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Fatwa CenterRationale behind enjoining women to wear Hijab apart from men
Question
Why are woman enjoined to cover their hair, while the man is not enjoined to cover his hair or shoulders, given that a woman may be lured by the man as he may be lured by her, incurring similar evil repercussions? This is the question of one of my non-Muslim foreign friends in the USA. She needs a logical answer, not a religious one, acknowledging that Allaah, the Exalted, does not prescribe any obligation except for a rationale.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The Islamic Sharee'ah is harmonious with the sound minds and upright human dispositions; for it is the Sharee'ah of Allaah, the All-Subtle and All-Acquainted. His Decrees and Judgments are just and wise. Among those Decrees is the obligation of wearing the Hijab for Muslim women and not men. Hijab has been imposed upon women to block the way that leads to committing what is unlawful.
Had the Hijab been prescribed for both men and women, it would have constituted hardship and difficulty. Therefore, Islam eliminated this hardship by imposing it only on the party who needs it.
If we ponder over the nature of men and women, we would realize that man is usually the party who seeks after the other one (and desires the woman). This is why the Islamic Sharee'ah enjoined women to wear Hijab and not men. When women cover their beauty and adornment by observing Hijab, men will not see them and will thus not sexually desire them due to the absence of stimulation. However, if the situation was reversed and men wore Hijab instead of women, men would still see women unveiled and would still desire them, and Hijab for men would be of no use in this case. The rationale behind prescribing Hijab will be fulfilled only if it is imposed on women, and not on men.
Allaah Knows best.
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