Chastity and Hijab in the Teachings of Prophets Muhammad and Jesus 3/5

jamafg

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TURNING THE HEAD OF AL-FADL BIN ‘ABBAS
Bukhari and Muslim tell the following story:
Al-Fadl bin 'Abbas rode behind the Prophet as his companion rider on the back portion of his she-camel on the Day of Nahr (slaughtering of sacrifice, 10th Dhul-Hijja) and Al-Fadl was a handsome man. The Prophet stopped to give the people verdicts. In the meantime, a beautiful woman from the tribe of Khath'am came, asking the verdict of God's Messenger (on a question relating to hajj). Al-Fadl started looking at her as her beauty attracted him. The Prophet looked behind while Al-Fadl was looking at her; so the Prophet held out his hand backwards and caught the chin of Al-Fadl and turned his face (to the other side in order that he should not gaze at her). She said, "O God's Messenger! The obligation of performing hajj enjoined by GOD on His worshippers, has become due (compulsory) on my father who is an old man and who cannot sit firmly on the riding animal. Will it be sufficient that I perform hajj on his behalf?" He said, "Yes." (see also Muslim, kitab al-hajj, bab alhajj an al-ajiz ...).
This shows that even as late as the farewell hajj of the Prophet women did not cover their faces. This is sometimes justified by the argument that the incident took place during hajj and ihram and women are not allowed to wear niqab during hajj. Yet for this argument to carry any weight the view that women cannot wear niqab during hajj has to be firmly established. But that is far from being the case. Traditions in this connection do not go very early and are contradictory. Thus in Mu’watta there are two opinions of the companions, one permitting niqab during the state of ihram and one prohibiting it:
Abdullah ibn Umar used to say that a woman in ihram should wear neither a veil (niqab) nor gloves.
Fatima bint al-Mundhir said, "We used to veil our faces when we were in ihram in the company of Asma bint Abi Bakr as-Siddiq." (Mu’watta, kitab al-hajj, bab takhmir al-muhrim wajhahu)
But about a generation later the opinion that women cannot wear niqab while in ihram is attributed to the Prophet. Thus in Bukhari we read:
Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar said: A person stood up and asked, "O Messenger of God! What clothes may be worn in the state of ihram?" The Prophet replied, "Do not wear a shirt or trousers, or any headgear (e.g. a turban), or a hooded cloak; but if somebody has no shoes he can wear leather stockings provided they are cut short off the ankles, and also, do not wear anything perfumed with wars or saffron, and the muhrima (a woman in the state of ihram) should not cover her face, or wear gloves." (Bukhari, kitab jaza al-sayd ..., bab ma yunha min al-tayyib li al-muhrim wa al-muhrima)
The words "the muhrima (a woman in the state of ihram) should not cover her face, or wear gloves" are exactly the same in Arabic as the words attributed to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar as quoted in Mu’watta. The above hadith from Bukhari is also quoting Abdullah ibn ‘Umar but while in Mu’watta the words are no more than the opinion of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar in Bukhari ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar is attributing them to the Prophet. One naturally asks, Why did Imam Malik not attribute these words to the Prophet? Malik taught in Medina in the first half of the second century hijri. Many men and women had performed hajj by that time. Various sayings of the Prophet about hajj would have been reported in order to know the procedure for hajj. It seems difficult to believe that sitting in Medina Imam Malik did not hear about the Prophet prohibiting the wearing of niqab during ihram. This suggests the conclusion that this prohibition existed as an opinion of some individual, possibly that of ‘Abdullah ibn Umar, and by the time Bukhari compiled his Sahih the opinion was attributed to the Prophet himself. It is evident from the second tradition in Mu’watta (which talks of women wearing niqab in the state of ihram in the presence of Asma) that the opinion was not shared by all.
One may argue that the very existence of the opinion that women should not wear niqab during the state of ihram means that they were expected to wear niqab when not in ihram. However, if we use this argument we would have to conclude that men should also cover their faces when not in ihram. For, in Mu’watta it is stated:
‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar used to say that a man in ihram should not cover anything above his chin. (Conflicting with the opinion of ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan who was once seen, according to another tradition in Mu’watta, covering his face when in ihram).
This clearly does not mean that outside of ihram a man should cover what is above his chin -- face and head. Similarly, the view that a woman should not wear niqab while in ihram does not mean that she should wear niqab when out of ihram.

AHADITH ABOUT HAYA
Books of Hadith talk of a quality called haya which means modesty (especially in relation to sexual matters), bashfulness, self-respect. It is probably the same quality which makes Adam and Eve cover themselves with leaves when they became conscious of their nakedness. In Mu’watta, the Prophet is reported to have said that every religion has a characteristic (khuluq) and the characteristic of Islam is haya (kitab husn al-khuluq, bab ma ja’a fi al-haya). Another hadith in the same chapter of Mu’watta reports the Prophet as saying that haya is a part of iman. This latter hadith is also reported by Bukhari (kitab al-adab, bab al-haya) and Muslim (kitab al-iman, bab sha’b al-iman). Bukhari reports two other ahadith in the same chapter. In one the Prophet is reported to say that nothing but good can come from haya while in the other it is said the Prophet himself had more haya than a veiled virgin girl.

OTHER RELEVANT AHADITH
In Bukhari we read the following report:
Hafsa said: "We used to forbid our young women to go out for the two 'Id prayers. A woman came and stayed at the palace of Bani Khalaf and she narrated about her sister whose husband took part in twelve holy battles along with the Prophet and her sister was with her husband in six (out of these twelve). She (the woman's sister) said, "We used to treat the wounded, look after the patients and once I asked the Prophet, 'Is there any harm for any of us to stay at home if she doesn't have a jilbab?' He said, 'She should cover herself with the jilbab of her companion and should participate in the good deeds and in the religious gathering of the Muslims.' When Umm 'Atiya came I asked her whether she had heard it from the Prophet. She replied, "Yes. May my father be sacrificed for him (the Prophet)! (Whenever she mentioned the Prophet she used to say, 'May my father be sacrificed for him) I have heard the Prophet saying, 'The unmarried young virgins and the mature girl who stay often screened or the young unmarried virgins who often stay screened and the menstruating women should come out and participate in the good deeds as well as the religious gathering of the faithful believers but the menstruating women should keep away from the Musalla (praying place).'" Hafsa asked Umm 'Atiya surprisingly, "Do you say the menstruating women?" She replied, "Doesn't a menstruating woman attend 'Arafat (Hajj) and such and such (other deeds)?" (Bukhari, kitab al-hayd, bab shuhud al-ha’id ...)
For the authenticity of this hadith it can be said that it brings to mind extreme poverty so much so that some women could not afford even a jilbab. By the time of Uthman and even Umar it seems that the days of such poverty were gone. Even if not authentic, this hadith clarifies the meaning of the word jilbab. For it tells us that jilbab is not a sown cloth but rather a sheet of any kind. If one woman does not have a jilbab she can share the jilbab of her companion which of course cannot be done for a sown cloth.
In Bukhari (kitab al-isti’dhan, bab awl Allah, ya ayyuha-lladhina ‘amanu la tadkhulu buyutan ...) we find the following tradition:
The Prophet said, "Beware! Avoid sitting by the road sides." The (people) said, "O Messenger of God! We cannot avoid sitting there as we have talks there." The Prophet said, "If you insist on sitting there, then give the roads its right." They asked, "What is the right of the road?" He said, "Lowering your gaze, refraining from harming others, returning greeting, and enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil."
In Abu Da'ud (kitab al-libas) there are some ahadith to the effect that when 24:30f was revealed Muslim women made scarves out of what they could find -- sheets, other pieces of clothes -- and started to wear them. An earlier version of this is found in Bukhari:
'A’isha used to say: "When (the verse): "They should draw their head-covers (khumur) over their bosoms [24:31]," was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered with (the cut pieces)" (kitab at-tafsir, wal yadribna bi khumuri hinna ...).
In his translation of Bukhari Muhammad Muhsin Khan writes "covered their faces". But "faces" are not at all mentioned in the original Arabic. And in any case it would not make sense that the Qur’an commanded women to cover their bosoms and they, in fulfillment of the Qur’anic command started to cover their faces, as if they could read the mind of God! In earlier times many people used to fabricate or modify ahadith to project their points of view, as we have seen above. In our time we do so through our translations!
In Sunan Abu Da’ud we read the following story:
Thabit ibn Qays narrated: A woman called Umm Khallad came to the Prophet while she was veiled. She was searching for her son who had been killed (in the battle). Some of the Companions of the Prophet said to her: You have come here asking for your son while veiling your face? She said: If I am afflicted with the loss of my son, I shall not suffer the loss of my modesty. The Messenger of God said: You will get the reward of two martyrs for your son. She asked: Why is that so, O Messenger of God? He replied: Because the people of the book have killed him.
This story does not seem to be attested by any earlier book of hadith. Also, it is not clear why martyrdom at the hand of the people of the book should double the reward. Little creditability can be given to this hadith, but even if true the story does not establish the need for covering the face, since the Prophet does not in any way comment on the woman’s actions or words. It seems that an incident of the type mentioned in the story took place well after the time of the Prophet when niqab had become common. Later the incident was projected back into the time of the Prophet.
A mention may also be made here of the following hadith in Bukhari which concerns shaking the hand of a member of the opposite sex.
Narrated 'Aisha: (the wife of the Prophet) When believing women came to the Prophet as emigrants, he used to test them in accordance with the order of God. 'O you who believe! When believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them . . .' (60.10) So if anyone of those believing women accepted the above mentioned conditions, she accepted the conditions of faith. When they agreed on those conditions and confessed that with their tongues, God's Messenger would say to them, "Go, I have accepted your oath of allegiance (for Islam)." By God, the hand of God's Messenger never touched the hand of any woman, but he only used to take their pledge of allegiance orally. By God, God's Messenger did not take the pledge of allegiance of the women except in accordance with what God had ordered him. When he accepted their pledge of allegiance he would say to them, "I have accepted your oath of allegiance." (Bukhari, kitab at-talaq, bab idha aslamat al-mushrikah...,; see also another hadith from A'isha in kitab al-ahkam, bab bay'ah an-nisa).
Later books such as Ibn Majah and Nasa'i also mention this hadith, but Muslim (which was written about the same time as Bukhari) and Mu'atta (which is earlier) do not. In Bukhari the two versions have the same source, said to be A'isha. Bukhari does record another tradition on the pledge of allegiance taken by the Prophet from women which comes a different source (Umm Atiyyah), but that tradition says nothing about the touching of women's hands:
Narrated Umm Atiyyah: We gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet and he recited to me the verse (60.12): "That they will not associate anything in worship with God ..." (60.12). And he also prevented us from wailing and lamenting over the dead. A woman from us held her hand out and said, "Such-and-such a woman cried over a dead person belonging to my family and I want to compensate her for that crying" The Prophet did not say anything in reply and she left and returned. None of those women abided by her pledge except Umm Sulaym, Umm al-'Ala', and the daughter of Abi Sabrah, the wife of al-Mu'adh or the daughter of Abi Sabrah, and the wife of Mu'adh (Bukhari, kitab al-ahkam, bab bay'ah an-nisa).
After reading this version you would observe that here there is no mention of the Prophet not touching the hands of women. From this fact and the from the observations made earlier we can see that the authenticity of the report that the Prophet while taking the pledge of allegiance from women did not touch their hands is far from assured.
Since the Qur'an tells the believers to lower their gaze when encountering members of the opposite sex, it is understandable why some Muslims do not regard shaking hands with them permissible. Nevertheless it is important to recognize that this position is probably not founded on authentic tradition. It is a matter of ijtihad. Since politeness is also an Islamic principle, at the very least we should not refuse to shake hand with a member of the opposite sex if the hand is extended and if refusing to shake it would be taken as impoliteness.
Finally we may mention some ahadith which concern ‘awrah, the part of the body that must not be exposed even to the member of the same sex. Muslim records the tradition which prohibits women to look at the 'awrah of a woman and a man looking at the 'awrah of a man without specifying what that 'awrah is. Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah have traditions which specify the ‘awrah for men and women, as previously mentioned in this paper.
To summarize, the authentic teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, as seen from the above discussion of the Qur’anic passages and prophetic ahadith, enjoins that:
** men and women should show respect to the members of the opposite sex, avoiding lustful looks.
** women should, moreover, use extra modesty in dress, talking to men behind a screen (hijab) when in the privacy of their houses and covering themselves with a large sheet or a similar outer garment (jilbab) when going out, so that their charms (zinah), whether in the form of hair, or adornments or bodily shape are not displayed. They can either use one outer garment to cover their heads and bosoms as well as to hide their shapes. Or they can use a head cover to cover their heads and bosoms and use another sown outer garment to hide their shapes .There is no requirement for them to cover their faces.
** women are not to be confined to houses, although neither women nor men should roam around purposelessly.



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