Powerful Scholarly Points Why Camel Hump Hijab Is Halal
22/05/2020
The camel hump hijab has been famous for a while now and although controversial, It is not haram for a woman to adopt this style. The camel style hijab is misunderstood by most Muslims as haram without understanding the hadiths. The words "fitnah" and "fahisha" are two words that are used as a way to justify oppressing men, women and children by means of either blatant or structural indoctrination.
Brainwashing has been a common thing among various societies where the person who claims to have specific knowledge on his or her faith or power of authority misuse them to use fear and punishment to get the message across people. The unsuspecting Muslim can easily be manipulated by a deviant Sheikh or Maulavi in to believing that not practising a specific set of rules could end you up in the eternal fire which is Jannah. First of all Islam is a religion of mercy where Allah (swt) forgave a prostitute for giving water to a dog and also forgave a man who killed a hundred people. It is Allah (swt) who knows what end every Muslim will get. Among the most physically and psychologically oppressed group among Muslims are the women who have to suffer from multidimensional challenges and the issue of wearing the camel hump or camel style hijab is one of them. The main hadith used as evidence to forbid the camel style hijab
is taken out of context. Let us take a look at the hadith,
Abu Hurayrah (rali) said:
The Messenger of Allah (sal) said,
"There are two types of people who will be punished in Hell and whom I have not seen: men having whips like the tails of cows and they will be beating people with them, and, women who will be dressed but appear to be naked, inviting to evil; and they themselves will be inclined to it. Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Jannah and they will not smell its fragrance which is perceptible from such and such a distance."
(Muslim)
The above hadith is used as evidence for the impermissibility of wearing your hair in an elongated bun like a camel hump or wearing the hijab in a lump similar to that of a hump of a camel. If a you take a closer look at what the hadith says you will realize that there is no mention of a camel hump hijab. What is mentioned in this hadith is about women purposefully using their hair like that of the hump of a camel to entice men. This hadith discourages women who have the intention of enticing men and not in general terms. There are many Muslim girls and women who wear the camel hump hijab and they do it because of their personal likes and not to entice men. It is totally wrong to generalize the entire womenfolk by giving blanket fatwas without having an iota of understanding in the Matn (text) of the hadith. In this hadith the prophet (sal) clearly said,
"Women who will be dressed but appear to be naked"
Meaning that the women who do so to seduce men will be dressed like naked. A Muslim woman or girl who dresses with a camel hump hijab is not naked. She is properly dressed and only a fool who does not know the definition of nakedness will forbid the camel hump style. The above mentioned hadith has nothing to do with the camel hump hijab and any interpretation that has been taken as evidence to forbid the camel hump hijab is nothing but false. None of the scholars among the Salaf used this hadith to forbid the camel hump hijab. Sheikh Salih al Uthaymin said the following with regards to this hadith,
"The phrase “clothed yet naked” has been interpreted to mean that they wear short clothes that do not cover the ‘awrah that must be covered. And it has been interpreted as meaning that they wear light, thin clothes that do not prevent others from seeing the woman’s skin underneath. And it has been interpreted as meaning that they wear tight clothes that conceal the skin from sight but still show off the woman’s charms."
(Fataawa al-Shaykh Muhammad Uthaymeen-2/825)
Wearing your hair in a specific style to entice men purposefully is what’s haram. No one can give blanket rulings because it is the intention that matters. Umar (rali) narrated, the prophet (sal) said,
"Actions are according to intentions"
(Bukhari and Muslim)
The above hadith of the camel hump is self-interpreted by some using their personal opinions and assumptions and nothing else. Those who forbid the camel hair style of women have distorted the meaning of the hadith I have quoted above to fit their personal agendas and opinions without an iota of evidence from the Quran and the authentic hadiths. This hadith in sahih Muslim is only mentioning specifically about women who behave in an inappropriate manner and the camel hump is one of their signs. A characteristic mentioned in a hadith is only a characteristic and not a prohibition. Let us take the example of one hadith which was narrated by Abu said al Khudri (rali) who said that the prophet (sal) said,
“There will come a people from the east, who recite the Quran but it does not go beyond their throats. They will go out of the religion, just as an arrow pierces through its target, and they will not return to it, just as the arrow does not return to the bow.” It was said, “What will be their
sign?” The Prophet said, “Their sign is shaving.” Or he said, “It is shearing (cutting).”
(Bukhari)
Now if we take this hadith in its face value then shaving the head will be interpreted as haram but that is not the case because there is ample evidence mentioning
shaving in many authentic hadiths. This hadith in Bukhari only mentions the characteristics of the Kawarij and not the prohibition of shaving. The quoting of the hadith on camel hump is a clear misunderstanding. Many of you would have come across the argument about touching dogs. Most people are of the erroneous view that touching a dog is haram and if a dog touches you the fabric or any other part of the body which was touched by the dog should be washed seven times with water and one part with pure earth. This is a complete lie based only on an assumption. This is what the hadith says,
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (rali),
“The purification of the vessel of one of you, if a dog licks it, is to wash it seven times, the first time with soil.”
(Sahih Muslim)
In another hadith the prophet (Sal) said,
“If a dog licks the vessel of one of you, let him wash it seven times and rub it with soil the eighth time.”
(Sahih Muslim)
The hadiths mentioned above has nothing to do with a dog being Najis or touching a dog. In this hadith the Prophet (Sal) clearly said that if a dog licks only the vessel to wash the vessel seven times with water and one time with soil. It is specifically only when a dog licks a vessel. Unfortunately this has been interpreted in a way to mean that even if a dog licks you or your cloths then you have to wash seven times with water and then with soil. There is clear evidence proving that the prophet (sal) did not forbid touching dogs.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (Rali),
the Messenger of Allah (Sal) said: "Jibra'il came to me and said: "Indeed I had come to you last night, and nothing prevented me from entering upon you at the house you were in, except that there were images of men at the door of the house, and there was a curtain screen with imagines on it, and there was a dog in the house. So go and sever the head of the image that is at the door so that it will become like a tree stump, and go and cut the
screen and make two throw-cushions to be sat upon, and go and expel the dog." So the Messenger of Allah (sal) did so, and the dog was a puppy belonging to Al-Husain or Al-Hasan which was under his belongings, so he ordered him to expel it.
(Tirmidhi and graded Hasan Sahih by imam Tirmidhi)
In this hadith, it is evident that the grand children of the prophet (sal) were playing with a little puppy and the prophet (sal) never ordered his grandchildren or his family to go and wash themselves seven times with water and soil. If touching a dog was unclean then the prophet (Sal) would have told not to touch it. The hadith of women putting their hair like the hump of a camel is a hadith that has been misunderstood similar to the hadith of the dog licking the vessel. There is nothing surprising in the blatant foolishness displayed by Muslims and this foolishness is due to the Muslims been brainwashed to blind follow and not to think on their own. The blind following attitude has destroyed the Muslim mind-set and the doors of ijtihad have been closed and this has created an ijtihad monopoly by a few people who are using it to spread various lies and innovations in the name of Islam. Forbidding women from wearing the camel style hijab or hairstyle is a form of extremism which Islam forbids.
Narrated by Ibn Mas’ud (Rali), the prophet (sal) said,
"Doomed are the extremists. He said this three times"
(Sahih Muslim)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah,
The prophet (sal) said,
"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, the afternoons, and during the last hours of the nights."
(Sahih Al Bukhari)
Conclusion
The camel hump hijab is not haram in Islam. The hadith mentioning about scantily clad women wearing their hair similar to that of the hump of a camel has nothing to do with the camel hump hairstyle or camel hump hijab. In the day and age where everything is misunderstood it is easy to fall prey to such lies and misconceptions about hadiths. Muslim girls and women should stop listening to extremists who want to manipulate and indoctrinate them and should sincerely learn Islam according to the Quran and the authentic hadiths as understood by the Salaf us Saliheen.
C.J Ahmed
The camel hump hijab has been famous for a while now and although controversial, It is not haram for a woman to adopt this style. The camel style hijab is misunderstood by most Muslims as haram without understanding the hadiths. The words "fitnah" and "fahisha" are two words that are used as a way to justify oppressing men, women and children by means of either blatant or structural indoctrination.
Brainwashing has been a common thing among various societies where the person who claims to have specific knowledge on his or her faith or power of authority misuse them to use fear and punishment to get the message across people. The unsuspecting Muslim can easily be manipulated by a deviant Sheikh or Maulavi in to believing that not practising a specific set of rules could end you up in the eternal fire which is Jannah. First of all Islam is a religion of mercy where Allah (swt) forgave a prostitute for giving water to a dog and also forgave a man who killed a hundred people. It is Allah (swt) who knows what end every Muslim will get. Among the most physically and psychologically oppressed group among Muslims are the women who have to suffer from multidimensional challenges and the issue of wearing the camel hump or camel style hijab is one of them. The main hadith used as evidence to forbid the camel style hijab
is taken out of context. Let us take a look at the hadith,
Abu Hurayrah (rali) said:
The Messenger of Allah (sal) said,
"There are two types of people who will be punished in Hell and whom I have not seen: men having whips like the tails of cows and they will be beating people with them, and, women who will be dressed but appear to be naked, inviting to evil; and they themselves will be inclined to it. Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Jannah and they will not smell its fragrance which is perceptible from such and such a distance."
(Muslim)
The above hadith is used as evidence for the impermissibility of wearing your hair in an elongated bun like a camel hump or wearing the hijab in a lump similar to that of a hump of a camel. If a you take a closer look at what the hadith says you will realize that there is no mention of a camel hump hijab. What is mentioned in this hadith is about women purposefully using their hair like that of the hump of a camel to entice men. This hadith discourages women who have the intention of enticing men and not in general terms. There are many Muslim girls and women who wear the camel hump hijab and they do it because of their personal likes and not to entice men. It is totally wrong to generalize the entire womenfolk by giving blanket fatwas without having an iota of understanding in the Matn (text) of the hadith. In this hadith the prophet (sal) clearly said,
"Women who will be dressed but appear to be naked"
Meaning that the women who do so to seduce men will be dressed like naked. A Muslim woman or girl who dresses with a camel hump hijab is not naked. She is properly dressed and only a fool who does not know the definition of nakedness will forbid the camel hump style. The above mentioned hadith has nothing to do with the camel hump hijab and any interpretation that has been taken as evidence to forbid the camel hump hijab is nothing but false. None of the scholars among the Salaf used this hadith to forbid the camel hump hijab. Sheikh Salih al Uthaymin said the following with regards to this hadith,
"The phrase “clothed yet naked” has been interpreted to mean that they wear short clothes that do not cover the ‘awrah that must be covered. And it has been interpreted as meaning that they wear light, thin clothes that do not prevent others from seeing the woman’s skin underneath. And it has been interpreted as meaning that they wear tight clothes that conceal the skin from sight but still show off the woman’s charms."
(Fataawa al-Shaykh Muhammad Uthaymeen-2/825)
Wearing your hair in a specific style to entice men purposefully is what’s haram. No one can give blanket rulings because it is the intention that matters. Umar (rali) narrated, the prophet (sal) said,
"Actions are according to intentions"
(Bukhari and Muslim)
The above hadith of the camel hump is self-interpreted by some using their personal opinions and assumptions and nothing else. Those who forbid the camel hair style of women have distorted the meaning of the hadith I have quoted above to fit their personal agendas and opinions without an iota of evidence from the Quran and the authentic hadiths. This hadith in sahih Muslim is only mentioning specifically about women who behave in an inappropriate manner and the camel hump is one of their signs. A characteristic mentioned in a hadith is only a characteristic and not a prohibition. Let us take the example of one hadith which was narrated by Abu said al Khudri (rali) who said that the prophet (sal) said,
“There will come a people from the east, who recite the Quran but it does not go beyond their throats. They will go out of the religion, just as an arrow pierces through its target, and they will not return to it, just as the arrow does not return to the bow.” It was said, “What will be their
sign?” The Prophet said, “Their sign is shaving.” Or he said, “It is shearing (cutting).”
(Bukhari)
Now if we take this hadith in its face value then shaving the head will be interpreted as haram but that is not the case because there is ample evidence mentioning
shaving in many authentic hadiths. This hadith in Bukhari only mentions the characteristics of the Kawarij and not the prohibition of shaving. The quoting of the hadith on camel hump is a clear misunderstanding. Many of you would have come across the argument about touching dogs. Most people are of the erroneous view that touching a dog is haram and if a dog touches you the fabric or any other part of the body which was touched by the dog should be washed seven times with water and one part with pure earth. This is a complete lie based only on an assumption. This is what the hadith says,
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (rali),
“The purification of the vessel of one of you, if a dog licks it, is to wash it seven times, the first time with soil.”
(Sahih Muslim)
In another hadith the prophet (Sal) said,
“If a dog licks the vessel of one of you, let him wash it seven times and rub it with soil the eighth time.”
(Sahih Muslim)
The hadiths mentioned above has nothing to do with a dog being Najis or touching a dog. In this hadith the Prophet (Sal) clearly said that if a dog licks only the vessel to wash the vessel seven times with water and one time with soil. It is specifically only when a dog licks a vessel. Unfortunately this has been interpreted in a way to mean that even if a dog licks you or your cloths then you have to wash seven times with water and then with soil. There is clear evidence proving that the prophet (sal) did not forbid touching dogs.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (Rali),
the Messenger of Allah (Sal) said: "Jibra'il came to me and said: "Indeed I had come to you last night, and nothing prevented me from entering upon you at the house you were in, except that there were images of men at the door of the house, and there was a curtain screen with imagines on it, and there was a dog in the house. So go and sever the head of the image that is at the door so that it will become like a tree stump, and go and cut the
screen and make two throw-cushions to be sat upon, and go and expel the dog." So the Messenger of Allah (sal) did so, and the dog was a puppy belonging to Al-Husain or Al-Hasan which was under his belongings, so he ordered him to expel it.
(Tirmidhi and graded Hasan Sahih by imam Tirmidhi)
In this hadith, it is evident that the grand children of the prophet (sal) were playing with a little puppy and the prophet (sal) never ordered his grandchildren or his family to go and wash themselves seven times with water and soil. If touching a dog was unclean then the prophet (Sal) would have told not to touch it. The hadith of women putting their hair like the hump of a camel is a hadith that has been misunderstood similar to the hadith of the dog licking the vessel. There is nothing surprising in the blatant foolishness displayed by Muslims and this foolishness is due to the Muslims been brainwashed to blind follow and not to think on their own. The blind following attitude has destroyed the Muslim mind-set and the doors of ijtihad have been closed and this has created an ijtihad monopoly by a few people who are using it to spread various lies and innovations in the name of Islam. Forbidding women from wearing the camel style hijab or hairstyle is a form of extremism which Islam forbids.
Narrated by Ibn Mas’ud (Rali), the prophet (sal) said,
"Doomed are the extremists. He said this three times"
(Sahih Muslim)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah,
The prophet (sal) said,
"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, the afternoons, and during the last hours of the nights."
(Sahih Al Bukhari)
Conclusion
The camel hump hijab is not haram in Islam. The hadith mentioning about scantily clad women wearing their hair similar to that of the hump of a camel has nothing to do with the camel hump hairstyle or camel hump hijab. In the day and age where everything is misunderstood it is easy to fall prey to such lies and misconceptions about hadiths. Muslim girls and women should stop listening to extremists who want to manipulate and indoctrinate them and should sincerely learn Islam according to the Quran and the authentic hadiths as understood by the Salaf us Saliheen.
C.J Ahmed