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In
Arabic there are many words to describe a single
object, each with a slight difference in connotation
and it is significant to note which word has been
used.
The word used
in 24:31 is KHUMUR, which is a plural of KHIMAAR. Khimaar is
from the root KH-M-R which signifies “to cover, conceal or
veil”. The word KHIMAAR itself is a noun which could mean
“something that is used to cover something”. But, is KHIMAAR
anything that is used to cover anything or it is a
particular type of “cover or veil”? KHAMAR is something that
covers the intellect. If khamar, although from the same root
kh-m-r (which means to cover or conceal) is a particular
type of “cover or veil” (that covers the intellect), does
khimaar refer to any general “cover or veil” or it is
a specific type of veil?
There are at
least 5 other roots, of which I am aware of, that may also
signify “to cover, or conceal”.
i. The root
gh-t-w which signifies
-
To cover
-
To wrap
-
To conceal
GHITA
means “a cover, a covering, a wrapper, or a lid or a thing
with which something is covered or concealed”.
ii. The root
gh-f-r which signifies
Mighfar
= helmet
Ghifara
= kerchief for covering the head; head-cloth
Ghufra
= cover or lid
iii. The root
gh-sh-w which signifies
Ghashwa
or ghishawa = a cover, a covering, a veil or wrapper
iv. The root
s-t-r which signifies
-
To cover
-
To conceal
-
To hide
Sitr
= veil, screen, curtain, drape, a cover or a covering
v. The root
h-j-b which may also signify
-
To
preclude
-
To veil
-
To conceal
-
To hide
Hijab
= a cover, curtain, veil, screen, partition, bar etc.
Arabic is such
a rich language that I am sure that there may be many other
roots that may also signify “to cover or to conceal”, of
course, with different connotation.
The fact that
in 24:31, the root kh-m-r appears instead of any other root,
may be significant.
As given
above, there are at least 6 words that can be used to mean
“a cover or a covering or a veil”, viz. Hijaab, Sitr,
ghishawa, ghufra, ghita and khimaar. Obviously these all 6
words have slightly different connotation from one another.
The following
10 dictionaries agree that KHIMAAR means a piece of cloth
with which a woman covers her head:
1. Lisaan-al-Arab
by Ibn-e-Manzoor
2.
Taaj-el-uroos
3.
Lataif-ul-Lughat
4.
Lughat-ul-Quran by Parvez
5. Dictionary
of the holy Quran by Omar
6. A
dictionary and glossary of the Quran by John Penrice
7. Almufradat
by Raghib
8. Hans Wehrs
dictionary of Modern written Arabic
9. Lane’s
Lexicon
10. Al-Qamoos-ul
muheet (while describing the meanings of ghifara)
Al-Qamoos
while describing the meanings of KHIMAAR says that
“everything that is used to cover or conceal a thing is its
khimaar”. However, the same Al-Qamoos while describing the
meanings of ghifara says, ghifara is something worn on the
head by women before wearing khimaar on the head so that
ghifara protects the khimaar worn on the head from hair oil
etc.
According to
the above, there is overwhelming evidence that KHIMAAR was a
piece of cloth that Arab women used to wear at the time of
revelation of the Quran.
In 24:31,
there is a phrase,
“walyadribna
bikhumurihinna AAala juyoobihinna”, which means
Women should
put their KHUMUR on their JUYOOB
In the above
phrase the words THEIR khumur implies that khimaar
was something that women already used to have to cover some
part of their body. The use of word THEIR (the possessive
ending “HiNNA” in the word bikhumurihinna) indicates this.
As the evidence given above indicate that, that part of body
was the HEAD.
Now the real
question is this:
Whether “Women
should put their KHUMUR on their JUYOOB” means to put
khimaar on the juyoob INSTEAD OF head or IN
ADDITION TO head?
The thing which is clear is this: Quran nowhere explicitely
enjoins the covering of the head.
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