Comprehending the Veil

“So…what’s up with that veil thing?”


This question comes up a lot for me, and I don’t even wear a veil. I can’t even imagine how often it must come up for Muslim women who wear one when they are talking with non-Muslims who are befuddled by the piece of cloth. In general, the Islamic veil is known by a simple and encompassing term: hijab. Hijab comes from the Arabic word meaning to cover, screen, or shelter. The word for eyebrow, hawajib, even comes from the same root as they serve to shelter the eye. Forms of Hijab come in very different shapes and sizes, colors and fashions and vary between countries, classes, age groups, and personal preference. As a tip for anyone who is ever unsure of what to call the Islamic headscarf, hijab is generally the go-to-word. Anything more specific leaves room for mistakes, as sometimes it is hard to keep a niqab from a burqah from a chic veil. If you are curious, the niqab is when a woman’s face is covered except for her eyes (often a detachable square piece of cloth over the nose which is secured on the veil around the face) And, most importantly, a burqah is NOT any old veil. Burqahs are the fully covering head piece which were made famous by Afghani women (largely not by their choice) in which their eyes and face are covered by a mesh-like fabric. Again, if you are already feeling a bit shaky about the terms, remember that you can’t go wrong with using "veil" or “hijab”.
So why the hijab?

An easy answer that many Muslims might give is that they believe that God commanded women to cover all but their face and hands. But this begs the question, why? And of course those Muslims have also asked this question, and while there are different interpretations, a common one seems to be that the hijab promotes respect between men and women. This is because within Islamic tradition, hijab is not just the veil or whatever head covering a woman wears. It also encompasses the idea of modesty, of respect; the idea that a woman should be treated as a person, and not as a sex object. Men of society should interact with women as peers, intellectual equals, and not be distracted by immodest, inappropriate attire. As interpreted by many Muslims, God in his ultimate wisdom, has commanded women to take it upon themselves to prevent such a scenario, and cover themselves. But men aren’t off the hook, as it has also been commanded that they avert their eyes and treat women with the respect that they deserve. Before you get thrown, remember that many different cultures and religions have different definitions of what is appropriate and what is not. In parts of the world, there is nothing wrong with a woman bearing her breasts. In Kansas, there is certainly something inappropriate about it. And likewise, in Islam, many have interpreted hair to be inappropriate for public. If you find yourself unable to make this leap of logic, just remember how puzzled a Polynesian might be at the seemingly oppressive bra and shirt that American women wear, gasp, and by choice!

Now, even understanding the different standards of modesty,you still might ask, doesn’t this somehow put the burden on women? Sure, God commanded men to also avert their eyes, but if God also commands women to cover themselves, doesn’t that some how imply that ultimately men can’t help themselves? Why is it that women should have to take the extra step to cover themselves just because guys can’t somehow control their sexual urges? It’s not my fault my boss is a caveman and can’t take me seriously, I shouldn’t have to compensate for his weakness!

I used to feel this way. I was able to understand the reasoning behind the hijab (I think every girl can when she walks down the street and is made to feel degraded and humiliated by the cat-calls of a disrespectful man) but I still felt frustrated that the onus of the responsibility seemed to fall on the woman. But then I remembered that this is not only true of Islamic tradition, but of American society as well. One such example, a classic, which shows the unequal expectations for controlling sex drives takes place at a college frat party. No girl, in her right mind, would ever let her drunken girlfriend be alone in a room full of drunk frat guys for the night. Reverse the roles, and see how comfortable a guy would feel in a room of girls. Of course its not fair, but its not about fairness. It’s about being smart. Girls have these rules about watching out for each other, and for themselves, because no matter how you would hope guys to act in a perfect world, you don’t risk rape or sexual assault for the quixotic dream of gender equality.

So even in America, where we like to claim gender equality, you can find examples of girls taking on extra responsibilities to preempt ugly scenarios. Its not that you are some how condoning the weakness of guys; by avoiding the roomful of 30 drunken frat boys you aren’t somehow saying that sexual assault is okay. You are just taken a precaution in the same way that when a Muslim woman dons a hijab to avoid being treated like a piece of meat by her boss she isn’t excusing that disrespectful behavior.

Is this the only reason that women wear the hijab?

Of course not. There are thousands of reasons and explanations that women (and social scientists) give for the veil.* For some they are simply trying to be good Muslims in their daily life, for others they might see it as a political symbol of resistance or affiliation with Islamic reform movements who oppose the corruption and dictatorship of various secular regimes. Some might also see the veil as a rejection of Western imperialism, of American hegemony and globalization which has stripped them of their own culture. This is summed up in a quote by Adil Hussein, a late leader of the Egyptian Labor Party.



"Why can't we not only have a dress that is modest, but also have one which we have created in the region, like the Indian sari? Why can't we have our own dress which expresses decency, a requirement of Islam, as well as the special beauty that would be a mark of our society which has excelled in the arts and civilization?"

Of course there are still other explanations that believe that the use of the veil has a functional explanation such as lowering cost of attire (and hair salons) or shortens the time and energy a woman uses to beautify herself. And finally, never underestimate the power of social pressure, family pressure, and good ol peer pressure in determining what women wear. Once enough of your Muslim peers begin to don the veil, you might feel like you stick out a bit if you don't. Or maybe you've heard that the young men are only interested in marrying a veiled woman. But, I think it is important to remember, that Muslim women tend to be vehemently proud of the fact that it was a personal choice to wear the veil. Often they find it frustrating that women in the West have the freedom to wear skimpy clothes, but judge other women for wearing more.

Most veiled women just wish that Westerners would just hurry up and get over the whole veil thing. Read up on it, learn about it, and then see past it. Lets leave it up to 4th graders to judge people for what they wear or don't wear.




*Inspiration for this passage came from Saba Mahmood's article "Feminist Theory, Embodiment and the Docile Agent: Some Relections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival."2001. Cultural Anthropology, 6(2):202-236.