Access the Significance of the Veil in Islam

The difference is between a literalist attitude, of an acceptance of Arab tradition, noting that in some Islamic territories, the veil is a militant symbol, and a modernist, interpretative attitude, which leads to a symbolizing tendency. The word veil is a reduction to the multitude of definitions given by the diverse styles of female dresses both within and across social classes within Muslim society. Burqa, Chador, Foulard, headscarf, Nijab and Niqab, are all different names for diverse types of veils. Some of them cover the whole body, leaving only the hands and the eyes to be seen, whilst others simply cover the hair, or face.

The variety of veils range from, the uniform black cloaks, worn by women in post revolution Iran, to the exclusive designer scarves of the aristocracy in Egypt. Helen Watson, in, Women and the Veil: Personal Responses to Global Process, speaks of the brightly colored scarves of Turkish peasants girls, the tie racks for European Muslims, the white Haik of Algerian women, and the Burja of women in Oman. This continuum of veiling, runs from state regulated attire to individual fashion accessory, and leaves expression for various local varieties.

All of these different styles of veils hold a universal, formal, symbolic and practical aim; the Hijab preserves modesty and conceals the shame of nakedness. In essence, this paper will discuss the significance of the veil in Islam, observe its broad definition, and how it is regarded and known by Western and European countries. An important element of this research, are the variety of the authors looked at, in consideration of a non biased view, in analyzing the veil from a Muslim, non-Muslim and converted Muslim perspective.

These have established the various views and opinions on the use of the veil, in generic terms, as well as help to analyze the re-veiling movement, which started with the revolution in Iran in 1970. Furthermore, it will look at the reasons which are behind such covering, and why Muslim women have been covering the past four decades in the present era of a revival of religion. The principle of this essay, is to explore the multi ethnic religious views of the veil in Islam, and clarify the words of the Qur’an, to remove pre conceptual ideas behind the veil, and look at it’s depth.

Many books have been written on the women behind the veil, yet one of the major issues that seem to arise from such research is that the non-Muslim writers don’t give enough space for Muslim women to speak their truth. Muslim women are seen as contributors to society in a state of veil. For non-Muslim writers, the veil is depicted as a symbol of oppression, “A constraining and constricting form of dress, and form of social control, religiously sanctioning women’s invisibility and subordinate socio-political status”.

Indigenous writers, Muslim and others with a more positive view of the Hijab, stress the liberating potential of veiling and the personal, resulting with strategic advantages of public anonymity. A discussion of veiling and Hijab has a place in contemporary debates about processes of globalization and postmodernity. Many issues central to a discussion of veiling revolve around the Qur’anic concept of modesty. The Qur’an speaks of being modest in thy bearing in verse 31;19.

Other instructions are set out in verses 14;30-1, stating for believing women to lower their gaze, and be modest, to draw their veils over their ‘bosoms’ and to not reveal their adornments, which are saved to their husbands and fathers. The Qur’an instructs women to draw their veil, Khumur, over their bosoms, in the presence of strangers within the domestic sphere. In addition to the woman’s husband, there are exceptions to such veiling, like as in the presence of the father, father in law, sons, sister’s sons, as well as others who pose no sexual threat, including women servants.

Therefore this does not mean, that women are covered in veils also within the private sphere, just, simply, that within the area of strangers, they would cover in modesty, so men considered strangers, wont have the possibility, to look in a dangerous, provocative way. Whilst, in the public environment, women, believers, are encouraged to cover them selves with cloaks, or what the author refers to as, Jalabib. Hence, the veil was a superfluous screen for a woman’s relatives and colleagues, and was and is a useful symbol of respectability amongst strangers.

On the other hand, there are problems of interpretation between the relationship of the hijab and the social process of veiling. It is debated where the wearing of the veil is demanded as an absolute religious obligation, and there seems to be suggested, a lack of consensus on the precise form of dress that stipulates modesty. It is important to keep in mind, that the veil has different significances for various peoples. For Western societies, Muslim women are oppressed, and symbol of this is the Hijab , the veil, which is believed to be forced to wear.

However, for Muslim women and men, it is Western women who are slaves to their obligation to be beautiful and available, “On pain of being rejected and so it is they who are not free. ”As a result, it is clear that Muslims and non-Muslims have contrasting ideas on Islam, and the veil. “Islam is portrayed as a religion hostile to women”. However, in, Women Embracing Islam, a few Hijab stories mention that the veil is liberating, because it forces people to judge a woman according to her intellect instead of physical appearance. Some wear the Hijab because they are Muslim women, and they believe their body is their own private concern.

Essentially, it is argued from Muslim women, that the veil gives back to women the ultimate control of their own bodies. Other arguments found within, Women Embracing Islam, were founded on a Western conception and depiction of women as ‘must be sexy’ and this may be considered a form to propagate against such bodily image. Katherine Bullock, author of, Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil, “like many Westerns, believed that Islam oppressed women and that the veil was a symbol of oppression”. Katherine Bullock is a converted Muslim.

Within her book, she challenges the popular Western stereotype that the veil is oppressive. Her main argument is that the popular Western notion that the veil is a symbol of Muslim women’s oppression is a constructed image that does not represent the experience of all those who wear it. The author also argues that the construction has served Western political ends. Arguing that the judgment that the veil is oppressive is based on liberal understanding of equality and liberty that preclude other ways of thinking about equality and liberty that offer a more positive approach for contemplating the wearing of the veil.

The re-veiling movement, as explained by Bullock, is a movement that started in the late 1970s. This trend, where many young, educated women started covering even though some of their mothers and grandmothers had fought against the veils, has caught many feminist scholars off guard. Iran’s imposition of the Chador, was done after Khomeini’s revolution in 1979. Furthermore, even the Talibans, after their accession to power in 1997, made an imposition of the Burqa. In the introduction, Bullock explains that the word Hijab, comes from the root word Hajaba, meaning to cover, conceal, hide.

It can include covering the face or not. As expressed above, it includes lowering the gaze with the opposite sex, and this applies to men as well, who must lower their gaze and cover from navel to knee. There is evidence that by the 18th century, the veil was already taken by the Europeans to be an oppressive custom amongst Muslims. However the notion of veil as oppressive assumed a new focus in the 19th century because that was the era of the European colonization of the Middle East. The veil became short hand for the entire degraded status of women, sign of the backwardness and narrow mindedness of the entire Orient. Covering has a long tradition in the Muslim world, the current debates over it are relatively new, having been sparked by the colonial encounter with the West”. Scholars of the re-veiling movement found that there were many different motivations for women to put on the Hijab, from political protest to economic reasons and devotion. As expressed above, the re-covering phenomena have been associated with anti-colonial and revolutionary struggles. For example, in the Algerian fight for independence in 1950s and in Iran in 1970s, women who had previously not covered wore the veil, Chador, to help overthrow their oppressive governments.

As a consequence, because the colonialist and native elite had targeted the Hijab for elimination, the headscarf became a potent symbol of resistance during anti colonial revolutionary struggles. Hence, these are examples of reasons for covering for revolutionary protest, political protest, as these were not happy with their present regime, but there are also other reasons for such custom. Bullock argues there are other several reasons for Muslim women to cover. Religiously, it’s wearing is a religious gesture. It is not only something people notice, but it proves one’s adherent to a religion and style of life.

Islam is not only a religion, it offers principles for a society to cooperate and develop together. Secondly, Bullock argues that Muslim women cover to facilitate female and male interactions, which as a result creates, on a large scale, a benefit for society, as women and men can collaborate together. It is important to note, that with this, women in Islamic countries, can have a continued access to the public sphere. Hence, by wearing the veil, women have a continuous access to employment, they can gain respect from men, and can combat male harassment.

It protects women, maintains a form of equality for women outside the private sphere, liberates women, women are free to walk outside of their house and not be harassed by men. The veil is also a expression of personal identity. It creates a link between the Hijab and self-perception, thereby giving inner strength to women, and creating a high level of confidence and self-esteem. It is ultimately a expression of personal identity. What is often forgotten, historically, was that the veil was a form of social status for women. It was a way to declare one’s position in social hierarchy.

Different social classes used different styles, colors, textures and materials, and every Islamic country has it’s own use and custom. Essentially, veiling was a honoring custom. Finally, it is important to note that another reason for Muslim women to wear the veil, is specifically because of state law requirement, but that is only the case in Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The point of covering, is not that sexual attraction it self is bad, but simply because it should be expressed only between husband and wife, within the household privacy.

In this way, the public space is free of sexual tensions, so men and women can interact, do business, and build a healthy civilization. An argument that Bullock extrapolates from this, is that veiling helps men not feel distracted, hitherto accepting a patriarchal argument that masks the self sacrifice of women for the sake of men. Yet, the women interviews by her disagreed, stating that this was a benefit for both men and women, and protected women from male advances, and negative emotions and feelings of lust, resulting with women gaining from such custom, as men gave them more respect after wearing it.

Hijab, “Is not just clothes, but a mode of decorous behavior as well”. The Qur’an offers another literary meaning too by stating in verse 33;59 that the veil protects women from being molested. In Muslim countries, the debates regarding the veil and unveiling are tied to different conceptions of the ideal society and the strategic planning of state building. In specific historical events, in the representation and proof of modernity and national progress and development, women are unveiled, educated and emancipated modern women.

Leaving on the other side, women who are veiled and seen by Western eyes as signifying cultural and economic backwardness. In Iran and Palestine, men who claim to be upholding religious and national values mandate veiling. In 1992, in Kabul, the very first act of the interim government was to legislate veiling for women, and that started the disappearing of western clothes in the streets. In conclusion, “The Hijab is a way of giving dignity to a woman’s femininity, by making her beauty unavailable for public consumption”.

In a consumer capitalist culture, women’s beauty is for the male gaze, clothes affect the way people react and look at an individual. To sum up, the Hijab does not smoother femininity or sexuality. It simply regulates where and for whom, one’s femininity and sexuality will be displayed and deployed. Women don’t need to cover within the household sphere, in women gatherings and with their husband. Beauty is seen as a special element, not to be enjoyed with strangers. It also can be seen as a liberator of women, for being judged in comparison with a narrow and impossible ideal of beauty or with no real beautiful women.