A Reception History of the Quranic Verses on Hijab (33:59 and 24:31)

In this paper, I offer a reception history of the Quranic verses on the hijab -- 33:59 and 24:31. The interpretation of these verses have changed over time, with a major turning point being the beginning of thex Islamic Reform toward the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. In pre-modern interpretations, exegetes usually explained veiling based on the distinction between free women and slave ones. It was, in this sense, a mark of free women. Modesty was to be preserved if a woman stayed in the seclusion of her house, with limited mobility. However, in modern times, the interpretations changed. The major reason for observing the hijab in modern interpretations is the protection of individual and social modesty. Several factors may be involved in this change: the emergence of rational interpretation in the Islamic Reform, the abolishment of slavery, and women's active presence in the society. This change in interpretation can also be explained through liberationist theories on "reverse discourse"