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Did the hijab descend because of a request from Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him)? And how do we respond to those who claim that Allah's rulings originate from humans, citing this as evidence?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The summary of the answer is as follows:

Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated hadiths about the revelation of the verse of Hijab, and that Umar ibn al-Khattab agreed with his Lord on several matters, including the verse of Hijab, when he said to the Prophet: "Cover your women." The verses of Hijab in the Quran are numerous, and Umar's opinion aligned with the verse that specifically concerns women veiling themselves from foreign men within their homes, and not all rulings of Hijab related to dress.

The direct reason for the revelation of the verse was the incident of the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh, where some people lingered for a long time after the meal in the Prophet's house, which led to the revelation of the noble verse: ﴿O you who have believed, do not enter the houses of the Prophet﴾.

The rulings of the Quran came with wisdom and profound objectives, and Allah agreed with Umar's opinion on Hijab because it aligns with purity and chastity, but He did not agree with his desire to absolutely prevent them from going out, in order to relieve them from hardship and difficulty.

These incidents demonstrate Umar's knowledge and understanding, and that his opinion was in accordance with Allah's will in legislating His rulings.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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