Discovering the Headcover - 2

In this episode, we are going to look at the case of those who force the headcover on others. The guiding questions in our quest are as follows:

1. Is there a command in Islam to enforce the use of headcover?
2. What are the guiding psychological and mental motives behind such enforcement?
3. What can be said of the understanding of Islam of those who enforce the headcover?

We had concluded in the last episode that even if you believed that headcover is an order of God, you cannot justify through Islam enforcing it on others. The two verses on this matter, that is the verses related to the dress code for women, can at most be taken as commands to recommend, but not to enforce!

O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (33/59)

And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed. (24/31)

The explicit language in these verses indicate that there is no compulsion in the use of headcover. Then, we can proceed to our second guiding question. If there is no command of God to enforce the headcover, why are those who are conducting such enforcement doing so?

The answer to this question has several layers. The first layer is about what is expected of men by God, which is voiced right before the verse about women cited above:

Tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what they do. (24/30)

So, first, God tells men to guard their gazes, then tells the women to guard their gazes. Accordingly, not guarding their gazes both for men and women is considered as sin. If you are living in a male-dominant society, an easy way to avoid such sin is to enforce the headcover for women going out of their homes and, more importantly, to discourage them from being outside! What headcover means, in this context, is another point of discussion, but that is not my intention at the moment. In the end, what is enforced within a male-dominant society varies according to how the scholars in that culture interpret Islam. As a result, you can see different levels of covering for women being enforced or encouraged. This is what we have observed in the history and in some parts of the Muslim world today. 

A funny note at this point is that if men lived in a female-dominant society and if they acted according to the same mentality, it could be men who are discouraged from leaving their homes and obliged to wear accessories similar to horse blinders when going outside. But again this form of application would not be in-line with the Islamic teachings as not is the first one. 

If you want to discuss this matter with someone who defends the idea of covering women as much as possible and not letting them out of their homes much, they may start talking about some family and society benefits of such application and also how it is relaxing for women not to be under the burden of looking good all the time. And their claims can have merit of their own. When talking about commands of God, however, and especially if you are going to do an enforcement in the name of God, you must be acting based on an explicit statement of God without the interference of cultures and times. Otherwise, when you claim you are acting in the name of God, you may actually be acting according to your understanding of the matter when God has not stated clear borders.

The concise lesson from the above paragraph is that the benefits of something does not make it order of God, and similarly, harms of something does not make it prohibition of God. The ultimate criterion for judging something as order or prohibition of God is the existence of an explicit declaration on the matter without needing human interpretation. So, coming back to the issue of headcover, one can talk about or discuss whether or not women should cover when going out, but it is not anyhow justifiable to enforce headcover on women.

Finally, looking at the third question listed at the beginning, we can say that the general mentality of those who enforce the headcover or excess covering of the body for women, despite not having clear details or commands from God, tend to have an attitude to ascertain everything in life so that they are sure of the correctness of the things they do. This is an impossible task, of course, and it is incompatible with the facts of life, but this is the dominant psychology among such individuals. As such, fleeing uncertainty and unable to find a clear and well-defined answer in the book of God to their questions stemming from the never-ending correct-wrong list, they consult the scholars of the same mentality. And these scholars speak in the name of God, when they are voicing their own interpretations. They don't think whether there could be a reason God and His messenger left many things uncertain.

"Leave me as I leave you, for the people who were before you were ruined because of their questions and their differences over their prophets. So, if I forbid you to do something, then keep away from it. And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can." (Bukhari, 7288)

O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. But if you ask about them while the Quran is being revealed, they will be made plain to you. Allah has forgiven that, and Allah is Oft­Forgiving, Most Forbearing. (5/101)