The hijab (Part 2)

bq. "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer dress like veil, gloves, head-cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. Their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms, etc.) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husband’s sons, their brothers or their brother’s sons, or their sister’s sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sister in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful." (Surah An-Nur -29:31- 24:31)

The question is whether a woman's voice is also part of aurah - if it is then, theoretically, her voice should be as "guarded" as any other part of her body. The following hadith discusses this:

bq. “When a woman reaches puberty no part of her body should remain uncovered except her face and the hand up to the wrist joint.” (Hadith Abu Dawud) - sourced from Imam Ahmad Raza - it is often argued that "no part of her body" includes her voice.

If a woman is required to "guard" or "protect" her voice because it is part of her aurah, this could mean a few things:

* Does this mean that she is not allowed to speak or have her voice heard in the public presence of men? (A woman need not veil herself in the presence of her own gender, so it goes to reason that she would be allowed to speak in the presence of women). Such an interpretation would be an extreme interpretation.
* Does this mean that she is not allowed to speak or have her voice heard in ways that may "entice" or "excite" men? This interpretation does have weight due to the understanding the reason why women need to protect their modesty is to assist men in controlling their sexual urges.

bq. “Those women who seem naked even when dressed and those who walk flirtingly and those who plait their heads like the humps of camels, thus inviting people’s attention, will not enter Paradise nor will they smell its fragrance even though its fragrance can be smelt from a very far distance.” (Hadith Muslim)

The following verse from the Quran seems even more conclusive: even the act of talking to a man who is not of your core family (e.g. father, brother) or husband is discouraged. It could be argued if talking to one man is so explicitly frowned upon, speaking in public in the attendance of many men is a far worse situation.

bq. “ … if you are God-fearing, do not talk in a soft voice, lest the man with an unhealthy heart should cherish false hopes from you.” (33:32)

bq. Surah Al-Azhab
033.032
YUSUFALI: O Consorts of the Prophet! Ye are not like any of the (other) women: if ye do fear (Allah), be not too complacent of speech, lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire: but speak ye a speech (that is) just.
PICKTHAL: O ye wives of the Prophet! Ye are not like any other women. If ye keep your duty (to Allah), then be not soft of speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease aspire (to you), but utter customary speech.
SHAKIR: O wives of the Prophet! you are not like any other of the women; If you will be on your guard, then be not soft in (your) speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease yearn; and speak a good word.

The key would be the definition of a "soft voice" - what is soft? What is too soft? What is not soft enough? Does this mean that in order to speak to a man who is not family, a woman needs to speak harshly (so that he doesn't get the wrong idea) or shout?

And, back to the key question, what does this mean for women who want to sing in public? Singing is almost always done in a "soft voice", or with a tone that is at the very least meant to be pleasing to the ear. How many men don't have a crush on or affection for Siti Nurhaliza? Does this mean what she is doing is unlawful from the perspective of the Islamic shariah?

For a religion that is meant to liberate women, it tends to tell women that they can't do a lot of things. In order to be free, you can't do this, this, this and this. If you exercise your God-given talent (i.e. to sing - contrary to the belief of bathroom pop-stars, singing well is not something everyone can do), you run a fine line that risks breaking the laws the Quran and Hadith have prescribed for acceptable Muslimah behaviour. I'm at a loss to understand.

Recommended reading:

The MSA-USC Al-Quran Database (a very powerful search tool that searches an index of the Al-Quran)
The MSA-USC Hadith Dabatase
Are women not allowed to read the Quran in public? A case involving PAS, Malaysia's primary opposition party.
The Virtues of Clothing in the Forty Ahadith