Treating women as awra: Difference between revisions

The question of women’s social status and the religious limits of their presence is among the controversial issues in Islamic thought. In this context, the doctrine that “women are awra,” found in certain narrative and jurisprudential texts, has served as the basis of rulings centered on women’s concealment, such as the prohibition against assuming social and judicial offices and the recommendation that women remain at home. Accordingly, accepting or rejecting this doctrine has a fundamental impact on interpreting the limits of women’s participation in society.

=== Obligation and Scope of Women’s Hijab ===

The first consequence of accepting that women are awra is establishing the obligation of religious hijab, for which some jurists, in addition to other proofs, have also cited the characterization of women as awra.<ref>See: Majlisi, Rawdat al-Muttaqin fi Sharh Man la Yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 8, p. 106.</ref> In addition to the fundamental obligation of hijab, some jurists, relying on the unrestricted scope of these narrations and the characterization of a woman’s entire body as awra,<ref>Abu al-Salah al-Halabi, al-Kafi fi al-Fiqh, p. 139.</ref> maintain that this ruling encompasses the entire body without exception. Citing Sunni narrations that regard a woman’s body as awra without exception, they emphasize the necessity of covering even the face and hands.<ref>Borujerdi, Tibyan al-Salat, vol. 3, pp. 252-253.</ref> Some jurists have gone beyond the text and regarded the absolute characterization of women as awra as an “innate and rational” rule. According to them, every person possessing a sense of honor discovers by consulting their conscience that the “principle of being awra” (asalat al-‘awriyya) is a rule concerning women and that the law of hijab is self-evident to every person of sound nature who is concerned with preserving honor.<ref>Sabzevari, Muhadhdhab al-Ahkam, vol. 5, p. 232.</ref> In contrast, by considering other proofs together, many jurists have excluded the face and hands<ref>Bahr al-Ulum, al-Durra al-Najafiyya, p. 105; Karaki, Jami‘ al-Maqasid fi Sharh al-Qawa‘id, vol. 2, p. 96.</ref> and the hair of female slaves<ref>Al Asfur, al-Anwar al-Lawami‘ fi Sharh Mafatih al-Shara’i‘, vol. 10, pp. 382-383.</ref> from the scope of awra.

=== Confinement to the Home and Avoidance of Social Presence ===

On the basis of the instruction “وَ اسْتُرُوا عَوْرَاتِهِنَّ بِالْبُیوتِ” (“conceal their awra in houses”), jurists have regarded women’s social presence as undesirable. The argument is that because a woman is awra and the exposure of awra causes shame and disgrace, a woman’s appearance likewise causes shame. Some have explicitly stated that women should remain at home as much as possible and that speaking with them, even greeting them, should be avoided so that their “ayy”—inability to speak—and ignorance are not exposed.<ref>Majlisi, Rawdat al-Muttaqin fi Sharh Man la Yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 8, p. 106.</ref> On this basis, many jurists, including [[Sayyid Mohammad Kazem Tabatabaei Yazdi|the author of al-Urwa]], have issued fatwas regarding the “recommendation of confining women to the home.”<ref>Yazdi, al-Urwa al-Wuthqa, vol. 5, p. 490.</ref> Other jurists, in their annotations on this fatwa, have likewise identified the narrations characterizing women as awra as one of its principal proofs.<ref>Sabzevari, Muhadhdhab al-Ahkam, vol. 24, p. 26; Abu al-Qasim Khoei and Javad Tabrizi, Sirat al-Najat fi Ajwibat al-Istifta’at, vol. 8, p. 221.</ref>

Another consequence of regarding women as awra is the impermissibility of their assuming social and religious offices that require presence in society. The jurisprudential argument is based on the question of how a person described as “awra” and commanded to be concealed can assume responsibility for issuing fatwas, the marja‘iyya, and judgeship. These matters intrinsically require meeting people and responding to emerging events, and such a status is incompatible with the condition envisioned for women—absolute concealment.<ref>Safi Golpayegani, Dhakhirat al-‘Uqba, vol. 1, pp. 123-124.</ref>

Some jurists have extended the scope of awra to the voice as well. According to them, being awra entails the “obligation of concealment,” and the form of such concealment varies according to its object: just as the body must be concealed from sight, the voice must also be concealed from the hearing of an unrelated man. Therefore, irrespective of the prohibition of [[ghina]], the very act of [[Women’s Singing|making one’s voice audible to men]] (isma‘ al-sawt) becomes prohibited because a woman is awra.<ref>Eshtahardi, Madarik al-Urwa, vol. 15, p. 128.</ref>