In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
‘Why don’t men wear the hijab? Why is it that men are not required to cover themselves as extensively as women have to in Islam? Women have to cover from head to foot; men have to cover only from the navel to the knee. Why does this disparity exist? What is the difference between a man’s hair and a woman’s hair? Why do only women have to cover their hair? Why don’t men cover their hair and their faces?’ These are some of the questions that modern Westerners ask and sometimes Muslims do not know how to answer.
Interestingly, Christians never asked Muslims such questions a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, Christian authors such as John Damascene wrote extensively against Islam. They criticized every aspect of Islam that they could think of; but they never criticized Muslim women for covering their hair. How could they criticize Muslim women for covering their hair, when the Virgin Mary – peace be upon her – was always depicted with her hair covered? How could they criticize Muslim women for covering their hair when Saint Paul had also said: ‘A woman who prays with her hair unveiled disgraces her head’? At that time, Christianity also valued modesty in dress and behaviour. The same is true of Judaism. The Mishnah makes it clear: “Jewish women, married or unmarried, should not walk in the marketplace with uncovered hair.” So, how could they reproach Muslim women for following the Shari’ah when their own Halakhah said the same thing? Therefore, in the past, modest dress was the norm. At the time of Imam Al-Ghazzali or other scholars, there were not so many books about the hijab, because everyone understood what the hijab was and there was no need to defend the traditional Islamic modest dress.
Anyway, we do not live in the Middle Ages anymore and there are people – both Muslims and non-Muslims – who ask: ‘Why do only women have to wear the hijab? Why do women have to cover their hair and not men?’ How do we answer this question?
First of all, for a Muslim, it is enough to know that the Qur’an commands women to wear the hijab. Men are told to ‘cast down their glance and guard their private parts.’ (24:30) whereas women are also told to: ‘cast their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers…’(24:31) or to their other mahārim. For a Muslim, no other reason or explanation is needed. We have to obey Allah, even if we do not comprehend the reasons behind His commandments. This answer satisfies many Muslims; but it is not likely to convince non-Muslims who do not accept the authority of the Qur’an in the first place.
The question ‘Why don’t men wear the hijab?’ is based on the false assumption that men and women are equal. Men and women are not equal. No two things are equal in every respect. If two things were equal in every way, there would be one thing and not two things. If man and woman were equal in every way, they would be identical; there would be one sex and not two sexes. Men and women are equal in that they are both humans. They are equal in many things, unequal in many other things.
A woman’s hair is not like a man’s hair. Even in a country such as the United States or Australia, a woman’s haircut costs four of five times more than a man’s haircut. Why this inequality? Why this discrimination based on gender? It’s not because women have longer hair or cutting women’s hair takes longer or anything like that. These are excuses. It’s because women, as a rule, are willing to pay more for their haircuts. Women are more concerned with their appearances than men.
Women spend much more time in front of the mirror. Whether we like it or not, this is the case. Women all over the world are more interested in jewellery, ornaments, cosmetics and beautiful clothes than men. Naturally, we pay more attention to our bodies. Men also pay more attention to women’s bodies. An Arab poet describes this difference very beautifully:
Woman is a hunter, and man too is a hunter
Woman is prey, and man too is a prey
She uses her body to captivate his heart;
He uses his heart to captivate her body
To an Arab man, feminine beauty is like wine
He who drinks but once will never be satiated;
Whereas the beauty of men, in the eyes of women
Is sweet and pleasant like milk and dates.
I think what this poem is trying to say is that there is a difference between the way men look at women and the way women look at men. Woman seeks to rule over man’s heart, whereas man wants to dominate woman’s body. Man seeks woman actively whereas woman wants to be loved and sought after. Woman wants the protection of man, whereas man wants the company of woman. Also, women are stronger than men in controlling their desires. A woman can control her desires more easily than a man. Generally, women are more bashful than men; as the hadith also indicates:
‘Allah divided bashfulness (hayā) into ten portions: he gave nine portions to women and one portion to men.’
Islam teaches that a woman should share her external beauty only with her husband (and to a lesser extent, with her mahārim) and not with every man on the street. Islam does not teach that we should share our knowledge or our thoughts only with our husbands. Let us consider our role models: A’isha – May Allah be pleased with her – was so modest that she was eager to cover her face even in the state of ihram, as the hadith indicates. But the very same woman is the narrator of many of our ahâdith. She passed on her knowledge to the future generations and inspired Muslim women and men for fourteen centuries.
Having said all these, it goes without saying that modest dress is also important for men. The reason we wear modest dress is not only because our bodies might be attractive to the opposite gender; but also because modest dress is a sign of human dignity. Allah created human being to be His slave (‘abd) and vicegerent (khalifah); men and women should dress in a way that reflects this status. Our dress should remind us of our servitude; remind us of the fact that we are not free on this earth to do what we want, but to do what Allah wants us to do.
Unfortunately, there are some brothers who expect their wives to wear the abâya and the niqāb; while they themselves wear short-sleeved T-shirts and shorts. If you expect your wife to dress like the wives of the Prophet, you should also try to dress like the Prophet – peace be upon him-. If you expect your wife to dress like the female companions of the Messenger of Allah, try to wear clothes that resemble those of the male companions – May Allah be pleased with them all-. Even though men were not told to wear the hijab or to veil their faces, they were told to dress modestly and to behave modestly. The Prophet – peace be upon him – said:
‘Every religion has a character, and the character of Islam is modesty.’
May Allah – Glory be to Him – help us to acquire modesty and humility, which are the characteristics of this religion. In sha’ Allah
Useful Sources:
Beauty of Modesty 