By Dr. Maqsood Jafri
@ Ms. Linda Barto
an American converted Muslim scholar happens to be my friend and had kindly written the Foreword of one of my books. Today, she has touched a very sensitive issue on her Facebook page.
It is about the wearing of scarf by Muslim ladies. She has written that head scarf is not obligatory in Islam. Some people have supported her stance, while some others have severely criticized her and maintained that head covering is obligatory in Islam. Very briefly, I would like to comment on it for the clear understanding of this subject.
In my book titled “The Message of Islam,” published in New York in 2005, I had explicitly thrown light on this issue under the title “ The Islamic Concept of Veil.” Such non- issues are made very serious issues by the retrogressive and fundamental clerics. They side track the real pragmatic issues. Instead of challenging monarchic and dictatorial regimes and struggling to establish welfare state as is the basic message and mantra of Islam, they outrageously debate on such trifling self- created matters.
There are two verses in the Holy Quran about veil. First; In Surah Al- Noor( The Light) in verse 31, the Quran says:” And tell the believing women to lower their gazes and be modest, and to display their adornments only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms.”
What parts are apparent between men and women? Head, face, hands and feet. Only sex parts are not apparent and are called as adornment and are not ordained to hide. The ladies are clearly asked to draw their veils over their bosoms.
The body parts of ladies that tempt for sensual and sexual attraction are sex parts. Head, hands, face and feet are not sexual parts and are apparent parts of men and women and are not ordained to cover them.
The second verse of the Holy Quran is the verse 59 of Surah Al- Ahzab( The Confederates). It says:” O; Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them ( when they go outside).
That will be better, that so they be recognized and not molested.” The English translation of the Arabic word “ Jalbeeb” means garment or cloak. When a lady wears garment, her body is fully covered and her sexual parts are covered also. Garment, cloak or sheet do not cover head and face. Actually, the problem or confusion arises when we look at Islam from ancient Arab culture.
Islam is a universal religion that meets the needs of all countries, climes and times. In Saudi Arabia and Arab Emirates, even today, the ladies hide their face and head. In 1998, I visited Afghanistan. It was the regime of Taliban.
Ladies were ordered to cover their head, face, hands and feet.They were arrested and punished, if even their hands or feet were uncovered. There is a tug of war between the enlightened and progressive Muslim thinkers and retrogressive fundamentalists. The spirit of age and the spirit of religion are being ignored.
In America and in the West, these fundamentals have created a lot of hue and cry and are colliding with the government rules, making the issue of veil as the basic issue of Islam which is absolutely irrelevant. I also condemn those Western countries like France, Germany and Norway, which are hostile against scarf and veil. It is nothing but religious discrimination. If the Jews can wear their religious caps and dress and the Christians can wear the sign of Cross, and there is no restriction on them, then as to why is restriction being imposed on the Muslim ladies for wearing scarf?
In my opinion, no one should interfere in the religious rituals and beliefs of others. The Muslim ladies who wear scarf, let them wear it and the ladies who do not wear scarf, let them not wear. According to the Quran, the covering of bosom of ladies and sex parts are clearly mentioned and there is no confusion on this subject. The other side is controversial, so every one has the right to act according to his/ her juristic interpretation.
