Islamic Hijab (modest apparel) and Its Jurisprudential Limits

Wearing hijab (modest apparel) is a Quranic and religious obligation which due to its social nature is considered to be more than just an individual responsibility. An inquiry into documents shows that women of all ages and communities compiled with the wearing of modest apparel; however modest apparel meaning women's cover with respect to the declared rules of hijab in Islam. Hence defining the limits and frontiers of the concepts of modest apparel are possible only by basing them on religious texts and reasoning. Being dependent on various factors, hijab is different in each country. In this paper the denotative and connotative meaning of "hijab" in the Quran and legal resources of shiite and sunni jurists concerning modest apparel and also the new age and the issue of Islamic modesty have been addressed and the limits of the religious modest apparel have been stated.