About the author: Abu Bilal Mustafa Al-Kanadi was born in Italy on July 4, 1950. At his 4 he immigrated with his family to the Lakes District of northern British Columbia. In 1965 his family moved to Vancouver BC where he completed his secondary education. In 1968 he embarked in the BA program at the University of British Columbia, and he graduated in 1972 from the faculty of Arts with a major in English Literature.
During his final semester at S.F.U., he embraced Islam. Afterwards, in quest of Islamic education he traveled to Makkah during Ramadan of 1976 and performed Haj and entered the Arabic Language Institute at Umm Al-Qura University and completed the language program in two and a half years. In 1983 he graduated with honors in the field of Qur'anic and Hadeeth Sciences. In May 1989, he obtained a Master's Degree in Qur'anic Sciences from the same university. A few weeks later he passed away at the age of 39.
During his short span of life he wrote a number of treatises on various topics and was actively engaged in writing, translating and Dawah work. To make a human judgment, his premature death apparently seems to be a great loss for the Muslim Ummah. But we must submit to the Grand Design of Allah.
Summary of the book: The writer, at the outset of the treatise, gives a precious introduction where he deplores the fact that some Muslims have become lax in wearing dress and in the mutual relationship between man and woman. It is because of the blind imitation of the western life-style infiltrated in the Muslim countries. Against the western perverted culture the writer suggests us emulate 'Hishmah' which designates modesty, decency, honor, purity and chastity. In fact the paper is confined to an exposition of the Islamic dress code for the women. The paper is richly documented with the verses from the Holy Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah as well as the "dependable" views of the classical scholars.
Firstly the writer refers to the verses 24:30-31 that epitomizes the Islamic position of modesty and decency as far as the relationship between man and woman is concerned. The verses state: "Tell ( O Mohammad!) the believing men to lower their gaze and to guard their modesty. That is purer for them. Verily Allah is acquainted with all that they do. And tell (O Mohammad!) the believing women to lower their gaze and to guard their modesty, and not to display their adornments, except that which ordinarily appears thereof, and to draw their head veils over their necks and bosoms, and not to reveal their adornments except to their own husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants free of physical desire, or small children who have no sense of women's nakedness. Let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they conceal of their hidden ornaments. And turn unto Allah altogether, O you Believers; in order that you may attain success."
The phrase "not to display their (women's) adornments, except that which ordinarily appears thereof" is a matter of interpretation and it is because of the differences in the interpretation that the scholars give diverse opinions to the extent to which a woman should cover her physical appearance. And in this respect the writer mentions the various interpretations of the classical scholars:
The Companion Ibn Mas'ood says that the "appearance of adornments" means woman's clothes and Ibn Jubair says it is her face. According to Sa'eed bin Jubair, Ata'a and Al-Awzaa'i the phrase means "The face, the two hands and the garments". The Companions Ibn Abbas, Qatadaah, and Al-Miswar bin Makhramah says, "By this phrase is meant the wearing of Kuhl (a black material powder used for darkening the eyelids or for medical purposes), bracelets, hand dye and other things of that nature, which are permitted for a woman to wear and for others to see displayed on her."
A famous interpreter of the Holy Qur'an Al-Imam At-Tabari concludes, "The most correct of these sayings is that which states that the intended meaning is the face and the two hands. This is because there is agreement between this view and the others in which are mentioned Kuhl, rings, bracelets and hand dye. Indeed all of these latter things must necessarily appear on the face or on the two hands. We say that this is the most correct of the mentioned opinions because all of the scholars agree that every person must cover his/her awrah during salaah and that a woman is allowed to uncover her face and hands while praying (no matter even if 'strangers' see her while praying in this state); but she must cover other than these of two areas . Thus if there is unanimous agreement between the Ulama regarding this matter, it is obvious that a woman may display of her body that which is not awrah, as is the case with a man; because it is not forbidden to display what is not awrah. Consequently since the woman is allowed to display the face and hands, it is obvious that this is the exception made by Allah, the Exalted in His saying: 'except that which ordinarily appears thereof'; because these are precisely the parts which appear exposed on the woman." (Quoted from Jami'I-Bayaan 'an Ta-weelil-Qur'an, vol. 18, pp. 118-119; published by Mustafa Al-Baabi Al-Halabi, Cairo, 1968.)
There is another opinion regarding this matter. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and a number of Shaafi'ee scholars are the proponent of this view. What they understood by the phrase "except that which ordinarily appears thereof" is as follows: The woman can't display any of her adornments whether natural or acquired like her jewelry, eye-show etc. But if it appears accidentally, she will be exempted from the blame. According to them a woman must try always to cover her body in front of a male stranger. However, a minority of the jurists conceive such view and it is also "not supported by the authentic narration of the Sunnah. Furthermore, it is in contradiction to the view held by the vast majority of the Islamic scholars." Imam Qurtubi says in this regard, " since the face and hands are by habit and during worship (her salaah and her performance of hajj and Umrah) most often ordinarily displayed, it is most reasonable and befitting that what is meant by the exception to the rule mentioned in the phrase except that which ordinarily appears thereof is precisely the face and hands." The following prophetic tradition will make the matter clear.
"Aishah (R.) reported that Asmaa, her sister, entered into the presence of the Prophet (SAWS) wearing thin transparent clothing. So the Messenger (SAWS) turned away from her saying: O Asmaa' if a woman reaches the age of menstruation it is not allowed that any of her body should be seen except this and he pointed to his face and two hands." (Quoted from Al-Qurtubi's Al-Jaami fi Ahkaamil Qur'an)
The second Quranic verse that the writer discusses in regard to the topic is as follows: "O Prophet! Tell your wives and daughters and the women-folk of the Believers to draw their outer garments about themselves (when they go abroad). That is better, so that they may be recognized and not molested. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." (Surah Ahzaab; verse 59).
There remain different opinions regarding the meaning of the Quranic word of the verse mentioned above "Jalaabeeb" ("outer garments"). Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer mentions in his famous Tafseer that an outer garment is in effect the "rida'a" (a large piece of cloth; much larger than the ladies' usual headpiece). This is the view of the Companion Ibn Mas'ood and a number of Taa'been scholars like Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Qataadah, Ibraheem An-Nakha'I, Ata'a and others. In fact the purpose of the outer garment is to better cover the women's regular casual housedress which is normally not sufficient for wearing out in public.
The four famous schools of jurisprudence are basically divided into two opinions regarding the contention which part of the woman's body must be covered. The Maaliki and Hanafi are on the view that she can expose her face and hands to male strangers. On the contrary the Hanbali and the Shaafi'ee opine that a woman should cover the whole of her body including face and hands before male strangers. However, the former opinion (that of Maaliki and Hanafi) seems to be stronger according to the Hadeethes mentioned below:
In the first Hadeeth we have a proof that women used to keep their face open. Otherwise the narrator could not describe the woman as dark-cheeked. As regards the second Hadeeth, the woman's face is described as beautiful. If face were to be covered and hidden from view, the Prophet (SAWS) would not have allowed the woman to appear before him and the other men without veiling her face. (Face includes the forehead vertically down to the chin inclusive. Horizontally, it extends from ear to ear, not including them: for the ears are part of head, not the face. Thus the hair, ears, and neck are not part of face. The hands up to the wrist point not including the protruding wrist bone.)
In fact the purpose of the Sunnah is to clarify the Qur'an and so it has specified the matter of covering of the body of woman which appears ambiguous in the Qur'an.
"Finally, the fact that the vast majority of reputed scholars of this Islamic Ummah-from the earliest times up to the present-have been of the view which allows a woman to display only her face and two hands; this too is weighted evidence for its correctness and preference in regard to this issue." "The position we have taken is correctly proven balanced view, for it avoids the excessive fanaticism committed by some and the unfortunate inadequacy advocated by others. Excess is committed by those who stubbornly insist on the woman's whole body being covered, from head to toe, at all times. Inadequacy is the lot of those who claim that a woman can display more than her face and hands; e.g. the forearms, forelocks, ears, feet, etc."
Seven Conditions for the Acceptability of Hijaab: In way of conclusion the author defines some conditions to be fulfilled when pursuing Hijaab. And he is not dogmatic in the actuality of this numeration. Some may differ with him keeping the spirit of Islam intact. In fact Hijaab is a comprehensive term that implies the covering of woman's body, concealing her adornments and it also indicates the rules and etiquette that govern her behavior in relation to the opposite sex.
In the conclusion of his paper the writer mentions a Quranic verse from the Surah Al-Ahjaab where Allah says: "And let not the womenfolk appear in the manner of the times of Ignorance." It is unbecoming of the Muslims to resemble the people of darkness, disbelief, and ignorance after Allah (SWT) has taken them out of darkness, disbelief, and ignorance. So a Muslim woman should guard her modesty and conceal her private adornments from all those who are forbidden to see them. And she can achieve Allah's pleasure in this life and the eternal blissful life in the Hereafter.
by Abu Bilal Mustafa Al-Kanadi