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How Should We Understand The Command Regarding Khimar In Surah An-Nur 24:31?
I recently came across an explanation of Qur’an 24:31, where Allah says:
“And tell the believing women to lower their khumur over their bosoms…” (24:31)
I understand that khimar (خمار) was a known garment used by women at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, generally understood as a covering for the head. The practice of women wearing something over their heads was already present in pre-Islamic Arabia, but some women would leave the opening around the neck and chest exposed. The verse therefore instructed believing women to draw their khumur over their bosoms as well.
This raises several questions for me regarding the interpretation that khimar/head-covering is not itself a religious obligation, but rather a cultural practice that the Qur’an simply instructed women to use in a more modest manner.
1. Why did the Qur’an specifically mention khimar?
If the head-covering itself is merely a cultural custom and is not part of the religious command, why did Allah specifically use the word khimar and tell women to draw their khumur over their bosoms?
Wouldn’t this wording indicate that Allah was giving guidance through an already-existing garment, while also establishing a standard of modesty concerning the chest?
In other words, is the command only about covering the chest, or does the use of khimar also have implications for how a Muslim woman is expected to dress?
As I understand it, throughout Islamic history the overwhelming majority of Muslim scholars understood the Qur’anic and Prophetic guidance to require women to cover their bodies, with differences concerning precisely what constitutes the awrah and whether the face, hands and/or feet must also be covered.
If this understanding remained dominant among scholars for centuries, how should we evaluate a modern interpretation that reaches a substantially different conclusion?
Of course, the number of scholars holding a particular opinion does not by itself prove that the opinion is correct. But is it reasonable to conclude that generations of scholars, who devoted their lives to Qur’an, Hadith, Arabic and Islamic jurisprudence, collectively misunderstood such an important matter?
What methodology allows a contemporary scholar to reject such a long-established interpretation?
If the Prophet ﷺ and the women of the first Muslim community understood khimar as a head covering and then acted upon 24:31 by extending it over the chest, shouldn’t that historical practice have significant weight in determining the meaning of the verse?
If the answer is that the practice was cultural rather than religious, what evidence establishes that distinction?
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This discussion was modified 7 hours, 50 minutes ago by
Sara Ahmad.
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This discussion was modified 7 hours, 50 minutes ago by
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How Should We Understand The Command Regarding Khimar In Surah An-Nur 24:31?
updated 6 hours, 12 minutes ago
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The majority of scholars have adopted the opinion of Ibn Abbas, who allows exposing the hands and face. It is the later opinion that scholars are inclined towards the idea that the whole body of a woman should be covered. This has been indicated with proofs from the early Islamic literature in my book Khawateen ka parda.
These queries have been addressed in the video series by Ghamidi Saheb, “Khawateen ka Parda”. In my book on this topic, “Khawateen ka Parda, I have elaborated on it. I present some relevant excerpts in English here:
“Khimar” refers to a scarf or covering cloth, commonly used to cover the head. In this sense, it is called khimar, meaning a head covering. It is similar to the word dupatta. A dupatta is generally worn by placing it across the two shoulders, and that is why it came to be called dupatta (literally, “two-fold”). However, the way something is normally used is not necessarily part of the meaning of its name.
For example, because it is called a dupatta, it does not mean that it must always be worn over both shoulders. Whether it is worn over the head, tied around the waist, spread over the whole body, or placed over only one shoulder, it is still called a dupatta. Similarly, the name khimar, or the particular way it is commonly worn—such as covering the head—does not necessarily mean that this particular way of wearing it is an essential part of the meaning of the word.
In verse 31 of Surah An-Nur, the instruction concerning the khimar does not mean that the khimar must first be placed on the head and then allowed to hang down to the neckline in such a way that the face becomes covered. That is not part of the meaning of khimar in this verse. The instruction simply means to place the khimar over the neckline/chest. This does not mean that the head should not be covered. The point here is to identify the specific purpose of the command, i.e., to cover the chest when it is adorned.
The fact that the verse does not mention covering the face when instructing women to draw their coverings over their necklines is an indication that covering the face is not the purpose of this verse. If covering the face were intended, this would have been the appropriate place to mention it. Such an instruction would also conflict with the exception concerning the display of adornment.
The instruction to cover the chest is already included in the command to guard one’s private parts/modesty (hifz al-furuj). Therefore, there was no need to repeat it. If there had been a reason to state it separately, it would have been mentioned immediately after the command to guard one’s private parts, rather than under the discussion of concealing adornment.
The specific instruction to cover the neckline in the context of adornment does not mean that, without adornment, the neckline may be left uncovered. In view of the instruction to guard one’s modesty, a woman is required to ensure that the contours or shape of her chest are not exposed. However, the particular command being discussed here is concerned with covering the neckline when adornment is present.
The reason the verse specifically mentions covering the adornment around the neckline is that, along with the face, the neck and the upper part of the chest connected to it—nahr and ‘unuq—are generally left exposed. These areas are not normally understood to be included in the command to guard one’s private parts. Therefore, one might have inferred that they could remain uncovered under the phrase “except what normally appears thereof” (illa ma zahara minha).
For this reason, the verse clarifies that these areas should not be treated as part of the exception when it comes to concealing adornment. Because the neckline is connected to the chest, it should be covered when there is adornment that would otherwise be visible.
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