The introduction and expansion of the concepts and manifestations of modernity in Iran, particularly during the decades leading up to and following the Constitutional Revolution, subjected traditional social and cultural structures to new transformations and challenges. Within this context, women’s issues—including their social participation, education, freedom, and rights—became one of the most significant arenas of confrontation between religious tradition and modernity, bringing religious scholars into engagement with concepts such as equality, freedom, rationality, and women’s rights. In this intellectual climate, hijab came to represent more than a merely juridical ruling; it emerged as a symbol of the relationship between religion and modernity and became one of the central axes of intellectual debate. Consequently, defending the Islamic ruling on hijab required not only juridical arguments but also rational and theological explanations concerning the nature, scope, purpose, and function of the Sharia.
Although previous studies have examined the views of religious scholars during the Constitutional era and certain theological and political issues of this period, the ways in which theological foundations were employed to explain gender-related religious rulings, as well as their relationship to the encounter between religious thought and modernity, require further investigation. Accordingly, this study seeks to examine the theological foundations underlying the conception of the Sharia in its encounter with modernity by analyzing treatises written in defense of hijab between 1911 and 1968. The central question of the study is: How were the theological foundations pertaining to the Sharia articulated in these treatises, and how were they related to the manner in which hijab was explained and to the authors’ engagement with emerging social transformations?
This study adopts a qualitative approach and employs qualitative content analysis. The research data were selected from 33 works on hijab written between 1911 and 1968 and compiled in the collection Hijabiyyah Treatises. The analytical process involved identifying meaning units, coding, and categorizing the data. Through an examination of the authors’ arguments and explanations, recurring patterns in their understanding of the Sharia and divine legislation were identified. Accordingly, the focus of this study is not merely on the authors’ positions regarding hijab itself, but rather on the underlying assumptions and theological foundations that shaped their arguments concerning this ruling and its relationship to social transformations.
The findings indicate that the theological foundations of the Sharia in the Hijabiyyah treatises can be conceptualized in five major categories. The first is the absence of incompatibility between the Sharia and modernity. By distinguishing between modern scientific and civilizational achievements and some of their moral and social consequences, the authors perceive no inherent conflict between progress itself and the Sharia. They likewise seek to demonstrate the compatibility of hijab with progress and civilization.

The second category is the perfection and comprehensiveness of religion. On this basis, Islam is understood as a complete and enduring system capable of securing human happiness, while the rulings of the Sharia—including the ruling on hijab—are regarded as being grounded in divine wisdom. Consequently, the dominant approach tends toward affirming the stability of religious rulings and defending the sufficiency of the Sharia in responding to human needs.
The third category is the eschatological orientation of the Sharia. Grounded in belief in the unseen world and the divine system of reward and punishment, this perspective provides an internal religious basis for adherence to religious rulings. It connects the restrictions associated with hijab and women’s social participation to their moral and eschatological consequences.