The Faithful Women to Lower their Gazes

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

What is the meaning of Surah an-Nur ayah 31?

The Arabic text of this ayah is:

Bismillah ir Rahman ur Rahim

Wa qul li al-mu'minat yaghdudna min absarihinna wa yahfazna furujahunna wa laa yubdina zenatahunna illa maa zahara min haa wal-yadribna bi khumurihinna ala juyubihinna; wa laa yubdina zenatahunna illa li bu'ulatihinna aw aba'ihinna aw aba'i bu'ulatihinna aw abna'ihinna aw abna'i bu'ulatihinna aw ikhwanihinna aw bani ikhwanihinna aw bani akhawatihinna aw nisa'ihinna aw maa malakat aymanu hunna aw at-tabi'ina ghayri ulu'l-irbat min ar-rijal aw at-tifl alladhina lam yazharu ala awrat an-nisa wa laa yadribna bi arjulihinna li yu'lama maa yukhfina min zenatahinna. Wa tubu ilaAllahi jami'an, ayyuha al-mu'minun la'allakum tuflihun

A translation of this is:

And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their private parts, and not to display their adornment except what is apparent of it, and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs), and not to display their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful

As we can see, this ayah contains six commands for the Muslim sister::

1) Lower the gaze.
2) Guard the private parts.
3) Not display the adornment "except what is apparent of it".
4) Draw the khimar to cover the jayb.
5) Not display the adornment except to the people listed in the ayah.
6) Not stamp the feet so as to give knowledge of hidden adornment.

Keeping this in mind, here are some definitions of the khimar and what it means in classical Arabic:

Imam Abu'l-Fida ibn Kathir: "Khumur is the plural of khimar which means something that covers, and is what is used to cover the head. This is what is known among the people as a khimar."

The dictionary of classical Arabic, Aqrab al-Mawarid: "[The word khimar refers to] all such pieces of cloth which are used to cover the head. It is a piece of cloth which is used by a woman to cover her head."

Shaykh Muhammad al-Munajjid on Islam Q&A: "Khimaar comes from the word khamr, the root meaning of which is to cover. For example, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: Khammiru aaniyatakum (cover your vessels). Everything that covers something else is called its khimaar. But in common usage khimaar has come to be used as a name for the garment with which a woman covers her head; in some cases this does not go against the linguistic meaning of khimaar. Some of the fuqahaa’ have defined it as that which covers the head, the temples and the neck. The difference between the hijaab and the khimaar is that the hijaab is something which covers all of a womans body, whilst the khimaar in general is something with which a woman covers her head."

Shaykh Muhammad Nasiruddin Albani: "The word khimaar linguistically means only a head covering. Whenever it is mentioned in general terms, this is what is intended."


now to perfectly understand this ayah yo have to know your history, this is why some women they wear the veil on their face also.... the women at the time were already wear khimaar, which resulted in their hair already being covered, so Allah (swt) in this ayah had no need to tell the women to do something they were already actively doing, so He (swt) command they cover their chests with the same veil as their chests were not at that time covered. (they were more like the women of today who show their cleveage). There was simply no need to tell people to do something they were already doing, and to make sure that people in future generations understand this, he made sure to point out in this ayah that the covering of the hair was something done, and something acceptable, by telling us not to stop wearing the khimaar, but only extend what was already being covered with the khimaar, to include the chest. also, this was not a command made in an isirshadi (advisory) manner but one that is mawlawi in nature, thus making it obligatory follow.....
the only thing that is not obligatory is the wearing of a face veil, this command was not perfectly clear therefore, not obligatory upon a believing woman to follow. Everything else however, is entirely clear and something that was given as mawlani in nature, this makes it wajib. Those who try to shed doubt on this ayah are simply trying to twist the plain words of the quran to suit their own desires, rather than seeking in truth to follow the commands of Allah (swt). The truth in their arguments is concerning niqaab, and they can and have effectively proven that it is not wajib to wear the niqaab, but this is not case concerning hijab. they have yet to prove, and will always be unable to prove, that the hijab is not wajib.



And Surah 33... Al-Ahzab::



"O Prophet! Say to your wives and daughters and the believing women that they draw their outer garments (jilbab) close to them; so it is more proper that they may be known and not hurt. God is All forgiving, All-compassionate. Now, if the hypocrites do not give over and those in whose hearts there is a sickness and they make commotion in the city, We shall assuredly set you against them and then they will be your neighbors there only for a little while." (33:59-60)

The jilbab is a cloth that is one piece (similar to a sheet) that wraps around the entire body and effectively covers a woman from her head to her feet.... for a description of what this is the closest thing we have to this in the modern society is the Iranian chador.... if you google it you can find a picture of one.

so. form reading these two ayat in the quran we can conclude that it is obligatory to wear both the khimaar and the jilbab when we leave our homes.

there are two points which need to be considered,,,,,,, yes we do believe that reliigon needs to be interpreted for the time in which we live and is not necessarily set in stone as different things can and will come up in religion, such as laws on genetic research etc which the quran did not discuss but is something that is a factor in todays day.....so we do to a certain extent reinterpret the quran when it comes up against issues of today. however, there are certain things that, if we reinterpreted them, we would in effect, be simply doing something to make peopel of other religions happy, rather than our Creator. Some laws dont change, such as the requirement for hijab. which according to the quran is head covering and body covering which adequately covers.

now, as i have previously mentioned, the quran specifically states, 'and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs),' now, if the khimar was not a requirement, then it would simply have stated [for women] 'to cover their bosoms (jaybs)' but it did not. it said the entire sentence. I am sure you know the quran is not a book that wastes words and everything in it is said with much precision, any study of the quran will show you that it is not a book of hadith (unlike the christian bible etc) but much more than this. So we know form careful study, no word is an accident.


In conclusion, the quran then, did not simply mention a style which is currently outdated and no longer applicable for today....but that a headcovering is in fact wajib and part of hijab, to overlook this, or to say it is not a requirement of the hijab, is simply ignoring the quran, and reinterpreting it to fit the western ideal. Which, as a muslim, we should never do.


another effective source form knowing whether or not this practice is done and whether or not it was mandatory in the time of the Prophet (saww) was to look at how those closest to him interpreted these ayat. How did his wifes dress? how did his daughter dress? how did his stepdaughters dress? how did the wives of his companions dress? form looking at authentic ahadeeth all of these women had the same interpretation of the commands in the quran, that this was wajib. All the women who were near to the prophet (saww) in any way, even the wives of his companions... all covered everything I have mentioned above and then more..... we even find hadeeth where Sayeeda Fatima Al-Zahra (sa) covered her entire body including her face and hands for a blind man!


When you read about Sayeeda Fatima Al-Zahra (sa) no doubt you will fall in love with the whole concept of Hijab!