The Clans
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
[33:59]
O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And God is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.


* v.59 : This is for all Muslim women, those of the Prophet’s household, as well as the others. They were asked to cover themselves with outer garments when walking out of doors.
* Jilbab, plural Jalabib: an outer garment; a long gown covering the whole body, or a cloak covering the neck and bosom.
* The object was not to restrict the liberty of women, but to protect them from harm and molestation. In the East and in the West a distinctive public dress of some sort or another has always been a badge of honour or distinction, both among men and women. This can be traced back on the earliest civilisations. Assyrian Law in its palmiest days (say, 7th century B.C.), enjoined the veiling of married women and forbade the veiling of slaves and women of ill fame: see Cambridge Ancient History, 111. 107.
* That is, if a Muslim woman sincerely tries to observe this rule, but owing to human weakness fails short of the ideal, then "Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful".