Concept of Satr and Women’s Modesty in Islamic Sharia

The whole body of a woman, except the face and the bands, is satar which she is not allowed to uncover even before her father, uncle, brother, or son. More than that, it is not approved that a woman should uncover her satar even before another woman. Keeping this in view, let us consider the limits set to the display of decorations:

 1. The woman has been allowed to display her decoration before her husband, father, father-inlaw, son, step son, brother and nephew (son of sister).

2. She has also been allowed to display her decoration before her slaves (but not before the slaves of others).

3. She may also appear with decoration before such men as are under her control and command and can have no evil inclinations towards her.

4. She may also display her decoration before such children as may not yet have developed sexual feelings, or, according to the Qur’an “such boys as may not yet be aware of the feminine secrets”.

5. She is also permitted to appear with decoration before the women with whom she has every day social relations.

The words used in the Qur’an imply such women as are noble of character, or have family or blood relations, or are of equal rank. All other women besides these who may not be well-known, or may be of doubtful character, or notorious on account of their evil ways, are excluded from the permissions, for contact with them can easily lead to evil results. That is why Hazrat ‘Umar wrote to Hazrat Abu ‘Obaidah bin Al-Jarrah, Governor of Syria, to prohibit the Muslim women from going to baths with the women of the people of the Book. [Ibn Jarir: Commentary on V. 31 of Surah An-Nur (24)]. Hazrat Ibn ‘Abbas says, “A Muslim woman is not allowed to display herself before the women of the unbelievers and non-Muslim tax-payers, any more than she can display herself before the other men”. (Tafsir-i-Kabir Commentary on v.31 of Surah An-Nur).

This did not mean to create any religious distinction. It only aimed at safeguarding the Muslim women against the influence of the women whose moral and cultural background was not fully known, or if known to some extent, it was objectionable from the Islamic point of view. However, the Muslim women have been allowed to mix freely with those non- Muslim women who are noble of character, chaste and well mannered.

If we consider these limits carefully, we can draw two conclusions: First, the decoration that can be displayed in this restricted circle does not include the female satar. It means the ornaments, decent clothing, use of collyrium and henna, hairdos and all other decorations that women are by nature fond of showing in their houses.

Second, this kind of decoration can either be displayed by a woman before the males for whom she is permanently unlawful, or before those who lack sexual desire, or those who are incapable of becoming a source of evil. That is why permission has been restricted in the case of women to “their own women”, in the case of men to those “lacking sexual urges”, and in the case of children to those “who are not yet aware of the feminine secrets”. This shows that the Law-giver means to restrict the display of decoration by women to a limited circle, so as to reduce to minimum the chances of emotional excitement or sexual anarchy on account of the female charms and decorations.

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Woman has been prohibited to display her fineries before all other men, outside this circle. So much so that she is not allowed even to stamp the ground in walking, lest her hidden decoration should be revealed by its jingle, and thus attract attention. This decoration which she has been commanded to conceal from the other men is the same which she has been allowed to display in the abovementioned circle. The object is clear. That is, if women are allowed to appear in full make-up freely before men who neither lack sexual desires, nor are immune from sexual urges because of permanent unlawfulness, the consequences warranted by human nature will inevitably follow. It cannot, however, be claimed that such a display of fineries shall turn every woman into a prostitute, nor that every man shall become an adulterer. But, at the same time nobody can deny that if women go about in full make-up and mix freely with men, it is likely to result in countless open and secret moral and material disadvantages for the society.

Today women in Europe and America are spending the major portion of their own and their husbands’ incomes on make up and decoration, and the rising expenditure on this account is becoming more and more unbearable.54 Is not this craze the gift of the lustful eyes that eagerly wait to great decorated ladies in the bazars and streets, offices and social gatherings? The question is: Why is this craze for beautification among women becoming more and more catching every day? Most surely, it is due to the feminine urge to win the approbation of men and to fascinate them.

But what for? Is it an innocent urge? Does it not spring from the hidden sexual desires which crave for their fulfilment outside their lawful, natural sphere by similar desires on the other side? If one denies this, then one may perhaps have no hesitation to deny that underneath a volcano overshadowed by smoke there is always something called lava forcing for an outlet. One may act and behave as one may please, but one should not close one’s eyes to facts, These facts are no longer hidden; they have become manifest and their results are as clear as the sun. Even so they are acknowledged consciously or unconsciously by everybody in daily life. Islam, however, checks such trends and means to nip the mischief in the bud. That is why it looks with concern upon the seemingly “innocent” display of decoration, which eventually sends the whole society to its doom. According to a Hadith, “A woman who freely mixes with the other people and shows off her decoration is without light and virtue”. (Al-Tirmizi). The Holy Qur’an prohibits the display of decoration by women before the other people except what is unavoidable. People have tried to exploit this exception to serve their own “theories”. But the difficulty is that these words do not allow much scope for misinterpretation. What the Law-giver means to say is that a woman should not display her decoration before others on purpose, but she is not responsible for that which cannot be helped. That is, one should not show off nor display one’s fineries before others, not even by causing it to jingle in order to attract attention. On the contrary, one should try one’s utmost to hide one’s fineries, but in spite of that some part of it remains uncovered, God will not take one to task for it. Obviously, the outer garments with which one hides one’s decoration will remain uncovered. Similarly, one’s stature, physical build and figure cannot be hidden. Then one may have sometimes to uncover one’s hand or a part of one’s face for a genuine need. This is not prohibited, for it is not done with a desire to show off. One cannot possibly avoid it. If a mean person draws pleasure from it, he will suffer for his own evil intention. The woman who performed her moral and social duty as well as she could is absolved from all blame.

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Taken from the book: “Purdah and the Status of Women in Islam.”