"Hijab - Once And For All" By Dr Shabbir Ahmed

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer by OutSyed The Box :  This article was written by Dr Shabbir Ahmed, a medical doctor and Islamic scholar based in the United States. He wrote this article in 2007. 

This article is solely his view. I am merely reproducing his article here for your reading pleasure. IT HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY SHORTENED FOR EASIER READING. 

Whether you believe it or not is a decision that you have to make. 

For those who are interested to read the full article here is Dr Shabbir's link : http://drshabbir.com/pages/Free-Library.html

HIJAB - ONCE AND FOR ALL
 

November 20th, 2007

“Veiling is the biggest impediment in the way of conveying Islam in the West.” (Murad Hoffman)

IS HIJAB OK? 

WOMEN’S DRESS CODE:
 

ONE: The BEST garment is that of nice, modest conduct (7:26). 

TWO: Cover your chest in the presence of unrelated men (24:31). 

THE WORD HIJAB IN THE QURAN:

Hijab is the term used by many Muslim women to describe their head cover that may or may not include covering their face except their eyes and sometimes also covering one eye. The Arabic word Hijab can be translated into veil or yashmak. Other meanings for the word Hijab include screen, cover(ing), mantle, curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider etc.

The word “Hijab” appears in the Quran seven times, five of them as “Hijab” and twice as “Hijaban”. See 7:46, 17:45, 19:17, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51. None of these “Hijab” words are used in the Quran in reference to what the traditional Muslims call today as the dress code for the Muslim woman. Hijab in the Quran has nothing to do with the women’s dress code.

HIJAB AND THE BIBLE:
 

The wearing of the head covering for women is not part of the Prophet’s teachings and is not found in the Quran. It is a belief and a practice that was taken by the early Muslim scholars from the Christian Bible. 
 

1st Corinthians

11:5 — but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head-it is the same as if her head were shaven.

11:6 For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil. 11:10 That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. 11:13 Judge for yourselves; is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? (RSV) 

So the commandment for a woman to cover her head is in the Bible.  This belief has seeped into the Muslim belief and has now become part and parcel of the practice of Islam today. The West has no problem with Catholicism putting its nuns in head cover. In Europe today Catholic schools still encourage young girls to take up the wearing of the Catholic head-cover. 
 

Unfortunately under the guise of modernity, a vast majority of Christians themselves today are not following the teachings of the Bible - the large majority of Christian women do not cover the head. 

Hence, it is the Muslim Ummah who are very good Christians because they still uphold these Bible teachings.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: While many Muslims call “Hijab”, an Islamic dress code, they completely ignore the fact that, Hijab as a dress code has nothing to do with Islam and nothing to do with the Quran.
 

In reality, “Hijab” is an old Jewish tradition that infiltrated into the H@dith books like many innovations that contaminated Islam through alleged H@dith and Sunn@h. 

Any student of the Jewish traditions will see that head cover for the Jewish woman is encouraged by the Rabbis and religious leaders. Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time and especially in the synagogues, weddings, and religious festivities. 

This Jewish tradition is a cultural, not a religious one. Hijab was observed by the women of the civilizations that preceded the Jews and was passed down to the Jewish culture.
 

Christian women cover their heads on many religious occasions while the nuns cover their heads all the time. This religious practice of covering the head was established from traditions thousands of years before the Muslim scholars claimed the Hijab as part of the Muslim women’s dress code. 

The traditional Arabs of all religions, Jews, Christians and Muslims used to wear “Hijab,” not because of Islam, but because of tradition. In Saudi Arabia, up to this minute most of the men cover their head, not because of Islam but because of tradition. Thank God this tradition for men has not been counted as Islamic dress code yet!
 

North Africa is known for its Tribe (Tuareg) that have the Muslim men wearing “Hijab” instead of women. Here the tradition has the Hijab in reverse. If wearing Hijab is the exclusive sign of a pious and righteous woman, why do we see so many Hijabi women completely disregarding other essentials of modesty, like wearing tight shirts and jeans, showing the body parts that must be concealed, plus immodest behavior? In brief, Hijab is a tradition and it has nothing to do with Islam.
 

Mixing religion with tradition is a form of idol-worship, because not knowing (or not trying to find out) what God asked us to do in His Book, the Quran, is a sign of disregarding God and His Message. When tradition supersedes God’s Commandment, the true religion (Deen) takes a second place. But God is always the First and never the second. 

THE WORD KHIMAAR IN THE QURAN: 

The word “Khimaar” and the dress code for women can be found in the Quran 24:31. Some Muslims quote this verse as a commandment for Hijab, or head cover by pointing to the word, khomoorehenna, (‘their chest covering’ from Khimaar), forgetting that God has already used the word Hijab, several times in the Quran. 

Those blessed by God can see that the use of the word “Khimaar” in this verse is not for “Hijab” nor for head cover. Those who quote this verse usually add (Head cover or veil) after the word Khomoorehenna, and usually between ( ), because it is their addition to the verse of God. Here is 24:31.
 

24:31 And tell the believing women to lower their gaze, and guard their modesty. They should not show off their adornment beyond what may be decently and spontaneously apparent. Let them cover their chest area with a light covering. …
 

Most of the translators, obviously influenced by f@bricated Hadith translate the word as VEIL and thus mislead people into believing that this verse is advocating the covering of the head and face.
 

In 24:31, God is telling the women to use their cover (Khimaar, being a dress, a coat, a shawl, a shirt, a blouse, a tie, a scarf . . . etc.) to cover their bosoms, not their heads or their hair. If God willed to order the women to cover their heads or their hair, He would have simply said, “Cover your head and hair.” God is neither vague nor forgetful! God does not run out of words. He does not wait for a scholar to put the correct words for Him!
 

The Arabic word for Chest (Jayb) is in the verse 24:31, but the Arabic words for Head (Raas) or Hair (Sha’r) are NOT in the verse. The Commandment in the verse is clear - Cover your chest.
 

The last part of the verse 24:31 translates as, “They shall not strike their feet when they walk in order to shake and reveal certain details of their bodies. The details of the body can be revealed or not revealed by the dress you wear, not by your head cover. The word Zeenatahunna in this verse refers to the woman’s body parts (hidden beauty). At the end of the verse, God tells the women not to strike their feet to show their Zeenat. A woman does not need to strike her feet to show her ornaments but the way she strikes her feet while walking can reveal certain parts of the body.
 

Accepting orders from others than God is idol-worship. That is how serious the matter of Hijab/Khimaar is. 

Is it possible that women who wear Hijab in the name of Islam, believing that God has ordered it are committing idol-worship as God did not order it? Nay, the ‘Imams’ did. These women have found for themselves gods other than the One Who revealed the Quran, complete, perfect and fully detailed.
 

JALBAB IN THE QURAN: DRAW A SHAWL OVER YOUR PERSON
 

The first regulation of the Dress Code for Muslim women is in 7:26, the second in 24:31 as we have seen and the third is in 33:59.

7:26 O Children of Adam! We have provided you with garments to cover your bodies as well as to adorn you. The best garment for you to wear, in addition, is good conduct. (Your character decorates you inside out.) These are the verses of God that they must take to heart.  

24:31 And tell the believing women to lower their gaze, and guard their modesty. They should not show off their adornment beyond what may be decently and spontaneously apparent. Let them cover their chest area with a light covering. …
 

33:59 O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and women of the believers that they should draw their shawls over their person (when in public). This is easy and proper, so that they may be recognized and not be bothered. God is Absolver of imperfections, Merciful.  

Here God sets the other regulation for the dress code for women during the Prophet’s life. This verse does not only address the wives of the Prophet, but also wives of the believers, and therefore, to all believing women.
 

HARDSHIP IN RELIGION: God ordains that those who would reject His Book and go look for other sources for guidance will suffer in this life and in the Hereafter by their own choice.

We repeatedly find in the Quran that God never desires any hardship in religion. But the ‘Imams’, in their inflated egos, invented their own laws in defiance of God and made Islam impossible to practice. 

They enslaved Muslims by regulating everything in their daily lives. Only a few examples out of the countless: Which side you must sleep on, which foot you must step in and out of the house, what to recite on entering and exiting the toilet, which foot would enter the toilet and which one will exit, what to do with a fly in your soup, using the left hand in most situations would be accursed, what to say and recite when having intercourse with your spouse etc etc!
 

Those who believe that The Quran is complete, perfect and fully detailed, will have everything easy for them as God promises, while those who seek sources other than the Quran will suffer all the hardship in this life and in the life to come.  

In the Hereafter they will complain to God, “We were not idol-worshipers,” but God knows best, they were. (See 6:21-24)  

CONCLUSION: God, the Most Merciful, gave us basic rules for the Dress Code for Women in Islam.
 

ONE: The best garment is that of nice, modest conduct (7:26).
 

TWO: Cover your chest in the presence of unrelated men. (24:31)
 

While these basic rules are not enough for those who do not trust God, the true believers know that God is ENOUGH. After these basic rules every woman can adjust her dress according to a particular situation. Any addition to these basic Quranic rules is an attempt to correct God or improve on His Infinite Wisdom. 

We have no obligation to follow but God’s Rules, just as His Messenger did all the time.Innovations and fabrications that add countless rules to the women dress code are nothing but idol-worship and should be vehemently rejected. Stay with God; that is where the winners go. 

DR. SHABBIR’S LITMUS TEST: Anyone who PREACHES the non-Quranic Hijab, Veil, Burka or Beard belongs to the Ajami, C*unterfeit, F*lse, Manmade, ‘Imamist’ Mullah-peddled, Number Two Islam (N2I), period.

End quote.

My comments : Well Dr Shabbir Ahmed's style of writing is very different from mine. He makes some interesting points though. A certain degree of intelligence is required to be able to appreciate the differing viewpoint. Unfortnately that is in very short supply among the masses. 

There is a very, very long list of extra-Quranic beliefs (meaning they cannot be found in the Quran) that are indeed found in the Bible or the Jewish teachings. These include :

1. stoning adulterers to death
2. punishment of death for apostasy
3. saying the Amen 
4. circumcision of males
5. prohibiting carvings and statues
6. hanging holy writing on the walls
7. menstruating women are unclean8. wearing beards for men
9. wearing turbans for holy men
10. wearing robes for holy men
11. creation of woman from the rib of the man          

and many more are all found in the Bible and the Jewish teachings. 

I think the Jews were always clever at getting their points across.