When people grow up in a Muslim household from a young age, they are made aware of the various codes of conduct that they must follow. In the Quran, many values and traditions are mentioned which guide the behaviour of an individual in a society.. all these religious doctrines are to be accepted and respected. In practice, many of these doctrines become exclusively women-centric. As per Wikipedia, “Hijab is a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women. It is the religious code which governs the wearing of the hijab.” The truth is Quran prescribes Hijab for men also.
Surah Al-A’raf (7:26-31) addresses righteousness and piety as more important than the physical covering of our body. “O Children (of) Adam! Verily We have sent down to you clothing, it covers your shame and (as) an adornment. But the clothing (of) [the] righteousness-that (is) best. That (is) from (the) Signs of Allah so that they may remember.”
The Quran mentions that the first type of Hijab is our eyes. We should not invade the personal space of another being through staring or glaring which is the first and foremost principle behind the Hijab. When Islam was trying to reform the chastity and modesty of the community, it wasn’t just saying to reform women. It was trying to reform everyone. Main women both had to have an observance of that complete package known as Hijab. Many times we say that women should be wearing the head covering and have a good Hijab but for the men, if they show respect and lower the gaze the context will be different altogether. Many people miss the whole point of this altogether. They put the burden of wearing a Hijab on women. For some reason, people think that they can simply force women to observe Hijab. Prophet Muhammad was clear: in Islam, there is no permission for men to force hijab on women.