Hijab

What it is

Hijab is an Arabic noun built on the root h-j-b, which gathers ideas of hiding, blocking and concealing. Early texts use it for a partition, a cloth hung to divide a space, and also for a barrier between people and God. From that it came to name Islamic rules of modesty. In modern English the word usually means the covering a Muslim woman wears over her hair, neck and ears while her face stays visible. Local understanding can stretch or narrow it, and the Turkish word points to an inner state of shame rather than to any garment.

Words and coverings

Several words sit near hijab and are not the same. Khimar names a covering, and jilbab an outer garment. Hadith collections fill in practical detail: one report has Umar asking Muhammad to have his wives veiled, and another describes how the Prophet's wives went out at night. The hijab is not one uniform thing. Writers compare it with the tichel and snood of observant Jewish women, the apostolnik and kapp of some Christian women, and the dupatta of North Indian Hindu and Sikh culture. Each is shaped by local law, custom, weather and the body's needs, and each is called by its own name.

Early history

Veiling did not begin with Islam. It was already practised in Arabian towns, where it marked high social standing, and something like it existed among Greeks, Byzantines, Jews and Assyrians. A Qur'anic verse understood to date from 627 tells visitors to speak to the Prophet's wives from behind a screen, which is usually read as a way of protecting them from strangers who crowded the mosque that served as his home. Leila Ahmed notes that his wives wore veils while his concubines did not, and that a phrase was used among Muslims over time for a woman who joined the wives.

Scripture and law

When the Qur'an speaks of women's dress it uses khimar and jilbab rather than hijab. One verse, Al-A'raf 26, gives the plain purpose of clothing as covering the body and places fear of God above it. An-Nur 24:30-31 addresses men and women together, asking both to guard their chastity and telling women to draw their coverings over their chests, with a list of relatives in whose company adornment may be shown. Al-Ahzab 59 tells believing women to draw their outer garments around themselves so they are recognised and not harmed. Jurists later worked out the details, and scholars still disagree about the face and hands.

Law and debate

Iran and Afghanistan under Taliban rule require the hijab by law. Other states restrict or ban it. The result is that a woman may be punished in one country for covering and in another for leaving her head bare. The subject reaches beyond dress into how far women take part in public life, and into arguments about human rights and international law. One practical question raised in the sources is whether a judge who wears a religious symbol can be seen as impartial, since judicial independence is a basic principle. Modernist thinkers read the same texts differently from scholars of classical jurisprudence, and that disagreement runs through Muslim communities today.

How Hijab is kept

A Muslim woman who keeps hijab covers her hair, neck and ears, and often the chest, when she is where unrelated men may see her; many leave the face and hands uncovered, and some cover them as well. Men keep their own modest dress and lower their gaze. Families, teachers and communities pass the practice on, and law decides some of what happens outside the home. The shape of covering changes with climate and custom: a scarf, a longer cloak, or a lighter style in hot places. It is worn through the day and taken off among close relatives.

When and where

There is no date and no season. Hijab belongs to ordinary days and is kept all year, at home, on the street and at work. The rules change with company: which relatives a woman may appear before without covering, and whether the face and hands count, are settled differently by different schools of thought and by local law.

It is kept wherever Muslims live, in widely different forms. Iran and Afghanistan under Taliban rule require it by law, while other countries place restrictions or bans on it. Writers in the sources place it beside the tichel and snood of observant Jewish women, the apostolnik and kapp of some Christian women, and the dupatta of North Indian Hindu and Sikh communities.

What Hijab means

For many Muslims hijab is worship: modesty, called haya, is a matter of the heart before it is a matter of cloth, and the sources describe fear of God as more important than any covering. Modesty is honoured and its opposite, fahisha, is treated as a sign of jahiliyyah, spiritual ignorance. Some women describe the headscarf as a marker of faith and dignity, others as a form of adornment, and some jurists explain the outer garment as protection, so that a woman is recognised as a free Muslim and not troubled.

Questions people ask about Hijab

See also

ChokhaA high-collared wool coat of the Caucasus, worn by men for battle and ceremonyTurbanCloth wound around the head, worn for faith, rank, shade and identityNiqabA face veil worn by some Muslim women, hiding all but the eyesKurtaA loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeans

Good reading and sources

• Quiet end to Turkey's college headscarf banBBC, Article
• Fashion police get tough in TehranAl Jazeera, Article
• Quiet end to Turkey's college headscarf banBBC, Article
• Fashion police get tough in TehranAl Jazeera, Article

• Hijab on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.