While I was researching information for my book, Demystifying the Niqab, I had an epiphany where I was like “wait…didn’t men used to wear turbans back in the day..or even hats?” I knew the Prophet and his companions wore turbans and many learned men today wear the turban to a masjid. Yet men today don’t wear them often or only wear them for cultural reasons rather than religious ones, despite the fact the Prophet literally wore one most of the time. I began to think if Muslim men wear the beard to mimic the Prophet, why don’t they wear a turban?

Most Muslim women today have at least once been told to wear a hijab, wear it correctly, etc. by another Muslim.  If you haven’t had anyone in your business about hair veiling (or face veiling) then good for you, your circle passes the vibe check. I am not saying the veil – of whatever forms – isn’t Sunnah because it is. What I am pointing out is the misogynistic attitudes by Muslims (both men and women) towards women, and the need to police women’s dress codes, and how Muslims generally focus on women veiling.

Both men and women are addressed in the Quran to be modest and wear modest clothing. However, the focus on women veiling, rather than men, is because the Quran alludes (or directly commands) to veiling. While men are not addressed in the Quran to wear any sort of veil.

˹O Prophet!˺ Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. That is purer for them. Surely Allah is All-Aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments¹ except what normally appears.² Let them draw their veils over their chests, and not reveal their ˹hidden˺ adornments³ 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. Let them not stomp their feet, drawing attention to their hidden adornments. Turn to Allah in repentance all together, O  believers, so that you may be successful. 24:30-1

قُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يَغُضُّوا۟ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ وَيَحْفَظُوا۟ فُرُوجَهُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَزْكَىٰ لَهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَـٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ أَخَوَٰتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّـٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ أَوِ ٱلطِّفْلِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَوْرَٰتِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

Men are told before women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity. In other words, men were told to reform themselves first, i.e., you shouldn’t be gawking at women in the first place. Now I do discuss this above verse relating to women and the veil in my book and I’ve also discussed it in the upcoming book with WISE called 30 Rights of Muslim Women. So I don’t want to keep repeating myself constantly on this topic. My readers can also pick up Asma Barla’s book Believing Women in Islam where she does a good job discussing this topic for both genders, as do other authors.

Only focusing on women’s dress code but not focusing on men’s is sexist. Why? Because it paints the picture that Islam only cares about the clothing of women, and more so only cares about the sexuality of women. It also formulates a false visage that ONLY women ever wore veils throughout Muslim history. While it is true men rarely wore face veils, except the Tureg tribe, Muslim men DID often cover their heads for religious purposes.

The turban IS established as Sunnah by the Prophet, and for much of history, Muslim men all over the Muslim world (of various cultures) did wear turbans. The following scholars have held the position that the turban is Sunnah for men: Imam al-Haytami and Imam al-Bājūri of the Shāfiʿi school and al-Qādi Ibn ʿArabi of the Māliki school. All of whom say it is an emphasized Sunnah (sunnah mu’akidah). [ad-Dʿiāmah, Jʿafar al-Katāni]

Intrigued? Let’s look at some hadiths that mention the turban:

• It is related: “On the day of the Conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (ﷺ) entered Makkah, and he was wearing a black turban (ʿimāmah).” [Tirmidhī, Jamiʿ and Shamā’il]
• The Prophet (ﷺ) called for ʿAli (Allah be pleased with him) on the Day of Ghadīr Khūm and wrapped a turban on his head and hung the tail draped down Ali’s back. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said, “Wear turbans for indeed the turban is a symbol of Islam and it is a barrier between the Muslims and the Polytheist!” [Abu Nuʿaym: Mʿarifat as-Sahābah from ʿAbdur-Rahman ʿAdī al-Bahrāni]
• The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Adopt wearing the turban for indeed it is the mantle of the Angels and hang the tail of it on your backs!” [Tabarānī, al-Kabīr from Ibn ʿUmar; Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īman]
• The Prophet (ﷺ) came with thobes from charity and distributed them amongst his companions and said, “Wear turbans and differentiate yourselves from the nations that proceeded you!” [Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īman from the Tābʿī Khālid bin Mʿadān in a mursal narration]
• the Prophet said, “Wear turbans! Increase in discernment! Turbans are the crowns of the Arabs.” [Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īman from Usamah bin ʿUmayr] (Ibn Hajar mentions the narration is weak but has a corroborating narration.)

Tariq Abdul-Rasheed from seekerguiance.org states that many people misunderstand the ruling of the turban because that the above narrations are weak. “However, the scholars of Fiqh (Jurisprudence) note that the weaknesses don’t detract from the legal probity of establishing the turban as a clearly emphasized Sunnah. They add; the multitude of narrations that have been transmitted and the numerous paths by which they have been transmitted necessitate the legal probity of considering the turban from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
This is a well-established principle amongst the scholars of Hadith Tradition and Jurisprudence, as related from Imam al-Bājūri, Imam al-Haytami, and Imam al-Manāwi. [ad-Dʿiāmah, Jʿafar al-Katāni]”

The weak chains of transmission do not invalidate or null it from the legal ruling. Take for example one of the most popular hadith used for rulings on the hijab…….

this verse is also considered weak but people still use it. I point this out because people are more willing to accept weak hadiths when it comes to women or religious minorities but not when it comes to Muslim men. Yes, hadith methodology is very complex, which is a good thing! I would recommend reading Hallaq for a basic understanding of Shariah and Johnathon Brown’s book on Hadith as well. These are basic introductions by Muslims for everyone. Or you can ask your local scholar about hadith science if you’re interested!

Besides the weak narrations, many people are confused about whether or not the turban practice of the Prophet should be of legal value because people assume that his use of the turban was an Arab practice. It should be pointed out that the Quran does not instruct Muslim men to wear a beard or wear midi thobes as well, but Arab men wore them originally. Nor do we critique certain niqab/ hijab styles as being “Arab” or are bothered when Muslim women adopt the Gulf Abaya. Most scholars of non-Arab background did wear a turban, and some Muslim men today wear them. People like Rumi, a non-Arab, wore one!

The practice of wearing a head covering for Muslim men died off with, drumroll, colonialism. Some men took it off because the style went out of fashion, others were trying to dress more European, and others were forced to take them off due to Muslims making laws in the early 1900s forbidding people from wearing them. So, the loss of the turban in modern dress code was due to numerous factors. When I say people wanted to dress more European, I do not necessarily mean people wanted to BE European. In reality, if you are trying to rise in political power or prestige as a man during the colonial period dressing in Western clothes could be a way you could prosper. Many individuals, including Westerners themselves, dropped native customs in favor of the Parisian and British fashions that everyone thought were vogue and modern. These Western clothes were exotic and new for many people and men (and women) who visited Europe dressed like Europeans. They did this because they wanted to blend in, they wanted to be respectful of the culture they were in, and it was just fun to wear something exotic. Then of course we get into Colonialism and Orientalism degrading the traditional clothes of the colonies. So eventually many Muslim nations began to modernize and be more….Western (in their own way)… created laws targeting men’s dress codes. Men were the first to be forced to wear Western styles clothes, and with that came men (who weren’t going to masjids or religious places) who were banned from wearing turbans or other headwear that wasn’t a Western hat.

Since the turban isn’t in the Quran, Muslims during the early 1900s didn’t really argue about getting rid of the turban. As many Muslims considered it as a cultural clothing item rather than a religious obligation.  While the turban is not an obligation, it is something that can give a Muslim man a reward. Tariq Abdul-Rasheed comments that “We know that “actions are by intentions”, and if one intends by wearing the turban or following the Prophet (ﷺ) in any of his actions, Allah (Most High) will reward the servant according to their intentions.”  Scholars do (did) find it okay for men to wear the turban for the intention of beautification and men can wear a hat under/on.

So what this all means is that Muslim men are recommended and rewarded for covering their hair and head, just like women are. Muslim women who don’t wear the hijab, DO wear one while praying because it is considered sunnah. However, the Prophet also covered his head while praying (and his companions) but we don’t see Muslim men being forced to cover their heads. (some men do cover their heads) The Prophet said, “The prayer which is performed with turban is 70 times more meritorious than the prayer performed without turban.” (Taj, I would take this narration with a grain of salt fyi). It was also narrated Anas ibn Malik, “I saw the Messenger (ﷺ) perform ablution. He had a Qutri turban. He inserted his hand beneath the turban and wiped over the forelock and did not untie the turban.” [Grade: Da’if (Al-Albani); Abi Dawud 147]. So, from this we know: 1) men should cover their heads while praying, 2) men, like women, can do ablutions with the veil on.

According to some scholars, in place of a turban, a cap may be used to cover the head.
The Prophet wore lined or unlined caps. Those made in Damascus would be white and without lining (Abu Shayh, p. 118). Ibn-i Umar informed that in campaigns the Prophet wore caps with projecting parts over-ears (Ali al-Kârî, I, 204.). This is why men today who do wear a “veil” for prayer were a cap instead of a literal turban. We see this style more in Asian nations.

So, in conclusion, Muslim men are recommended to wear a hair cover of some kind, and most Muslim men usually today don’t. I found the hadiths quite interesting actually! I always heard the hadiths targeted towards Muslim women but never the ones targeted towards men. So it was refreshing to see the various writings targeting men. What I felt was even more important about these hadiths is that Muslims can actually use them to try to repel anti-hijab laws. How? Usually, we focus on hadiths that are very vague about veiling. The Quran and hadith do not directly tell women to place a veil on their heads, they tend to allude to it. These hadiths, however, directly mention a particular clothing item and where it should be placed. In many court cases, Muslim women are told that their religious proof isn’t enough, that it isn’t real, etc. I think Muslim women can use these turban hadiths as further proof that they are following the Prophet by wearing the hijab. Ideally, we Muslims wouldn’t have to research every detail of our religion to prove to people we are following the religion. We shouldn’t have to prove our religiosity to anyone, and often it is impossible to do so.

That being said, if you are telling Muslim women, they need to wear a veil. Take a step back and ask yourself, “are you wearing a veil?” If you are not wearing a turban every day, then don’t tell a Muslim woman she has to wear a hijab.