This entry belongs to the Shahrur Glossary. For Shahrur, dress appears on two levels: a general human meaning connected to covering, adornment, and custom; and a specific application in women’s attire, where he rejects turning custom into a fixed religious principle.
Meaning in Shahrur
Dress is not merely a single material form, but a social function that changes according to custom, time, and place. He therefore reads the verses on dress within the theory of limits: the text establishes a limit and a function, while the details move within society.
Distinctions
- It differs from hijab in its common traditional sense, because Shahrur prefers to define the terms dress, adornment, and khimar from within the text.
- It is not equivalent to khimar; khimar is a covering drawn over the bosoms in the Verse of Light, whereas dress is a broader domain of covering, adornment, and custom.
- It is not a fixed devotional ruling in every detail, but a domain in which limits, custom, and social function intersect.
- It does not abolish modesty or covering, but prevents the transformation of a particular social model into permanent religion.
Foundational Links
- The Verse of Light establishes a minimum limit for dress and leaves the rest to custom
- The Verse of the Confederates is context-specific instruction, not a permanent rule of dress
- Hijab as a concept of dress does not correspond to common traditions
- Hijab
- Khimar
- Women, Dress, and Qiwamah
- Light 31
- The Confederates 59