Is
Head Cover For Women Mandatory In Islam?
by Ibrahim B. Syed, Ph.D
Hijab (head cover) for Muslim women is not mandated in the
Qur’an. If it is, it is only the subjective interpretation of an ayah
(verse) on the part of the reader. Hence, many Islamic scholars say that
according to hadith, a woman should cover her whole body, except her
face and hands. The majority of Muslims do not know in which hadith this
is mentioned. A very limited number of Muslims know that this is in Sunan Abu Dawud.
The English translation of Sunan Abu Dawud is in three volumes. Again, nobody ever mentions
that it is in Volume Three. Actually, it is in Volume 3, Book XXVII, Chapter 1535, and Hadith number 4092, titled:
"How Much Beauty Can A Woman Display?" For the benefit of the
readers, the exact hadith is reproduced below:
(4092) 'Aisha said: Asthma', daughter of Abu Bakr,
entered upon the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon
him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (peace be
upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asthma', when a woman
reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her
parts of the body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands.
(Note 3523)
Abu
Dawud said: This is a mursal
tradition (i.e. the narrator who transmitted it from 'Aisha is missing) Khalid
B. Duraik did not see 'Aisha.
[3523.
When a woman reaches the age of puberty, she must observe purdah and
have a thick veil which conceals her beauty. She may unveil her face and hands
up to the wrists. In modern times, some scholars have prohibited unveiling the
face out of precaution.]
It
is very interesting to note that no one - neither the Muslim scholars nor the
Muslim ummah, ever pointed out that this is a mursal (weak) hadith. It is imperative that
when one uses a weak hadith for any reason, then one should explain to
the people that it is such. What is a mursal hadith?
But first of all, what is hadith?
Hadith is an Arabic word which in its real sense
means a tale, speech, chat, conversation, or communication. In a technical
sense, hadith or tradition means all the sayings, deeds, decisions of
the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w), his silent approval
of the behavior of his companions, and descriptions of his personality. Each hadith
is prefaced by a chain of narrators called al-'isnad.
Al-'isnad was the chain of people through whom
the hadith was transmitted. The second part of the hadith is al-matn, the content, which reports the teaching or the
incident. Every hadith or tradition must have a chain ('isnad), as well as the text (matn).
There
are three main categories of the hadith called (1) as-sahih or the authentic hadith, (2) al-hasan or the good, as some of its narrators have been
found to have a weaker memory in comparison to the narrators of sahih hadith, and (3) ad-da'if or the weak. This refers to traditions in which
there is some problem in the chain of transmission, in the proper understanding
of the transmitter, or in its contents, which may be in disagreement with
Islamic belief and practice.
Ad-da'if traditions are
further divided according to the degree of problems with their reporter (ruwaat), or in the text (al-matn)
of the reports. A few of these divisions are as follows:
In
Shari'ah or Islamic law, only the authentic (sahih) and good (hasan)
ahadith (plural of hadith) are used in
deriving rules. The weak (da'if) ahadith have no value for the purpose of Shari'ah.
As
stated above, Imam Abu Dawud himself said that
this is a mursal tradition (i.e. the narrator
who transmitted it from 'Aisha is missing). What I interpret is that the
narrator of this hadith is Khalid B. Duraik,
who did not see 'Aisha (radhi Allahu
anha, may Allah be pleased with her). Since this is a
weak hadith, it has no value for the purpose of Shari'ah.
That means that no Muslim, Islamic Republic, or government can pass laws
punishing a Muslim woman who does not observe hijab, particularly
covering the hair on her head. This is not being practiced in the so-called
Islamic countries, where religious police with their canes are threatening and
punishing Muslim women who do not observe hijab.
All
along, I have maintained in my arguments that Islam emphasizes modesty in the
dress of a Muslim woman, but nowhere does it mandate the wearing of the hijab
(head cover). As a matter of fact, modesty in dress is also required on the
part of Muslim men.
Readers are invited to subscribe to the Aalim (Scholar), which is published quarterly by the
Islamic Research Foundation International (IRFI). Phone: 502-423-1988 or email President@IRFI.org
Posted November 6, 1998. This article was
printed in the April 1998 issue, Volume 19, No. 3 of "The New Trend"
publication.