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Women Looked Like Crows On Their Heads After Hearing Khimar/Hijab Verse (24:31)
As Salamu Alaikum.
I came across two narrations that say after hearing the khimar verse (verse 31 of Surah an Nur), they tore their garments and made shawls out of them. And the next day when they prayed they looked like crows. I have some questions regarding these. Here are the narrations:
A’ishah says, ‘By God! I have never found anybody better than the women of the Ansar when it comes to honouring the Book of God and having faith in its instructions.’ When the following verse of the chapter entitled al-Nur, ‘They should put shawls over their bosoms’, was revealed, the Ansar men returned to their houses and conveyed to their wives, daughters and sisters the instructions revealed for them by God. Some untied their waist-belts while others used their covering sheets and made shawls out of them. The next morning when they offered prayers (salat) led by the Prophet Muhammad, it seemed as if crows sat on their heads (because of the scarves they wore). (Tafsir ibn Kathir, vol. III, p. 284 ).
Source: https://quran.com/en/24:31/tafsirs/tazkirul-quran-en
Also, Ibn Hajar in his Fath al-Bari wrote:
There is a report of Ibn Abi Hatim via ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Uthman ibn Khaytham from Safiyyah that explains that. This report says: We mentioned the women of Quraysh and their virtues in the presence of ‘Aishah and she said: “The women of Quraysh are good, but by Allah I have never seen any better than the women of the Ansar, or any who believed the Book of Allah more strongly or had more faith in the Revelation. When Surat al-Nur was revealed – “and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna” – their menfolk came to them and recited to them what had been revealed, and there was not one woman among them who did not go to her apron, and the following morning they prayed wrapped up as if there were crows on their heads.
I have questions regarding these narrations
- Why did they look like as if crows were on their heads? Does this mean they all wore black shawls? If they all wore black then does that mean women are supposed to be wearing black since they were the women from the earliest generation?
- According to Ghamdi sahab’s explanation, the main implication of verse 24:31 was to cover the zeenat of the chest area, not head. But why did these women looked like as if there were crows on their heads when they prayed? Doesn’t this mean they covered their heads with the waist belts/aprons/covering sheets, and that’s why it looked like crows on their heads? Why did they cover their heads with these clothes when praying the next day if the implications was not about covering both head & the chest area? They were the women of the earliest generation, so didn’t they understand the commandment in the clearest & most correct way possible?
- What’s the grade of this narration? Is it Sahih, Hasan or Da’if? I couldn’t find these narrations in any of the authentic six collections but it’s found in Ibn Hajar’s book & Tafsir Ibn Kathir according to the link.
Jazakallah Khairan.
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5 Replies
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Women Looked Like Crows On Their Heads After Hearing Khimar/Hijab Verse (24:31)
updated 1 year, 2 months ago
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Did it had anything to do with prayer? Did they cover their heads and looked like crows because they were praying at that time? Since we know from a hadith that women have to wear a veil otherwise her prayer is invalid.
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Ghamidi Sahab has discussed this narration.
Please refer to the video below from 00:12 to 11:42
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Salam
Ghamdi Sahab narrated another version of the hadith which is mentioned in Bukhari & Abu Dawud. That version doesn’t mention the “crows on their heads” part. He narrated this:
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin:
May Allah have mercy on the early immigrant women. When the verse “That they should draw their veils over their bosoms” was revealed, they tore their thick outer garments and made veils from them.
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4102
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4758
The version I shared here mentions that the women looked as if crows were on their heads the next day when they prayed behind the Prophet (PBUH). My questions are also regarding this part. Why did they look like as if there were crows on their heads when they prayed?
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Although the main point has been answered in detail by Ghamidi Sahab in the video above and he has given his principle stance on such matters as well. Just because the word “crow” has not been used in the video above, this does not mean that the point has not been discussed. I’d urge you to watch the video again. The reason that this narration has not been discussed at-length specifically is because this narration is weak and full of contradictions.
This narration appears for the first time in Tafsir of Ibn-e-Abi Hatim (d:327H):
حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، ثنا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ يُونُسَ، حَدَّثَنِي الزَّنْجِيُّ بْنُ خَالِدٍ، حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ خُثَيْمٍ، عَنْ صَفِيَّةَ بِنْتِ شَيْبَةَ قَالَتْ: بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ عِنْدَ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ: وَذَكَرَتْ نِسَاءَ قُرَيْشٍ وَفَضْلَهُنَّ، فَقَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ: إِنَّ لِنِسَاءِ قُرَيْشٍ لَفَضْلا، وَإِنِّي وَاللَّهِ مَا رَأَيْتُ أَفْضَلَ مِنْ نِسَاءِ الأَنْصَارِ أَشَدَّ تَصْدِيقًا بِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ، وَلا إِيمَانًا بِالتَّنْزِيلِ لَقَدْ أُنْزِلَتْ سُورَةُ النُّورِ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ انْقَلَبَ رِجَالُهُنَّ إِلَيْهِنَّ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مَا أُنْزِلَ إليهن فيها، ويتلوا الرَّجُلُ عَلَى امْرَأَتِهِ وَابْنَتِهِ وَأُخْتِهِ، وَعَلَى كُلِّ ذِي قَرَابَتِهِ، مَا مِنْهُنَّ امْرَأَةٌ إِلا قَامَتْ إِلَى مِرْطِهَا الْمُرَحَّلِ فَاعْتَجَرَتْ بِهِ تَصْدِيقًا وَإِيمَانًا بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ كِتَابِهِ، فَأَصْبَحْنَ يُصَلِّينَ وَرَاءَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الصبح معتجرات كأن على رؤسهن الغربان
(Number 14406, 8/2575, Maktaba Nazar, Saudi Arabia, Third Edition)
and a shorter version in one narration before:
حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مَالِكٍ، ثنا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ الرَّبِيعِ، ثنا دَاوُدُ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ، عَنْ صَفِيَّةَ بِنْتِ شَيْبَةَ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ: فَلَمَّا نَزَلَتْ
وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ انْقَلَبَ رِجَالٌ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ إِلَى نِسَائِهِمْ يِتْلُونَهَا عليهن، فقامت كل مرأة مِنْهُنَّ إِلَى مِرْطِهَا فَصَدَعَتْ مِنْهُ صِدْعَةً فَاخْتَمَرْتُ بها فأصبحن من الصبح وكأن على رؤسهن الْغِرْبَانَ
(Number 14405, 8/2575)
The above narrations are regarding Quran 24:31
But the same narrator Saffiyah Bint-e-Shaybah narrates a similar narration from Umm Salma on a different Quranic Verse i.e. 33:59:
أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الطِّهْرَانِيُّ فِيمَا كَتَبَ إلي حَدَّثَنَا عَبْد الرّزّاق أخبرنا مُعَمَّر، عن ابن خثيم، عن صفية بِنْت شَيْبَة، عن أم سَلَمَة قَالَتْ: لمّا نزلت هذه الآية يدنين عليهن من جلابيبهن خرج نساء الأنصار كأن على رؤوسهن الغربان من السكينة وعليهن أكسية سود يلبسنها
(Number 17785, 10/3154)
And this is the narration which was taken earlier by Abu Dawud (d:275H) in his Sunan (https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4101):
“Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Muminin: When the verse “That they should cast their outer garments over their persons” was revealed, the women of Ansar came out as if they had crows over their heads by wearing outer garments.“
And Abu Dawud did not adopt the longer version of the narration on Quran 24:31, instead he adopted a shorter version through a different chain which is strong as opposed to the weak chains used by Abi Hatim in his Tafsir:
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Muminin: May Allah have mercy on the early immigrant women. When the verse “That they should draw their veils over their bosoms” was revealed, they tore their thick outer garments and made veils from them.
(https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4102)
In ths narration praise has been made for immigrant women instead of the Ansar women and there is no mention of crow part either. In Narration 4100 again (https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4100), despite its weak chain as per Albani and Hasan chain as per Arnaut and Zubair Ali Zai, there is mention of Ansar women in the context of Quran 24:31 but no mention of crow part.
Imam Bukhari (d:256H) has also left the longer chain in the context of Quran 24:31 and instead selected the chain which talks praise about the immigrant women instead of the Ansar women without the crow part:
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4758 and https://sunnah.com/bukhari:4759
It appears from this sequence of events that at some point later, the two sayings were mixed up by one of the narrators or one saying was made into two because of confusion at the end of the narrator when it came to verses 24:31 and 33:59. That is the very reason that early Hadith scholars like Bukhari and Abu Dawud dropped that longer narration which was later on adopted by Abu Hatim Razi.
Shiekh Albani writes after quoting this longer narration of Tafsir Abi Hatim:
رواه ابن أبي حاتم ضعيف بهذا السياق والتمام وقد صح بعضه عند البخاري كما تقدم ولبعض شاهد من حديث أم سلمة قالت: لما نزلت {يدنين عليهن من جلابيبهن} خرج نساء الأنصار كأن على رؤوسهن الغربان من الأكسية أخرجه أبو داود بسند صحيح
“It was narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim, weak, in this context and in its completeness, and some of it was authentic according to Al-Bukhari, as mentioned above (i.e. 4758 and 4759), and for some there is evidence from the hadith of Umm Salmah, who said: When the verse “drawing their robes over them (i.e. 33:59)” was revealed, the women of the Ansar came out as if there were crows on their heads from the covering. It was included by Abu Dawud with an authentic chain of transmission (i.e. 4101) .”
(Ghayatil Maram, Number 483, Page 282, Al-Maktab e Islami, Beirut, Third Edition)
He also writes in another place:
أخرجه البخاري “2/ 182 و8/ 397″، وأبو داود، واستدرك الحاكم “4/ 194” الرواية الثانية على الشيخين، فوهم في استدراكه على البخاري، ورواه ابن أبي حاتم بلفظ أكمل بسنده عن صفية بنت شيبة، قال:
بينا نحن عند عائشة قالت: فذكرن نساء قريش وفضلهن، فقالت عائشة رضي الله عنها: إن لنساء قريش لفضلًا، وإني والله ما رأيت أفضل من نساء الأنصار، وأشد
تصديقًا لكتاب الله، ولا إيمانًا بالتنزيل، فقد أنزلت سورة النور {وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ} ، فانقلب رجالهن إليهن يتلون عليهن ما أنزل الله فيها، ويتلو الرجل على امرأته وابنته وأخته وعلى كل ذي قرابة، فما منهن امرأة إلا قامت إلى مرطها المرحل، فاعتجرت به تصديقًا وإيمانًا بما أنزل الله من كتابه، فأصبحن وراء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم[يصلين الصبح] معتجرات كأن على رءوسهن الغربان.
وذكره ابن كثير، والحافظ في “الفتح” “8/ 490” والزيادة منه، وفي سنده الزنجي بن خالد، واسمه مسلم، وفيه ضعف، لكنه قد توبع عند ابن مردويه في “تفسيره” كما في “تخريج الكشاف” للزيلعي “ص435 -مخطوط”.
والحديث كالنص على أنهن قمن وراءه صلى الله عليه وسلم كاشفات الوجوه؛ لأن الاعتجار بمعنى الاختمار ففي “الصحاح”:
“والمعجر: ما تشده المرأة على رأسها، يقال: اعتجرت المرأة”
(Jilbab al-Mara-tal Muslimah, Page 79, Dar-ul-Islam Al-Nashar, Third Edition)
(English Translation of the above passage has been Attached with the repsonse)
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Such a weak narration which is filled with so many contradictions is never used for any argumentation. And even of this narration is considered as being rightly communicated then at best it communicates the head covering scenario of women during congregational Salah which was an etiquette taught by Prophet Muhammad (sws) to women for their Salah. It must also be kept in in that Prophet Muhammad (sws) used to offer Fajr Salah where there was still darkness around which makes everything appear black.
It must however be kept in mind that in Farahi Discourse, we do not approach Quran from hadith, rather we approach Hadith through Quran. For a Hadith or any religious historical narration to be acceptable, it must pass the test of Quran and Sunnah, after passing the test of the chain of narrators.
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Thank you for the detailed answer. JazakAllah
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