It is very clear that it is mandatory for every Muslim to understand his/her faith the correct way. This means to have authentic knowledge of Islam based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah so that we can follow what Allah I and His Messenger r have commanded us to do and refrain ourselves from committing sins because of disobedience.
The best way to learn and practice Islam correctly is by knowing and understanding at least the correct meaning of the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad r in Arabic, if not learning the language of the Qur’an itself. We have to understand that no matter how much efforts were put to translate the meanings of the Holy Qur’an, the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad r or the right deductions by the renown Muslim scholars of these two revealed sources of knowledge and guidance to other languages there will always be errors because of misinterpretation of the meanings of the words.
It is in this context that I tried to give the real/explicit meaning of the word “Hijab” in Arabic. If we look at the meaning of the word “Hijab” in the dictionary we learn that the word means “veil”, “screen”, “cover(ing)” or “curtain” (see Al Mawrid: A Modern Arabic English Dictionary, 1992 p. 453). The meaning of the word “Hijab” becomes more clear to mean “covering” which also means “veil” as Allah I Himself uses the term. As stated in the Qur’an Allah I tells us Allah which meaning of is translated as:
“It is not given to any human being that Allah should speak to him unless (it be) by Revelation, or from behind a veil.” ( 42:51). From the above verse, Allah I clearly mentions the word Hijab(veil) to mean covering. He makes it very clear to us that no one has spoken to Him directly face to face while seeing His face but there was always a Hijab (covering or veil) between Him and the one who spoke to Him. In fact, even Prophet Muhammad r Allah’s Prophet and Messenger to the whole mankind did not see Allah I. After Allah I honored the Prophet r to have ascended to the highest Heaven, and given him the privilege to speak to Himself, one of his Companions asked him whether he has seen Allah I.
“It is not given to any human being that Allah should speak to him unless (it be) by Revelation, or from behind a veil.” ( 42:51). From the above verse, Allah I clearly mentions the word Hijab(veil) to mean covering. He makes it very clear to us that no one has spoken to Him directly face to face while seeing His face but there was always a Hijab (covering or veil) between Him and the one who spoke to Him. In fact, even Prophet Muhammad r Allah’s Prophet and Messenger to the whole mankind did not see Allah I. After Allah I honored the Prophet r to have ascended to the highest Heaven, and given him the privilege to speak to Himself, one of his Companions asked him whether he has seen Allah I.
