By Cyril Anderson

 In many of the discussions on hijab, both pro and con, there is a disproportionate focus on the hijab as simply a piece of fabric that women wear on their head.  However, this does injustice to the concept of the hijab, as this focuses only on the externalities of the clothing worn by women, and ignores the larger concept at play of which hijab is just a part, the general philosophy that gives hijab meaning.  Indeed, unless the garment hijab is implemented within a system of the philosophy of hijab by both men and women, then the hijab becomes largely an empty exercise.

It is unproductive, largely, for us to focus exclusively on the external aspects of hijab at the expense of the inner aspect.  These two aspects are complementary, and without the other each is diminished.  You can have a woman dressed in full hijab, head covered, loose clothing, but who spoils it through flirting and inappropriate glances.  Similar is a man who wears the proper amount of clothing and yet fails to properly restrain his gaze or work to cleanse his thoughts.  On the other hand, a woman could dress modestly, though perhaps not fully according to Islamic law, yet carry the full package of hijab relatively well because she acts and speaks in a truly modest, appropriate way.  In hijab, it is a full package that has to be sought for both men and women, with both internal and external, dress, actions, words and thoughts  in harmony and reinforcing each other.  We must be careful not t take too superficial an approach to the issue of hijab.

Hijab only really makes sense in the context of the overall Islamic philosophy of gender relations.  The idea is to limit and regulate the contact between non-married individuals in the society.  This is not purposeless, but is for the purpose of keeping harmonious relations and avoiding the hazardous consequences of unregulated interaction between the genders.

Islamically, it is believed that such unregulated interaction will have the harmful consequence of encouraging adultery, premarital sex, sexual assault, sexual harassment, prostitution, pornography, homosexuality, pedophilia and molestation of children, and psychosexual disorders as the power of the natural sexual drives are given uncontrolled rein.   Islam at the same time encourages marriage as a healthy outlet for what are viewed as healthy, yet potentially dangerous drives, with the benefit that marriage acts at the same time as a pillar of society, giving companionship and support for the couple and a healthy, nurturing environment to raise the next generation.

To protect the essential institution of marriage and to protect the unmarried from the potential harmful effects of the sexual drive left unregulated, Islam teaches the necessity of regulating the relations between men and women to protect the best interests of society by setting up preventive barriers to potentially harmful behavior.  These barriers take a number of different forms.

First of all are the restrictions on physical contact.  There is not supposed to be any touching, even of an "innocent" fashion between unmarried men and women, except for close relations.  Now to the non-Muslim ear, and even to the Muslim youth growing up in this society, this may seem overly harsh.  However, unexpected consequences can proceed in a surprisingly rapid way from the most innocent of physical contact.  A simple touch, and then one thing leads to another.

Second of all is modest dress to protect the eyes from excessive temptations.  Women, as the more attractive gender, are to cover all but hands and face in non-revealing clothing.  Men are to dress modestly as well, covering up respectfully, though not to the same extent, in mixed company.  These restrictions are relaxed in non-mixed company or among family, but there is still a requirement that one should not expose his private parts to anyone except a spouse, except for medical necessity, even with members of the same sex. 

The reason for restrictions on dress is to prevent the eye from being over stimulated, and thereby leading to improper thoughts, which are the seed of improper action.   What the eye sees sticks in the mind, causing thoughts, so goes the line of thinking, and thoughts are the roots of actions.  By removing or limiting the sights that lead to improper thoughts, it is believed that wrong actions will be limited.

Unmarried men and women are to avoid being alone together and are to avoid unnecessary social contact.  Business or school contact being considered fine, as long as unmarried men and women are not alone unsupervised.  When not absolutely necessary, for example, in social situations, men and women are recommended to segregate from each other to avoid frivolous and unnecessary contact that could lead to improper behavior.

At a higher level, men and women, even when observing strictly the dress and mixing requirements, are also expected to do their best to avoid unnecessary eye contact with each other.  Again, though a simple glance may seem rather innocent to Western people, it is seen by Muslim scholars, based on oral traditions from Muhammad and from his close descendants,  as a wise precaution, given that a seemingly innocent glance can ultimately lead to improper thoughts, and possibly to improper action.

Some of these regulations may seem extreme, but the general philosophy is that "an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure."  That is, these small sacrifices are meant to help to avoid, or minimize great social ills.  The idea is that by going with the seemingly easy way in the short term, long term social and psychological ills will appear which overshadow any short term ease.  These at first seemingly difficult regulations are, contrary to what some may say, perfectly compatible with a modern civilization, as evidenced by the millions of Western Muslims who voluntarily put these principles into effect in their daily lives and interactions.