Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 237
! ! 237 A Clarification of Islamic P u rdah Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra ( By an Al - Fazl reporter) Dalhauzi, June 29, 1928 – After Friday prayer, Sheikh Abdul Ghafoor, a medical student asked: What are the limits of Islam ic p u rdah ? Haz rat Khalifa t - ul - Masih II ra responded: Maximum p u rdah is covering the face except for the eyes and covering the clothes which lie close to the body. Other than that , under the allowance of : َﻇ َﻬ َﺮ َﻣ ﺎ ِا َّﻻ “… except that which is apparent …” (Holy Qur’ān , Ch. 24: V. 32 ) whatever part remains exposed due to force of circumstance , is permissible. For example , a female farmer is unable to till the soil and perform other farming work with a veil covering her face. Hence , it is permissible for her to expose her hands and face in order to work. However, those ladies who do not do such work, but rather go out for a stroll , should cover their faces. Nowadays, the way p u rdah is discussed is not appropriate. An attempt is being made to derive a different meaning from the Qur’ān ic verse , which includes the injunction on p u rdah , even though the meaning they wish to draw fro m this verse cannot be derived. Yet we should look upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and his companions ra to see how they interpreted it and how they acted upon it. When we delve deeper , we find that covering the face was included in p u rdah. It has been clearly written that when the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa suggested that his grandson marry, he sent a