Natural Instinct and Hijab
Question:
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is very right to have pointed out that covering the heads and faces are not specifically mentioned in Quran. But so isn't the rest of the body. Mr. Ghamidi has built his explanations on a very simple ayat of surah rum verse 30 that the basic instinctive nature of humans is also a source of knowledge that we were born with. He also explains his narrations on the basis of " tawatur" , continuity of an act for us to believe in and practice it comfortably.
Now, if we look around , and take a deep look into the practices of almost every single faith, we find a common continuity of all women covering their heads and their bodies fully, either going to churches, temples , Ganges, gurdwaras. No doubt, face covering is something we don't, and it is also debatable among Muslim scholars.
It might not be very easy for a man to tell from his instincts how the head covering impacts him, but , try asking a women , any women , Muslim or non Muslim alike, exactly what they feel in terms of tranquility when they do it , especially when they are standing in the presence of the God they believe in.
The same goes true in regards to general segregation. One just needs to take a look at the playground of a primary school. With no one telling these young girls and boys , who get automatically grouped up with their own gender, depicts an amazing picture of our nature at its purest level.
Answer:
I share my views with your through in five points:
1. Please do consider that when you apply the argument of natural instinct to covering hair, basically you are saying that covering hair is not part of the shari'ah. This is the very statement that my previous answers were arguing for.
2. Natural instinct is certainly a God given guidance for the human being. However the difference that this has with shari'ah is that while every item in the shari'ah is to be followed as a religious directive, not all natural instincts imply religious obligation. For example, one may argue that men having beard has been a natural instinct. This however does not lead to the conclusion that growing beard is an obligation. It would only lead to this conclusion if we can prove that:
a. This natural instinct was due to a reason that is also valued by religion
b. That this reason is still valid at our time
None of the above can be said about beard, just as none of the above can be said about covering head. Yes, in many societies men and women would cover their head. However we do not have any evidences to prove that this was due to a reason that had a religious value (e.g. moral issues). We know that many of the women who would wear head cover when being out, would remove it when they were inside their house, even if there were strangers in the house. Covering head in the history of human being seems to be more of a social status and fashion rather than a moral issue. Please read this interesting short writing by Pauline Weston Thomas about the history of hat: Fashion History of Hats.
Same argument goes for men and women sitting separate. Again, we do not have any reason to believe that this was due to a concept that is valued by religion. Naturally people like to sit with those who share common interests with them and it is obvious that in many societies the interests of men and women are not exactly the same. Again, we cannot conclude from this that sitting separately is a religious obligation.
3. You wrote covering other parts of the body have not been mentioned in the Qur'an either. This is where the argument of natural instinct actually works. By nature, with few exceptions, all societies have always been protective of their private parts and areas close to their private parts and the reason was not fashion, but in fact morality. Morality is a religious value. Even today, when some men or women do not cover themselves properly this is often considered by more modest people as not very inline with morals. When the Qur'an says protect your private part and cover your bosom, it is not adding any new concept to the life of the human beings. It actually reminds the human beings of the same concept that they normally used to observe (haya and modesty).
4. I do agree that in Abrahamic religions there is a culture of covering head, in particular for women, and that this was done due to religious observations. This is why I have written before that wearing hijab is a commendable act that can help with purification and was always a religious culture in Abrahamic religions. However, for a religious culture to become a religious obligation we would require explicit directives of the shari'ah.
5. You pointed out that wearing hijab will cause any woman to feel tranquility. First, I suggest without a proper scientific survey we should not generalise statements like this. I can assure you that there are many women who may not feel the same. I do agree that if a woman wears hijab as a religious measure then she may feel much more tranquility (note I am not saying that this is true in every case, I am only appreciating that for some women this may be true). Again, this is exactly why I have written that wearing hijab is a very good thing and is recommended. Many men also feel tranquility when they wear long white Abayas. However neither of these feelings mean that wearing those clothes (hijab for women or abaya for men) is a religious obligation. Staying for a long time in prostration also gives feeling of tranquility to many, but can we then argue that therefore it is an obligation?
I would like to reiterate here that I am in no way discouraging women from wearing hijab. Quite contrary I have stated before and state again that wearing hijab is a very good act and can help with purification, and therefore it is highly recommended. However, as a student of Islam, when I am asked whether wearing hijab is an obligation by shari'ah, I cannot say yes, when I do not see any reliable and determining evidences for this in the shari'ah and am convinced by the work of some great scholars (not only Javed ahmad Ghamidi) who argue otherwise.
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Related Topics:
- Implication of the Word Khimar for HIjab
- Implication of the Word Khimar for Hijab (Follow Up: Ears)
- Hijab (Follow Up: Verse 33:59)
- Hijab (Follow Up - Dyeing Hair)
- Hijab (Follow Up: While Praying)
- Follow Up: Why 'What Appears Thereof' does Not Include Head (hair)
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June 2015
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is very right to have pointed out that covering the heads and faces are not specifically mentioned in Quran. But so isn't the rest of the body. Mr. Ghamidi has built his explanations on a very simple ayat of surah rum verse 30 that the basic instinctive nature of humans is also a source of knowledge that we were born with. He also explains his narrations on the basis of " tawatur" , continuity of an act for us to believe in and practice it comfortably.
Now, if we look around , and take a deep look into the practices of almost every single faith, we find a common continuity of all women covering their heads and their bodies fully, either going to churches, temples , Ganges, gurdwaras. No doubt, face covering is something we don't, and it is also debatable among Muslim scholars.
It might not be very easy for a man to tell from his instincts how the head covering impacts him, but , try asking a women , any women , Muslim or non Muslim alike, exactly what they feel in terms of tranquility when they do it , especially when they are standing in the presence of the God they believe in.
The same goes true in regards to general segregation. One just needs to take a look at the playground of a primary school. With no one telling these young girls and boys , who get automatically grouped up with their own gender, depicts an amazing picture of our nature at its purest level.
Answer:
I share my views with your through in five points:
1. Please do consider that when you apply the argument of natural instinct to covering hair, basically you are saying that covering hair is not part of the shari'ah. This is the very statement that my previous answers were arguing for.
2. Natural instinct is certainly a God given guidance for the human being. However the difference that this has with shari'ah is that while every item in the shari'ah is to be followed as a religious directive, not all natural instincts imply religious obligation. For example, one may argue that men having beard has been a natural instinct. This however does not lead to the conclusion that growing beard is an obligation. It would only lead to this conclusion if we can prove that:
a. This natural instinct was due to a reason that is also valued by religion
b. That this reason is still valid at our time
None of the above can be said about beard, just as none of the above can be said about covering head. Yes, in many societies men and women would cover their head. However we do not have any evidences to prove that this was due to a reason that had a religious value (e.g. moral issues). We know that many of the women who would wear head cover when being out, would remove it when they were inside their house, even if there were strangers in the house. Covering head in the history of human being seems to be more of a social status and fashion rather than a moral issue. Please read this interesting short writing by Pauline Weston Thomas about the history of hat: Fashion History of Hats.
Same argument goes for men and women sitting separate. Again, we do not have any reason to believe that this was due to a concept that is valued by religion. Naturally people like to sit with those who share common interests with them and it is obvious that in many societies the interests of men and women are not exactly the same. Again, we cannot conclude from this that sitting separately is a religious obligation.
3. You wrote covering other parts of the body have not been mentioned in the Qur'an either. This is where the argument of natural instinct actually works. By nature, with few exceptions, all societies have always been protective of their private parts and areas close to their private parts and the reason was not fashion, but in fact morality. Morality is a religious value. Even today, when some men or women do not cover themselves properly this is often considered by more modest people as not very inline with morals. When the Qur'an says protect your private part and cover your bosom, it is not adding any new concept to the life of the human beings. It actually reminds the human beings of the same concept that they normally used to observe (haya and modesty).
4. I do agree that in Abrahamic religions there is a culture of covering head, in particular for women, and that this was done due to religious observations. This is why I have written before that wearing hijab is a commendable act that can help with purification and was always a religious culture in Abrahamic religions. However, for a religious culture to become a religious obligation we would require explicit directives of the shari'ah.
5. You pointed out that wearing hijab will cause any woman to feel tranquility. First, I suggest without a proper scientific survey we should not generalise statements like this. I can assure you that there are many women who may not feel the same. I do agree that if a woman wears hijab as a religious measure then she may feel much more tranquility (note I am not saying that this is true in every case, I am only appreciating that for some women this may be true). Again, this is exactly why I have written that wearing hijab is a very good thing and is recommended. Many men also feel tranquility when they wear long white Abayas. However neither of these feelings mean that wearing those clothes (hijab for women or abaya for men) is a religious obligation. Staying for a long time in prostration also gives feeling of tranquility to many, but can we then argue that therefore it is an obligation?
I would like to reiterate here that I am in no way discouraging women from wearing hijab. Quite contrary I have stated before and state again that wearing hijab is a very good act and can help with purification, and therefore it is highly recommended. However, as a student of Islam, when I am asked whether wearing hijab is an obligation by shari'ah, I cannot say yes, when I do not see any reliable and determining evidences for this in the shari'ah and am convinced by the work of some great scholars (not only Javed ahmad Ghamidi) who argue otherwise.
-------
Related Topics:
- Implication of the Word Khimar for HIjab
- Implication of the Word Khimar for Hijab (Follow Up: Ears)
- Hijab (Follow Up: Verse 33:59)
- Hijab (Follow Up - Dyeing Hair)
- Hijab (Follow Up: While Praying)
- Follow Up: Why 'What Appears Thereof' does Not Include Head (hair)
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June 2015
