HIJAB - ONCE AND FOR ALL - IS HIJAB OK? THREE RULES FOR WOMEN'S DRESS CODE:

"Veiling is the biggest impediment in the way of conveying Islam in the West." (Murad Hoffman)

01) The BEST garment is the criterion of righteousness.
02) Whenever you dress, cover your chest (bosoms).
03) Lengthen your garment.

COVER YOUR BOSOMS:
24:31 Here God orders the women to cover their bosoms whenever they dress up. But before quoting 24:31, let us review some crucial words that are always mentioned with this topic, namely "Hijab" and "Khimaar".

THE WORD HIJAB IN THE QUR'AN:
Hijab is the term used by many Muslim women to describe their head cover that may or may not include covering their face except their eyes, and sometimes also covering one eye. The Arabic word Hijab can be translated into veil or yashmak. Other meanings for the word Hijab include screen, cover(ing), mantle, curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider etc.
Can we find the word "Hijab" in the Qur'an? The word "Hijab" appears in the Qur'an seven times, five of them as "Hijab" and twice as "Hijaban". See 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45 & 19:17. None of these "Hijab" words are used in the Qur'an in reference to what the traditional Muslims call today as the dress code for the Muslim woman. Hijab in the Qur'an has nothing to do with the Muslim Women dress code.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
While many Muslims call "Hijab", an Islamic dress code, they completely ignore the fact that, Hijab as a dress code has nothing to do with Islam and nothing to do with the Qur'an.

In reality, "Hijab" is an old Jewish tradition that infiltrated into the Hadith books like many innovations that contaminated Islam through alleged Hadith and Sunnah. Any student of the Jewish traditions or religious books will see that head cover for the Jewish woman is encouraged by the Rabbis and religious leaders.

Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time and especially in the synagogues, weddings, and religious festivities. This Jewish tradition is a cultural, not a religious one. Hijab was observed by the women of the civilizations that preceded the Jews and was passed down to the Jewish culture.
Christian women cover their heads on many religious occasions while the nuns cover their heads all the time. This religious practice of covering the head was established from traditions thousands of years before the Muslim scholars claimed the Hijab as part of the Muslim dress code. The traditional Arabs of all religions, Jews, Christians and Muslims used to wear "Hijab," not because of Islam, but because of tradition. In Saudi Arabia, up to this minute most of the men cover their head, not because of Islam but because of tradition. Thank God this tradition for men has not been counted as Islamic dress code yet!
North Africa is known for its Tribe (Tuareg) that have the Muslim men wearing "Hijab" instead of women. Here the tradition has the Hijab in reverse. If wearing Hijab is the exclusive sign of a pious and righteous Muslim woman, Mother Teresa must be the first woman to be counted. In brief, Hijab is a traditional dress and has nothing to do with Islam or religion. In certain areas of the world, men are the ones who wear the Hijab while in others the women do.

Mixing religion with tradition is a form of idol-worship, because not knowing (or not trying to find out) what God asked you to do in His Book, the Qur'an, is a sign of disregarding God and His Message. When tradition supersedes God's Commandment, the true religion (Deen) takes a second place. God never accepts to be second, God has to be always the First and to Him there is no second.

THE WORD KHIMAAR IN THE QUR'AN:
"Khimaar" is an Arabic word that can be found in the Qur'an 24:31. Dress Code For Women can be found in 24:31. Some Muslims quote verse 31 of Surah 24 as containing the Hijab, or head cover by pointing to the word, khomoorehenna, (from Khimaar), forgetting that God already used the word Hijab, several times in the Qur'an. Those blessed by God can see that the use of the word "Khimaar" in this verse is not for "Hijab" or for head cover. Those who quote this verse usually add (Head cover or veil) after the word Khomoorehenna, and usually between ( ), because it is their addition to the verse, not God's. Here is 24:31,
"And tell the believing women to subdue their eyes, and maintain their chastity. They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is necessary. They shall cover their chests, with their Khimaar and shall not relax this code in the presence of other than their husbands, their fathers, the fathers of their husbands, their sons, the sons of their husbands, their brothers, the sons of their brothers, the sons of their sisters, other women, the male servants or employees whose sexual drive has been nullified, or the children who have not reached puberty. They shall not strike their feet when they walk in order to shake and reveal certain details of their bodies. All of you shall repent to God, O you believers, so that you may succeed."

Most of the translators, obviously influenced by Hadith (fabrications) translate the word as VEIL and thus mislead people to believe that this verse is advocating the covering of the head.

In 24:31, God is asking the women to use their cover (khimaar, being a dress, a coat, a shawl, a shirt, a blouse, a tie, a scarf . . . etc.) to cover their bosoms, not their heads or their hair. If God willed to order the women to cover their heads or their hair, He would have simply said, "Cover your hair." God is neither vague nor forgetful! God does not run out of words. He does not wait for a scholar to put the correct words for Him!

The Arabic word for Chest (Jayb) is in the verse 24:31, but the Arabic words for Head (Ra's) or Hair (Sha'r) are NOT in the verse. The Commandment in the verse is clear - Cover your chest or bosoms, but also the fabrication of the scholars and most of the translators is clear by claiming-cover your head or hair.

The last part of the verse 24:31 translates as, "They shall not strike their feet when they walk in order to shake and reveal certain details of their bodies. The details of the body can be revealed or not revealed by the dress you wear, not by your head cover. The word Zeenatahunna in this verse refers to the woman's body parts (beauty) and not to ornaments and decorations as some people interpret it or translate it. At the end of the verse, God tells the women not to strike with their feet to show their Zeenat. You do not need to strike your feet to show your ornaments but the way you strike your feet while walking can expose or shake certain parts of the body that do not need to be emphasized.

Accepting orders from anybody but God means idol-worship. That is how serious the matter of Hijab/Khimaar is. Women who wear Hijab because they think God ordered it are committing idol-worship, as God did not order it, the scholars did. These women have found for them another god than the One who revealed the Qur'an, complete, perfect and fully detailed. Idol-worship is the only unforgivable sin, if maintained till death. (4:48)

LENGTHEN YOUR GARMENTS:
The first regulation of the Dress Code for Muslim women is in 7:26, the second in 24:31 and the third is in 33:59.
33:59 O Prophet! Tell your wives, your daughters, and the wives of the believers that they shall lengthen their garments. Thus, they will be recognized and avoid being insulted. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful."

Here God sets the other regulation for the dress code for women during the Prophet's life. This verse does not only address the wives of the Prophet, but also wives of the believers, and therefore, to all believing women.

If you reflect on this verse, you would understand the great wisdom of the Most Wise, the Most Merciful. In this verse, God never said how long is long. God could have said to lengthen their garments to their ankles or to their mid-calf or to their knees, but He did not. He did not, out of His Mercy, not because He forgot. God knows that we will be living in different communities, times and cultures, so the minor details of the dress code are left for the people of every community to decide for themselves. Modesty for a woman who lives in New York may not be accepted by a woman who lives in Cairo. Modesty of a woman who lives in Cairo may not be accepted by a woman who lives in Saudi Arabia. Modesty of a woman who lives in Jeddah may not be accepted by a woman who lives in a desert oasis in the same country. This difference in the way we perceive modesty is well-known to God. He created us, and He put NO hardship on us in this great religion. He left it to us to decide what modesty would be.

HARDSHIP IN RELIGION:
God decided that those who will reject His complete Book and go look for other sources for guidance will suffer in this life and in the Hereafter by their choice. God never put any hardship on the believers but the scholars did. They invented their own laws in defiance of God, to regulate everything from the side of bed you sleep on, to which foot should step in the house, to what to do with a fly in your soup, to what to say when having intercourse with your spouse.
Those who believe God and believe that His book is complete, perfect and fully detailed, will have everything easy for them as God promised, See 10:62-64, 16:97, while those who could not believe God and have been seeking other sources than the Qur'an will have all the hardship in this life and the life to come. In the Hereafter they will complain to God, "We were not idol-worshipers, " but God knows best, He knows they were. See 6:22-24

"On the day when We summon them all, we will ask the idol worshipers, "Where are the idols you set up?" Their disastrous response will be, "By God, our Lord, we never were idol worshipers." Note how they lied to themselves, and how the idols they had invented have abandoned them."

CONCLUSION:
God, the Most Merciful, gave us three basic rules for the Dress Code for Women in Islam.
01). The best garment is the criterion of righteousness.
02). Whenever you dress, cover your chest (bosoms).
03). Lengthen your garment.

While these three basic rules may not sound enough for those who do not trust God, the true believers know that God is ENOUGH. God could have given us more details to the point of having graphs, designs and color rules, but He, the Most Merciful, wants to give us exactly these very basic rules and leave the rest for us. After these three basic rules every woman is more aware of her circumstances and can adjust her dress for her situation. Any addition to these basic Qur'anic rules is an attempt to correct God or improve on His Merciful design. What is better than to quote God's Words in description of this trait of the human race:
18:54 We have cited in this Qur'an every kind of example, but the human being is the most argumentative creature.
We have no obligation to follow but God's Rules, just as His Messenger did all the time. Innovations and fabrications that add countless rules to the women dress code are nothing but idol-worship and should be refused. Stay with God; that is where the winners go.

WHAT BODY PARTS CAN WOMEN SHOW IN PUBLIC?
Face, hands and forearms, heads, feet and ankles.

5:6 O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! When you congregate for Salat, wash your faces and your forearms, hands to the elbows. Lightly rub your heads and your feet to the ankles."

Ibn Umar said that during the times of Rasulullah (S) men and women used to do Wudhu together." (Bukhari published by Madina Publishing Company, Karachi, 1982, Printer Hamid & Co, vol 1, pg 169 Kitabil Wudhu. The translator is Maulana Abdul Hakim Khan Shahjahan Puri)