From: darice@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Fred Rice)
Subject: Re: Modest Dress
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 08:24:33 GMT

In <1992Oct2.010858.17581@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> darice@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Fred Rice) writes:

>Here is another translation of the above Qur'anic passage.

>Translation from "The Message of the Qur'an" by Muhammad Asad.
>Surah An-Nur, 24:31

>"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and to be mindful of
>their chastity, and not to display their charms [in public] beyond what
>may [decently] be apparent thereof; hence, let them draw their
>head-coverings over their bosoms. [...]"
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>Muhammad Asad's commentary (in part):

>``The noun _khimar_ (of which _khamur_ is the plural) denotes the
>head-covering customarily used by Arabian women before and after the
>advent of Islam. "

>The Qur'an _explicitly_ mentions these "head-coverings" with respect to
>women.  Indeed, the Qur'an clearly _assumes_ that Muslim women would be
>wearing these head-coverings, and thus the command to wear a
>head-covering is implicit in the above Qur'anic ayat.

>(Yusuf Ali's use of the word "veil" here for _khimar_ is too vague a
>translation.)

>How can women "draw their head-coverings over their bosoms" if they are
>not wearing head-coverings?

>This is the viewpoint of the majority of the scholars, to the best of my
>knowledge.  (Muhammad Asad has a different argument, however - I will
>give his footnotes to this verse in full at the end.)


> Fred Rice
> darice@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au   

Here is Muhammad Asad's commentary in full as promised.  (Note that
Muhammad Asad's opinion expressed here is _not_ that of most Islamic
scholars.)

Translation from "The Message of the Qur'an" by Muhammad Asad.
Surah An-Nur, 24:31

"And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and to be mindful of
their chastity, and not to display their charms [in public] beyond what
may [decently] be apparent thereof; hence, let them draw their
head-coverings over their bosoms. [...]"

Footnote 37, page 538:

``My interpolation of the word "decently" reflects the interpretation of
the phrase _illa ma zahara minha_ by several of the earliest Islamic
scholars, and particularly by Al-Qiffal (quoted by Razi), as "that which
a human being may openly show in accordance with prevailing custom
(_al-`adah al-jariyah_)".  Although the traditional exponents of Islamic
Law have for centuries been inclined to restrict the definition of "what
may [decently] be apparent" to a woman's face, hands and feet - and
sometimes even less than that - we may safely assume that the meaning of
_illa ma zahara minha_ is much wider, and that the deliberate vagueness
of this phrase is meant to allow for all the time-bound changes that are
necessary for man's moral and social growth.  The pivotal clause in the
above injunction is the demand, addressed in identical terms to men as
well as to women, to "lower their gaze and be mindful of their
chastity": and this determines the extent of what, at any given time,
may legitimately - i.e., in consonance with the Qur'anic principles of
social morality - be considered "decent" or "indecent" in a person's
outward appearance.''

Footnote 38, page 538:

``The noun _khimar_ (of which _khamur_ is the plural) denotes the
head-covering customarily used by Arabian women before and after the
advent of Islam.  According to most of the classical commentators, it
was worn in pre-Islamic times more or less as an ornament and was let
down loosely over the wearer's back; and since, in accordance with the
fashion prevalent at the time, the upper part of a woman's tunic had a
wide opening in the front, her breasts were left bare.  Hence, the
injunction to cover the bosom by means of a _khimar_ (a term so familiar
to the contemporaries of the Prophet) does not necessarily relate to the
use of a _khimar_ as such but is, rather, meant to make it clear that a
woman's breasts are _not_ included in the concept of "what may decently
be apparent" of her body and should not, therefore, be displayed.''