stevecanuck
Well-Known Member
The death of Mahsa Amini in Iran and resulting demonstrations have people yet again debating what the Qur'an says about veiling. I had a closer look at two verses on the subject, and although a less ambiguous directive from Allah would have saved a lot of uncertainty, it looks to me as though the Qur'an does indeed encourage full-body covering, as opposed to merely 'modest' dress.
The word for word translation of verse 33:59 (The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran) says that believing woman should "draw over themselves their outer garments" so that they "should be known and not harmed".
The first underlined phrase seems to define an extra, outer layer of covering, and the second supports that interpretation by indicating that the degree of body coverage should be obvious enough to make Muslim women stand out from others.
Verse 24:31 is long-winded and harder to follow, but it also commands Muslim women to cover themselves to a greater degree than they do at home. They are told to, "draw their headcovers over their bosoms", and to not "display their adornment" except to family members and household staff. The inclusion of non-blood male relatives, such as fathers-in-law and nephews, in the list of those to whom a woman may "display her adornment" is crucial to defining the difference between acceptable dress in the home vs. when out. I think it's safe to assume that a Muslim women would already be modestly dressed in her father-in-law's presence, so to insist on even further coverage when outside the house is consistent with saying that she must bring her head covering down as far as her already covered bosoms, which, by definition, would also cover her face.
IMO, those verses are more suggestive of full-body veiling than not.
The word for word translation of verse 33:59 (The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran) says that believing woman should "draw over themselves their outer garments" so that they "should be known and not harmed".
The first underlined phrase seems to define an extra, outer layer of covering, and the second supports that interpretation by indicating that the degree of body coverage should be obvious enough to make Muslim women stand out from others.
Verse 24:31 is long-winded and harder to follow, but it also commands Muslim women to cover themselves to a greater degree than they do at home. They are told to, "draw their headcovers over their bosoms", and to not "display their adornment" except to family members and household staff. The inclusion of non-blood male relatives, such as fathers-in-law and nephews, in the list of those to whom a woman may "display her adornment" is crucial to defining the difference between acceptable dress in the home vs. when out. I think it's safe to assume that a Muslim women would already be modestly dressed in her father-in-law's presence, so to insist on even further coverage when outside the house is consistent with saying that she must bring her head covering down as far as her already covered bosoms, which, by definition, would also cover her face.
IMO, those verses are more suggestive of full-body veiling than not.
