Modesty and the Headcover in Islam

 

 Demystifying Islam

 by Dr. Ali Shehata

 

Modesty and the Headcover in Islam

 

Modesty too is considered an important part of faith in Islam for women and men, for without it, a person’s faith is incomplete. Once, the Messenger of God passed by a man who was criticizing his brother for being too modest. To this, the Messenger of God stated, 

Let him be. Modesty is part of faith and belief. [Bukhari and Muslim]

 

In other hadith the Prophet commented, 

 Every religion has a distinctive character and the distinctive character of Islam is modesty.  [Ibn Majah]

Modesty brings nothing but good (also reported, modesty embodies all of goodness). [Adab Mufrad]

Modesty and faith are interlinked; if one of them is lacking, then the other shall be lacking as well. [Adab Mufrad]

 Modesty is never part of anything except that it enhances and beautifies it, and indecency is never part of anything except that it dishonors it. [Adab Mufrad]

 

So then modesty, represented by decency, humility, and inhibition against sin, offers protection from indecency and sin. Modesty represents the shyness of a person before God when it comes to indecent and dishonorable actions; such that this shyness acts as a barrier between the person and the sin. Consequently, the person who loses modesty, loses that which prevents him from doing evil, allowing him then to freely indulge in sin. 

 

Among the outward manifestations of a Muslim’s modesty, are good speech, unrevealing clothing, and abstinence from sexual promiscuity. Based on such principles of moral dignity, Islam brought about a moral revolution of unprecedented dimensions with modesty being the corner stone. Pre-Islamic societies may have recognized some aspects of modesty in their lifestyle, but they did not grasp the meaning of modesty in its complete form of inward and outward application. How did Islamic teachings then change this? 

 

First, let us look to the case of human dress. At a time when other societies were using garments primarily as a form of adornment and to elicit sensual feelings from the public, Islam came to remind people that the primary purpose of dress is to cover our nakedness.

  

O’ Children of Adam! We have bestowed clothing upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the garment of righteousness, that is the best. {7:26}

 

Hence, the need for garments to cover nakedness has been instilled into the nature of human beings from the beginning. It is this inherent feeling of shyness which distinguishes the human being from lesser forms of creation.

 

For a Muslim, there is no Islamic life without Islamic morality, and there is no Islamic morality without modesty. In the Quran, God exhorts the believing men and women to lower their gaze and guard their modesty, and then further urges the believing women to extend their head covers to cover the neck and the body. The commands for modest dress code can be seen in the following verses:  

 

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty … And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not show off their beauty, except only that which is apparent (hands and face); and to draw their veils over their bodies, necks and bosoms and not to reveal their adornment … {24:30-31} 

 

O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters and the believing women to draw their cloaks over their selves. That will be better, that they should be known as free respectable women and as not to be annoyed.  {33:59}

 

Also, the Prophet clarified this position in the following hadith,

Once Asmaa bint Abu Bakr entered into the presence of the Messenger of God wearing a thin, transparent garment. Upon seeing her, the Messenger of God turned away from her saying, “Asmaa, when a women reaches the age of menstruation, it is not allowed that any part of her body should be seen except this,” and he pointed to his face and two hands. [Abu Dawud, Bayhaqi]

 

Thus, modesty is protection. It has been prescribed to protect women from harassment and disrespect. It is hoped that by dressing this way she will not be seen as a sexual object, but will rather be appreciated for the person that she is. Thus, protection is among the primary objectives of the female headcover in Islam. Unlike the covering taught in Christian tradition, it is not a sign of man's authority over woman, nor is it a sign of women's subjection to man. The Islamic headcover, as opposed to the headcover in the Jewish tradition, is not a sign of married women, nor is it a sign of mourning. The regulations of modest dress in Islam are only a sign of distinction with the purpose of protecting all women of faith. 

 

Additionally, the Quran is so concerned with protecting women's bodies and their noble reputation that a man who dares to falsely accuse a woman of unchastity will be severely punished under Islamic Law. This is because Islam came with the commandment to protect the women’s honor; therefore the utmost respect is given to protecting the woman’s chastity and her good reputation. Accusing a chaste woman is actually one of the major sins in Islam:

 

And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses to support their allegations, flog them eighty times; and reject their evidence ever after—for such men are wicked transgressors. {24:4} 

 

Thus, a woman's chastity has to be respected and protected under all circumstances, and this verse refers to all women, not only to Muslim women. 

Now we return to the central question which was posed in the beginning of this section, “Do Muslim women feel oppressed by the dress code of hijaab?” The answer to this question comes from a 2005 Gallup poll survey entitled, What Women Want: Listening to the Voices of Muslim Women, by The Gallup Organization as part of The Gallup World Poll. 

 

In more than 8,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in eight predominantly Muslim countries, the survey discovered that what a majority of Muslim women polled resented most about their own societies was the lack of unity among Muslim nations, violent extremism, and political and economic corruption. The hijab, or head scarf, and burqa, the garment covering face and body, seen by some Westerners as tools of oppression, were never mentioned in the women's answers to the open-ended questions, the poll analysts said.

 

Furthermore, a majority of those polled did not believe that adopting Western values would help the Muslim world's political and economic progress. The most frequent response to the question, "What do you admire least about the West?" was the general perception of moral decay, sexual promiscuity and pornography that Gallup pollsters called the "Hollywood image" that is seen by many as degrading to women. 

 

On the other hand, an overwhelming majority of the women polled in each country cited "attachment to moral and spiritual values" as the best feature of their own societies. In Pakistan, 53% of the women polled said attachment to their religious beliefs was their country's most admirable quality. Similarly, in Egypt, 59% of the women surveyed cited love of their religion, Islam, as the best part of life in that society. Andrews, H. (2006, Jun 8). Muslim Women Don't See Themselves as Oppressed, Survey Finds. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/08/world/middleeast/08women.html

 

In conclusion, the head covering in Islam does not result in negative feelings among most Muslim women. It remains a fact fourteen hundred years after the message of Islam was delivered by the Prophet Muhammad pbuh that women still proudly wear this garment of modesty and religious distinction. Furthermore, the act of covering for millions of Muslim women today remains a choice that they freely make, and not an act of coercion as is often portrayed in the West. These women choose to dress in this way so as to “please God,” in the words of one woman, while others dress the way that they do in order to please the societies in which they live.  To highlight this issue of choice and the positive outlook of a number of women regarding the head cover, this section will close with a beautiful poem written by Heather Gladden, an American convert to Islam: Muslimah: a Muslim woman Hijabi: a woman who chooses to wear the Hijab.   

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Specific Women’s Issues: The Practice of Covering the Head and Face in Christianity

 

 

Demystifying Islam

 by Dr. Ali Shehata

 

The Practice of Covering the Head and Face in Christianity

 

Early Christianity too continued this requirement for women as not only a tradition, but also due to scripture. In the New Testament, Paul writes:

 

And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. [NIV, 1 Corinthians 11:5-10]

 

Although this is the only Biblical passage explicitly requiring the covering of the head, a number of Early Church Fathers discussed, at length, head coverings in their works. The classic nun's garb, for example, stands as being most representative of the conservative style of female dress in the Christian world. Furthermore, Christian art from its earliest forms shows women, such as the Virgin Mary, wearing head coverings. In Christian writings and art though, as opposed to those of Judaism, greater attention is paid to the issue of modesty as it relates to the covering of the head, and even at times the veiling of the face. Dr. Alan Ingalls, Assistant Professor of Old Testament at the Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania writes:

 

Whether a woman wore a veil at all times or not is best left to further study. The woman, like the man, seemed to wear some kind of head-covering as a part of her normal attire. That head covering was likely different than that worn by the man. It seems safe to say that veils which obscured the face might be worn by women, at least at times, as a sign of modesty or propriety. Removal of the basic everyday head covering was a sign of immodesty or vulnerability. Ingalls, A.D. (2000). Head coverings in the Old Testament. The Journal of Ministry & Theology. Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 41-52

 

To better understand the reasoning behind the veiling of women’s heads in Christianity, we shall now review some quotes taken from the writings of several Church Fathers and other significant personalities in Church history. 

 

The great Church Father Tertullian is often sited on this matter, for he dedicated an entire work, On the Veiling of Virgins, to the subject. In it, he argues that virgins are not exempt from the law of veiling. He argues in conjunction with St. Paul's text that the veil should be worn “on account of the angels.” Further, Tertullian calls for women to keep themselves veiled, out of modesty, even outside of the liturgy:

 

... as they veil their head in presence of heathens, let them at all events in the church conceal their virginity, which they do veil outside the church. They fear strangers: let them stand in awe of the brethren too; or else let them have the consistent hardihood to appear as virgins in the streets as well, as they have the hardihood to do in the churches. 

 

He continues:

    I pray you, be you mother, or sister, or virgin daughter—let me address you according to the names proper to your years—veil your head: if a mother, for your sons' sakes; if a sister, for your brethren's sakes; if a daughter for your fathers' sakes ... Put on the panoply of modesty; surround yourself with the stockade of bashfulness; rear a rampart for your sex…. Børresen, Kari E. (1986). Tertulliano. De virginibus velandis. Augustinianum 26 (3):591-593.

 

These writings of the 2nd and 3rd centuries are enhanced by another distinguished Christian author of the 3rd century, St.Clement of Alexandria. In his extensive work called The Instructor (Paedagogus), St. Clement goes further and connects the face veil to the issue of modesty:

 

Woman and man are to go to church decently attired ... Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered ... For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled.  Clement of Alexandria. (1867). The Instructor, Book III. Tr. William Wilson. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. Retrieved from: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/AnteNicene_Christian_Library/The_Instructor:_Book_3

 

Next, we look to the writings of one of early Christianity’s most renowned Biblical scholars, St. John Chrysostom, who was sometimes called the “Golden-mouthed Doctor”. St. John Chrysostom, in his homilies on St. Paul's text from 1 Corinthians, sees St. Paul as saying that women should be veiled at all times, not only in church:

 

... the man he compels not to be always uncovered, but only when he prays ... But the woman he commands to be at all times covered ... [he] also proceeded to say, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven." But if to be shaven is always dishonorable, it is plain too that being uncovered is always a reproach. And not even with this only was he content, but added again, saying, "The woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels." He signifies that not only at the time of prayer but also continually, she ought to be covered. St. John Chrysostom. (n.d.). Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily 26, ver.4. Retrieved from: http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/ 03450407,_Iohannes_Chrysostomus,_Homilies_on_First_Corinthians,_EN.pdf

 

Shifting ahead to the middle ages, we next see in the commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on the same Biblical passage (Commentary on First Corinthians) his understanding that women must be veiled "because of the angels." St. Thomas states that this can be comprehended both literally and metaphorically. In the literal sense, "angels" actually means angels:

 

This can be understood in two ways: in one way about the heavenly angels who are believed to visit congregations of the faithful, especially when the sacred mysteries are celebrated. And therefore at that time women as well as men ought to present themselves honorably as reverence to them according to Psalms 138 (v. 1): "Before the angels I sing thy praise." Aquinas, T. (n.d.). Super I Epistolam B. Pauli ad Corinthios lectura. Tr. Fabian Larcher. Retrieved from: https://dhspriory.org/thomas/SS1Cor.htm

 

In a more metaphorical way, St. Thomas says that "angels" can also be understood to mean the priests who celebrate the liturgies, and in this way he too connects the issue of veiling to modesty:

Therefore, the woman should always have a covering over her head because of the angels, i.e., the priests, for two reasons: first, as reverence toward them, to which it pertains that women should behave honorably before them ... Secondly, for their safety, lest the sight of a woman not veiled excite their concupiscence.

 

Moreover, the first Protestant Reformers also required the covering of the head. Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife and a former nun, was known to wear a head-covering even after leaving Catholicism. Also, 16th century Protestant founding fathers like John Knox and John Calvin both called for women to cover their heads. John Calvin’s views on the veiling of women are also tied to the question of modesty. He writes:

So if women are thus permitted to have their heads uncovered and to show their hair, they will eventually be allowed to expose their entire breasts, and they will come to make their exhibitions as if it were a tavern show; they will become so brazen that modesty and shame will be no more; in short they will forget the duty of nature. Skolnitsky, S. (tr.). (1992). Men, Women and Order in the Church: Three Sermons by John Calvin. Dallas, TX: Presbyterian Heritage Publications

 

Furthermore, European Renaissance artists and those who came later—well into the 16th and 17th century—regularly depicted women, both commoners and those of high status, as covering everything except the face and hands. This trend continued with the settling of America as can be seen in Puritan portraits of women wearing head coverings, and lasted into the late 19^th century and early 20th century. In the early 20^th century, Protestant churches did away with their requirement that women cover their heads during church service. In Catholicism, though it was Church canon that women should cover their heads and also "desirable" that women should be separate from men in church, the Roman Catholic Church also omitted these requirement in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. In this manner has Christianity continued to change its position on this matter up till the present day where now only a few sects of Christianity still implement female head coverings. 

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