What is the real purpose of hijab?

Question

I was looking for a bus station, so I asked a girl to show me (the girl was wearing full hijab; everything is covered except her eyes). She told me "let me walk you by, I'm going there too". When we were together I noticed that she was attracting men and drawing a lot of attention, even though she was covered more than me (I wear hijab but not full; pants and a long top). I got confused.

My question is: What is the real purpose of hijab?

Is it her fault that she is causing fitna? Do I get sins for not wearing a full hijab even though am not causing fitna (am not a very attractive person)?

Answer 1

All Praise to Allah Swt and blessings on Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him His family and companions

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimār over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husband, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments.(Surah An Noor 31)

Women are not allowed to draw attention or show their awrah to Non Mahram. It is not completely clear in your question how she was drawing attention, and whether it was intentional which is not allowed (if she has covered her awrah completely, still it is not allowed). But if she is covering her awrah and some are attracted to her, it would not be her fault. Hijab, niqab or burqah: this debate is something else, but one must cover their awrah. And if your awrah is covered then you are not sinner whether one is attractive or not.

Imam al-Tumurtashi (Allah have mercy on him) states in Tanwir al-Absar “A woman’s Awra consists of her whole body except her face, hands and feet. However, she will be prevented from exposing her face in amongst men due to the fear of temptation (fitna)”.

There is a difference of opinion in covering face, but scholars have mentioned if there is a fear of fitna then woman should cover her face too, but it is not included in awrah.

Allah Swt and His Messenger knows best.

Answer 2

                                Sister, Assalamu alaikum

Allah revealed the verses of Al-Hijab so that

• they should be known and not harmed - according to the verse itself

• that the respectable women should not look like the slave-girls from their dress when they move out of their houses, with uncovered faces and loose hair ... Imam Ibn Jarir Tabari (He differs with user American Muslim)

• so that people of doubtful character do not cherish any false hope when they see her - ...'Allama Abu Bakr al-Jassas

Last two statements are taken from a tafsir, use CTRL+F to jump to exact position.

For the sake of brevity, I will not copy-paste the hadiths, but do read the following-

• they cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their heads [Bukhari, Book 65, Hadith 4759]
• head cover is mandatory at prayer [Ibn Majah, Book 1, Hadith 699]

What is the use of hijab without hijab of eye? - Nothing. Here is highlight of 24:31:

And say to the believing women ... lower [of] their gaze ... guard their chastity, and not (to) display their adornment ... draw their head covers over their bosoms ...

I want to conclude that

• Hijab is to make it clear that you are a Muslim, and a good one
• That you must judge the appropriateness of your hijab
• That if someone tries to attract others after wearing hijab, two verses confront her: Al-Hijab and taking it lightly, but Allah is oft-forgiving and forgiveness is only denied in case of Shirk or Kufr.

Answer 3

I'm going to attempt to answer this (although keep in mind that I'm new).

TL;DR: Muslim women, like Muslim men, are required to play their part in proactively preventing sin.

Different societies have differing standards of dress for women. For example, in some African societies, women bare their breasts ordinarily. However, doing so in, say, Australia would get you arrested.

Among Himba women of northern Namibia and Hamar women of southern Ethiopia, besides other traditional groups in Africa, the social norm is for women to be bare-breasted. -- Wikipedia

All societies draw the line somewhere as to "this is appropriate" and "this is inappropriate" with regards to women's dress. The Qur'an (24:31 and 33:59) draws this line for Muslim women.

As Muslim women, we're required to dress and behave modestly; i.e., we draw the line cautiously. We are required to play our part in not drawing inappropriate attention; in not encouraging fornication, adultery, masturbation, etc.; and in guarding our chastity and honor.

Male virility is considered natural and is valued in Islam. When used appropriately (i.e., sex between husband and wife), it makes a significant contribution to the quality of the marriage and to the family unit. However, it can also be misused. As such, men are also required to exercise control and play their part in preventing sex-related sin.

Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and to be mindful of their chastity: this will be most conducive to their purity – [and,] verily, God is aware of all that they do. -- Qur'an 24:30

It sounds like the woman you met was behaving appropriately (and she was even doing a good deed), so I'm led to believe that any sins are not hers.

...no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another -- Qur'an 53:38

(It's a separate and lengthy question as to what aspects of hijab are obligatory; see e.g.: Why scholars disagree on whether it's obligatory for women to veil their faces or not in Islam?)