Page 294 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger

Bigotry:
The Dark Danger

Arabic transliteration: ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo itha
qumtum ila alssalati faighsiloo wujoohakum waaydiyakum ila
almarafiqi waimsahoo biruoosikum

Ra's (head) is the singular form of ruoos, 'heads' in Arabic. The
word biruoosikum in the verse means 'your heads'.

It is clear that had God commanded women to cover their heads,
that command would have been set out explicitly and unequivocally
in the Qur'an. However, examination of the verses regarding
women's clothing contains no such emphasis regarding the head.

2- Examination of Words in the Qur'an Through
Other Verses

In examining the Qur'an, one needs to look at how a particular

word is used with other words in the verse and in other verses.

The word used alongside the word "khimar" ("cover") in verse
31 of Surat an-Nur and which emphasizes the subject is "juyub." As
we have seen above, this word is used to refer to the bosom region
in all the other verses in which it appears. The area that needs to be
covered up according to the verse is therefore the bosom, not the
head.

3- Care Being Taken Over Ascribing Meaning to
Arabic Words in Parenthesis

Arabic has a much larger vocabulary than many other lan-

guages, and it is exceedingly rich in terms of meanings: Much can be
said with few words, and a word can have very different uses, and
therefore meanings. Therefore, many interpretations are added in
parenthesis even though the meaning of the verse is quite clear;

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