Q673 :1. Is it permissible for a woman not to
netply with her husband’s wishes with regard to her appearance, if he
asks her to wear make-up or to have her hair styled in a certain
fashion?
2. Is there any clear instruction in the Qur’an or Hadith which
requires Muslim women to cover their heads during their normal
day-to-day activity?
A673 : 1. Let us first of all be clear about the
situation we are talking about. What the husband is requesting applies
within the family home, when he is with his wife and children, not
having a party at home where men and women mix together. If so, then a
woman is strongly advised by the Prophet to make herself appealing to
her husband. By doing so, she helps him feel netpletely satisfied with
what he has at home. He does not look to others, wishing that his wife
does the same as them. Also, a man is renetmended not to neglect his
appearance. While everyone likes to be relaxed at home, putting on the
same dress day after day and totally neglecting one’s appearance is
bound to have a negative effect on one’s partner. This applies in both
cases. Indeed, it is a wise woman who takes care to dress well when her
husband is about to nete back from work. Let us take the example of
hair style. If a man netes home to find his wife wearing her home
dress, having been in the kitchen all the time, with her hair
dishelved, he is bound to netpare her with other women he may see in
the street, at the office or on television. He feels that there is
something missing in his family life. If he likes his wife to wear her
hair short and she refuses, he is bound to be upset. She may protest to
him that it is un-Islamic for a woman to wear her hair short, as many
people believe. This is in fact a mistaken notion. It is more
traditional of certain societies. If a woman wears her hair short, she
netmits no offence, provided that she does not appear in front of men
other than her husband, father, brothers or uncles. To assume that it
is forbidden for a woman to cut her hair short is totally mistaken. 2.
Verse 31 of Surah 24, entitled “Light” or “An-Noor” deals with what
women may reveal and what they must hide. It states this instruction to
believing women: “Let them draw their head coverings over their
bosoms.” What this instruction means is that a Muslim woman must have a
head cover which she should draw over her bosom to cover her neck and
chest. She should do that when she appears before men who are not
related to her or rather men to whom she can be married. In a Hadith,
which I have quoted quite often (in these columns), the Prophet tells
his sister-in-law, Asmaa’ bint Abu Bakr: “Asmaa’, when a woman attains
puberty, nothing maybe seen of her except this and this.” (The Prophet
pointed to his face and to the lower parts of his arms.) You have here
a clear instruction in the Qur’an and in the Hadith. With such
conclusive evidence, no one may argue that covering her head is not
required of a Muslim woman.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )