In his article “Rights of Women and Muslim Societies”, (7 Socio-Legal Rev. 44 (2011) Asghar Ali Engineer, a prolific writer and activist categorically says that the Quran does not prescribe the hijab. He observes; “Another example is that of the veil or purdah or burqa, frequently in the news today. The Qur’an does not prescribe the hijab A veil. for women. In fact, the word hijab does not oc-cur in Qur’an for veiling the face of an ordinary Muslim woman. It was only meant for the wives of the Prophet; the Bedouin Arabs would talk freely with the Prophet’s wives after dinner, not being acquainted with the pertinent cultural norms. The Prophet did not like it and hence it was revealed that men should leave after dinner; if they talk with the wives of the Prophet, they should talk from behind the curtain, hijab. Seen in proper context, it is therefore clear that a reference has only been made to a curtain and not to a face veil. For other women, the word hijab or burqa does not occur in the Qur’an at all. The verses which are often quoted in support of veiling women with the help of hadith have, in reality, nothing to do with that practice. One verse pertains to the public display of zeenah [Adornments.] and the other to eve-teasing in the mornings when Muslim women went out for re-lieving themselves, there being no toilets at home.”
In his article “Notes and Comments: Role of Some Indian Muslim Jurists in Development and Reform of Muslim Personal Law in India”, 34 JILI (1992) 563 Mr. Furqan Ahmad, Assistant Re-search Professor, Indian Law Institute quotes Maulana Mohammad Shibli Nomani, Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj as follows;
”Maulana was in favour of purdah but he was not as rigid as his contemporary Hanafi scholars. He suggested that the problems should be taken into account in the background of the in-junctions to purdah. According to him, the main objective of purdah is to save the society from corruption and if it is certain that unveiling would not adversely affect the society and the peaceful norms of the state will in no way be disturbed by the presence of male and fe-male at the same place, purdah is not imperative. He explains the concept of purdah as: One, to hide satar and the other to practice hijab (to cover one’s face). Maulana goes into the de-tails of satar by stating that looking at the whole body of a man is permissible for a man ex-cept the region from navel to knee and the same applies to one woman vis-avis another. A man is entitled to look at the whole body of his wife. He is also permitted to see the body of those women who come under prohibited relationship, but only face, head, breast, calves, and both arms. However, it is to be done without any sexual desire or intention. The back and belly are not allowed to be looked at. Only the face and palms of a strange woman can be looked at but without sexual overtones and if there is fear of sexual attraction, then such an exposure is prohibited unless expressly allowed in Sharia due to dire need. Judges and witnesses are allowed to look at the face for giving judgment and evidence respectively. The doctor is similarly allowed to look at the locations of disease. These professionals are allowed even if there is a danger of sexual attraction. Maulana, after quoting various sources of Islamic jurisprudence, summarised his verdict re-lating to purdah as follows: Thus the details show that ‘satar’ is mandatory. The other thing i.e. hijab (veil) which is gen-erally prevalent today in the dignified families is that a woman shows no part of her body to stranger. This was imperative for the consorts of Prophet but not compulsorily enforced for other Muslim women”
Daksha Legal 