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[quote=Anonymous]To me, it's kind of ironic how one of the vaguest verses in the Quran have turned into one with the most passion around it:

And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their private parts, and not to display their adornment except what is apparent of it, and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs), and not to display their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful.

What's funny is that the Quran is exquisitely detailed when it needs to be (like in verses on inheritance) and just as exquisitely vague when it wants to be.  The "scholarly consensus", whatever that means, is that "what is apparent" means hands and face.  But remember that scholars are just a bunch of dudes who need a job. So somehow the very vague instructions of this verse turned into stone-clad "face and hands only! and better if they are covered too!" business.

There is a theory out there (I say a theory, because we don't have much actual non-partisan scholarship about pre-Islamic times, just the expected "jahiliya!" howls from highly interested parties) that during these times, women used to wear their scarves (to protect from the sun) pinned to the back of their heads and thrown over the back much like the wedding veil.  In this fashion, the face, neck and bust are on proud display.  When the commandment to "draw it around your chest" was revealed, the subsequent pinning of the garment under the chin (to cover the chest) resulted in the today's iconic hijab look.  So there's an equally strong argument to be made that the verse actually just meant "cover your boobs", and the fact that many other things got covered was just a sartorial outcome based on how that particular garment was made, not on anything mandated.

And yes, in these times covering was the sign of wealth and status to show you don't need to work the fields. There is also some evidence that one of the four caliphs prohibited Muslim concubines (or was it prostitutes?) from covering to make it clear who was who.[/quote]

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