Purdah

Purdah was given religious significance under the Quran, and by the hadith^. Rules about the purdah were listed in Verse 53 of Surah 33, where the Prophet Muhammed put his wives behind the curtain during the wedding feast of his newest wife Zainab.

The verse reads:

O ye who believe! Enter not the Prophet’s houses until leave is given you for a meal [...]. And when ye have taken your meal, disperse, without seeking familiar talk, such (behaviour) annoys the Prophet [...]. And when ye ask (his ladies) for anything you want, ask them from before a screen: that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs.”

The Quranic verses stipulate modesty for both men and women, but lists many more restrictions for women’s movement^. The most explicit passage in the Quran that regulates purdah and female modesty is Verse 31 of Surah 24, which specifies the men whom women may interact freely.

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them [...]. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty, that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male attendants free of sexual desires. Or small children who have no carnal knowledge of women, And that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments.

Lastly, Verse 59 of Surah 33 reveals a historical context of the purdah it explains the necessity of a covering for women when they go outside as a way to signify their status so they would not be harassed by the  who habitually harassed female slave women.

O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments (jilbab) over their persons (when out of doors): That is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not molested.

Notably, during the Prophet Muhammad’s life, the purdah was restricted to only women of his family and tribe.