and qadmain that is face hands and feet according to the shariah women are required to cover their body with clothing which is not tight fitting and not meant to attract others chapter 24 verse 31 tafsir usmani it is noteworthy that the wellknown arab scholar sheikh muhammad naasiruddin alalbani clearly endorses the abovementioned position of the shariah in his book on this subject hijab almarah almuslimah fil kitab wassunnah the veil of a muslim woman he goes on to say that it is clear from the quran the hadith and the practice of the companions and the tabiun companions of the prophets companions that whenever a woman steps out of her home it is incumbent upon her to cover herself completely so as not to show any part of her body except the face and the hands the religion of islam focuses on spirit rather than on form it lays emphasis on pious thinking and valuebased character according to islam muslims must purify themselves in terms of ethics muslim women must develop themselves in terms of spirituality they must develop their own feminine personality rather than imitate men and must play a constructive role in society rather than become objects of entertainment during the prophets time muslim women were active in different fields such as agriculture horticulture and social work but at the same time they constantly preserved their feminine character in the early history of islam there are many such incidents which show that a woman has equal freedom as that of man in this respect there is no difference between the two a woman enjoys the same freedom as a man in islam islamic literature mentions some pious women who have played a highly creative role in their society like hajira the wife of the prophet abraham mariam the mother of jesus christ khadija the wife of the prophet of islam aishah the wife of the prophet of islam these women accepted as models in the society of believers are good examples for the women of today in conclusion i would like to add two relevant references one from the quran and the second from the hadith the sayings of the prophet the quran refers to men and women in these words you are members one of another 3195 this means that men and women although created different in gender are complementary to each other let us take the other reference the prophet of islam said men and women are two equal halves of a single unit musnad ahmad this is the best expression of gender equality to understand the prevalence of hijab in muslim society in the present times it is necessary to keep in mind that there is a difference between islam and muslims islam is a name of an ideology while muslims are a community which has its own culture which keeps changing owing to various circumstances in such a situation muslim tradition will be judged in the light of