written by: Sheila Quinn
There is a great deal of confusion amongst Muslims about Hijab.
Is hijab obligatory? Yes, it is... there is an authentic hadeeth (saying)of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in which he says for women to cover everything except this and this and he pointed to the face and hands. This is proof that hijab is, indeed, obligatory. At the same time, if defines the minimum requirements of hijab... everything except the face and hands.
There are those who say that it includes everything... including the face and the hands. Yet, in the aya that they mention Allah says..."you who believe". He is talking about Mumineen, NOT Muslimeen. There is a difference between the two. I am not the one who is saying this. Allah, Himself, says it in The Qur'an.
Therefore, any Muslim woman who does not wear hijab- according to the above definition of hijab-is making a sin every time she leaves her home.
As for niqab, it is NOT obligatory. Yet, it is a part of Islam. Many of the women companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wore niqab. At the same time niqab is not obligatory... both the fact that some women companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not wear the niqab, plus the evidence of the hadeeth that I mentioned earlier supports the position that it is not obligatory.
Many things can be part of The Islamic Faith, and still not be obligatory. There is much flexibility within Islam. Yes, some things in Islam are black and white. But there are many things which are: green, blue, purple, yellow, and orange. There are many things which are neither obligatory nor haram. In Islam, and in Islamic Law, there is also: that which is disapproved of; that which is encouraged and that which is neutral.
When a Muslim woman wears hijab she is not only encouraging others to respect her as a human being who thinks and feels (not just a body); she is also identifying herself as a Muslim, as such she is showing pride in her identity as a Muslim.
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