Hijab

rdf:langString Hijab

rdf:langString In modern usage, hijab (Arabic: حجاب, romanized: ḥijāb, pronounced [ħɪˈdʒaːb]) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While such headcoverings can come in many forms, hijab often specifically refers to a cloth wrapped around the head, neck and chest, covering the hair and neck but leaving the face visible. The term ḥijāb was originally used to denote a partition, a curtain, or was sometimes used for the Islamic rules of modesty. This is the usage in the verses of the Qur'an, in which the term hijab sometimes refers to a curtain separating visitors to Muhammad's main house from his wives' residential lodgings. This has led some to claim that the mandate of the Qur'an applied only to the wives of Muhammad, and not to the entirety of women. Another interpretation can also refer to the seclusion of women from men in the public sphere, whereas a metaphysical dimension may refer to "the veil which separates man, or the world, from God". For some, the term for headscarf in the Qur'an is khimār (Arabic: خِمار). When pre-Islamic Arabs went to war, Arab women would open their breasts while fighting or to encourage men to fight, as exemplified by the behavior exhibited by Hindu-led Meccan women in the Battle of Uhud. In many traditional societies, it is not shameful for women to expose their breasts, for example, during breastfeeding. Considering the verse in Qur'an 24:31, which states that they should cover their "adornments" and not show them to strangers outside the family, it can be thought that the Qur'an introduces a new scale of chastity in the public sphere. Such behavior is seen by Islamic scholars and the Muslim public as a symbol of ignorance. The Qur'an instructs Muslim women and men to dress modestly, and for some, the hijab is worn by Muslim girls and women to maintain modesty and privacy from unrelated males. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World, modesty concerns both men's and women's "gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia". According to the understanding of the "oldest legal systems", only the wives of Muhammad were those who were instructed to hijab with the verse (33:59), and none of them had a condition for women to cover. Despite this, all orthodox sharia schools ordered that parts of the body, especially the neck, ankles, and under the elbows, be covered in public. There is no consensus among those who consider the subject as a necessity, such as how much of the veil is a necessity. Some legal systems accept the hijab as an order to cover everything except the face and hands while others accept it as an order that covers the whole body, including the face and hands. These guidelines are found in texts of hadith and fiqh developed after the revelation of the Qur'an. Some believe these are derived from the verses (ayahs) referencing hijab in the Qur'an; others believe that the Qur'an does not mandate that women need to wear a hijab. According to hadith a woman must cover her full body along with face and hands, but it is permissible for a woman to keep her hands and face uncovered. In addition, the dress code of concubines in Sharia law is completely different from that of free women. Some religious groups consider the issue of veiling in Islam only as a recommendation made according to the conditions of the past, and they believe that giving it as a necessity is an imposition of an Islamist ideology. The Muslim Reform Movement emphasized that the jilbab and himar mentioned in the Qur'an are pre-Islamic clothing, they were not brought by the Qur'an, the hijab of the Qur'an never means a headscarf, and the Qur'an only advises on how to wear them. The hijab is currently required by law to be worn by women in Iran, Afghanistan and the Indonesian province of Aceh. It is no longer required by law in Saudi Arabia since 2018, although Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has stated that women, similar to other Gulf countries, must still wear "decent and respectful attire". In Gaza, Palestinian jihadists belonging to the Unified Leadership (UNLU) have rejected a hijab policy for women. They have also targeted those who seek to impose the hijab. Other countries, both in Europe and in the Muslim world, have passed laws banning some or all types of hijab in public or in certain types of locales. Women in different parts of the world have also experienced unofficial pressure to wear or not wear a hijab. The Muslim Reform Movement holds that hijab of the Qur'an simply meant "barrier" and that it was used in the context of both men and women; the jilbab and the khimar were pre-Islamic clothes and the Qur'an simply recommended how to wear these, rather than imposing a new clothing requirement.