A hijab (/hɪˈdʒɑːb, hɪˈdʒæb, ˈhɪdʒ.æb, hɛˈdʒɑːb/; Arabic: حجاب, romanized: ḥijāb, pronounced [ħɪˈdʒaːb] in common English usage) is a veil worn by certain Muslim women in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family or sometimes by men, which covers the head and chest. Another interpretation can also refer to the seclusion of women from men in the public sphere, whereas a metaphysical dimension, may refer to "the veil which separates man, or the world, from God".
For some believers of the Quran, Hadith and other classical Arabic texts, the term khimār (Arabic: خِمار) was used to denote a headscarf, and ḥijāb was used to denote a partition, a curtain, or was used generally for the Islamic rules of modesty and dress for females.
For some, the hijab is worn by Muslim women to maintain modesty and privacy from unrelated males. According to the Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World, modesty concerns both men's and women's "gaze, gait, garments, and genitalia". The Qur'an instructs Muslim women and men to dress modestly. Some Islamic legal systems define this type of modest clothing as covering everything except the face and hands up to the wrists. These guidelines are found in texts of hadith and fiqh developed after the revelation of the Qur'an but, according to some, are derived from the verses (ayahs) referencing hijab in the Qur'an. Some believe that the Qur'an itself does not mandate that women need to wear a hijab.
In the verses of the Qur'an, the term hijab refers to a curtain separating visitors to Muhammad's main house from his wives' residential lodgings. This interpretation has led some to claim that the mandate of the Qur'an to wear hijab applied only to the wives of Muhammad, and not to entirety of women.
Wearing hijab in public is not required by law in Saudi Arabia. In Gaza, Palestinian Jihadists belonging to the Unified Leadership (UNLU) have rejected a hijab policy for women. Accordingly, it is required by law in Iran, Afghanistan, and the Indonesian province of Aceh. Other countries, both in Europe and in the Muslim world, have passed laws banning some or all types of hijab in public or in certain types of locales. Women in different parts of the world have also experienced unofficial pressure to wear or not wear a hijab.
In Islamic scripture
Quran
The Qur'an instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way, yet there is disagreement on how these instructions should be followed. The verses relating to dress use the terms khimār (veil) and jilbāb (a dress or cloak) rather than ḥijāb. Of the more than 6,000 verses in the Quran, about half a dozen refer specifically to the way a woman should dress and walk in public.
The clearest verse on the requirement of modest dress is Surah 24:31, telling women to guard their genitalia and draw their khimār over their bosoms.
And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimār over their breasts and not display their beauty except to their husband, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments.
— Quran 24:31
In Surah 33:59 Muhammad is commanded to ask his family members and other Muslim women to wear outer garments when they go out, so that they are not harassed:
O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed.
— Quran 33:59
