al-Hijab fi al-Shar' wa al-Fitra
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dār al-Minhāj
al-Hijab fi al-Shar' wa al-Fitra: Bayna al-Dalil wa al-Qawl al-Dakhil (The Veil in Sacred Law and Innate Disposition: Between Proof and Extraneous Opinion) is a legal and exegetical treatise by the Saudi scholar Abd al-Aziz al-Turaifi examining the Islamic jurisprudence, Quranic proofs, and philosophical foundations of the woman's veil (hijab) .
Background and Purpose
The author completed the work in Rabi' al-Thani 1436 AH (February 2015 CE) . In the introduction, al-Turaifi states that throughout earlier centuries of Islamic history, the obligation and parameters of a woman's dress before unrelated men (al-ajanib) were so clear that classical jurists did not compose standalone monographs on the subject or dedicate isolated chapters to it in the four Sunni legal schools, treating it instead parenthetically within broader legal discussions .
He argues that confusion arose in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AH following decades of foreign occupation across Muslim lands and the resulting cultural and intellectual assimilation . According to al-Turaifi, modern debates frequently misapplied classical texts by conflating rulings between free women and bondwomen, young women and the elderly, what was revealed before and after the obligation of the veil, and decisive (muhkam) texts with ambiguous (mutashabih) ones .
Methodology and Themes
The work centers on the conceptual harmony between divine law (shar') and sound human disposition (fitra) . Al-Turaifi maintains that the human instinct toward modesty and covering the body is innate—exemplified by Adam and Eve seeking to cover themselves—and that divine legislation was revealed across all prophetic messages to govern, define, and protect this natural disposition from corruption .
The book categorizes women legally along three axes: age (children, young women, and post-menopausal elderly women), legal status (free women and bondwomen), and religion (Muslims and non-Muslims), arguing that overlooking these distinctions causes severe errors in understanding the textual evidence . It also examines the gradual nature of Islamic legislation in prohibiting means before ends, and analyzes the chronology of revelation between Surat al-Nur and Surat al-Ahzab . Al-Turaifi notes that early exegetes, such as Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, commented on Surat al-Nur according to the earlier stages of dress, while their commentary on Surat al-Ahzab reflects the finalized ruling requiring complete covering, including the face .
The book gathers and analyzes five explicit Quranic verses addressing women's covering and seclusion, detailing their occasions of revelation and the interpretations transmitted from the Companions and early scholars .
Publication
The first edition of the book was published in 1436 AH / 2015 CE by Dar al-Minhaj .
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