Short answer
Both are Quranic words. A khimar is a head cover that drapes over the hair, neck and chest (24:31). A jilbab is a large outer garment worn over normal clothes when going out (33:59). Hijab is the overall covering they achieve. Any garments that meet the conditions of covering fulfil the command; the exact style is not fixed.
Covering the head, neck and chest (the khimar's role) and wearing loose outer clothing over the body when going out (the jilbab's role) are part of the fard covering. A particular cut, colour or brand is not required as long as the conditions of hijab are met.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
In everyday English, hijab usually means the headscarf. In the Quran the two garments for women have their own names. 24:31 tells believing women to draw their khumur (singular khimar) over their juyub, the necklines of their clothes. 33:59 tells them to draw their jalabib (singular jilbab) over themselves. The word hijab itself, in the Quran, means a screen or partition.
The khimar:
- From a root meaning to cover. Arab women wore it before Islam, often tied back to leave the neck and chest open.
- The verse changed how it is worn: drawn down over the chest. Aishah reported that the women of the Muhajirun tore their wraps and covered themselves at once.
- Today the word is also used for a long, cape-like head covering that reaches the waist.
The jilbab:
- A large outer wrap or cloak worn over house clothes when going out. The commentators describe it as a garment larger than the khimar that covers the body.
- When a woman told the Prophet ﷺ she had no jilbab to go out to Eid, he told her companion to lend her one, which shows it was the normal outer garment for going out.
- In Indonesia and Malaysia the word is used for a headscarf; in the Arab world and the West it often means a long, loose overgarment like an abaya. See Quran 33:59.
What matters in the end is not the label but the conditions: the whole body except the face and hands covered, nothing see-through or tight, the chest covered, and nothing worn to draw attention. See the conditions of a correct hijab and hijab, niqab, burqa and abaya.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Noor 24:31
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ أَخَوَٰتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ أَوِ ٱلطِّفْلِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَوْرَٰتِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٣١﴾
And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
Commands believing women to draw their head covers over their chests.
Quran, Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:59
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّبِىُّ قُل لِّأَزْوَٰجِكَ وَبَنَاتِكَ وَنِسَآءِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ يُدْنِينَ عَلَيْهِنَّ مِن جَلَٰبِيبِهِنَّ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰٓ أَن يُعْرَفْنَ فَلَا يُؤْذَيْنَ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا ﴿٥٩﴾
O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
The jilbab, an outer garment over the body.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4758
Sahih... شققن مروطهن فاختمرن بها ...
"Aishah said: they tore their wraps and covered their heads with them."
The khimar was drawn down at once when 24:31 came.
Sahih al-Bukhari 351
Sahih... لتلبسها صاحبتها من جلبابها ...
"Let her companion lend her one of her outer garments."
The jilbab was the normal garment for going out.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Tafsir al-Qurtubi, Commentary on Surah al-Ahzab 33:59. Defines the jilbab as a garment larger than the khimar that covers the whole body.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, chapter on looking and touching. A free woman's body is awrah except the face and hands.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.