Fellow Women
In Surah al-Nur (24:31), when Allah allows women to show their adornment to “their women” (nisā’ihinna), the phrase is not meant to create a rigid legal category based purely on religious labels. Rather, it points to women who belong to one’s trusted social circle, where there is no fear of sexual exposure, exploitation, or misuse. The logic is simple: the purpose of concealment in Islam is protection from sexual gaze, objectification, and harm, not secrecy for its own sake. Women, by nature and social reality, do not view other women through a sexual lens in the way men might, so the same level of concealment is not required among them. That is why “their women” should be understood as women with whom a woman normally feels safe and unthreatened — such as family members, close acquaintances, colleagues, or friends — regardless of whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim. The Qur’an is addressing social norms and human psychology, not drawing a theological boundary that would make non-Muslim women inherently unsafe. Adornment may be shown in spaces where trust, safety, and absence of sexual intent exist. The verse is about preserving dignity, not enforcing suspicion.