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From: jnawaz@skat.usc.edu (Jemshed Nawaz)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Re: Hijab (Dress code)
Message-ID: <1991May12.213244.1144@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 12 May 91 21:32:44 GMT
Sender: bes@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
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In article <1991May7.223246.29571@wpi.WPI.EDU> sinnott@iastate.edu
(Sinnott Susan Buthaina) writes:
>
>
>	1. Where in the Qu'ran does it say SPECIFICALLY that a woman must
>           cover her hair AT ALL TIMES?  I read up on the subject a couple
>           of nights ago.  I only found a passage telling women to be modist
>           and to "hide their beauty" (with special mention of the chest)
>           from men in general.  Hair was not mentioned.
>

	Let's start with the Qur'an; Surah An-Nur V.31:

		" ....... and to display of their adornment only *that
		 which is apparent* ..... "
		" ....... and not to reveal their *adornment* save to
		 their own husbands or fathers ..... "
	
	*that which is apparent* as regards to parts of body is
	understood by some scholars to mean hands and face, by others
	it also includes the feet, and yet others to mean face and
	forearms.
	*adornment* includes the neck, hair, arms, legs below knees
	which a woman cannot reveal to non-Mahrams but can do so to
	Mahrams[i.e. those who are not eligible to marry her, e.g.
	father, son, women,..]

		The above is how the scholars interpret the words in
	verse 31. If you're still not convinced, you can confirm the
	interpretation by the following Hadith:
		Rasul-Allah(SAW) said:
				      "When a woman comes of age, it
	is not right that any part of her should be seen, except this
	and this (pointing to his face and hands)" (Abu Daoud)

>equal rights go.  I just disagree very much with the way Islam is practised
>by many people.

	Could you elaborate on this.... I'm eager to find which
	practise of Islam you diapprove.

>  If you can't back up your claims with passages from the
>Qu'ran, than it is just a matter of INTERPRETATION, and no one but God will
>know who is interpreting correctly.

	It's best not to rely on your own interpretations when those
	by scholars already exist. Scholars are those people who have
	knowledge and piety, and this combination enables them to
	understand the true intent of the Qur'anic verses; people like
	us can see only the apparent meaning but cannot delve deeply.
	One has to know the background of the revelation of the
	verses, when and why they were revealed, to address what
	situation; one must have good command of Arabic language; one
	must know by heart the rest of the Qur'an plus all the
	authentic Ahadith so that when one interprets a certain verse
	in the Qur'an it won't contradict other verses/hadith.

Assalam-u-Aleykum.
Jemshed Nawaz