(Series of Answers of the Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of the Visitors to his Facebook Page)
To Hassan Ali Ali
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum,
My question is about the hijab: is it an obligation (fard) based on evidence, or was it a custom ('adah) imposed to distinguish free women from slaves? (The hijab in its origin is a legislation with a class-based content, its purpose being to distinguish the free woman from the slave-girl. This is what the Sahaba understood; for Umar bin al-Khattab used to go around Medina, and if he saw a slave-girl wearing a hijab, he would strike her with his famous stick until the hijab fell from her head, saying: "Why do slave-girls resemble free women?" In the end, I would like to say that in a time where there are no concubines or slaves, Alhamdulillah, the reason for lowering the jilbab has ceased to exist. There is nothing in the Quran or Sunnah that says the hijab is an obligation because it prevents temptation (fitnah) or ensures modesty; whoever says this is a sinner and has fabricated a lie against Allah. A woman who wears the hijab because it is part of the customs of her people or society has not committed any error, as long as she understands that wearing the hijab is not an obligation from Allah (swt). However, the woman who wears the hijab and calls for it believing that Allah commanded it is committing a great sin, because she has associated partners in Allah's judgment—people who imposed laws that neither Allah nor His Noble Messenger brought—and has misled from the message of the Quran and its straight path. The hijab is not an Islamic obligation but a social custom that existed before Islam and has no relation to religions at all. One of the most dangerous matters is to mix customs and traditions with what Allah commands us in His Noble Book, because claiming that any custom is from Allah is a false claim equivalent to shirk and lying against Him (swt)). I hope for your commentary on these words. May Allah bless you and guide us and you.
Answer:
Walaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
The Shari’i evidence for the shar’i dress of women is clear and explicit. This dress is not a matter of custom ('adah) such that if people are accustomed to it, it exists, and if they are not, it does not. Rather, it is an obligation (fard) that Allah (swt) has enjoined upon women.
The Shari’ah has mandated a specific shar’i dress for women when they leave the house and enter public life. It has obligated the woman to have a garment that she wears over her clothes when she goes out to the markets or walks on the public road. It has obligated her to have a jilbab in its shar’i sense, which she wears over her clothes and lowers down until it covers her feet. If she does not have a jilbab, she should borrow one from her neighbor, friend, or relative. If she cannot borrow one or no one lends her one, it is not permissible for her to go out without a jilbab. If she goes out without a jilbab worn over her clothes, she has committed a sin because she has abandoned an obligation that Allah enjoined upon her. This is regarding the lower garment for women. As for the upper garment, she must have a khimar, or something similar or that takes its place, consisting of a garment that covers the entire head, the entire neck, and the opening of the garment at the chest. This should be prepared for going out to the markets or walking on the public road—meaning the dress for public life for the upper part. If she has these two garments, it is permissible for her to leave her home to the markets or walk on the public road, i.e., into public life. If she does not have these two garments, it is not permissible for her to go out under any circumstances, because the command for these two garments was general, so it remains general in all cases as no specification (mukhassis) has been mentioned for it at all.
As for the evidence for the obligation of these two garments for public life, it is the saying of Allah (swt) regarding the upper garment:
وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ
“And not to reveal their adornment except that which could [ordinarily] appear thereof and to draw their head-covers over their chests.” (Surah An-Nur [24:31])
And the saying of Allah (swt) regarding the lower garment:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِأَزْوَاجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments (jalabib).” (Surah Al-Ahzab [33:59])
And what was narrated by Umm Atiyyah (ra), who said:
أَمَرَنا رسولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أن نُخْرِجَهُنَّ في الفِطْرِ والأضحى، العواتقَ والحُيَّضَ وذواتِ الخدورِ، فأما الحيّضُ فيَعْتَزلْنَ الصلاةَ وَيَشْهَدْنَ الخَير، ودعوةَ المسلمين. قلت يا رسولَ اللهِ إحدانا لا يكونُ لها جلبابٌ، قال: لِتُلْبِسْها أختُها من جِلبابِها
“The Messenger of Allah (saw) commanded us to bring them out on [the Eids of] Fitr and Adha: the adolescent girls, the menstruating women, and the secluded young women. As for the menstruating women, they would stay away from the prayer but witness the goodness and the gathering of the Muslims. I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, one of us does not have a jilbab.' He said: 'Let her sister dress her from her jilbab.'” (Reported by Muslim)
These evidences are explicit in indicating the dress of the woman in public life. Allah (swt) has described in these two verses this dress, which He made obligatory for the woman to wear in public life, with a precise, complete, and comprehensive description. Regarding the upper dress, He said: ﴿وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ﴾ meaning they should wrap their head-covers over their necks and chests to hide what appears from the collar of the shirt and the collar of the garment at the neck and chest. Regarding the lower dress, He said: ﴿يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ﴾ meaning they should lower over themselves their jalabib (plural of jilbab) which they wear over their clothes for going out, lowering them downwards. Regarding the general manner of this dress, He said: ﴿وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا﴾ meaning they should not show what is the site of adornment from their limbs, such as the ears, forearms, shins, and others, except what used to appear in public life at the time this verse was revealed, i.e., in the era of the Messenger, which is the face and the hands.
With this precise description, it becomes clear with the utmost clarity what the dress of the woman is in public life and what it must be. The hadith of Umm Atiyyah came to explicitly show the obligation for her to have a jilbab that she wears over her clothes when going out, as she said to the Messenger (saw): “One of us does not have a jilbab,” and the Messenger (saw) said to her: “Let her sister dress her from her jilbab.” This means when she told the Messenger that if she does not have a jilbab to wear over her clothes to go out in, he (saw) commanded that her sister should lend her a jilbab. This implies that if she is not lent one, it is not permissible for her to go out. This is a context (qarinah) that the command in this hadith is for obligation (wujub), meaning it is mandatory for the woman to wear a jilbab over her clothes if she wishes to go out, and if she does not wear it, she does not go out.
It is a condition for the jilbab that it be lowered to the bottom until it covers the feet, because Allah says in the verse: ﴿يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِنْ جَلَابِيبِهِنَّ﴾ meaning they lower their jalabib because (من/min) here is not for partitive (tab’id) but for clarification (bayan), meaning they lower the jilbab downwards. This is also because it was narrated from Ibn Umar that he said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
مَنْ جَرَّ ثَوْبَهُ خُيَلاَءَ لَمْ يَنْظُرِ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَقَالَتْ أُمُّ سَلَمَةَ فَكَيْفَ يَصْنَعْنَ النِّسَاءُ بِذُيُولِهِنَّ قَالَ يُرْخِينَ شِبْرًا فَقَالَتْ إِذًا تَنْكَشِفُ أَقْدَامُهُنَّ قَالَ فَيُرْخِينَهُ ذِرَاعًا لاَ يَزِدْنَ عَلَيْهِ
“Whoever drags his garment out of pride, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Resurrection.” Umm Salamah said: “What should women do with their hems?” He said: “Let them lower it by a handspan.” She said: “Then their feet will be exposed.” He said: “Then let them lower it by a cubit, and no more than that.” (Reported by Tirmidhi, who said this is a Hasan Sahih Hadith).
This is explicit that the jilbab worn over the clothes must be lowered down until it covers the feet. If the feet are covered by socks or shoes, that does not substitute for lowering it down to the feet in a way that indicates "lowering" (irkha’) exists. It is not necessary for it to actually cover the feet if they are already covered, but there must be a lowering, meaning the jilbab should be hanging down to the feet in a visible way by which it is recognized as the dress of public life that the woman must wear in public life, and in which "lowering" appears, fulfilling the saying of Allah (swt): ﴿يُدْنِينَ﴾ (lower/bring down).
As you can see, it is a dress defined with a clear definition by explicit texts with no ambiguity or lack of clarity in their meaning. Even when Umm Atiyyah asked the Messenger (saw) about going out if she does not have a jilbab, the Messenger (saw) answered her to borrow one from her neighbor or not to go out. This is a strong indication of the obligation of this dress as a shar’i obligation.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
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