Pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance: In the pre-Islamic era, women wore a type of headdress tied at the back of the head. The collar of the shirt was also opened in such a way that the front of the neck and upper chest were exposed. There was nothing but a shirt to cover the chest, and the hair was left down in one or two braids. ([472])

ISLAM: O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks over themselves. That will be better, so they may be recognized and not be molested. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. ([473])

The Holy Qur’an focuses on two separate concepts regarding women’s covering: the hīmār and the jilbāb. The hīmār refers to the headscarf. Allah has also specified its manner and scope of covering. That is: Tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity; that they should not display their adornments except what is apparent thereof; that they should draw their headscarves over their necks and bosoms.[474]  According to the valid observation of the exegete Kurtubî: Before this verse was revealed, Muslim women covered their heads and necks with their headscarves, leaving their ears, throats, and chests exposed. When this 31st verse was revealed, they began to cover their heads in such a way that these areas were also covered. Thus, the word “himmar” transcended its dictionary meaning and became a technical term for headscarf as expressed in the verse. Cilbab: An outer garment larger than a headscarf, covering the important parts of the body. According to Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with them both), Rida’ means a cloak. A cloak, as is known, is a loose upper garment similar to a sheet or cape worn by women in the street, often extending from the back of the neck to the hem. Kina, on the other hand, is a large covering that covers the head and shoulders. Al-Qurtubi stated the most authentic interpretation on this matter, saying, “The cilbab is a street garment that covers the entire body except the face and hands,” thus expressing the opinion of the scholars. Our mother Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) provided the following information on this subject: “When the verse on the cilbab was revealed, may Allah have mercy on the Ansar women, they tore their futas and covered their heads with them, praying behind the Prophet (peace be upon him). In that situation, it was as if crows had settled on their heads, like ‘ .’“ In this regard, we can say that Islam, in accordance with its universal principles and within the framework of its moral rules, has completely eradicated all the bad customs and traditions of the pre-Islamic era regarding women by introducing its own unique system of covering and clothing. 

With the revelation of these rulings, the Prophet (peace be upon him) made some corrections. To ensure that not even a trace of the customs of ignorance remained, he addressed them all with great sensitivity. The author of the Tefhimu’l Kuran commentary, Abu’l-A’la Mawdudi, who compiled them with sufficient explanation, conveys these corrections as follows:

1) He prohibited other men (even if they are relatives) from secretly seeing a woman or sitting with her in the absence of her close relatives. Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do not enter the presence of women whose husbands are not at home, for Satan roams among you like blood. (Tirmidhi) Again, in a hadith narrated by Jabir, it is stated: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not enter the presence of a woman without her close relatives being present. Because in this case, the third person is Satan.” (Imam Ahmad). Imam Ahmad narrates a similar hadith from Amir ibn Rabia. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself was extremely meticulous about this matter. Once, when he was bringing his wife Safiyya home at night, two men from the Ansar passed by them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) stopped them and said, “The woman with me is my wife Safiyya.” They replied, “Glory be to Allah, O Messenger of Allah, would anyone ever doubt you?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Satan circulates in the body like blood. I was afraid he might plant an evil thought in your minds.” (Abu Dawud)

2) The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not approve of a man touching a non-mahram woman’s body. Therefore, while shaking hands with men during the pledge of allegiance, he never did so with women. Aisha says that the Prophet never touched any foreign woman. He would pledge allegiance to women verbally, and when he was done, he would say, “You may go, your pledge is complete.” (Abu Dawud)

3) He strictly forbade women from traveling without their mahrams or with non-mahrams. According to a narration from Ibn Abbas in Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said in one of his sermons: “No man may enter the presence of a woman alone unless he has a mahram with him, and no woman may travel alone unless she has a mahram with her.” A man stood up and said, “My wife is going on Hajj, but I have been ordered to join a military expedition.” The Prophet responded, “You may go on Hajj with your wife.” On the same subject, authentic hadith sources narrated by Ibn Umar, Abu Sa’id al-Hudri, and Abu Huraira state that a Muslim woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day cannot travel without a mahram. However, there are some differing narrations regarding the length and duration of the journey. Some narrations set the minimum limit of the journey at 12 miles, while others set it at one day, one day and one night, two days, or even three days. This difference does not cast doubt on the authenticity of the narrations, nor does it require us to accept one of them ( ) over the others. To reconcile the narrations, it can be said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave different instructions according to the circumstances and requirements of different situations. For example, a woman going on a three-day journey may be prohibited from traveling without a mahram, while another woman going on a one-day journey may also be prohibited in the same way. The main issue here is not giving different instructions to different people in different situations, but rather the principle, as stated in the hadith of Ibn Abbas, that a woman cannot travel without a mahram.

4) The Prophet (peace be upon him) not only prevented the free mixing of the sexes through his actions, but also verbally prohibited it. The importance of Friday and congregational prayers in Islam is well known to everyone. Friday prayer was made obligatory by Allah Himself, and the importance of praying in congregation is expressed in the following hadith: “If a person does not come to the mosque without a valid excuse and prays at home, Allah will not accept his prayer.” (Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Darqutni, Hakim, from Ibn Abbas) Nevertheless, the Prophet (peace be upon him) exempted women from Friday prayers. (Abu Dawud, Darqutni, Bayhaqi) As for whether they should attend congregational prayers, he left women free to choose and said, “If they wish to come to the mosques, do not prevent them.” However, he did not hesitate to point out that it is more virtuous for women to pray at home than in the mosque. Ibn Umar and Abu Hurayra narrated: “Do not prevent Allah’s female servants from coming to Allah’s mosques.” (Abu Dawud). Other narrations from Ibn Umar convey the same meaning: “Allow women to come to the mosques at night.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Abu Dawud). And, “Do not prevent your women from coming to the mosques, even if their homes are better for them than the mosques.” (Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud). Umm Numeyd al-Sa’idiya once said to the Prophet (peace be upon him), “O Messenger of Allah, I really want to pray behind you.” The Noble Messenger (saw) replied: “It is better for you to pray in your room than on the terrace. It is better for you to pray in your house than in the mosque near you, and it is better for you to pray in the mosque near you than in the main mosque.” (Imam Ahmad, Taberani). Abu Dawud narrates a similar report from Abdullah ibn Mas’ud. According to Umm Salama, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The best mosques for women are the innermost rooms of their homes.” (Imam Ahmad, Taberani). When Aisha saw the conditions prevailing during the Umayyad period, she said, “If the Prophet had witnessed such behavior by women, he would have certainly forbidden them from entering mosques, just as the Israelites did to their women.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud) The Prophet set aside a separate door for women to enter his mosque, and during his lifetime, Umar also issued strict orders prohibiting men from entering through this door. (Abu Dawud) It was commanded that women stand in separate rows behind men during congregational prayers. Furthermore, at the end of the prayer, the Prophet and his companions would wait for a while so that the women could leave the mosque before the men. (Imam Ahmad, Bukhari) The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “For men, the best row is the front row, and the worst is the last row (closest to the women’s row), but for women, the best row is the last row, and the worst is the front row (immediately behind the men).” (Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Imam Ahmad) Women also participated in Eid prayers. However, they were in a separate, enclosed area away from the men. After the sermon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would address them separately. (Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim). Once, the Prophet saw men and women walking side by side in a crowd and stopped the women, saying: It is not right for you to walk in the middle of the road; walk on the sides. Hearing this, the women immediately began to walk along the wall. (Abu Dawud) All these rulings show that mixed gatherings of men and women are completely contrary to the spirit of Islam. It is inconceivable that the divine law, which does not allow men and women to stand side by side for prayer in Allah’s holy houses, would allow them to freely mix in schools, offices, clubs, and other meeting places.

5) Permission was given for women to use makeup (adornment) within normal limits, and instructions were even given in this regard, but excessive makeup (adornment) was strictly forbidden. He condemned the following types of makeup and adornment, which were common among Arab women at that time, and found them destructive to society:

a) Adding artificial hair to make it appear longer and thicker,

b) Getting tattoos on various parts of the body and creating artificial moles,

c) Plucking eyebrows to achieve a certain look or removing facial hair to achieve a lighter appearance.

d) Polishing the teeth to make them thinner, or drilling artificial holes in the teeth,

e) Rubbing the face with saffron or other cosmetics to give it an artificial color and appearance.

These instructions are narrated in the Six Books and Musnad of Ahmad by reliable narrators from Aisha, Asma bint Abu Bakr, Abdullah b. Mas’ud, Abdullah b. Umar, Abdullah b. Abbas, and Emir Muawiya. After learning these clear rulings of Allah and His Messenger, two paths open up before a Muslim. Either they will apply these rulings in their daily lives and purify themselves, their families, and their society from the evils that Allah and His Messenger have detailed in such precise rulings, or, due to certain weaknesses, they will violate one or more of these rulings, at least knowing that they have committed a sin and accepting it as such, without labeling their actions as virtuous. Beyond these options, those who adopt a Western lifestyle contrary to the clear rulings of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and then insist on Islam while openly claiming that there is no such thing as covering in Islam, not only commit the sin of disobedience but also display their ignorance and hypocritical stubbornness. Such an attitude cannot be approved by anyone who thinks correctly in this world, nor can it earn the blessings of Allah in the hereafter. But come and see, there are certain hypocrites among Muslims who have gone so far in their hypocrisy that they reject the divine rulings of as untrue and believe that the lifestyles they have borrowed from non-Muslim societies are correct and based on truth. Such people are never Muslims; if they were to be considered Muslims, the words “Islam” and “non-Islam” would lose all meaning and significance. If they had changed their Muslim names and clearly stated that they had abandoned Islam, then at least we could say that they possessed civil and spiritual courage. But despite all their wrong attitudes, these people continue to present themselves as Muslims. There is probably no class of people in the world more vulgar than these. Is it not possible to expect all kinds of lies, deceit, fraud, and immorality from such people, who possess such character and morality?([476])

Nowadays:  The accepted dress code of the Jahiliyyah era is reflected in the same styles today. Hijab means to cover something or to prevent something. Although these verses in the Qur’an are known as the hijab verses, the word “tesettür,” derived from the root “setr,” is more commonly used in Turkish. Today, hijab is considered an ideological issue by some groups, but this is not the real problem. The fundamental problem is that Muslims do not know why hijab should be worn. The magnitude of the problem is proportional to the number of uninformed Muslims. As a result of those who wear or do not wear the hijab, and those who will teach or learn why it is worn, not having sufficient knowledge, the issue is not approached with Islamic awareness. Women who do not wear hijab must be won over, while those who do wear it must be made aware. The responsibility here falls primarily on the parents. After that, relevant books should be consulted for information. When the Companions learned something, they immediately shared it with their wives and children at home. This prevented the formation of a one-sided desire for paradise and made it easier and more desirable to apply the knowledge to life. For example, when verse 31 of Surah Nur was revealed, Muslim women began to wear a headscarf that completely covered their heads, chests, and backs. Hz. Aisha (r.a.) vividly describes the behavior of Muslim women in response to this ruling: When Surah Nur was revealed and the people learned its contents from Hz. Prophet (s.a.v.), they rushed home and read the verses to their wives, daughters, and sisters. The response to the verses was immediate. The women of the Ansar immediately got up and made headscarves from pieces of cloth they had on hand. The next morning, all the women who came to the Prophet’s Mosque for prayer were wearing headscarves. In another narration, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) explains that the women discarded the thin cloths and chose thick cloths for this purpose.[478]  The fact that this effect instantly turned into a response that united the masses is an indication of the women’s knowledge of the Islamic religion and their unwillingness to remain indifferent to events as a result of that knowledge. The verse describes women who live their lives in ignorance and indifference as follows.

ALLAH (c.c.) says:

Stay in your homes with dignity; do not display your adornments and beauty in the streets as in the days of old ignorance. [479]

Regarding this noble verse, the author of Asr’s Qur’anic Exegesis [480]says: “The old days of ignorance were a period of stagnation, but it should not be forgotten that ignorance appears in a different guise in every age. The prophets sent one after another have strived in almost every era and place to eliminate ignorance, abolish evil and ugly customs, and replace them with divine order and civilization. Most women of the era of ignorance were similar to one another; however, they went about in different guises. Those who had the opportunity to breathe the air of civilization of the true religion, however, always remained outside this generalization and set an example. Our exegetes have identified and summarized the unrestrained behavior of women in the era of ignorance as follows:

a) They would go out into the streets with their heads uncovered, their hair sometimes disheveled, sometimes adorned; their necks and chests half-exposed.

b) The dresses they wore had slits on both sides; when they walked, their legs and calves were visible.

c) They would walk around flirtatiously, applying perfumes, and attract men’s attention at every opportunity. As can be understood, the ignorance of the twentieth century, while not lagging behind that period in the matter mentioned, has in some places and countries manifested itself at an even more advanced stage. While Islam prohibits such behavior in public, it aims first to protect women’s honor and modesty, then to ensure their dignity and respect as mothers, to shield them from all forms of evil gaze, and to earn them respect within society. At the same time, it has aimed to keep the family home sacred, to protect it from evil eyes, to stamp the seal of trust on the veil of honor and chastity among neighbors, and to plan for the education and upbringing of strong-charactered, honest, virtuous, faithful, and moral generations in their mother’s lap and father’s home, determining all the necessary curriculum for this purpose. Undoubtedly, a woman’s longing for or succumbing to the lifestyle of the era of ignorance destroys all these aims and plans. It accelerates the proliferation of lustful addicts who do not treat each other as brothers and sisters and do not trust each other.

The word “tesettür” comes from the root “setr.” In the dictionary, it means to cover up and hide. In religion, it means that women should cover and not show the forbidden parts of their bodies to non-mahrams.

[472]  Al-Kashshaf, vol. 2, p. 9, Ibn Kathir, vol. 3, pp. 283–284

[473]  Surah Ahzab, Verse 59

[474]  Surah An-Nur, verse 31

[475]  Celal Yıldırım, Tafsir of the Quran in the Light of Knowledge, Anadolu Publications: 9/4895–4896

[476]  Tefhimu’l Quran, Mevdudi, Insan Publications, vol. 3, pp. 533–536

[477]  Mother and father

[478]  Ibn Kathir, vol. 3, p. 284

[479]  Surah Al-Ahzab, Verse 33

[480]  Author

[481]  Celal Yıldırım, The Quran Commentary of the Century in the Light of Science, Anadolu Publications: 9/4853–4854