What does the Quran really say about a Muslim woman's hijab? | Samina Ali | TEDxUniversityofNevada

Summary

Peter van de Ven delves into the historical context of Islamic dress, challenging modern misconceptions about the hijab. He recounts the story of Prophet Muhammad addressing women's safety in 600 AD Medina, leading to Quranic verses on modesty. Van de Ven argues that dress codes were flexible, based on societal roles and customs, not a strict veil. He critiques modern interpretations that confine women, contrasting them with the empowered women of early Islam, and questions whether current restrictions reflect God's will or a misogynistic agenda.

Takeaways

• 🕌 In Medina, around 600 AD, women faced attacks when seeking privacy outside the city at night.
• 👚 The wearing of a jilbab indicated a woman's freedom and protection by her clan, deterring attackers.
• 🌐 The Quran advises women to dress in a way that doesn't draw attention to avoid harassment, without specifying exact coverings.
• 🏺 Early Muslim scholars interpreted Quranic guidance on dress considering a woman's societal role and local customs.
• 🌿 Modern Muslim women, especially in Western societies, are advised to dress according to local customs for safety and integration.
• 📜 The Quran has only three verses about women's dress, none explicitly requiring the hijab as commonly understood today.
• 👳‍♀️ The term 'hijab' in the Quran does not directly refer to a woman's veil but rather to barriers or separations.
• 👩‍💼 Historically, Muslim women had significant roles in society, including leadership and business, contrary to modern misconceptions.
• 🚫 Some clerics have misinterpreted or manipulated Quranic verses to impose restrictive dress codes and limit women's rights.
• 🌟 The speaker challenges the audience to question whether extreme interpretations of Islam reflect God's will or are driven by misogyny and power.

Q & A

What historical context is the speaker referring to when discussing the city of Medina and the Prophet Muhammad?

The speaker is referring to the historical context of Medina, Saudi Arabia, around 1400 years ago, during the time of Prophet Muhammad, when the city faced issues of women being attacked and molested at night.

What was the significance of the jilbab in the context of women's safety in the city of Medina?

In the context of women's safety, the jilbab was a status symbol that indicated a woman was free and protected by her clan, which deterred men from attacking her.

What solution did the Quran verse suggest to address the issue of women being attacked at night?

The Quran verse suggested that all women dress similarly to avoid being singled out and attacked, advising them to draw upon themselves their garments for better protection.

How did the early Muslim community react to the Quran's advice on women's dress code?

The early Muslim community, being tribal and deeply entrenched in social status, found the idea of a slave dressing like a free woman almost insulting, and also raised practicality concerns about how slaves would perform their duties if constricted by clothing.

What were the two considerations that early Muslim scholars ruled should determine a woman's way of dress?

Early Muslim scholars ruled that a woman's way of dress should be based on her function in society and the society's specific customs.

How does the speaker apply the historical rulings on women's dress to a modern Muslim woman living in America?

The speaker suggests that a modern Muslim woman in America should dress according to the local custom and her societal role, as veiling is not the custom and could lead to harassment.

What is the speaker's perspective on the requirement for Muslim women to veil?

The speaker argues that veiling is not a Quranic requirement and that the Quran does not specify what parts of a woman's body should be covered, leaving it to a woman's choice based on her culture and time.

Where does the term 'hijab' appear in the Quran, and what does it mean in its original context?

The term 'hijab' appears in the Quran but does not directly mean a woman's veil. It is used to mean a barrier or divide, such as the separation between humans and the divine, or a physical screen.

How does the speaker describe the status and roles of women during the time of the Prophet Muhammad?

The speaker describes women during the time of the Prophet Muhammad as active participants in society, with roles such as merchants, warriors, and leaders, and having the freedom to choose their husbands and initiate divorce.

What does the speaker attribute the modern association of Muslim women with hijab and isolation to?

The speaker attributes the modern association of Muslim women with hijab and isolation to certain clerics who have inserted their interpretations into the Quranic verses about women, promoting a restrictive view of women's roles and dress.

What is the speaker's critique of the rulings issued by certain clerics regarding women's roles and dress?

The speaker critiques the rulings issued by certain clerics as misogynistic and restrictive, reducing women to uneducated and powerless beings, and argues that these rulings do not reflect God's will or scripture but rather the clerics' own fantasies.

Outlines

00:00

🕌 Historical Context of Women's Dress in Islam

The speaker, Peter van de Ven, transports the audience back to 1400 years ago in Medina, Saudi Arabia, during the time of Prophet Muhammad. The narrative focuses on the issue of women's safety at night and the cultural significance of the jilbab, a garment that denoted a woman's freedom and protection by her clan. The Prophet's response to the harassment of women, particularly slaves who were more vulnerable due to their attire, led to a Quranic verse advising women to dress in a way that would not single them out for attack. The early Muslim community grappled with the practicality and social implications of this advice, leading to a ruling that a woman's dress should be determined by her societal role and the customs of her time. The speaker then connects this historical context to the modern era, suggesting that a Muslim woman living in a society where veiling is not customary, like America, should follow the local customs, which could include wearing a dress or jeans, rather than being obligated to veil.

05:03

📜 Quranic Verses on Women's Dress and the Concept of 'Hijab'

The speaker continues by clarifying that out of over 6,000 verses in the Quran, only three address women's dress. The first verse, previously discussed, advises women to cover themselves to avoid harassment. The second verse calls for modesty among the Prophet's wives due to their unique societal roles. The third verse, a response to pre-Islamic Arabian customs, instructs women to cover their breasts with a scarf or similar garment. The speaker emphasizes that these verses are not explicit about covering the entire body and that the term 'hijab', often misunderstood to mean a woman's veil, actually refers to barriers or divisions in various contexts within the Quran. The speaker argues that the Quran intentionally leaves the specifics of women's dress open to interpretation, allowing for cultural and temporal considerations.

10:07

🚫 Misinterpretations and Extremist Views on Women's Roles

The speaker delves into the historical role of women during the time of the Prophet, highlighting their active participation in society, including roles as merchants, warriors, and leaders. This contrasts with the restrictive interpretations of Islam by certain clerics and fundamentalists who have imposed their views on women's dress and behavior. The speaker criticizes these interpretations, which suggest that women should be uneducated, submissive, and primarily focused on fulfilling their husbands' desires. The speaker questions whether these rulings reflect God's will or are instead the product of misogynistic fantasies, and likens the actions of these modern-day fundamentalists to the harassers from the historical context discussed earlier in the talk.

15:10

🌟 Challenging Clerical Misogyny and Reclaiming Women's Agency

In the final paragraph, the speaker confronts the distorted interpretations of the Quran by certain clerics and the impact of these interpretations on women's lives. The speaker points out the absurdity and harmfulness of rulings that limit women's education, agency, and bodily autonomy. The speaker questions whether these rulings are truly in line with Islamic teachings or if they serve to perpetuate a patriarchal and misogynistic agenda. The speaker calls for a reevaluation of these interpretations and a return to a more equitable and respectful understanding of women's rights and roles within Islamic tradition.

Keywords

💡Medina

Medina, also known as Madinah, is the second-holiest city in Islam after Mecca. In the context of the video, it is significant as the location where the Prophet Muhammad addressed social issues, including the safety of women. The city's historical setting is crucial for understanding the origins of certain Islamic practices discussed in the video.

💡Prophet Muhammad

Prophet Muhammad is the founder of Islam and is considered the last prophet of God in the Islamic faith. The video discusses how he was tasked with finding solutions to social problems, including the protection of women, which is central to the narrative of how Islamic dress codes for women may have originated.

💡Jilbab

The jilbab is a traditional Islamic garment worn by women, described in the video as a status symbol akin to a luxury brand coat. Historically, it signified a woman's freedom and the protection she had from her clan. The video uses the jilbab to illustrate how clothing was used to distinguish between free women and slaves in Medina.

💡Quran

The Quran is the holy book of Islam, believed to be the word of God as revealed to Prophet Muhammad. The video references specific verses in the Quran that address women's dress, emphasizing that the Quran's guidance on this matter is open to interpretation and varies by culture and time.

💡Hijab

Hijab is a term commonly used to describe a veil worn by some Muslim women. The video clarifies that the term 'hijab' in the Quran does not directly refer to a woman's veil but rather to barriers or divisions. It challenges the modern misconception that veiling is a strict requirement for Muslim women.

💡Veiling

Veiling refers to the practice of covering one's face or head, often associated with Islamic dress. The video discusses the evolution of veiling from a practical measure for safety to a cultural and religious norm, questioning the extent to which it is a divine command versus a societal construct.

💡Clerics

Clerics are religious leaders, often responsible for the interpretation of religious texts. The video criticizes certain clerics for inserting their own interpretations into Quranic verses about women's dress, leading to restrictive and misogynistic rulings.

💡Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is a term used to describe a strict, literal interpretation of religious texts. The video suggests that some interpretations of the Quran regarding women's dress are influenced by fundamentalist views that may not reflect the original intent or spirit of the text.

💡Custom and Function

The video argues that a woman's dress should be based on societal customs and her functional role. It uses this concept to support the idea that Muslim women living in modern societies should dress according to local customs, which may not include veiling.

💡Misogyny

Misogyny refers to the dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. The video highlights examples of misogynistic rulings issued by some clerics, which the speaker argues are not based on the Quran but rather on a distorted, patriarchal view of women's roles.

💡Cultural Context

Cultural context is the social and cultural environment in which something occurs. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the cultural context of Quranic verses to avoid misinterpretations that lead to oppressive practices against women.

Highlights

Prophet Muhammad was tasked with finding a solution to protect women from attacks in Medina.

In the year 600 AD, women had to walk outside the city for privacy, making them vulnerable to attacks.

Men would target women not wearing a jilbab, a status symbol indicating a free woman protected by her clan.

A Quranic verse advised women to dress similarly to avoid being singled out and attacked.

Early Muslim community struggled with the idea of slaves dressing like free women, affecting social status.

Practicality was a concern as clothing restrictions would hinder a woman's ability to work.

Muslim scholars ruled that a woman's dress should be based on her societal role and customs.

Modern application suggests that Muslim women in societies where veiling is not customary should dress according to local norms.

The term 'Hijab' is often misunderstood; it does not directly refer to a woman's veil in the Quran.

The Quran has only three verses about women's dress, none specifying a veil.

The Quran allows for women to choose their dress according to culture and time, contrary to popular misconceptions.

The Prophet's wives were strong, independent women who played significant roles in society.

Women in early Islamic society were not secluded but actively participated in social, political, and economic life.

The association of Muslim women with hijab and isolation is a modern construct, not rooted in Islamic history or the Quran.

Some clerics have misinterpreted Quranic verses to impose restrictive dress codes on women.

Fundamentalist interpretations of Islam have led to extreme and misogynistic rulings about women's roles and rights.

The speaker questions whether these restrictive interpretations are truly Islamic or merely a misogynistic fantasy.

The talk concludes by challenging the audience to reconsider the stereotypes and misconceptions about Muslim women and their dress.

Transcripts

Reviewer: Peter van de Ven

I'm going to take you back in time, 1400 years,

to the city of Medina, Saudi Arabia.

To a time when Prophet Mouhammed was given the task

of finding a solution to women in the city being attacked and molested.

The situation was this:

It was around the year 600 AD,

long before the modern convenience,

of plumbing.

When a woman awoke in the middle of the night

with the urge to relieve herself,

she would have to walk out,

past the outskirts of the city, and into the wild by herself,

for privacy.

Believe it or not,

a group of men actually began to see an opportunity

in women's nightly tracks,

and started to linger at the outskirts of the city -

their identities hidden in the dark, watching.

If a woman walked by,

and she happened to be wearing a jilbab,

which was a garment like a coat,

the men knew to leave her alone.

A jilbab of centuries ago was a status symbol,

like a Burberry trench or a Chanel jacket.

It announced that the woman was free,

and a free woman was protected by her clan.

She would have no problems speaking out against the attacker

and identifying him.

But if the woman walking out at night wasn't wearing a jilbab,

if she happened to be dressed a bit more freely,

then the men knew she was a slave,

and they attacked her.

Concerned members of the community brought the situation to the Prophet,

and like so many other social, political, and familial issues

that Muhammed faced during his Prophethood,

he turned this particular matter over to God,

and a verse was revealed for the Quran,

the Muslim holy book.

"O Prophet," it reads,

"tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers

to draw upon themselves their garments.

This is better, so that they not be known and molested."

Basically, the verse advises that all women dress similarly,

so that they can't be picked out from one another,

zeroed in on, and attacked.

Now, on the surface,

this may seem like a relatively easy solution to the problem,

but turns out it wasn't.

The early Muslim community was tribal, and so deeply entrenched in social status,

and the idea that a slave would look like a free woman,

that was almost insulting.

And then there was the matter of practicality.

How would a slave do her work?

How would she function, if her body was constricted by a coat?

How would she cook, clean, fetch water?

In the end, the early Muslim scholars ruled

that a woman's way of dress should be based on two considerations:

a woman's function in society -

her role, what we might consider her job -

and the society's specific customs.

Or, in another way: when in Rome.

Muslims like to take historical rulings and apply them to the modern era.

So, let's do that.

A woman's way of dress should be based on custom and function.

So, what does that mean for a Muslim woman living in America today,

for someone like me?

First, it means that I have a function, a role in society, a contribution

that I can make.

Second, it means

that while I'm making that contribution,

and living in a society where veiling is not the custom,

and where, in fact, if I veil it might actually lead to harassment,

then wearing what is the custom,

such as a dress, a pair of jeans or even yoga pants,

is not only acceptable,

it's recommended.

But wait, could that be right?

After all, haven't we all come to assume

that a Muslim woman must veil,

that veiling is a requirement of her faith?

There is even a term

that we've all come to associate with the Muslim woman's veil,

an Arabic term that we've all heard use,

whether or not we've been aware of it:

"Hijab."

So, maybe I missed it.

Maybe the requirement that a woman veil is in a different part of the Quran.

For those of you who don't know, the Quran consists of 114 chapters,

each chapter is written out in verses, like poetry.

There are more than 6,000 verses in the Quran.

Out of the 6,000 plus verses,

three refer to how a woman should dress.

The first is the verse I've already told you about.

The second is a verse that directly speaks to the Prophet's wives,

asking that they begin to dress a bit more modestly

because of their role, their function in society as his wives.

And the third verse is similar to the first,

in that it was revealed in direct response to a historical situation.

Early records show that the custom,

the fashion during the pre-Islamic era,

was for women to wear a scarf on the head, called a khimar,

which would be tucked behind the ears and allowed to flow behind the back.

In the front, a woman wore a tight vest or a bodice,

which she left open exposing her breasts -

sort of like the images you've seen in Game of Thrones.

(Laughter)

When Islam spread through the Arabian Peninsula,

a verse was sent down asking that women use this scarf,

or any other garment,

to cover the breasts.

And that's it.

That's basically all there is in the Quran concerning how a woman should dress.

Turns out, God doesn't give a bullet point of all the parts on a woman's body

that he wants hidden from view.

And in fact, it might be argued, and it is argued,

I cannot stress enough that it is argued by many Muslim scholars

that the reason these verses were left intentionally vague

is so that a woman could choose for herself how to dress

according to her specific culture

and the progression of time.

And that the term "hijab,"

guess what?

It's not in any of these three verses.

In fact, it's nowhere in the Quran, directly meaning a woman's veil.

That's not to say that the word doesn't appear in the Quran

because it does appear.

But when it appears, it's actually used correctly,

to mean a barrier or a divide.

Such as the barrier or divide that exists between us humans and the divine,

or between believers and non-believers.

Or it means a barrier, like a physical screen,

that men during Muhammad's time were asked to stand behind

when speaking to his wives.

Or it means the seclusion, the separation that Mary sought

when she was giving birth to Jesus.

That separation and seclusion,

that means hijab;

that physical screen,

that means hijab;

that barrier, that divide,

that means hijab.

Hijab doesn't mean a woman's veil.

And yet, isn't it strange that what the term actually means,

being screened off, divided away, barred, separated out,

these are the very terms that come to our minds

when we think of a Muslim woman?

Why shouldn't they?

We have all seen the way some Muslim women are treated around the world:

if she attempts to go to school,

she's shot in the head;

if she attempts to drive a car,

she's jailed;

if she attempts to take part

in the political uprisings happening in her own country,

to be heard, to be counted,

she is publicly assaulted.

Forget about hiding out in the dark at the outskirts of the city,

some men now feel comfortable enough to assault a woman on the sidewalk,

for the world to see.

And they don't care to hide their identities,

they're more interested in making international headlines.

They're too busy making videos and uploading them onto YouTube,

bragging about what they've done.

Why don't they care to hide their crimes?

They don't feel like they've committed any crimes.

It's the women who've committed the crimes.

It's the women who got these funny ideas in their heads,

ideas that actually led them out of the house,

led them into society,

believing that they can make a contribution,

and we all know,

honorable women, they stay at home;

honorable women stay invisible.

Just as it was the custom for honorable women to do

during the Prophet's time.

Is that true?

1400 years ago is long before feminism.

Were women locked away behind doors, screened off by veils?

Well, it turns out that the Prophet's first wife

was what we would define today

as a CEO.

She was a successful merchant

whose caravan equaled the caravans of all the other traders put together.

She essentially headed up a successful import-export company.

When she hired Muhammed to work for her,

she was so taken with his honesty

that eventually she proposed.

(Laughter)

I'm not sure how many women feel comfortable

proposing marriage to a man today.

And Muhammad's second wife?

She was no slacker either.

She rode into battle on the back of a camel,

which is equivalent to a woman riding into battle today

inside of a Humvee or a tank.

And what of the other women?

Early records show that women demanded to be included

in the Islamic revolution taking place around the Prophet.

One woman became famous as a general

when she led her army of men into battle and crushed a rebellion.

Men and women freely associated with one another, exchanged gifts.

It was custom for a woman to select her own husband and propose.

And when things didn't work out,

to initiate divorce.

Women even loudly debated with the Prophet himself.

Seems to me that if fundamentalists

want to return current Muslim society to 680 AD,

it might be a huge step forward.

(Laughter)

Progress.

(Applause)

But we still have to answer an important question.

If not from Islamic history, and if not from the Quran,

how is it that we, in the modern era,

have come to associate Muslim women with hijab?

With being separated out from society,

secluded and isolated,

barred from the most basic human rights?

I hope it's not any surprise to you that this isn't by accident.

For the past few decades, the very people who have been given the important task

of reading and interpreting the Quran

in a variety of different Muslim communities,

certain clerics have been inserting a certain meaning

into those three verses concerning women.

For instance that verse I told you about earlier:

"O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters,

and the women of the believers to draw upon themselves their garments,

this is better, so that they not be known and molested."

Some clerics, not all, some clerics

have added a few words to that,

so that in certain translations of the Quran,

that verse reads like this:

"O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters,

and the women of the believers, to draw upon themselves their garments,

parentheses, a garment is a veil

that covers the entire head and the face,

the neck and the breast all the way down to the ankles

and all the way to the wrists.

Everything on a woman's body is covered except for one eye

because she must see where she is headed,

and the hands must be covered in gloves.

Because, of course,

there was certainly a lot of gloves back in the desert of Saudi Arabia.

(Laughter)

Etc., etc., etc., etc., on, and on, and on,

end of parentheses,

so that she not be known and molested."

And what these so-called clerics

have concluded based on these types of insertions

is that a woman only has one function.

To understand what that function is,

all you have to do is read some of the fatwas or legal rulings

that these so-called clerics have actually gone ahead and issued.

Let me give you a sampling.

A woman need only finish elementary school

before she gets married.

Which puts her, what, at the ripe old age of 11, 12 years old?

A woman cannot fulfill her spiritual obligations to God

until she first fulfills her physical obligations to her husband.

If he desires her while she sits on the mount of a camel,

she should submit.

Islam has forbidden a woman from wearing a bra

because bras lift up and make a woman appear younger,

and this is calculated deception.

My personal favorite:

if a man has an ulcer excreting puss,

from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet,

and she licked it for him,

she would still not fulfill what she owes him.

What these and the many other rulings just like it concerning women boil down to

is this:

The best of women, the most honorable among them

is uneducated,

and so powerless,

not very different from a slave.

So, she remains at home without complaint, without a bra.

(Laughter)

Ready and available at all times to satisfy his every whim,

even if it's to lick his entire body;

satisfying him whenever he calls,

whether it's in his bed or on the mount of a camel.

Does this sound like God's will to you?

Does this sound like scripture?

Or does this sound strangely, uncomfortably erotic,

like the worst kind of misogynist fantasy?

Are these so-called clerics,

and the fundamentalists and extremists who support them,

truly purifying Islam from within,

bringing it back to its intended form?

Or are these men no different from those men

standing out in the dark at the outskirts of the city,

eager to prey upon a woman?

Thank you.

(Applause)