muslims define modesty?

The Oxford Dictionary defines modesty as “behavior, manner, or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency.” What constitutes modesty is understood differently by Muslims in different cultures, as well as by individual Muslims, and can include the type of dress as well as the level of interaction with the opposite gender. For some Muslims, modesty also includes humility towards God and other people. Modesty is described by the Prophet Muhammad as an important virtue.

46. What is hijab?

The Arabic word hijab was originally used in the Qur’an to refer to a curtain or barrier that separated the family of the Prophet Muhammad from visitors. Today the term hijab is commonly used to refer either to the modest attire worn by Muslim women which includes a head scarf or specifically to the head scarf.

47. Do Muslim women have to wear hijab (cover their hair)?

The Qur’an instructs both men and women to be modest, but how this is practiced varies greatly. Many Muslim women follow the normative ruling that the dress code for women in public includes covering everything except their face and hands. Other Muslim women emphasize the principle of modesty, which takes on different forms as previously described.

According to a 2013 Pew poll, majorities of Muslims in diverse countries believe that women should be free to choose whether or not to wear hijab.

48. Why do some Muslim women cover their faces?

Women who cover their faces understand modesty to include covering not only their entire body and head but also their faces. Therefore, when in public, they wear a burqa (a loose garment which covers the body and face) or niqab (a covering for the face that leaves the eyes exposed).

49. Why don’t men wear hijab? Why are standards of modest dress different for men and women?

Both sexes are required to dress modestly. For men, modest dress has traditionally required that, as a minimum, the area between the navel and the knees must be covered. For women, modest dress has traditionally included covering everything except the face and hands. In practice, while many Muslim women choose to wear hijab, many others do not, as it remains an individual choice that should not be coerced by anyone.

Nevertheless, it remains the normative understanding of Muslim scholarship that men and women should wear loose fitting, non-transparent clothing that covers most of the body. The traditional clothing worn by Muslim men in such places as South Asia, where they wear a loose shirt and pants (shalvar-khamees), or in some Arab countries, where men wear what looks like a long dress (jalaba) and a headscarf (kuffiyah), differs little in the extent of covering from the traditional dress of Muslim women. While it is not as common to see this type of male dress in America, many Muslim men grow a beard and wear a head covering that resembles a skull cap, as do adherents of some other religious traditions.

WOMEN

50. Are men and women equal in Islam?

Normative Islamic teachings view women and men as equal on the grounds that all human beings are equal before God because they share the same God-given nature or fitra, dignity, and innate humanity. Both are servants of God, worthy of respect, endowed with a soul and intellect. The Prophet Muhammad taught his followers to treat their sons and daughters the same, and, if anything, to show extra kindness and love to daughters. Qur’anic teachings emphasize that men and women share similar religious obligations such as prayer, fasting, and giving charity, and are equally accountable before and deserving of recompense from God. They are both called upon to seek knowledge, develop their potential, and work together to create a just and righteous society. On an individual level, they enjoy the same rights, including the right to choose their spouse and to own and keep their property and income. While through much of history and still today Muslim women have been viewed and treated as lesser beings in various cultures and societies, this is due to patriarchal interpretations and cultural influences rather than specific scriptural teachings.

51. What does the Qur’an say about women’s rights?

What the Qur’an is understood to say about women’s rights depends on who is doing the interpreting and their location and circumstances.

52. Are there any verses in the Qur’an or prophetic sayings that speak to the issue of women’s rights?

Yes, there are many verses and sayings that speak about women’s rights. They include the following:

Equal responsibilities and reward: “For the men who acquiesce to the will of God, and the women who acquiesce, the men who believe and the women who believe, the men who are devout and the women who are devout, the men who are truthful and the women who are truthful, the men who are constant and the women who are constant, the men who are humble and the women who are humble, the men who give charity and the women who give charity, the men who fast and the women who fast, the men who are chaste and the women who are chaste, and the men and women who remember God a lot, God has arranged forgiveness for them, and a magnificent reward.” (Qur’an, 33:35)

“And their Lord answered them, ‘I am never unmindful of the work of a worker among you, male or female. You are from each other.’” (Qur’an, 3:195)

“Whoever does right, male or female, and is a believer, We will revivify with a good life; and We will pay them their due according to the best of what they have done.” (Qur’an, 16:97)

Right to earn money: “. . . to men is allotted what they earn and to women what they earn.” (Qur’an, 4:32)

Right to inherit: “For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much—an obligatory share.” (Qur’an, 4:7)

Rights of a daughter: “Whosoever has a daughter and does . . . not insult her, and does not favor his son over her, God will make him enter into paradise.” (Hadith/prophetic saying)

“Whoever has three daughters and treats them kindly, they will be a protection for him against the Fire.” (Hadith/ prophetic saying)

“Parents cannot force daughters into a marriage.” (Hadith/prophetic saying)

Rights of a wife: “The best of you is the best to his family, and I am the best among you to my family.” (Hadith/prophetic saying)

53. How are women treated in Muslim countries?

There are over fifty Muslim-majority countries in the world. They differ widely on women’s rights, depending on a variety of factors, including political development, social and economic circumstances, and cultural views and practices; even within a single country, there may be considerable differences based on their location (urban or rural), education, and family background and circumstances. Religion may or may not play a significant role in the rights women have, and there are great differences concerning the religious interpretation of women’s rights in different communities and cultures.

So, while some Muslim women are mistreated due to the factors mentioned above, in many Muslim-majority countries women are involved at the highest levels of education, employment, and politics, with growing numbers of physicians, engineers, lawyers, and other educated professionals. Muslim women have even served as heads of state in a number of countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey, Kosovo, Mauritius, and Pakistan. Many Muslim women also elect to nurture their children and families with dignity, which remains a respected choice in these countries. However, in some countries and societies Muslim women’s freedoms are seriously inhibited by oppressive patriarchal attitudes and practices as well as by the same economic, political, cultural, or other challenges which impact women across the world.

54. Do Muslim women have to stay at home or can they work?

This depends on the family’s culture and circumstances; it is not necessarily based on religion. According to the scholars we rely on, nothing in the Qur’an or Hadith (prophetic sayings) prohibits women from working, and Muslims often cite the example of the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife Khadijah, who was a successful businesswoman. According to the 2008 Gallup World Poll, majorities of Muslim respondents surveyed believe that women should have the right to hold any job for which they are qualified outside the home. Increasing numbers of Muslim women throughout the world are employed in diverse professions, including those that are male dominated, such as medicine and engineering. However, many women of young children, like women everywhere, choose to be full-time mothers, which remains a respected choice in these countries.

55. How does Islam view domestic violence?

Domestic violence and spousal abuse violate Islamic principles of security, safety, and respect for human dignity; if severe enough, they may even violate the principle of respect for life. According to classical Islamic law, spousal abuse, even if non-physical, is grounds for a Muslim woman to initiate divorce. The extant biographies of Muhammad record him as never having hit a woman or even a child and as condemning those who did.

56. Are there any examples of Muslim women rulers or leaders?

In recent decades women have served as heads of state in several Muslim-majority nations, including some with the largest populations:

Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, 1996-2001 and 2009-present
Khaleda Zia, prime minister of Bangladesh, 1991-1996 and 2001-2006
Benazir Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan, 1998-1990 and 1993-1996
Tansu Çiller, prime minister of Turkey, 1993-1996
Megawati Sukarnoputri, president of Indonesia, 2001-2004
Mame Madior Boye, prime minister of Senegal, 2001-2002
Roza Otunbayeva, president of Kyrgyzstan, 2010-2011
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, prime minister of Mali, 2011-2012
Atifete Jahjaga, president of Kosovo, 2011-2016
Aminata Touré, prime minister of Senegal, 2013-2014
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, president of Mauritius, 2015-2018
Halimah Yacob, president of Singapore, 2017-present

Muslim women have also exercised leadership in many other areas:

Linda Sarsour, activist and co-founder of the Women’s March
Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim American congresswomen
Tawakul Karman, a leader of the Arab Spring in Yemen, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011
Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, famous for her defense of women’s right to education, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014
Ingrid Mattson, who served two terms as the president of the largest American Muslim membership organization in the country, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
Maha Elgenaidi, founder and CEO of Islamic Networks Group (ING)
Azizah al-Hibri, founder and president of KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights
Tayyibah Taylor, late founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Azizah magazine

While most rulers in Muslim history have been male, as in most societies, there have been a few female Muslim rulers in past centuries and in modern times. They include Al-Audr al-Kareema of Yemen, Shajarat Ad-Durr of Egypt, and several female rulers in India.

Muslims who support women’s authority and leadership often appeal to the Qur’an’s depiction of the Queen of Sheba as a righteous, just, and powerful ruler, citing her example as evidence of women’s right to rule.

57. Why are/were there so few female Muslim scholars?

According to historians, there have been thousands of female Muslim scholars throughout Islamic history, many of whom were teachers of renowned male scholars. Some notable examples include:

Rabi’ah Bint Mu’awwad, a great scholar of fiqh (jurisprudence), who taught scholars of Medina
A’isha bint Sa’d bint ibn Abi Waqqas, whose pupils included Imam Malik
Sayyida Nafisa, the granddaughter of Hasan, whose pupils included Imam Shafi’i
A’isha bint Abu Bakr, wife of the Prophet and narrator of over 2,000 Hadith (prophetic sayings)

There are also many female Muslim scholars of Islam as well as renowned academics in related fields at leading universities today, including these examples:

Zainab Alwani, professor of Islamic studies at Howard University, Vice President of the Fiqh Council of North America
Intisar Rabb, professor of law at Harvard Law School and a director of its Islamic Legal Studies Program
Hafez Barazangi, research fellow at the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Cornell University
Laleh Bakhtiar, noted author and translator, famous for her translation of the Qur’an into English
Aminah McCloud, professor of religious studies and director of the Islamic World Studies Program at DePaul University
Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic studies and holder of the London and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario
Zareena Grewal, professor of American studies and religious studies at Yale University
Kecia Ali, professor of religious studies at Boston University
Asifa Quraishi, professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, who in 2010 was part of a public delegation accompanying Hillary Clinton to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
Amina Wadud, author of the books Qur’an and Woman and Inside the Gender Jihad and co-founder of the organization Sisters in Islam
Asma Barlas, professor of politics at Ithaca College and author of Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an
Sylvia Chan-Malik, professor and scholar of American Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies and author of Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color and American Islam

58. Are there any Islamic teachings which limit a girl’s right to education?

On the contrary, there are many. Hadith (prophetic sayings) encouraging the seeking of knowledge that have led numerous Muslim women in history to become scholars, writers, and teachers of both men and women, as noted in the previous question. These include sayings such as “Seeking knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim.” In fact, the first word revealed in the Qur’an was “read,” an injunction directed at both men and women.

We affirm as a fundamental Islamic principle that to seek education and knowledge is not only a right but an obligation that is incumbent on both men and women, and we find nothing in Islamic texts or teachings, that limits a girl’s right to seek education and knowledge. Those who limit women’s rights to education are doing so based on patriarchal culture.

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