زِينَتَ

17:28; 25:68.

Commentary:

The adornment mentioned in the verse may either be physical or spiritual. Taking it in the physical sense, the verse enjoins believers to go to a place of worship, as far as possible, in a clean and decent dress, free from physical impurities and evil smell. The Holy Prophet is reported to have forbidden Muslims to go to a mosque after having eaten onions, garlic, etc., as the bad smell of these things causes discomfort to others. He is also reported to have enjoined the Faithful to take frequent baths, especially before the great congregational Prayer on Friday. Taken in the spiritual sense, the verse would mean that Prayers should be offered with a pure and sincere heart free from distracting thoughts.

The latter part of the verse embodies a basic commandment about eating and drinking. It has been joined to the commandment relating to "adornment at a place of worship", firstly because clothing and eating are allied subjects, and secondly to indicate that while issuing a commandment about Prayers, which is a spiritual matter, Islam does not overlook man’s physical requirements.

The words, exceed not the bounds, signify: (1) that one should not over-eat oneself and (2) that one should not always use the same kind of food, but should vary it from time to time. Animal foods, vegetables, fruits, etc. should all be eaten in proper quantity and proper proportion. In this connection see The Teachings of Islam by Ahmad, the Promised Messiah.

2:201; 17:19.

Commentary:

It is clear from this verse that those who desire the present life and its riches and strive after it get their full share of it. No one is deprived of what he strives after. The worldly prosperity and material advancement of Christian nations is sometimes adduced as an evidence of the truth of Christianity. This verse exposes the falsity of this inference. The attainment of worldly prosperity is no proof of the fact that one is following the right religion, for God has appointed laws for every kind of progress and anyone who observes the laws appointed for the material progress of man can attain worldly felicity. The mere attainment of worldly prosperity, unless it is attended by other clear signs, is therefore no proof of godliness. It must, however, be remembered that in this life one gets the reward of only those deeds which one does purely for this world. It is to this important point that the words, their works in this life, refer.

The expression, they shall not be wronged therein, means that disbelievers will not be deprived of the rewards of their work in this life, simply for refusing to believe in God’s Messengers. Disbelievers are not punished in this life for mere disbelief or mere denial of truth for which punishment is reserved in the next life. In this world they are only punished when they make mischief and create disorder and persecute believers.

Important Words:

خمرھن (their head-coverings). خمر is the plural of خمار which is derived from خمر which means, he veiled, covered or concealed a thing. خمار means, a woman’s muffler or veil with which she covers her head and the lower part of the face leaving exposed only the eyes and part of the nose; a woman’s head-covering; a piece of cloth with which a woman covers her head; also a man’s turban (Lane & Aqrab).

جیوبھن (their bosoms). جیوب is the plural of جیب which is derived from جاب. They say جابه i.e. he made a hole in it; he rent it or tore it; he pierced or bored it; he cut it. جاب القمیص means, he hollowed out the جیب of the shirt, he cut the جیب of the shirt or he made a جیب in the shirt. جیب means, the opening at the neck and bosom of a shirt and the like; a pocket; the heart; the bosom (Lane & Aqrab).

إربة (sexual appetite) is derived from أرب (aruba), or أرب (ariba). The former means he was or became cunning, intelligent, sagacious or excellent in judgement and the latter, i.e. ariba, means, he wanted it, he was or became in want of it and sought it or desired it. إربة and إرب (irbun) and أرب (arabun) mean the same thing, viz. cunning, intelligence, excellence of judgement, sagacity; want of need. About the Holy Prophet it is said in a hadith کان أملککم لاربه i.e. he had the greatest control over his want, desire or sexual desire (Bukhari). The Quranic words غیر اولی الاربه mean, idiots, or persons deficient in intellect or such men as have no need of women; or have no sexual desire (Lane & Mufradat).

عورات (private parts or nakedness) is the plural of عورة which is derived from عور which means, he was or became blind in one eye. عورة means, the pendulum or pudenda of a man and of a woman; the part or parts of a person which are indecent to expose; parts between the navel and the knee; anything that a man veils or conceals by reason of disdainful pride or of shame or prudency; anything of which one is ashamed when it appears; a woman; any place of concealment; a gap, an opening or a breach in the frontier of hostile country, or in war from which one fears slaughter; cleft or fissure; disgrace or disfigurement; blindness of one eye (Lane & Aqrab).

نسائھن (their women) signifies known or familiar decent women.

Commentary:

As a good deal of misunderstanding and lack of proper knowledge as to what constitutes Islamic "purdah" prevails even among Muslims, a somewhat detailed note on this much-vexed question is called for. Here are the relevant Quranic verses that embody necessary commandments about "purdah":

(i) O Prophet, tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers that they should let down over them their loose outer garments. It is more likely that they will thus be distinguished and not molested (33:60).

The Arabic word used in this verse is جلابیب of which the singular is جلباب meaning, an outer or wrapping garment; a head-covering; the garment with which a woman covers her head and bosom.

(ii) And say to the believing women that they restrain their eyes and guard their private parts and that they disclose not their natural and artificial beauty except that which is apparent thereof, and that they cast their head-coverings over their bosoms, and that they disclose not their beauty…(24:32 i.e. the verse under comment.)

(iii) O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women if you are righteous. So be not soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease should feel tempted; and speak a decent speech. And stay in your houses with dignity and do not show off yourselves like the showing off of the former days of ignorance (33:33-34).

(iv) O ye who believe, let those whom your right hands possess, and those of you who have not attained to puberty, ask permission of you three times before coming into your presence: before the morning Prayer, and when you take off clothes at noon in summer and after the night Prayer (24:59).

The following inferences are clearly deducible from the verses quoted above:

(i) When they go out, Muslim women are to wear an outer and wrapping garment which should cover their heads and bosoms in such a manner that the garment should come down from the head to the bosom covering the whole body including the face. This is the significance of the Quranic words یدنین علیھن من جلابیبھن (33:60). The outer garment is intended to make known the fact that while a Muslim woman goes about her business she may be spared the mental anguish of being stared at by persons of questionable character.

(ii) Muslim men and women are to restrain their eyes when they happen to face each other.

(iii) The third commandment though apparently applying to the wives of the Prophet, includes, as is the practice of the Quran, other Muslim women also. The words "And stay in your houses" imply that whereas women may go out when necessary, the principal and primary sphere of their activities is inside the house.

(iv) At three stated hours, even children are not allowed to enter the private apartments of their parents nor are domestic servants or female slaves allowed to enter the sleeping room of their masters.

The first commandment applies to women when they go out. Then they are to use an outer garment which should cover their whole body including the face. The second commandment relates to "purdah" primarily inside the four walls of the house when near male relatives frequently come and go. In that case men and women are only to restrain their looks and as an additional precaution women are to take care that their زینة i.e. beauty of person, dress and ornaments, is not displayed. They are not required to use جلباب (outer garment) because that would be very irksome and even impracticable in view of the free and frequent visits of near blood relations such as cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, etc. The context shows that this commandment relates to "purdah" inside the four walls of the house, because all the persons mentioned in the verse are very near relations who generally visit the houses of their relatives. The special mention in it of four categories of persons besides near relatives, viz. decent women, old servants, female slaves and minor boys, lends additional weight to the inference that the commandment in this verse relates to "purdah" within the four walls of the house.

The fact that the first commandment refers to "purdah" outside the house and the second commandment basically refers to "purdah" within the four walls of the house is also apparent from the different words that have been used to express the two forms of "purdah" in the relevant verses i.e. 33:60, and the verse under comment. Whereas in 33:60 the garment which a woman is to use when she goes out is جلباب the garment which she has to use inside the house when relatives visit is خمار. Moreover, whereas in 33:60 the words used are یدنین علیھن من جلابیبھن i.e. they should let down over them their outer garments (for a detailed discussion of جلباب and یدنین see 33:60); in the verse under comment the words used are یضربن بخمرھن علی جیوبھن i.e. they should cast their head-coverings over their bosoms. It is clear that in the former case the garment will cover the head, the face and the bosom while in the latter case only the head and the bosom will become covered and the face may remain uncovered.

It may also be noted in passing that the shape and form of the outer-garment which, as mentioned above, a woman must wear when she goes out and which covers her whole body including the face will vary according to the customs, habits, social status, family traditions and usages of various classes of the Muslim community. The commandment with regard to "purdah" within the four walls of the house will also apply to shops, fields, etc. where women of certain sections of Muslim society have to work to earn their living. There a woman will not be required to veil her face. She will have only to restrain her eyes and to cover her زینة i.e. her ornaments and other embellishments, as women within the house have to do when their relatives visit them.

The third commandment requires women to behave with dignity bordering on austerity when talking to stranger men; and they are also required to give their full attention to the discharge of their serious and important duties in regard to the affairs connected with the well-being of their own sex and the management of the household affairs and to looking after and bringing up of children and kindred matters. The fourth commandment enjoins husband and wife to have, as far as possible, sleeping apartments separate from those of other members of the family which even minor boys are not allowed to enter at stated hours.

In the expression لا یبدین زینتھن i.e. they display not their زینة (beauty), the word زینة includes both natural and artificial beauty. It signifies the beauty of person, and includes the beauty of dress and ornaments which women wear on their hands, feet, ears, arms, necks, bosoms, etc. The expression, "except that which is apparent thereof," contains all those things which it is not possible for a woman to cover such as her voice, gait or stature and also certain parts of her body which remain uncovered according to her social status, her family traditions, her avocation and the customs of the society. The permission to keep certain parts of the body uncovered will be subject to certain variations. Thus the words, "they display not their beauty" will have different connotations with regard to women belonging to different sections and grades of society and the connotation will change with the change in the customs and modes of living and professions of the people.

The words "and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may become known," show that public dancing which is so much in vogue in certain countries is definitely not allowed by Islam.

This is the Islamic conception of "purdah." According to it Muslim women may go out as often as it is legitimately necessary for them to do so, but their primary and principal functions are confined to their homes which are as important and serious, if not more, as the avocations of men are. If women take to men’s avocations they seek to defy nature and nature does not allow its laws to be defied with impunity.

If would be noticed that the incident about ‘A’ishah which forms one of the principal subjects of this Surah sheds a flood of light on the form of "purdah" which Islam enjoins its followers to observe. According to tradition when Safwan came to the place where ‘A’ishah was lying asleep with her face uncovered, he recognized her because he had seen her, as he himself afterwards said, before the verse about "purdah" was revealed (Bukhari, Kitabut-Tafsir).

Commentary:

As a result of the Battle of the Ditch and of the subsequent banishment of the Banu Quraizah, large booty fell into the hands of Muslims. They were also promised more conquests and wealth (see v. 28 above). From a persecuted and economically very poor minority they had grown into a rich, powerful and prosperous community. Material wealth, however, brings in its train worldly-mindedness, and a desire for ease and comfort and a disinclination to render acts of service and sacrifice. This is a state of affairs which a Reformer has especially to guard against. As love of ease and comfort, generally makes its appearance first in the domestic circle, and as the members of the Holy Prophet’s household were to serve as a model in social behaviour, it was in the fitness of things that they should have been required to set an example in self-denial. Not that the use of money was altogether taboo or that amenities of life were completely forbidden to them, but they were, no doubt, expected to set a very high standard of self-abnegation. It is to this high standard of the sacrifice of material benefits and of an affluent and easy living, to which the present and the following few verses refer. The companionship of the Holy Prophet demanded this sacrifice, and his wives were told to make a choice between comfortable life and his companionship, and it should be said to their credit that they chose the latter alternative and that even when, afterwards, in the time of the Caliphate of ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, very high stipends were paid to them, they lived extremely simple lives and spent most of the money in charity.

The words, "I will provide for you and send you away in a handsome manner" imply that the Holy Prophet’s wives were allowed a free choice and if anyone of them had elected to part company with him, it would have entailed no displeasure of God, on the contrary she would have been handsomely provided.

It may also be noted that just as the Holy Prophet was a perfect exemplar for all sections of humanity, his wives were expected to serve as model for women in their special sphere. This is why they have been called "the Mothers of the Faithful." Naturally, a very strict and high standard of self-discipline and self-denial is demanded of them in this and the next few verses.