Is the woman considered ʿawrah in Islam?

The term ʿawrah, as used in the Qurʾān, is not limited to women or to the body. It appears, for example, in Chapter an-Nūr (The Light) in a verse concerning privacy: {O believers! Let those ˹bondspeople˺ in your possession and those of you who are still under age ask for your permission ˹to come in˺ at three times: before dawn prayer, when you take off your ˹outer˺ clothes at noon, and after the late evening prayer. ˹These are˺ three ʿawrāt (sing. ʿawrah time of privacy) for you} (Qurʾān 24:58). It is also used in a verse in Chapter al-Aḥzāb (The Confederates) regarding the hypocrites who attempted to flee from battle, claiming they feared for their “vulnerable” homes: {another group of them asked the Prophet’s permission ˹to leave˺, saying, “Our homes are ʿawrah (vulnerable),” while ˹in fact˺ they were not ʿawrah. They only wished to flee} (Qurʾān 33:13). According to scholars, the term ʿawrah refers to anything that is vulnerable or easily harmed, like a bare or exposed place. Consequently, a woman’s body is considered vulnerable because it resembles a house without walls, easily subject to harm, and therefore must be covered with appropriate clothing. In Islam, it is the responsibility of men to protect the women under their care from predatory eyes and ensure their safety. Indeed, a Muslim man is obligated to defend his wife and maḥrams (female relatives whom he is forbidden to marry) and to confront anyone who seeks to violate their honor—even if doing so entails risking his own life: “…whoever fights to protect his family is a martyr.”¹ Essentially, Allāh has commanded believing men to lower their gaze from non-maḥram women (that is, all women other than one’s wife and female relatives to whom marriage is permanently prohibited): {˹O Prophet!˺ Tell the believing men to lower their gaze} (Qurʾān 24:30). That is, they should not deliberately direct their gaze at non-maḥram women, and if a chance glance occurs, they should turn their eyes away. In addition to commanding men to lower their gaze, Allāh also commanded women to observe al-ḥijāb ash-sharʿī (the veil required under Islamic law) in the presence of non-maḥram men (that is, men whom it is religiously permissible for a woman to marry): {and not to reveal their adornments except what normally appears. Let them draw their veils over their chests, and not reveal their ˹hidden˺ adornments except to their husbands, their fathers, their fathers-in-law, their sons, their stepsons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, their fellow women, those ˹bondwomen˺ in their possession, male attendants with no desire, or children who are still unaware of women’s nakedness} (Qurʾān 24:31). These divine commandments contribute to a healthy and upright society. Indeed, only atheists who advocate spiritual and moral deviation—seeking to spread indecency among the believers—are troubled by Islam’s rules and regulations of moral restraint and modesty.