3. Some think that Muslim women must
cover their whole body, including face
when in public. Women's dress code in
Islam is one of the most focussed upon
subjects not only in the Western media
but also in Muslim countries, yet it
remains one of the most distorted and
misunderstood.

4. Firstly, according to The Quran, the most
important rule of the dress code for both
men and women is as follows:
O children of Adam, we have provided you
with garments to cover your bodies, as well as
to adorn you. But the best garment is the
garment of piety/righteousness. These are some
of God's signs, so that they may be mindful.
[7:26]

5. The garment of righteousness/piety
could either refer to choosing a
garment that reflects this quality or
enveloping oneself in righteous/pious
conduct is best, or both.
The following verses tells women to
guard their private parts (i.e. genitalia)
and cover their chests:

6. Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their private
parts, for that is purer for them. God is fully aware of what you do.
And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their
private parts, and that they should not reveal their beauty except
what is apparent of it, and let them draw with their covers over their
chests. And let them not reveal their beauty except to their husbands,
or their fathers, or fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons
of their husbands, or their brothers, or the sons of their brothers, or
the sons of their sisters, or their women, or those committed to them
by oath, or the male servants who are without need, or the child who
has not yet understood the composition of women. And let them not
strike with their feet that reveals what they are keeping hidden of
their beauty. And repent to God, all of you believers, that you may
succeed. [24:30-31]

7. From the above verse it can be deduced
that for the purposes of women's dress
code two types of beauty are described:
1) What is apparent (this can be revealed in
public)
2) What is hidden (this type must be
covered in public, but could be revealed by
a striking of feet or walk/stride which is
revealing)

8. Such a striking of feet or walk could only reveal a limited number of
parts of the body, e.g. the private parts, buttocks, thighs, breasts, hips,
thus any part not revealed by such an action should not be considered
part of hidden beauty and therefore part of apparent beauty. Of course,
this means such things as face, hair, hands, feet etc would not clearly
fall into the category of beauty that is meant to be hidden. Furthermore,
the verse clearly brackets what beauty it is referring to by saying "...the
child who has not yet understood the composition of women" implying
it is relating to what is specific to a woman (i.e. what is different
between man and woman) nothing else. This understanding would also
fit with The Quran's instruction on the body parts that are to be
cleansed during daily ablution (hands, arms, face, head and feet), see
5:6, 4:43.

9. A headscarf (commonly called "hijab") is often worn by Muslim
women, however this word is not used like this in The Quran. In fact,
the word "hijab" is not even used to mean an item of clothing and
simply means something which intervenes between two things, e.g.
barrier, screen, seclusion. All verses where this word occurs are as
follows: 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45, 19:17, 83:15. It should also
be noted that believing men and women are free to eat in each other's
company, whether family or friends [24:61], thus a veil covering the face
(commonly called "niqab", or the full veil "burqa") would obviously be
impractical. Again, such an item of clothing is nowhere to be found in
The Quran.
Another common mistake regarding dress code is when the following
situation-specific verse is applied to all situations:

10. And those who harm the believing men and the believing
women, with no just reason, they have brought upon
themselves a slander and a gross sin. O prophet, tell your wives,
your daughters, and the wives of the believers that they shall
lengthen (or draw near) their outer-garments. Thus, they will be
recognized and avoid being harmed. God is Forgiver, Merciful.
If the hypocrites and those with disease in their hearts and those
who spread lies in the city do not refrain*, then We will let you
overpower them, then they will not be able to remain as your
neighbours except for a short while. [33:58-60]
*proving harm is already occurring, and refers back to 33:58,
which is before the modification in dress is mentioned.

11. The mistake is exposed when the practicalities of applying the above verses are
considered. The verses deal with open enmity with significant repercussions
for the perpetrators if this behaviour does not stop. The open enmity is direct to
the person, hence the need for the women to modify their outer-garment in
order to be recognised in public and not harmed. For the suggested solution in
these verses to succeed four things must be in place:
1) The open enmity or harm must be present in the community first and direct
to the women
2) The modification in outer-garment and the consequence for the perpetrator
of not abiding by this identification code must either be made known to the
community or this would have to be common knowledge amongst the
community
3) The modification recommended would be enough to differentiate one group
from another
4) The authority is in place to fight/expel those persisting in this behaviour

12. Clearly, this specific criteria has to be fulfilled for these verses to work,
thus is not a universal rule. It is situation-specific, e.g. if a section of the
community become hostile to believing women or women in general
and the believers have some power in the land, then they can utilise this
solution, effectively giving an ultimatum with no room for excuse for
the perpetrators.
These verses are commonly interpreted to mean that Muslim women
must lengthen (or draw near) their outer-garment whenever in public
even in times of peace. However, this is easily refuted by considering
that if this was the case and open enmity then appeared, the
modification suggested in these verses would already exist, thus
implementing the modification in these verses could not be done, thus
rendering the solution described in these verses as void.
However, from these verses it can be deduced that wearing of an outer-
garment by women when in public was the norm.

13. The following verse shows being clothed is the norm but
makes it clear that flexibility is allowed in certain
situations, as long as we are mindful of modesty. The
context is etiquette within the household:
And the women who are past child bearing and who
do not seek to get married have no sin upon them if
they discard their garments*, provided they do not
show off with their beauty. If they abstain, then it is
better for them. God is Hearer, Knower. [24:60]
*Arabic word is "thiyab" and refers to ordinary
clothes/gowns.

14. It should be noted that all examples of dress in The Quran of
the righteous or believing men and women involve wearing
garments, e.g. 18:31, 22:23, 24:58, 24:60, 35:33, 74:4, 76:21. Also,
to provide clothing for others is considered a charitable or
righteous act [4:5, 2:233, 5:89].
As can be seen, The Quran gives us a set of simple basic rules
with flexible guidance for the rest, which can be applied to
different situations/society/function. This flexibility is a mercy
but has unfortunately been abused by various schools of
thought and religious leaders who have issued their own
additional rulings and consequently there is disagreement
amongst them on other than the basic rules.

15. Additional notes for Arabic readers:
The word "khumur" is used in 24:31 and can be the plural of "khimaar" or
"khimirr", and can mean any cover made of cloth or headcover, according
to Classical Arabic dictionaries and Traditional Ahadith/Narrations (see Ibn
Kathir tafsir). Please note the Arabic preposition "bi" meaning "with" in
"bikhumurihinna", which means they are to cover their chests with their
"khumur/covers/headcovers". The usage of preposition "bi" is different to
the preposition "min" as used in 33:59 "min jalabeebihinna" which means to
use a part of their "jilbab/outer-garment" in the modification suggested, i.e.
not all of it has to be lowered or drawn near, just part of it. In 24:31 if God
intended that part of it (e.g. headcover) stays on the head and part of it be
used to cover the bosom, it would have been more appropriate to use "min
khumurhinna". Furthermore, the word "yadribna" as used in 24:31 has no
connotation of lengthening or lowering in any other occurrence, unlike
"yudneena" in 33:59 which does, thus would have been more appropriate to
use.