booke

women and islamic law 307And those who guard their private parts [li-furåjihim ȧfiíån], * exceptfrom their wives and what their right hands possess [azw§jihim]. [Forthese] they are not blameworthy… ( Al-Mu"minån 23:5–6) [FM]Second, and no less important, that any nonrelated male can cast aglance at their private parts. This is expressed by the second line inboth verses. We notice the use of the noun abߧr, sing. baßr, whichmeans ‘look’ or ‘glance’ by the movement of the eyes. This is differentfrom ‘view’ or ‘sight’, which takes place inside the brain, wherethings can be ‘seen’ even if the eyes are closed. We infer that to keepthe lower limit of proper men’s dress requires men to protect theirprivate parts. This can be fulfilled by wearing underpants or a swimsuit as this sufficiently covers a man’s genitals and buttocks, or whatthe fuqah§" called his ‘thick’ #awra (#awra mughallaía).Verse 30 ends with the assertion that ‘God is well acquainted withall that they [men] do’. The term used to express ‘do’ is ßana#, usuallyemployed to refer to a process of manufacturing things (e.g.,‘…Forthwith he (starts) constructing [ yaßna# u ] the Ark…’, Håd 11:38),or to a process of education (‘…and (this) in order that you may bereared [wa-li-tußna# a ] under Mine eye’, •§-H§" 20:39). In 24:30 theterm ‘doing’ is used in this second sense, that is, indicating a processof education, because, by asking men and women to protect theirprivate parts, Allah sends down His instructions in order to teach usgood and civilised behaviour. This is done in a nonrepressive andnonobtrusive way since people should learn gradually, and withoutharsh public sanctions, how to avoid casting glances that mightembarrass other people. Members of every social community shouldlearn how to protect their private parts by interaction with theirsurrounding culture and by responding, flexibly and open-mindedly,to each individual social occasion.Third Line:…that they should not display their [hidden] beauty [zÊnatahunna]except what [visibly of her beauty] appears thereof [ill§ m§ íaharaminh§];This line, like the rest of the verse, is different from 24:30 (the instructionsto men) because lines 3–11 were revealed so that women couldreceive additional instructions about their dress code. It will be interestingto learn in detail what the implications of these additionalnorms for women’s lives are. We will analyse verse 31 in conjunction