著者

高尾賢一郎 後藤絵美 小柳敦史編

出版者

岩波書店

巻号頁・発行日

2021

著者

後藤 絵美

出版者

日本中東学会

雑誌

日本中東学会年報 (ISSN:09137858)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.19, no.1, pp.125-151, 2003-09-30 (Released:2018-03-30)

---

After the media coverage of Afghan "Burqa" and recent revival of the dispute over "Scarves" in Europe, the Muslim woman's veil has been attracting a great deal of public attention. Extensive literature exists on this topic, but little has been done for understanding the basis of the debate-the Qur'an and its interpretation by Muslims. Therefore, as the first step to understand the meanings of the veiling of women in the Islamic cultural context, three relevant passages from Qur'anic Revelation are examined in this paper. Analysis of these passages with a number of hadith clarifies that the veil was, at first, adopted by Islamic society to distinguish free women from slaves, and to protect their safety (33:59). The "Revelation of Hijab" (33:53) which descended to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, also secured and distinguished their status. Then 31 of Sura al-Nur (24) had come, as follows: "And tell the female believers that they restrain their eyes and guard their private parts, and not display of their adornment (zina) except for what is apparent (ma zahara min ha) and draw their veils (khimar) over their bosoms…" The words contained in this passage, such as "adornment" and "what is apparent," are very obscure. To decide the limits or the extent of the coverage, religious scholars and jurists had to interpret this passage, and because there was no solid hadith on this part, the meanings changed over time. At first, face and hands could be exposed, but around the 13th century, some scholars interpreted that those parts of the body should be covered if there were "a fear of fitna". Fitna is a temptation, a disorder of mind and society. This idea led to the severe restrictions on women showing their faces and hands; the restrictions sometimes extended to barring women from leaving their homes. This tendency is seen not only in the religious literature but also in other historic or literary sources from 10th to 16th century. Even today, the word "fitna" is used in religious literature. For example, the Taliban mandated the "Burqa" because of this fear of fitna. The fitna is one of the many reasons for the tradition of veiling Muslim women, past and present.