ভূমিকা

Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers that they draw their veils close to them, that is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not be annoyed, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.” The Arabic word /jalabib/ is the plural form of /julbab/ in the sense of a veil which covers the head and the neck, or a long cloth which can cover the whole body as well as the head and the neck.[^1] Upon the occasion of revelation of this verse it is recorded in the commentary book of Ali-ibn-’Ibrahim that at that time Muslim women used to go to the mosque and establish prayer behind the Prophet (S).

At night, when they went to perform their evening and night prayers, some young abusive men sometimes waited in their way and hurt them with their jokes and evil words and by this means they bothered them. The above verse was revealed and ordered the women to observe their veil perfectly so that they would become recognized clearly and nobody could find any pretext for brothering them. So, in this verse, the Qur’an orders the believing women not to give any pretext to mischief-mongers.

Then with the most intensive threat, which is very rare in the verses of the Qur’an, attacks the hypocrites, troublesome persons, and gossipers. By the first part, the holy verse says: “O’ Prophet!

Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers that they draw their veils close to them, that is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not be annoyed…” The commentators have delivered two views upon the sentence “…that they should be known (as such)…” which are not contrary with each other.

The first is that in those days it had been customary that the maid servants would come out of home without covering their head and neck, and since from the point of manner they were not so well, sometimes some impolite young persons made trouble for them.