The woman and the cover

Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem

** If you're here for the freebie, see the free christian ebook at the bottom of this post

It seems that everywhere in the world there's much ado about the headscarf. In particular, the Hijab. (as a muslimah would wear a headscarf). But what exactly is the big deal? Why are people so averse to it, particularly non-muslims? In my opinion its pure ignorance of their own scriptures. Christians will always say that they are "covered by the blood of Jesus" and hence do not need a head covering. Erm... where abouts does that appear in any of the 28 000 plus versions of the bible?

Let's begin by looking at the view of biblical Christians on women, and their view on the scarf..




Christian or Muslim?



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1) NEW TESTAMENT:  WOMEN must cover, MEN need not.MAN is the head..

"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. .... Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." 1 Corinthians 11:3-6; 13-16

Note: Interpretation concerning "the head of every man is Christ": The example he should follow is to live as Jesus (Isa as) did.. But leaving that aside for the moment..



"EVERY woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head - for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn" (shave her head).

Christians will turn around and say - oh but it says that "if a woman have long hair, then her hair is given her for a covering.".. but the statement IS qualified - it says "if the women BE NOT COVERED, let her also be shorn"..

In the same chapter (Corinthians, chapter 11), it says:
"For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: (astaghfirullah) but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels." 1 Corinthians 11:7-10



Mantilla - a Christian head covering - may be made of any material


 ACCORDING to this verse-

1. Christian men need not cover their head
2. EVERY woman MUST cover her head
3. IF she doesn't cover she must have her hair shaved off - which was a disgrace at the time and hence she should be disgraced (yes, this is christianity 101, not the teachings of Islam)
4. Why? Because this verse claims,  man is superior to the woman - this verse claims that HE is the image of God.. and she is ... we... just the glory of man, hence, she needs to "obey her god (man)" she is not the image of God, she was created for the man.. and the angels are watching her so she better cover up!
5. It doesn't apply to the married woman because before the woman is married, the head of her house is a man - her father..

At least that's what I get from that verse - seems pretty straight forward from that angle.

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2) NEW TESTAMENT :  The MAN is superior to the WOMAN: (in biblical christianity)

a) As above, in Corinthians - "Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?"  (after all, she's "just" a woman, right?)

b) 1 Timothy 2:8-15 New International Version (NIV)

^" Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. ⁹ I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

In other words, no children = Damnation to hell

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3) OLD TESTAMENT:  The woman is worth less than the man

Leviticus 27:1-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

27 "Again, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to the Lord. ³ If your valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. ⁴ Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. ⁵ If it be from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels. ⁶ But if they are from a month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be five shekels of silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. ⁷ If they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

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4) OLD TESTAMENT: THE WOMAN HAS NO RIGHT TO PROTECTION:

Let's look at the King James Version: The book of Numbers, Chapter 5

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
3 Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

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5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
(...)
8 But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest;  (...)
9 And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. (belong to the priest, only, who is a man of course!)
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A man is jealous, so the women is made to drink poison, and a curse. She then either falls pregnant by this abusive husband (if innocent) OR her thighs rot and she becomes a "curse" to society. NO witness is required, NO evidence is submitted:

11 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and THERE BE NO WITNESS AGAINST HER, neither she be taken with the manner;
14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: (IN OTHER WORDS, IF THE MAN IS JEALOUS OF HIS WIFE, OR SUSPICIOUS, WHETHER SHE BE GUILTY OR NOT:::::)15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:
17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and UNCOVER  the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water THAT CAUSETH THE CURSE:
THE ACCUSED WOMAN IS CURSED AND MUST SAY AMEN WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE BEING PUT FORWARD!19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;


-THE WOMEN MUST ACCEPT THE CURSE, NO DEFENSE, NO ARGUMENT:

22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:

24 And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

 - Go back to verse 13 - in other words, wether she is inocent or not, she will :
1) have her hair uncovered (be disgraced)
2) Made to drink poison, made with the dirt of the floor of the temple
3) Made to say AMen, AMen to the curse upon her

As if this isn't enough, she then needs to drink the water made with a handful of the jealousy offering which the woman brings (usually some animal) - after this has been burnt -

25 Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:
26 And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

This sounds a heck of a lot to me like witchcraft - put a 'hex' on her inocent or not - if she has some reaction, well she has to be guilty, right?... No witnesses... And what of the man who supposedly may or may not have "lain with her".. If she's inocent, well then she will fall pregnant - WONDERFUL - further being ensnared by this jealous guy who would on a whim feed her a poisoned curse... and if she's guilty, then she will basically have her thighs rot and she will be a curse among her people. GREAT CHOICE for an inocent gal, ei?... luuurvely... and they say ISLAM oppresses women.


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Oh - I asked - what of the man? The guy who slept with her, or even the husband who accused her?
31 Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity

********************  Just a quick one - go back to verse 18 -
  18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head,

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oh - so it is presumed a woman should cover? well that should clear up the confusion in Coritnthians, right? 

THE FREEBIE is coming up.... :

Christian covering commanded in the bible: (written by a christian woman)

 "You say that wearing a headcovering is a form of bondage?
I say it is an expression of my freedom in Christ.
You say that it oppresses women.
I say that it reminds me of the stole draped over my head when receiving the prayer of absolution after making confession.

You say that it is only "cultural" and does not apply to today.
I say, neither does turning the other cheek make sense in our culture.

Neither does "blessed are the poor in spirit".

Neither does "blessed are the meek".

You say your head is your own.
I say that I gave my head to Christ.
You say your hair is your glory and your covering.
I say that I can neither make my hair, make it grow, or keep it from falling out. Only my creator can do that.

The only things I can do with my hair are let it grow, cut it off, color it, or cover it.

I have done all these things.

But now I cover it.

What does this all mean? A question I have asked myself many times as the years have gone by. What does it mean that the husband is the head of the wife? Kephale in the Greek. Source. Submission. Harmony. And husbands love your wife as Christ loved the Church. Perhaps it is more than a "headship" covering. Perhaps it is a revolutionary statement. For more than just myself.
What does it mean, "on account of the angels"?

Oh, to serve God with the purity of an angel!
For whatever reason, this will not leave me alone.
I do not belong to myself..."

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A question then - why are nuns made to cover, if they are supposed to be the "holiest women" and "examples" to the community?

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What does Islam say about the covering of the head:

وَ لاَ يُبْدِيْنَ زِيْنَتَهُنَّ إِلاَّ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَ لْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلىَ جُيُوْبِهِنَّ...

“...and not display their beauty except what is apparent, and they should place their khumur over their bosoms...”

 (Chapter 24 verse 30)

There are two issues about this sentence.

Khumurخُمُرٌ is plural of khimarخِمَارٌ, the veil covering the head. See any Arabic dictionary like Lisanu ’l-‘Arab, Majma‘u ’l-Bahrayn or al-Munjid.

See http://muttaqun.com/malehijab.html for the covering for the men -

                             What does Islam say about those accused of adultery?

 

Chapter 24 verse 2

"The woman and the man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allâh, if you believe in Allâh and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (This punishment is for unmarried persons guilty of the above crime but if married persons commit it, the punishment is to stone them to death, according to Allâh's Law). " 

(but they must be tried, and found guilty.. otherwise - )

Chapter 24 - verse 4

"And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever, they indeed are the Fâsiqûn (liars, rebellious, disobedient to Allâh)."

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has said in many places that adultery is one of the three major sins. However, the most interesting story is that of a young man who went to the Prophet. This man asked for permission to fornicate because he could not control himself. The Prophet dealt with him with reasoning and asked him if he would approve of someone else having illegal sex with his mother, sister, daughter, or wife. Each time the man said 'no'. Then the Prophet replied that the woman with whom you plan to have sex is also somebody's mother, sister, daughter, or wife. The man understood and repented. The Prophet prayed for his forgiveness.

                     So Simple, Isn't it?