Editing Burqa (section)

=== Scriptural sources ===

Although the Quran commands both men and women to behave modestly and contains no precise prescription for how women should dress, certain Quranic verses have been used in exegetical discussions of face veiling. Coming after a verse which instructs men to lower their gaze and guard their modesty, verse 24:31 instructs women to do the same, providing additional detail:<ref name=mubarak/><ref name=siddiqui>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Siddiqui, Mona | year= 2006 | title=Veil |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|publisher=Brill| doi= 10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00103 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Tell the believing women to lower their eyes, guard their private parts ({{transliteration|ar|furuj}}), and not display their charms ({{transliteration|ar|zina}}) except what is apparent outwardly, and cover their bosoms with their veils ({{transliteration|ar|khumur}}, sing. {{transliteration|ar|khimar}}) and not to show their finery except to their husbands or their fathers or fathers-in-law [...]}}

The verse goes on to list a number of other types of exempted males. Classical Quranic commentators differed in their interpretation of the phrase "except what is apparent outwardly". Some said that it referred to face and hands, implying that these body parts need not be covered, while others disagreed.<ref name=mubarak/><ref name=siddiqui/>

Another passage, known as the "mantle verse" (33:59), has been interpreted as establishing women's security as a rationale for veiling:<ref name=siddiqui/>

{{Blockquote|O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the women of the faithful, to draw their wraps ({{transliteration|ar|jalabib}}, sing. {{transliteration|ar|jilbab}}) over them. They will thus be recognized and no harm will come to them. God is forgiving and kind.}}

Based on the context of the verse and early Islamic literature, this verse has been generally understood as establishing a way to protect the Muslim women from a hostile faction who had molested them on the streets of Medina, claiming that they confused them with slave girls.<ref name=siddiqui/><ref name=amer26-28>{{Cite book|first=Sahar |last=Amer | year=2014 | title=What Is Veiling? |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press (Kindle edition)|pages=26–28}}</ref>

A sahih hadith (authentic tradition) elaborates the circumstances under which the verse was revealed and attributes it to Umar ibn al-Khattab for taunting one of Muhammad's wives while she was walking. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:146 |title=Sahih al-Bukhari 146 - Ablutions (Wudu) |access-date=16 July 2024 }}</ref>

The exact nature of garments referred to in these verses, {{transliteration|ar|khimar}} and {{transliteration|ar|jilbab}}, has been debated by traditional and modern scholars.<ref name=siddiqui/><ref name=amer26-28/>

Islamic scholars who hold that face veiling is not obligatory also base this on a narration from one of the canonical [[hadith]] collections (sayings attributed to [[Muhammad]]), in which he tells Asma', the daughter of [[Abu Bakr]]: "O Asmaʿ, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this", pointing to her face and hands (Abū Dawūd, Book 32, Number 4092).<ref name=mubarak/> According to [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], traditional hadith scholars have not viewed this narration as providing proof on its own, because its recorded chain of transmission made them uncertain about its authenticity, but those who argued that face veiling is not required have used it as supporting evidence along other practices, such as those recording customary practice at the time of prophet Muhammad and his companions however it is argued that this because of the low resources and incapability at the time.<ref name=qaradawi/>