Issue of Hijab (book)
 | |
| Author | Morteza Motahhari |
|---|---|
| Language | Persian |
| Subject | Hijab and women's covering |
| Publisher | Sadra Publication |
Publication date | 1347 Sh/1968 |
The Issue of Hijab (Persian:مسئله حجاب) is a book by Morteza Motahhari that examines Hijab and women's covering from the perspective of Islam. This book is the result of a series of lectures and discussions by Motahhari at the meetings of the Islamic Association of Physicians, which was published as a book in 1968. According to Motahhari, the purpose of raising these discussions was to prevent practical deviations in the field of Hijab and to respond to the doubts raised by opponents of Islam regarding Hijab and issues related to women. He has examined the subject of Hijab in five main category: the history of Hijab, the cause of its emergence, the philosophy of covering in Islam, answering the objections of opponents concerning Hijab, and explaining the Islamic Hijab.
After its publication, The Issue of Hijab faced criticisms from some traditional clerics; criticisms mainly concerning the covering of the face and hands and women's employment outside the home. In response to these criticisms, a book titled Responses to Criticisms of the Book The Issue of Hijab was published, which includes Motahhari's answers to some of these critiques.
The Issue of Hijab is considered one of the best-selling works, and by 2023-24, more than 1,400,000 copies of it had been printed in 137 editions by Sadra Publications. This work has also been translated into languages such as Arabic, Russian, and Turkmen.
Status
The book The Issue of Hijab is considered one of the most famous works on Hijab[1] and one of the most important works of Morteza Motahhari, a Shi'a thinker. This influential and trend-setting work in society is considered particularly significant between the years 1968 and 1979; to the extent that it has been said that speaking and writing about Hijab before and after the publication of this work had a significant difference.[2] This book is considered a reference for many works written about Hijab after the Islamic Revolution of Iran.[3]
Rasul Ja'fariyan, a Shi'a researcher and cleric, described this work as a coherent and excellent book with eloquent prose and considered its arguments appropriate to the official and current culture of Iran. In his view, The Issue of Hijab was the most important and, for many readers, the only book that could justify the issue of Hijab and convince the minds of the youth.[4]
It is said that this book played a prominent role in neutralizing the policy of promoting unveiling by the Pahlavi regime.[5] In the introduction to the book, the author refers to its widespread impact in correcting the beliefs of the younger generation and states that the discussions in the book even caused some intellectual women to reconsider their attitudes.[6] The book The Issue of Hijab was the fifth work introduced in the series of meetings "One Hundred Lasting Books of the Century"; a meeting held to honor the top works of Iranians in the last century at the accademy of the National Library and Archives of Iran.[7]
This book was first published in 1968 by the Islamic Association of Physicians[8] and is considered one of the best-selling works. By 2023-24, more than 1,400,000 copies of it had been printed in 137 editions by Sadra Publications.[9] This work has also been translated into languages such as Arabic,[10] Russian,[11] and Turkmen.[12]
Purpose and Motivation
According to Motahhari, the purpose of writing this book was to counter practical deviations in the field of Hijab and to answer the doubts raised by opponents of Islam regarding Hijab and issues related to women.[13] It is also said that Motahhari tried in this work to correct the beliefs of a generation regarding the issue of Hijab, Islam's view of women, the status of covering in this religion, and to respond to lies and doubts reflected in the name of Islam about Hijab.[14]
Author
Morteza Motahhari (1920 – 1979) was a jurist, thinker, philosopher, and Islamic scholar.[15] He is considered one of the main theorists and pave-makers of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979.[16] Among his prominent teachers are Ayatollah Burujirdi, Imam Khomeini, 'Allama Tabataba'i, Sayyid Muhammad Rida Gulpaygani, Sayyid Muhammad Muhaqqiq Damad, Sayyid Ahmad Khwansari, and Mirza Mahdi Ashtiyani.[17]
Alongside teaching, Motahhari authored numerous works in various Islamic fields, including The System of Women's Rights in Islam, Sexual Ethics, and Women and Judicial and Political Issues; works that specifically addressed the subject of women in Islam.[18]
Content and Structure
The book The Issue of Hijab is the result of a series of lectures and discussions by Morteza Motahhari at the meetings of the Islamic Association of Physicians, which was compiled and published as a book with corrections and additions.[19] According to the book's introduction, about one-third of the content was added in the second edition. In this edition, besides adding supplementary material in various chapters, a new chapter titled "Women's Participation in Gatherings" was added to the end of the book. Also, fatwas were completed and expanded, sources of narrations were added to the footnotes, and an index of names, books, places, verses, and hadiths were included at the end of the book.[20] This book is organized into five sections:
- Section One: Examining the history of Hijab in various nations including ancient Iran, Arabs in Jahiliyya era, India, and within the Jewish religion aiming to prove the existence of Hijab before Islam in various cultures.
- Section Two: Analyzing the causes of the emergence of Hijab in different tribes and nations from philosophical, social, economic, psychological, and individual perspectives. In this section, modesty, covering, and veiling are also introduced as values for the exaltation of women in society.
- Section Three: Explaining the philosophy of covering in Islam.
- Section Four: Answering objections and criticisms of opponents of Hijab and covering.
- Section Five: Examining Islamic Hijab citing verses, narrations, and the conduct of Muslims.[21]
Some of the questions answered in this book include: "Is Hijab exclusive to Islam and did Muslims introduce it to Iran and other regions?", "Why should one have Hijab?", "Why do men not have Hijab?", "What are the limits of Hijab?", "What is the difference between love and lust?", "Does Hijab not contradict the principle of freedom?", "How should the quality of Hijab and covering be?", "Is wearing a Chador mandatory?", "Is Islam in favor of seclusion and imprisonment of women at home or in favor of women's covering in the presence of strange men?", "Is there a middle way between seclusion and mixing with strange men?"[22]
Viewpoints
Some of Morteza Motahhari's viewpoints in the book The Issue of Hijab regarding women's covering are as follows:
Philosophy of Hijab
Motahhari believes that the root and essence of the issue of Hijab in Islam is that Islam, contrary to Western culture, has confined all kinds of sexual pleasures to the family environment and within the framework of legal Marriage, defining society solely for work and activity. In the Islamic view, men are allowed to enjoy sexual relations with women only within the framework of the family, through marriage, and acceptance of specific commitments as legal spouses. However, any seeking of pleasure in the social environment is prohibited.[23]
From Motahhari's perspective, the philosophy of Hijab and limiting sexual gratification to the family environment and legitimate spouses has multiple effects. Psychologically, it leads to individual mental hygiene; from a family perspective, it leads to the strengthening of relationships among family members and increasing intimacy between spouses; socially, it causes the preservation of the workforce and stability of society; and from the perspective of women's status vis-à-vis men, it leads to the enhancement of women's value and respect in men's eyes.[24]
Islam is opposed to mixing, not to women's participation in gatherings, even with the observance of boundaries. Islam says: neither confinement nor mixing, but boundaries... Mixed participation of men and women in some gatherings, such as some holy shrines which are extremely crowded in our time, is contrary to the satisfaction of the Holy Lawgiver of Islam...[25]
Cause of the Emergence of Hijab
In a part of the book, the author rejects common views regarding the cause of the emergence of Hijab; views such as the desire for asceticism, men's desire to exploit women, men's jealousy and selfishness, lack of security and social justice, and women's feeling of inferiority towards men for reasons such as physical defects or menstruation. Against these theories, he considers the main cause of the emergence of Hijab to be women's natural tendency to cover themselves before men and to preserve their position and status vis-à-vis men.[26]
Women's Presence in Society
Motahhari believes that Islam neither favors imprisoning women at home nor approves of mixing men and women in society like Western culture. From Islam's perspective, women's presence in society, observing chastity, maintaining boundaries, and avoiding mixing with men, has no religious prohibition. The conduct of Muslims since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (s) has been based on this as well.[27]
Motahhari emphasizes that imprisoning women at home was a temporary punishment established in Islam only for unchaste women and cannot be considered an Islamic principle.[28]
Rejecting the view of opponents of Hijab who believe that Hijab leads to the exclusion and paralysis of the workforce of half of society, he states that what limits women's talents is Hijab in the sense of imprisoning women at home and depriving them of cultural, social, and economic activities; whereas such an interpretation does not exist in Islam. Islam not only does not oppose women's education but also allows their cultural and economic activities.[29]
Limits of Covering
In discussing the limits of women's covering, the author considers covering the entire body except for the roundness of the face and hands up to the wrists as obligatory and counts it among the certainties of Islamic jurisprudence.[30] Pointing to the difference of opinion among jurists regarding covering the face and hands, he does not consider this covering obligatory.[31] Motahhari believes that the non-obligation of covering the face and hands for women is intended to prevent hardship and difficulty in life and to facilitate normal activities for them in society.[32]
He considers covering or not covering the face and hands as the boundary between women being imprisoned or free at home and believes that the objections raised by opponents of Hijab are valid only if covering the face and hands is also considered obligatory.[33] In his view, believing in the obligation of covering the face and hands means limiting women to the home space and prohibiting their presence and activity in society.[34] In his book, Motahhari examines the arguments of proponents and opponents of the obligation of covering the roundness of the face and hands and criticizes the proponents' view.[35]
Criticisms
After its publication, the book The Issue of Hijab faced criticisms from some traditional clerics. It is said that these criticisms were mainly directed at Motahhari's view, which considered showing the face and hands of women and their employment outside the home while observing Hijab as permissible.[36] For example, in 1970, criticisms were raised by Muhammad Taqi Shari'atmadari, a Shi'a jurist and student of Shahid Motahhari, and were provided to Motahhari. He also responded to these criticisms, and the collection of criticisms and responses was published in a book titled The Responses to Criticisms of the Book The Issue of Hijab.[37]
Other criticisms raised include:
- Criticism by Muhammad Taqi Siddiqin Isfahani in the book Interpretation of the Verse of Jilbab.
- Criticism by Ahmad Muhsini Garakani in the margin of the book Hijab in Islam by Qawam al-Din Muhammad Washnawi.
- Criticism by Abu l-Qasim Ishtihardi in the book Al-Hijab fi l-Islam.
- Criticism by Mahdi Shari'ati Niasar in the book Solving the Issue of Hijab.[38]
Notes
- ↑ «Bihtarīn kitāb dar mawrd-i ḥijāb», Faraketab Magazine.
- ↑ «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ «Namāyishgāh-i majāzī-yi kitāb-shināsī-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Rasāʾil-i ḥijābiyya, vol. 2, pp. 1111-1112.
- ↑ «Falsafa-yi ḥijāb bālā burdan-i arzish-i zan ast», Defa Press Agency.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 12.
- ↑ «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Rasāʾil-i ḥijābiyya, 1380 Sh, vol. 2, p. 1111; «Namāyishgāh-i majāzī-yi kitāb-shināsī-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Iran Book and Literature House.
- ↑ «Tarjuma-yi «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb»-i Shahīd Muṭahharī bih zabān-i Rūsī», IBNA News Agency.
- ↑ «Tarjuma-yi «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb» bih zabān-i Turkamānī», IBNA News Agency.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, pp. 11-12.
- ↑ «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ Khumaynī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi Imām, 1389 Sh, vol. 7, p. 178.
- ↑ Isḥāqī, Zindagī-nāma wa andīsha-hā-yi ustād shahīd Murtaḍā Muṭahharī, 1387 Sh, pp. 48-49.
- ↑ Isḥāqī, Zindagī-nāma wa andīsha-hā-yi ustād shahīd Murtaḍā Muṭahharī, 1387 Sh, pp. 30-31.
- ↑ «Dasta-bandī-yi mawḍūʿī-yi āthār-i ustād shahīd Āyatullāh Muṭahharī», Website of Sadra Publications.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 5, 12.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 13-14.
- ↑ «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 15-16; «Muʿarrafī-yi kitāb-i Masʾala-yi ḥijāb», Website of the Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of Ayatollah Khamenei.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, pp. 76-77.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 76.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 220.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, pp. 31–63.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 219-220.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 219.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 84.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 165.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 170-171.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 171.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, p. 170.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 168-169.
- ↑ See: Muṭahharī, Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1387 Sh, pp. 172–200.
- ↑ «Namāyishgāh-i majāzī-yi kitāb-shināsī-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
- ↑ Muṭahharī, Pāsukh-hā-yi ustād bih naqd-hāyī bih kitāb-i Masʾala-yi ḥijāb, 1402 Sh, p. 3; Jaʿfariyān, Rasāʾil-i ḥijābiyya, vol. 2, p. 1112.
- ↑ Jaʿfariyān, Rasāʾil-i ḥijābiyya, vol. 2, p. 1112; «Namāyishgāh-i majāzī-yi kitāb-shināsī-yi ḥijāb», Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran.
References
- Isḥāqī, Ḥusayn. Zindagī-nāma wa andīsha-hā-yi ustād shahīd Murtaḍā Muṭahharī. Qom, Markaz-i Pizhūhish-hā-yi Islāmī-yi Ṣedā va Sīmā, 1387 Sh.
- Jaʿfariyān, Rasūl. Rasāʾil-i ḥijābiyya. Qom, Dalīl-i Mā, 1380 Sh.
- Khumaynī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Ṣaḥīfa-yi Imām. Tehran, Muʾassisa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khumaynī, 5th ed., 1389 Sh.
- «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb». Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran. Posted: 31 Tir 1403 Sh. Accessed: 25 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.
- «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb». Iran Book and Literature House. Accessed: 29 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.
- «Muʿarrafī-yi kitāb-i Masʾala-yi ḥijāb». Website of the Office for the Preservation and Publication of the Works of Ayatollah Khamenei. Posted: 11 Ordibehesht 1403 Sh. Accessed: 25 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.
- Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Masʾala-yi ḥijāb. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1387 Sh.
- Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Pāsukh-hā-yi ustād bih naqd-hāyī bih kitāb-i Masʾala-yi ḥijāb. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1402 Sh.
- «Namāyishgāh-i majāzī-yi kitāb-shināsī-yi ḥijāb». Website of the National Library and Archives of Iran. Accessed: 30 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.
- «Tarjuma-yi «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb» bih zabān-i Turkamānī». IBNA News Agency. Posted: 25 Farvardin 1388 Sh. Accessed: 30 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.
- «Tarjuma-yi «Masʾala-yi ḥijāb»-i Shahīd Muṭahharī bih zabān-i Rūsī». IBNA News Agency. Posted: 26 Aban 1388 Sh. Accessed: 29 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.