I was enthusiastic to know whether a hijab or veil was compulsory in Islam or if it was one’s choice to wear it. So I just randomly asked one of my closest Muslim friends why she doesn’t wear a veil? She said it was her personal choice, and let me tell you, she is very religious.
Then I turned to my mother and my sister and asked them why they didn’t carry a hijab or veil. My mother told me that as far as she knew, a veil or burqa was not compulsory because even when a woman performs umrah, she is asked to cover only her head and her bosoms.
Then to understand this more clearly, I was enthusiastic to know of a certain man’s views on this (I won’t name that person because people generally misinterpret their thoughts). I just called his son to ask his views and he told me to read a book written by his father.
Then to clear my thoughts, I took a book out of my library, “Text and context Quran And Contemporary Challenges” and I went through an article which was on page 203 “Can veil alone guard modesty?”.
In that article, the writer has taken many examples from the Quran. The first example mentioned is that of the first wife of the Holy Prophet, H Khadija. She was one of the top business leaders of Mekkah and she had also been credited as the first person to have believed in His Apostleship.
Another example given is that women in Madina were allowed to engage in public meetings and were allowed to go to the markets. “God has permitted you to go out to attend to your needs” (Bukhari).
Women were allowed to run nursing centres to look after the patients and the first woman to have a nursing home near the mosque of the Prophet was Rufaydah Al-Aslamyah. In this centre, she nursed and looked after those who were injured in the battle (Bukhari).
One of the striking features about women of Medina during the time of the Prophet is their participation in defence services.
At the time of the Battle of Uhud, Anas reported, “I saw Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr, and Umm Sulaim both lifting their dresses up so that I was able to see the ornaments of their legs, and they were carrying the water skins on their arms to pour the water into the mouths of the thirsty people and then go back and fill them and come to pour the water into the mouths of the people again.” (Bukhari 5.156)
Umm Ayman is mentioned as one of the heroines of the battle of Uhud. In addition to this, several other names like Asma bint Yazid, Umm Haram and Khawla bint Al-Azwar figure prominently as active participants in military actions. In the battle of Ramala, the Muslim force consisting of women gave a crushing defeat to the Byzantine army.
Now, one can imagine that these women who undoubtedly followed the Quranic injunctions to guard their modesty were not practising a dress code that would create obstructions in carrying out their duties? Can one conceive a woman soldier wearing a veil fighting the enemy with a weapon like a sword?
It is clear from the above cases that for early Muslim women, the Hijab meant a decent and dignified dress and behaviour. They did not confuse it with a veil.
It is one’s choice to wear a veil or not and women must be allowed to dress as they want.
People who are protesting in Karnataka are not completely wrong because it is their choice to wear a veil. And to my knowledge, if educational or other institutions ask one not to wear a hijab, it is against the spirit of freedom and democracy.