Last night, a girl came into my inbox and after greeting (Salam), she said, "You write a lot about 'women' and 'women's veil (Pardah)'. But the veil is actually of the heart."

I asked, "After eating/chewing food, where does it go?" She replied, "Into the stomach."

I asked, "To make it reach the stomach, where do you have to put the food?" "Obviously, in the mouth," she said.

I said, "That is exactly what I want to explain. Just as food belongs in the stomach but has to be put in the mouth to reach there, similarly, the veil belongs in the heart, but to make it reach the heart, it has to be placed on the head."

After thinking for a moment, she spoke again, "But some girls are not truly 'modest (veiled)' even after wearing a Dupatta (headscarf)... what about them?"

I replied, "Some people cannot even digest food and they vomit; in that case, the fault is neither of the 'veil' nor of the 'food'. The problem lies within the 'stomach' and the 'heart'."

— Narrated / Quoted