NO WOMEN VEIL IN ISLAM

Sheikh Muhammad Abduh (Egypt 1849-1905) the top edict & head of Islamic verdict body (Mufti )for Egypt & most Islamic countries in his time issued a verdict that women face veil/ covering is not from Islam sharia (legislation) but only a harmful non Islamic social habit & should be changed , see verdict reasons & clues below

1) NO TEXT IN QURAN OR AN ACT IN SUNNAH THAT MANDATES WOMEN TO COVER THEIR FACE , but it is a mere cultural habit taken from other ancient non muslim nations (ultra orthodox Jews living in Arabian peninsula) & was unjustly imitated by some muslims as many other harmful habits that people falsely attribute to Islam unjustly distorting religion

.2) PROPHET BANNED FACE COVERING for women going to pilgrimage Haj /Omra in Makkah & ordered them to reveal and NOT cover their face or hands & this command is strictly adopted until today .Haram Makkah is the holiest place & Haj or Omra’ is the highest spiritual/religious status for muslims , thus if face covering was a virtue by any means ,then the Prophet who calls for piety would have instructed women going to Haj & Omra to cover their faces & not the opposite, moreover men & women are not segregated in this holiest place & perform their highest spiritual religious rituals without segregation

3)QURAN DOES NOT MENTION ANY FACE COVER ; looking at Quran verses talking about women wear , we find that ALLAH told his prophet to first tell the believing MEN NOT TO GAZE AT WOMEN & to lower their gaze before mentioning dress decency to women only telling them to cover their bosoms & not expose their adornment except which thereof appears Q 24;31

قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا فُرُوجَهُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَزْكَىٰ لَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ ﴿٣٠﴾ وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ,

translation “ tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their genital parts. that is purer for them. indeed, Allah is acquainted with what they do.and tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their genital parts and not expose their adornment except that thereof appears and to bring their covers over their bosoms “—

Note that the word خمار”“ “Khimar”   in Arabic means “COVER” & NOT A HEAD SCARF as misunderstood or mistranslated in several translations that bias to women repression & this cover can be the garment itself (blouse or dress to cover bosoms) or a head or neck or shoulder cover / scarf to cover the bosom if the dress does not cover it

Also note that the VERSE ALLOWED WOMAN TO EXPOSE PARTS OF THEIR BODY in front of illegal partners or relatives , but did not name these parts , this means that ALLAH HAS ASSIGNED THE NAMING OF THESE PARTS TO WHAT IS DEEMED DECENT AS PER THE TIME & PLACE . The old time scholars in their times agreed that the face & hands are included in the exposed parts & disagreed if the foot & arms/other parts to be also included in the exposure

•4) ABOUT PROPHET WIVES ON THAT MATTER ; Re some claimed narrations that Prophet (pbuh) wives & daughters covered their face is a non proven matter & other narrations prove that they did not cover their faces , especially that they were identified when seen outdoors , this mean they had uncovered face , moreover the hadith narrators who themselves narrate that Prophet wives were veiled also narrate a hadith saying

مشيرا الى عائشة …. “خذوا شطر دينكم من تلك الحميراء

“translation is ” take half your religion from this red cheeked, pointing at his wife Aisha,—– this means her face was revealed & known by her red cheek which is contradicting to what they narrate that their faces were veiled

. And since our ultimate reference is Quran , QURAN NEVER INSTRUCTED PROPHET WIVES TO COVER THEIR FACE, BUT ONLY ORDERED MEN WHEN THEY ARE IN PROPHET HOUSE TO ASK THE PROPHET WIVES FROM BEHIND A PARTITION which can be a curtain or screen or door or so , this is Q 33;53

” أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَدْخُلُوا بُيُوتَ النَّبِيِّ إِلَّا أَن يُؤْذَنَ لَكُمْ>>>وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِن وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍَ

translation is ” O you who have believed, do not enter the houses of the Prophet except when you are permitted for>>>>And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition”— ——• Nevertheless , if we assume -for the sake of argument just to appease hardliners- that Prophet wives covered their faces, then this practice in particular should not be applied in analogy to any other muslim women because THERE ARE CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS APPLIED TO PROPHET WIVES THAT SHOULD NOT BE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MUSLIM WOMEN . ALLAH SAYS THAT PROPHET WOMEN ARE NOT LIKE OTHER WOMEN, Q 33;32

‘ يَا نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ لَسْتُنَّ كَأَحَدٍ مِّنَ النِّسَاءِ..

” translation is ” O wives of the Prophet, you are not like anyone among women”. ——Prophet wives are double punished for their sins & double rewarded for their good deeds . Also they are not allowed to marry anyone after Prophet death & these restrictive rules are not to be applied to other muslim women , thus even if we assume -for sake of argument to appease hardliners – that Prophet wives covered their faces as an exclusive rule then this is to be applied to them only & not to other women

5) SAHIH HADITH PROVES UNVEILING OF WOMEN FACES & ALLOWS OF GENDER MIXING ; Also for those who are hadith fans & prefer reverting to hadith for religious information  , then I cite a hadith in sahih bukhari saying

“كان الرجال و النساء يتوضؤون جميعا فى زمان رسول الله”

translation “The men and women use to have ablution together in the time of the Messenger of Allah”. This sahih hadith  proves that there is no gender segregation nor women face cover because the ablution process requires revealing face, hair , arms , foot..& this sahih hadith debunks other hadiths calling for any face veil

6) FACE COVERING CAN BE A GOOD MEANS FOR SIN & fornication because women who want to have illegal relation with strange men can go out undercover & do any sin without their husbands or relatives or anyone identifying them

7) FACE COVER & WOMEN SEGREGATION OBSTRUCTS WOMEN FROM RUNNING & MANAGING THEIR OWN WEALTH & trade business & many men who were proxies for veiled women has misused the proxies & robbed the money of women

8) GANGS & CRIMINALS CAN DO THEIR CRIMES IN WOMEN FULL VEIL & remain hiding under the face cover

9) FACE COVERING IS HAZARDOUS TO SOCIETY & REPRESSIVE& OPPRESSIVE & UNJUST TO WOMEN thus contradictory to Islamic shariah(legislation) which aims to society welfare & just for man & woman

10) QURAN INSTRUCTS MEN TO LOWER THEIR GAZE ;Re what is said about fearing of temptation ”fitnah “ to some men, the answer is that there can be also very handsome men , so why their faces are not covered , nevertheless for those men fearing temptation, Quran instructed them to lower their gaze & if there are still some sick minded men , then these men need to get a mental or psychological therapy not enforcing face cover over women

11) Moreover, there are more than 6000 verses in Quran talking about many issues as justice , charity , forgiveness , patience , good manners , moderation, modesty, honesty .. etc & unfortunately most Islamic conversation is about women clothes & neglecting the other issues of ethics & manner while there are only two verses in Quran that talked about women clothes decency , this makes the ratio of women clothes verses to other verses less than 1 to 3000 , so let us give this issue its own real weight , only 1 to 3000 of our Islamic conversation & give other issues their own weights

• FINALLY ,THE VERDICT BRIEF IS ”FACE COVER FOR WOMEN IS NOT FROM ISLAM BUT A HARMFUL WRONG HABIT & PRACTICE CONTRADICTORY TO ISLAM SHARIA (LEGISLATION) & SHOULD BE CHANGED”