Aurat (word)

Aurat is a word which means "woman" in many Asian languages including Urdu, and Sorani Kurdish. It occurs in Azerbaijani as "arvad" and Ottoman Turkish as "avret".

Etymology and socio-cultural construct

The word "aurat" originally comes from the Arabic word "awrah". In Arabic, the words awrah or awrat means "defectiveness", "imperfection", "blemish," or "weakness". The most common English translation of awrah is "nakedness". In Arabic, the word 'awrah is used in reference to both men and women, referring to the parts of the body that need to be covered to maintain modesty. According to Nurhan GÜNER avrat/''avret in Turkish is borrowed from Arabic and is not related to Old Turkic uragut''. The word is used in the Quran to denote "privacy", "vulnerability" and "nakedness" as well. Aharôn Layiš' book on family laws among Druze attributes a quote to al-Tanukhi that says "..Women are all nakedness and all nakedness should be covered" Moshe Piamenta, in his book "Islam in Everyday Arabic Speech", notes that in the language of the Bedouin, synecdochic usage of word 'awrat' denotes 'woman'. In the Kurdish language, the word 'Aurat' for women is spelled as 'avarat' where as in (Ottoman) Turkish it is spelled as 'Avret'.
Before entering South Asia, it was used in the Persian language in Iran to mean 'woman'. In Mohammad Moin's Persian dictionary, awrah has two different meanings: "nakedness" and "young woman". But subsequently, Iranians started avoiding the word "aurat" for 'women', due to its meaning of "nakedness". In (Ottoman) Turkish, the word 'avret' was used more for common married or adult women, whereas the word "hatun" was used for more respected women. In Ottoman times any unmarried adolescent girl was called "kiz" and her silence was assumed as consent for marriage purposes. Kiz were freer and less controlled, but once married and considered avret their mobility and sexuality came under drastic social control, so that they would not engage in adultery, in order to preserve male right of lineage and patriarchal honor. According to Heidi Stein avrat / avret meaning woman is among 78 early Arabic cultural words that found their way into everyday Turkish language during the first Arabic linguistic import stage through Persian language. In Turkish since the twentieth century, use of word avret has been limited to intimate body parts. According to Pashayeva Gunel Bakhsheyish kizi and Musayeva Ilaha Ilham kizi The word ovrat in Arabic means a married woman, who has a husband; wife– avrat in Turkish language, avrad in Gagauz language, arvad in Azerbaijani. Kizi says sufix "عار" meaning shame too might have come from Arabic. The alternate etymological origin for 'arvad' may be arva meaning tearing of daughter's relationship from parents while getting married and its root may be from Mongolian language lexemes abra-arba-arva the root ab-av means magic, conjuring in Mongolian language.

Etymology

The word Erva first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Leviticus 18:6. The verse reads as follows, with the word erva being translated to nakedness.
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness. I am the .
The term has since been used in the Talmud as both a blanket term for all prohibited sexual acts and to describe parts of a female considered to be immodest and sexually provocative, including a woman's hair, thighs, and singing voice. The term continues to be used in many other sources of Jewish law and is still used in modern Hebrew today to mean either prohibited sexual acts or sexual organs.
In Arabic, the term 'awrah or 'awrat derives from the root ‘a-w-r which means "defectiveness", "imperfection", "blemish" or "weakness". However, the most common English translation is "nakedness".
In Persian and Kurdish as well as Urdu, the word 'awrat derived from the Arabic 'awrah, has been used widely to mean "woman". Consulting Mohammad Moin's dictionary of Persian, 'awrah has two meanings:

Nakedness
Young woman

The meaning in other derivatives ranges from "blind in one eye" to "false or artificial", among others. Traditionally, the word 'awrat, alongside the word za'ifeh, has been associated with femininity and women who live under the protection of a man. In modern-day Iran, using 'awrah or za'ifah to refer to women is uncommon and is considered sexist language. Instead, the word "zan" is used. In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the word za'if is still used in Tajik and its subdialects.
In Turkish, avrat is an often derogatory term for 'woman' or 'wife'.

Traditional South Asian normative around the word Aurat

Rudrani Gupta writes Patriarchy provides many definitions for euphemism 'achi aurat' to be sacrificial, shy, silent and sanskari Snobra Rizwan in her study on normative in Pakistan's lower middle class highlights following linguistic euphemism.

aurat ko baparda hona chahiye .
Islami libas acha lagta hai.
Sharam aurat ki zeenat hoti hai .

A study analyzed a sample of 588 Punjabi proverbs specifically dealing with gender representation, collected from the dictionary "Saadey Akhaan " by Shahbaz. The findings showed that a substantial number of Punjabi proverbs in the sample targeted female characters in a negative way, while proverbs targeting males and mothers were more positive. This highlights that Punjabi proverbs reinforce patriarchal values and contribute to the perpetuation of gender biases in Punjabi society.

Controversies

Writing for The Nation, Mona Hassan objected to using the word due to its etymology, saying South Asian men equate women to honor and shame, connecting ultimate reference to woman's breasts and vagina and attempt to control the same as part of their honor. Islamic interpretations and practices widely differ in what parts of women's bodies constitute the intimate, with liberal interpretations limiting to best possible, while conservative interpretations can even include a woman's voice and social existence. The latter process of thinking leads to a culture of female seclusion from public life and subjugation and violation of their human rights.
According to Anjali Bagwe, in South Asia, women are distinguished as "Aurat Jat" in an internalized patriarchal sense which presumes women can not be equal to men and tend to be inferior. According to Rajaa Moini, the word 'azad' holds a unique significance in the Urdu language, which inspires reverence, pride, but in the context of women, downright hostility and revulsion. In Pakistan, while an azad mulk, a free country, can be cause of celebration and revelry, an azad aurat, or a free woman, faces accusations of cultural degradation, considered like an active threat to the nation at the best, and a justification for brutal violence against her at worst. Those women who attempt any course other than misogynist patriarchal expectations are labeled stereotyped as 'napak aurat' and discriminated against.