What does Hijab really mean?
Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Raheem
Assalamu-`alaykum wa rahamatullahi wa barakatuhu
What does Hijab really mean?
“The root word of hijab is hajaba and that means: (hajb) to veil, cover, screen, shelter, seclude (from), to hide, obscure (from sight), to make imperceptible, invisible, to conceal, to make or form a separation (a woman), to disguise, masked, to conceal, hide, to flee from sight, veil, to veil, conceal, to cover up, become hidden, to be obscured, to vanish, to become invisible, disappear from sight, to veil, to conceal, to withdraw, to elude perception.
Hajb: seclusion, screening off, keeping away, keeping off,
Hijab plural: hujub: cover, wrap, drape, a curtain, a woman’s veil, screen, partition, folding screen, barrier,
Ihtijab: Concealment, hiddenness, seclusion, veildness, veiling, purdah.
Hijab: Concealing, screening, protecting,
Mahjub: concealed hidden, veiled!
These definitions of the hijab were taken from the: Arabic-English Dictionary, The Hans Wehr dictionary of modern written arabic, edited by JM Cowan.
What is the defintion of the word “jilbab” in Arabic?
The definitive dictionary of classical Arabic, Lisan al-Arab by ibn al-Mandhur, provides the following definition, “The jilbab is the outergarment, mantle, or cloak. It is derived from the word tajalbaba, which means to clothe. Jilbab is the outer sheet or covering which a woman wraps around her on top of her garments to cover herself from head to toe. It hides her body completely” (Lisan al-Arab, volume 7, page 273)
Jilbabs- light overcoats covering whole body.
Jalabeeb (plural of Jalbaab), a loose outer garment that covers all a woman’s body. Covers head, face,one or both eyes, to be known that she is a free woman and so not to exposed to any harm.
Khimaar-Khimaar comes from the word khamr, the root meaning of which is to cover.Everything that covers something else is called its khimaar.The word khimaar linguistically means only a head covering.
Plural-khumaar.
Niqab-Covering Face.[To obscure, or conceal with or as if with a veil]
Allah knows best.