[u801e]

As another Muslim, my view is that clothing that attracts attention of others doesn't fulfill the purpose of hijab. So, if you're the only one wearing a head covering, people are going to pay unnecessary attention to you. The same applies if you're the only one not wearing one.

Basically, as long as you're not dressing in a way that attracts attention to yourself, then you're fulfilling the purpose of hijab.

[erenyeager]

This is against the orthodox Islamic interpretations if you’re saying that a free woman can uncover her hair in public if that’s the social norm. It is quite well known what the limits of awrah are (the parts that need to be covered). If everyone is wearing bikinis, it doesn’t make bikinis permissible.

So if this is only your opinion, it is not an opinion based in sound evidence, or at least please bring some to support it.

[u801e]

There's substantial disagreement around this issue in the Muslim world as evidenced by the fact that many women don't wear head coverings. But I will say that if you're attracting attention to yourself in an effort to be modest, then that's a logical contradiction. Allah gave us the ability to reason and based on one's ability to read through the source material (Quran and Hadith), one should be able to come up with a reasonable interpretation.

[erenyeager]

I would like to note the fact that some numbers of people comply or do not comply in accordance with divine law does not imply a disagreement with the validity of the law. Rather, it may be due to someone’s ignorance, or shortcomings that they make mistakes.

Many orthodox methodologies of deriving legal rulings (fiqh) from Islamic sources already exist. Scholars from all orthodox schools of thought agree on the woman’s hair being part of what must be covered.

One can come up with many interpretations of divine revelation, but unless someone is guided on the right path, they may come up with conclusions that go astray from the correct way. This is the last part of the supplication of Surah Al-Fatihah (opening chapter of the Quran): a request to be guided on the right path and not of those who are displeasing or misguided.

So I think when you say substantial disagreement, this is not correct. Someone may accept that what they are doing is wrong but are too weak to change. Also, if the people who disagree are not educated or well-studied, their opinion holds less weight than an expert in that particular field.

Reason is very important, which is why interpreting revelation without considering the scholarly tradition may lead to unreasonable conclusions.

[u801e]

> the fact that some numbers of people comply or do not comply in accordance with divine law does not imply a disagreement with the validity of the law. Rather, it may be due to someone’s ignorance, or shortcomings that they make mistakes.

That's not a true premise and an argument based on that isn't sound.

In any case, I'm not on Hacker News to discuss religion, so I'll end the discussion here.