On covering the women’s head

On covering the women’s head

by: Dr Mohammad Akram Nadwi
Oxford
Translated by Sumaiya Akram

They said: It is not compulsory for a woman in Islam to cover her head in prayer, and in front of non-mahram men.
I said: Are you saying something light in a matter of seriousness? Or perhaps you are seekers of strange things? Or are you picking out low and rejected opinions? Or are you collecting the false and evil opinions that are said to you? They said: Perhaps some of that happened. So be our helper towards the truth.
I said: Did you not read the words of Allah the Exalted: “They should draw their coverings over their chest”?
They said: The verse has come commanding the women to cover their chests. I said: Rather the words clarify two issues, making them clear without any ambiguity or complexity – that is if you are listeners of true speech and clear explanation and surrenderers to the guidance of your Lord and His instruction.
The first is that the verse acknowledges the covering of the women’s heads with their scarves, as the righteous women had been accustomed to do. The rulings in the Quran are of two types:
1-The first of them is the well-established norms, which the righteous men and women have received, accepting it and recommending it to each other. They continue that and do not seek any substitute, especially when Allah and His messenger have kept it unchanged. With these [known norms], many parts of the shariah are upheld.
2-The second is the revelation, whether recited or not (i.e. the Quran and Hadith). It is binding to act according to them both and to implement them outwardly and inwardly; except where there is a contradiction, then revelation will be preferred over the known norm.
The second issue is that the verse is commanding them to use the part of their scarves that hangs to cover over their chest.
They said: Then why is the second command not separate from the first one? I said: The Quran has combined between the two commands because they are connected to the same part of the body; the head and the chest are joined, and the women’s scarves used to be very wide. They used to put parts of it on their backs and there was no harm on them, nor was there difficulty to put the same scarves over their chest instead of their backs.
Had the women had been commanded to take new cloths to cover the opening parts of their shirts then there would have been a great inconvenience for them, and they would have found it difficult. So, their Lord has commanded them to place the full covering of their head to their front opening part to make it easier and lighter for them.
They said: We think the meaning of the khimar is only covering. It is not confined to head covering. And if it is used to cover the chest it would still be called the khimar, all other words derived from this root word share the same meaning. I said: Words share in the origin of their meaning and its major category but differ in its branches and its applications. For example, khamr refers to a specific drink that covers the intellect, but it is not used for any general covering.
I think your problem is that you do not properly comprehend the nature of the language. They said: Explain your intention. I said: You mistakenly think that the word is only used for its dictionary meaning. However, in all languages, words have three meanings:
1- Dictionary meaning [The original, root meaning].
2- Customary meaning.
3- Legal/terminological meaning; (a known and specific meaning such as the legal (shar‘i) meaning or other usages agreed upon by specialists in a particular field).

The words are referred to their customary meaning if they are well-known meanings – especially when the dictionary meaning has been abandoned. It is well known from the Arabs during their jahiliyyah period, and within their Islam, that they used to use the khimar for the covering of the head of the women, and sometimes they used it for the turban of the men.

They said: What is your evidence that the customary meaning is the covering of the head?
I said: The support is in the dictionaries which all agree to interpret it with this meaning. The poetry of the Arabs, before and after the revelation, also bears witness to their usage of this word. They said: Why don’t you mention some of their poetry which affirms this social meaning? I said: Sakhr while talking about his sister khansa says,
“By Allah, I will not grant [the fire] its spark and, If I die, she will tear her khimar and let her hair fall over her chest.”
Similarly Awf ibn al-Atiyyah al-Tamimi said:
“What fine young men of the morning you have encountered, while the women, bareheaded like al-‘Unqur [a type of bird], Each with her sister who has cast aside her khimar, Hastening, with her waistband serving as a belt.”
Abu al-‘Atahiya said:
“Youth has departed, and there is no way to reclaim it, And old age has covered [as a khimar] my hair with its khimar.”
The sayings of the Prophets and the companions are abundant in applying the khimar to the covering of the head. Ibn Abi Shaybah has narrated from Umm Salama (r.a) that she used to wipe over the khimar. Al-Nasai has narrated from Bilal (r.a) that: I have seen the messenger of Allah (saw) wiping over his khimar and his khuff (leather socks). The khimar in both hadiths cannot mean the covering of the chest. Rather, it can only mean the covering of the head, because there is no wiping of the chest or the opening of the chest in wudu.
I said: If a stranger or an elderly person comes and claims that the noble Qur’an did not command the women to cover their stomach, their back, their thighs, or even their private parts, how are you going to respond to him.
They said: We do not know.
I said: But the scholars know. You should have asked them without turning away from them. Allah says: “Ask the people of remembrance if you do not know.” The Prophet (saw) said: “The cure for ignorance is only to ask questions.” Certainly, your incomplete intellects have deceived you, falling in love with some people’s cultures, trying to alter the norms of Islam to make them like these cultures. So, listen! The Quran was sent down to Muhammad (saw) and was not sent down to any other being. He was not a post man delivering letters to every address while ignorant of their contents, not paying attention to their meaning. Rather, he was the Prophet, the Messenger chosen by Allah as a teacher to all the people and as an example and leader to all of them. Allah made it obligatory on the people to obey him without any animosity in their hearts from what he judges, and they should surrender to him. It is obligatory to take from him and follow his guidance and hold fast to his teachings and his sunnah.
They said: Is there any evidence in the sunnah of women covering their head. I said: Bukhari, Muslim, Malik, and a large number of scholars have narrated from Aisha (ra) that she said: “The Prophet (saw) used to pray the morning prayer and the women would turn back from the mosque while being wrapped in cloaks and not being able to be recognised because of the darkness”. The scholars of the Hadith books have narrated from Uqbah ibn Aamir that the Prophet (saw) said about the women who vowed to do hajj without covering her head: “Command her to ride the camel and to cover her head with the khimar and then to perform Hajj”.
Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and others narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached the age of puberty except with a khimar.”

They said, Tell us about some select narrations from the Companions and the Successors. I said: Mālik and others have narrated from Muḥammad ibn Zayd al-Qurashī from his mother, that she asked Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), “What should a woman pray in?” She replied, “In a headscarf and a long garment that covers the tops of her feet.” Al-Bayhaqī also narrated from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “A woman prays in three garments: a dress, a headscarf, and a waist-wrapper.” Mālik narrated from ʿAlqamah ibn Abī ʿAlqamah from his mother that she said, “Ḥafṣah bint ʿAbd al-Raḥmān entered upon ʿĀʾishah, the Mother of the Believers, wearing a thin headscarf, so ʿĀʾishah tore it and gave her a thick headscarf to wear.” ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated from Maʿmar from Qatādah from Ibn Sīrīn that he disapproved of a woman praying with her ears uncovered by her headscarf.
They said, What you have mentioned of the narrations and reports suffices us. Now tell us about the opinions of the scholars of different regions and their differences. I said: They unanimously agreed on the obligation for a woman to cover her head during prayer. No opposing opinion has been reported from any of them. Had the evidence for covering a woman’s head not been at the peak of its strength, such consensus would not have occurred.
They said, Advise us. I said: I advise you, if you see people innovating new opinions or desiring strange and objectionable views; to adhere to the righteous scholars, those who have passed away and those who remain, following their path and emulating their teachings. And this is my advice to myself. And Allah is the Protector of the righteous.