Intimate parts in Islam

In Arabic, the term 'awrah or 'awrat (عورة) derives from the root ‘-w-r, usually meaning "women vulva".[3]

In Persian as well as Kurdish, the word 'awrat (Persian: عورت) derived from the Arabic 'awrah, had been used widely to mean "woman genital or person who has female genital". Consulting Mohammad Moin's dictionary of Persian, 'awrah leads to three significations:

1. Something that a person is ashamed of
2. Young woman
3. Intimate body parts[4]

Other derivatives range in meaning from blind in one eye, to false or artificial, among others.[5] Traditionally the word 'awrat, alongside the word za'ifeh (which derives from Arabic ḍa'īf (ضعيف), meaning weak) has been associated with femininity and women who lived under the protection of a man. In modern-day Iran, using the two words ( 'awrah and za'ifah) to refer to women is uncommon and is considered sexist language. Instead, the words zan and xânom are used. In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the word za'if is still used in the Tajik dialect of Persian and its subdialects.

In Turkish, avrat is an often derogatory term for 'woman' or 'wife'. However in Urdu the word 'aurat' refers to a woman, especially when showing politeness or respect.

Muslims performing the ritual prayer. During the Salat, the awrah must be covered.

The term 'awrah as it is used in the Quran is confined neither to women nor to the body. The Quranic text reveals the use of the term in various passages Surah An-Nur and Surah Al-Ahzab.

The below verse is about privacy as the Quranic text states:

... and let those among you who have not yet come to the age of puberty ask your permission (before they come to your presence) on three occasions; before the morning prayer, and while you put off your clothes for the noonday (rest), and after the late-night prayer. (These) three times are of privacy for you, other than these times there is no sin on you or on them to move about, attending (helping) each other.[6]

Another passage in the Quran that uses the term 'awrah, is in Surah Al-Ahzab where it concerns fleeing from battle.

It states: "A group of them ask the Prophet for leave, saying, "Our houses are 'awrah", even though their houses are not awrah. Their intent is to flee the battle."[7][8] In this case, the term 'awrah means "vulnerable".[9][7]

There is another context that relates the story of creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden. In these two instances, the term saw’ah is used as an equivalent to 'awrah.

The text states:

O ye children of Adam! We have bestowed dress upon you to cover your nakedness...[10]

Another word which almost has the same meaning of 'awrah, is the word farj (Arabic: فرج) the plural is furuj (Arabic: فروج).[11] Another quote concerning covering the 'awrah is:

"O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, and the believing women, to draw their cloaks (veils) over their bodies. That will be better that they should be known (as respectable woman) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." -Al-Ahzab:59 (Qur'an)

The Quran admonishes Muslim women to dress modestly and cover their private areas.[12] The Quran explicitly states that "O wives of the Prophet, you are not like anyone among women" (Quran 33: 32) and as such has separate rules specifically for the wives of the Prophet. The Qur'an tells the male believers (Muslims) to talk to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad from behind a hijab (curtain or veil). ^{[Quran 33:53]} This passage was as follows:

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimār over their breasts and not display their beauty except to their husband, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. (Quran 24:31)

While the meaning of khimār is debated, it is often believed to be a headcover that pre-islamic Arab women wore as an adornment.

In the following verse, the wives of the Prophet and believing women are asked to draw their jilbab (outer garments) over them (when they go out), as a measure to distinguish themselves from others (as Muslim women), so that they are not harassed. Surah 33:59 reads:

Those who harass believing men and believing women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a grievous sin. O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments [Jilbāb] over their persons (when abroad): That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed. [...] (Quran 33:58–59)

Shaykh Tabarsi in Majma' Al-Bayan has commented on this Hadith:

Awrah refers to anything which can be easily harmed just like a bare or exposed place. Therefore it becomes clear that the body of a woman is referred to as vulnerable because it is like a house which contains no walls and can be easily harmed and must be covered with the appropriate clothing.[13]

What did the jilbāb usually cover? This is also answered in a hadith:

It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that Safwaan ibn al-Mu’attal al-Sulami al Dhakwaani was lagging behind the army. She said, "He came to where I had stopped and saw the black shape of a person sleeping. He recognized me when he saw me, because he had seen me before Hijāb was enjoined. I woke up when I heard him saying ‘Inna Lillaahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon (verily to Allaah we belong and unto Him is our return),’ and I covered my face with my Jilbāb." (Narrated by al-Bukhāri, kitāb al maghazi – bābu Hadīth ul ifk, 4141;[14] Muslim, 2770[15])

Within the home, a head-veil alone seemed to be sufficient for a woman to be considered dressed. The most frequently cited passage was this:

"Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (Peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (Peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands." Abu Dawud[16]

Afghan women wearing burqas, the most concealing of all Islamic garments, with mesh shielding the eyes

Some Muslim women, particularly those living in some parts of the Middle East and South Asia wear the hijab headscarf. The type most commonly worn in the West is a rectangular scarf that covers the head and neck but leaves the face visible. Other styles also cover the hair, neck and shoulders completely, but the face and the hands are not covered, as they are not considered awrah for those Muslims who wear it.

According to most scholars, the woman's voice is not (see quotation) awrah in principle, for according to the Hadith, women used to complain to the Prophet and ask him about Islamic matters.

Also, according to the tradition, in the ritual prayer, a woman should invite the attention of the Imam by clapping, instead of saying "Subhanallah" which is for men. There is a difference of opinion whether or not a woman can recite the Quran when in the presence of non-mahram men.

Certain scholars have concluded from the above differences that a woman's voice is also her awrah in some cases.[27][28][29]

Specially since modern times the concepts of awarah (Intimate parts), Haya (Modesty), various levels of seclusion of Muslim women, and about extent to which Muslim restrain their exposure of bodily aspects and association vis a vis Islamic clothing; not only were contested from non-Muslim and ex-Muslim but also continuously been matter of discussions, deliberations, debates, movements and also been part of advice literature, within Muslim societies including that of common Muslim individuals, various traditional schools scholars, intelligentsia, numerous political dispensations and also at times contested by individuals and groups of cultural Muslims; liberals and progressives, modernists and Islamic feminists.[17] In the 1930s just after Turkish reformations under Kemal Atatürk, Malays (Malaysians) debated how far to stick to traditional Islamic social restraints over awrah – commonly referred as 'Aurat' in Indonesia and Malaysia[30] – and modesty in contemporary Islamic clothing and whether western modernism is really essential and beneficial.[17]