A FEW days ago I read in a newspaper based in Lucknow that a Muslim lady, about 50 years old and head of a Muslim women's welfare organisation, declared her candidature for the forthcoming parliamentary election in India. She wanted to contest in order to project women's problems in parliament.

It was also reported that as soon as her candidature was declared, she began to receive phone calls from some maulvis that women were supposed to be purdah-nashin (one who wears the veil and stays at home), and are not supposed to contest elections. She did not pay much heed and was determined to contest the election.

A few years ago, a Muslim woman candidate, under the 33 per cent reservation, filed her nomination for the municipal election from Deoband, which is the seat of the famous Islamic seminary Darul Uloom.

A fatwa was issued back then that a woman could not contest elections as she was supposed to observe purdah. She too did not care and fought the election but was told to wear the veil while campaigning. Now the question arises is observing purdah as traditionalists say obligatory as per the Quran, or is it a social custom, which is strictly observed in certain families?

I have read many articles in the Urdu press which glorify purdah and maintain it to be no obstruction in carrying out a normal day's activities; many argue that it enhances women's capacity to work. However, the truth remains that we tend to accept anything in the name of Islam and begin to praise or justify it.

It is also to be noted that there are different types of purdah observed in different Islamic countries or communities. Women wear the abaya in Saudi Arabia which covers a woman's entire body from head to toe. In Iran women are required to wear headscarves to cover their head only. In the subcontinent some Muslim women wear the burka covering their entire face and body, others with their eyes showing. Others wear the burka but do not cover their face.

Thus, the kind of purdah we observe differs from country to country and from one community to the other. What is the Quranic position? In Arabic, the veil is called 'hijab' which means to cover, to hide or to stand in between. The Quran does not use the word 'hijab' for women in general. Instead it exhorts women not to display their zeenah (adornments, charms) publicly (verse 2431).

This was to check rich and neo-rich women displaying their most charming dresses and embellishments publicly. However, they were permitted to do so before all those men and women who were their close relations, and men they were not allowed to marry. The Quran nowhere requires women to cover their faces or much less sit at home. Verse 31 of Chapter 24 begins by exhorting both men and women to lower their gaze when they meet each other. If women were required to wear the veil, covering their face, where was the question of lowering their gaze?

The word 'hijab' has been used in the Quran only for the wives of the Prophet (PBUH). Verse 3353 exhorts men not to enter the Prophet's house except when invited, and not to linger on talking to his wives; if at all one had to ask for something, it should be done so from behind a hijab. This was because some tended to linger on after dining to indulge in talk with the Holy Prophet and his wives.

What some of us make our women observe in the name of hijab or being purdah-nashin is more of a social custom from the tribal, feudal ages when all sorts of restrictions were imposed on women, and it was thought that the position of women was at home to serve their husbands and children. Even most orthodox ulema agree that verse 2431 does not imply that women cover their faces. In fact, there is consensus (ijma) that women should only cover their heads and other parts of body, except the face and the two hands, as observed at Haj.

Since the crucial word in the Quranic verse is 'zeenah', and not 'hijab', ulema agree that women can not only keep their faces exposed but also apply kohl to their eyes and wear rings on their fingers. The Quran places no restrictions on women such as we find in many Muslim societies today. They are free to move, exercise their rights and even earn a living.

One does not find a culture of purdah, as observed today, anywhere in the Quran. Women are supposed to be active members of society alongside men. They even took part in battles during the Prophet's time. In fact it was a woman who saved the Prophet's life in the battle of Uhad by taking the sword's blow on herself. They also took part in public debates, and Hazrat Umar even appointed a woman as a market inspector.

Let us thus follow the Quran and not the social customs and traditions of yore which only reflect certain mediaeval values more than the actual Quranic injunctions. Let us not paralyse half the Muslim population in the name of Islam. If women too become active members of Muslim society, the order emerging will be much more dynamic and socially healthier.

The writer is an Islamic scholar who heads the Centre for Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai.