New Delhi, Feb 12: The Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, and also regarded as the Father of the Indian Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar was very critical of the Islamic veil. This is what Dr Ambedkar had written in a chapter of the book titled ‘Social Stagnation’, and is quoted here: “Indeed, the Muslims have all the social evils of the Hindus and something more. That something more is the compulsory system of purdah for Muslim women. These burka women walking in the streets is one of the most hideous sights one can witness in India.”
He further writes that “They lag behind their sisters from other communities, cannot take part in any outdoor activity and are weighed down by a slavish mentality and an inferiority complex. They have no desire for knowledge, because they are taught not to be interested in anything outside the four walls of the house. Purdah women in particular become helpless, timid, and unfit for any fight in life. Considering the large number of purdah women among Muslims in India, one can easily understand the vastness and seriousness of the problem of purdah.”
It is a problem then to understand the relevance of the debate today, when the hijab is, as the proponents for right to wear hijab advocate, is a tool for emancipation of the Muslim women. More so, when this purported ‘fundamental’ religious right of self-expression and identity is now put to test on the anvil of the Constitution of India, and the arena where it is being played out is at the sanctuaries of judicial wisdom.
The hijab is an integral part of the Islamic way for womankind and has been laid down in the ‘Surahs’ of the Quran as well as ‘hadiths’. In Chapter 24 known as “The Light” in verse 31 in Holy Quran, the Command is as follows:
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands’ fathers, or their sons or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers or their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women’s nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, so that ye may succeed.”
In the original text in Arabic, the veil is referred to as a ‘Khumur’. In ‘the Islamic digest of Aqeedah and Fiqh’ by Mahmoud Rida Murad, ‘Khumur’ is mentioned as follows:
“Khumur, or head cover, is the cloth which covers all of the hair on the head, while the work, ‘juyoob’ (pl. of jaib) means not only the bosom, as commonly thought, but it includes the neck too.”
In one of the Hadidhs (words of Prophet Mohammed), explaining the Quranic verses to his sister-in-law ‘Asma’, is as follows:
“O Asma! It is not correct for a woman to show her parts other than her hands and face to strangers after she begins to have menstruation.” [Reported by Abudawud ref: hadith no 4092 kitab al libas (book of clothing Sunan Abu Dawud)
So yes, as illustrated from above, it is an Islamic practice and it is ordained by the Quran and various Islamic texts, as imperative on womankind who are believers.
That the hijab is the line between the sexes and is to be honored at all costs, in public and private life.
But then we are in the 21st Century, and if we are to take any cues from the Christian Calendar, the hijab has been in practice amongst followers of Islam for more than a millennium and a half.
And when the Qu’ran is weighed with the Constitution of India, and the idea of an India, much less the idea of an ‘Indian nation’, which is less than a century old, it is bound to ruffle more than a few feathers in the hornet’s nest.
So not only is the exercise an attempt to ‘harmonize’ and arrive at ‘gospel’ truth a challenge in itself but, it is a daunting task commensurate with the lives of real people in a fledgling nation-state.
The present series of public grievance can be traced to a pre-university college in the Udupi district, Karnataka when some Muslim women were not allowed to enter with their hijab on. (PTI)
