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326chapter fiveodology. In their reading of 24:31 and 33:59 they assumed that theProphet’s ÈadÊth (‘a woman’s #awra is her entire body except her faceand her hands’) is a specification of the Book and misread it as anÈadÊth abrogating 24:31 and 33:59. We believe, instead, thatMuÈammad (ß) was simply formulating the upper limit of women’sdress requirements. But the jurists were so eager to formulate restrictivepractices for women that their male-centred ideologies eventuallygot the better of their expertise in the Arabic language—with fatalresults for all of us today who have to pick up the pieces of theirreactionary zeal.Let us finally summarise the findings of our study:1. Dress requirements for men:The lower limit means to cover the lower private parts, theirgenitalia, the so-called thick #awra according to traditional fiqh.Every other part of the body is covered (or remains uncovered)according to the existing cultural dress requirements of thecountry/region in which they live.2. Dress requirements for women:There are four stipulations to be considered:a. Women are not allowed to appear completely nakedexcept in front of their zawj husband—no other person isallowed to be present.b. Women are required to cover their lower private parts (=absolute lower limit) in front of those persons mentionedin 24:31, but not their upper private parts. Their ba#lhusband and half of their maȧrim (taboo-)relatives (note:not all of them!) belong to this group.c. Women are required to cover their upper private parts(breasts and armpits) in addition to their lower privateparts, her thick #awra (= this constitutes the lower limit forall women). This definition, however, does not coverdresses for special social occasions (parties, opera, concerts,etc.). As for the concept ‘from the navel to the knee’,we conclude that fiqh jurists unashamedly inventedthis. 7474In Islamic fiqh, this is traditionally understood as the area of a woman’s (ormen’s) #awra, i.e., ‘the zone of modesty’. It is categorised as, 1) #awra mughallaía (thick#awra), which consists of the furåj private parts (vagina/men’s genitals, buttocks and