The Controversy of Hijāb:

Why Do Muslim Women Wear It?

Kate Warlick

English IV H/AP

Mrs. Carol Cox

22 September 2008

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Thesis: Although the hijāb, or veil, has long been associated with Islam, many Muslim

women choose to wear it not only for religious reasons, but also for cultural,

and personal reasons.

I. History of Hijāb

A. Hijāb Definition

B. Religious Background

1. Qur’an Verses

2. Prophet Speeches

C. Cultural Development

1. Different Countries

a. Urban Areas

b. Rural Areas

2. Different Governments

D. Hijāb Types

1. Head Coverings

a. Hijab

b. Khimir

c. Al-Amira

d. Chaddar

e. Shayla

f. Niqaab

2. Body Coverings

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a. Abaya

b. Burqa

c. Chador

II. Religious Reasons for Wearing

A. Servant of Allah

B. Conservative Lifestyle

III. Cultural Reasons for Wearing

A. Regional Differences

1. Urban Women

2. Rural Women

B. Governmental Differences

1. Conservative

2. Modern

IV. Personal Reasons for Wearing

A. Safety

1. Taliban

2. Family

B. Confidentiality

1. Shameful Tasks

2. Social Pressure

C. Gender Neutrality

1. Sexual Harassment

2. Inner Beauty

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The Controversy of Hijāb:

Why Do Muslim Women Wear It?

Ever since the United States first began to interact with Muslim cultures the

American people have been asking—why do the women wear those strange head and

body garments? Those “strange” scarves and robes are, in fact, all classified under the

term hijāb, coming from the Arabic word “hajaba” meaning simply to “hide from view

or conceal” (Harik 123). It refers to the modest way of dressing that Islam encourages.

Ramsay Harik and Elsa Marston in their book Women in the Middle East: Tradition

and Change say this about Western culture’s approach to veiling:

The practice of veiling may be the most difficult, among the life ways of the

Middle East, for people in the West to understand. It lends itself to wildly

inaccurate stereotypes, such as the notion that Middle Eastern women must

spend their lives shrouded in long black robes. However, the fact that

Westerners have so many misunderstandings about the veil is hardly

surprising… (122-23)

Harik and Marston’s somewhat mocking observation is, however, unfortunately true.

Although many people in the United States have long associated the hijāb, or veil, with

Islam, what we may not know is that many Muslim women are not, in fact, required by

Islamic law to wear it, and most choose to wear it, not only for religious reasons, but

also for cultural and personal reasons.

The origin of the practice of hijāb is somewhat hazy and continues to be

debated. Some experts state that the tradition of women veiling themselves began pre-

Islam, while others believe the practice originated from the Qur’an, the holy book of

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Islam. Others still claim the Hadith, sometimes called the Sunnah, which is a traditional

account of things said or done by Muhammad and his companions, first demanded that

women cover themselves. (Gill)

In reality, the edges are blurred. The development of the use of hijāb has been

continuous—from pre-Islam, to the birth of Islam, to the acceptance of Islam by most

Middle Eastern countries. In the pre-Islamic society in Arabia, Jahiliyya, things were

structured so that women were seen as completely helpless and inferior. When Umar

Ibn al-Khattab, who later became a follower of Muhammad, learned that his sister had

embraced Islam, he allegedly rushed to her household and beat her fiercely. While the

Prophet Muhammad began to try and reform this society he apparently never could

resolve this issue of the veil. (Gill)

When Prophet Muhammad married Zaynab Bint Jahsh, a woman of great

beauty, he invited almost all of the Muslims to his house for the wedding supper. His

servant, Anas ibn Malik, later narrated that when the Prophet became angry that a few

certain guests would not leave his new wife alone, he issued this verse: “O Ye who

believe! …And when ye ask (his ladies) for anything ye want, ask them from before a

screen; that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs …Truly such a thing

is in Allah’s sight an enormity” (Gill).The “screen” or curtain referred to in the passage

became a general practice for Muslim wives.

The Qur’an refers to the practice of veiling, but never states anything about it

being required of Muslim women. The verse Sura 24, Light, verse 31 reads as follows:

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard

their

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modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what

(must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their

bosom, and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their

husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their

brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their

right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children

who have no sense of shame of sex; and they should not strike their feet in order

to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O Ye Believers! Turn ye all

together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss. (Yuan 28)

Just what the word “ornaments” means in this passage is not altogether clear. It could

be referring to jewelry or perhaps the natural beauty of a woman’s face and figure.

Regardless, from this point on the veil was widely used in Islamic societies but was

always suggested, never required.

The Hadith, however, states something entirely different. It remains matter of

controversy among Muslims which holy book is to be taken as the authority, because

while the Qur’an is the direct word of Allah, the Hadith is also the word of Allah, but it

describes the teachings of the prophet Muhammad and shows how Muhammad lived

his life to reflect the Qur’an. In the hadith of Sahih Bukhari, volume 1, book 8, sunnah

395, the following verse is stated: "My Lord agreed with me (Umar) in three

things. . . . And as regards the veiling of women, I said 'O Allah's Apostle! I wish you

ordered your wives to cover themselves from men because good and bad ones talk to

them. So the verse of the veiling of the women was revealed" (Gill). Other verses are

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also attributed to Muhammad: all of them having something to say about the fact that

women should remain covered at all times.

The cultural development of hijāb has also followed a long and intricate

journey. John Esposito, professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University writes

that the customs of veiling and seclusion of women in early Islam were adapted from

the conquered Byzantine and Persian societies (98). During the nineteenth century,

upper-class urban women were more likely to veil than working-class or peasant

women—they saw it as a symbol of their wealth and the fact that only the worthy could

look upon them—but the reverse was the case by the 1960s.

Many Americans believe that there are only

two types of Islamic coverings: the head veil, and the

full body covering. Contrary to this popular belief,

there is a multitude of

different types. There are

five types of head

coverings alone. The word

hijab (see Fig. 1.1) also refers to a square headscarf that

can be wrapped around the head in a multitude of styles.

There are hundreds of

types of hijabs, ranging from party hijabs to summer

hijabs to business hijabs. A khimir (see Fig. 1.4) is a

long cape-like veil made of a semi-circle of fabric and

is sewn up at the straight edge leaving a hole for the

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face. They often come with a small cap or under scarf to cover the forehead and can

come from mid-chest length to ankle. The Al-Amira, (see Fig. 1.2) or Buknuk, is worn

in many Gulf countries, and is usually a two-piece tube style slip on head covering,

although some styles have the two parts sewn together. It is usually made from a cotton

knit or stretch polyester and is especially popular with

children. The chaddar (not to be confused with the

chador) is a long rectangular shaped scarf usually made

of cotton worn by women in Afghanistan, India, and

Pakistan. The shayla (see Fig. 1.3) is another popular

Gulf head covering. It is a long, rectangular scarf that can

be tucked or pinned in

at the edges, and

usually only appears in black or white. The niqaab

(see Fig. 1.5) is a veil that covers the entire face and

head but has a place cut out for the eyes.

There are three main types of full body coverings for

Muslim women. The abaya, traditionally worn in

Gulf countries, is a long black outer garment that covers from head to feet.

The burqa (see Fig. 1.6) is mainly worn in

Afghanistan and covers the entire body with

a sheer slit over the eyes. It is usually seen

in blue, but can also appear in brown or

black. The chador (see Fig. 1.6) is a

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traditional Iranian outer garment that covers the head and body and is a full length

semi-circle of fabric that reaches the ground. It is held shut with the hands or is simply

wrapped under the arms.

As stated before, there is no religious requirement of Muslim women to wear

any of the aforementioned body coverings, yet some women choose to follow the holy

book’s suggestion. One woman living in Kabul, Afghanistan, when asked why she

chooses to wear the burqa, heatedly replied,

"Wearing the burqa is part of Islam. Every Muslim woman must wear one. Why

are you disobeying the laws of Islam?" (Ghafori) Other women choose to cover

themselves simply because they enjoy the conservative type of lifestyle. According to

sixteen-year-old Rema Zawi, "You feel modest...and you feel like you're covered up.

You have more self-respect. You have more confidence in yourself that you don't need

to care about (how) you look." (Hussein)

Many Muslim women, however, choose to cover themselves simply because of

cultural traditions. Different regions have different traditions. Until the last two or three

decades, some middle-class women in cities in Egypt have worn a thin black veil that

covers the lower part of the face that is held in place by delicate black straps trimmed in

gold. Some Moroccan women traditionally conceal all but their eyes with skillfully

draped combinations of headdresses and face coverings. Conservative Muslim women

in Beirut used to wear a black cloth over the hair and another short black cloth over the

entire face, and recently a few have started to resume this form of hijab. Among the

rural Druze people of Lebanon, young girls wear a thin white cloth loosely over their

heads until they reach the age of fifteen. Women living in rural parts of Yemen often

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cover themselves completely with heavy black cloth, leaving only a slit for the eyes.

(Harik 126)

Different types of Islamic governments also can influence women to choose to

wear body coverings. In Saudi Arabia, all women are required by the government to

cover themselves in the abaya. In other conservative societies of the Gulf countries,

some women also wear a heavy leather mask. Early in the revolutionary Islamic regime

that took over Iran in 1978, the government required all women to wear the chador, but

it is now more lenient and permits long coats and colored head scarves. (127-28)

In more modern governments, women choose whether they want to cover

themselves or not. In Tunisia, although the government has strongly discouraged the

practice of veiling, many city women continue to cover themselves with long coats and

strict head scarves. In fashion-conscious cities like Beirut, many young women are

choosing to wear colorful hijabs and long showy skirts in every color of the rainbow. It

seems that today, the choice is really what type of hijab to wear, and it is commonly

seen as an outlet for self-expression (129).

The major reason that women choose to practice hijab remains personal. Often

it is a matter of safety. Even though the Taliban, a Muslim fundamentalist terrorist

group that controlled Afghanistan from 1995 to 2001 is no longer active, many Afghan

women still choose to wear their burqas. During the Taliban regime, it became law that

women must wear a burqa and women in public that were not completely covered were

heavily prosecuted. Zahira, a thirty year old Kabul woman says,

“Wearing a burqa was a tradition in our society, and then tradition changed to

coercion. The Taliban made it an Islamic duty, but hijab does not mean burqa.”

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(Ghafori). It is not hard to figure out why women of the area choose to continue this

custom, as society in Afghanistan is still largely unstable. Soraya Parlika, director of

the Afghanistan Women’s Union said she’s not surprised by how many women

continue to wear their burqas. “Kidnapping of women and children is on the rise, crime

is increasing, and women feel safe in a burqa,” she said. She continued by confirming,

“I am against the burqa, but until security is restored completely, I do not think women

will take them off.” (Ghafori)

Alarmingly, the Taliban is not the only safety reason that causes many women

to veil themselves. Another major reason is that of family. Many Muslim fathers and

brothers consider it revolting and embarrassing for their daughters or sisters to go

around un-veiled. In recent times the frightening practice of “honor killings” has been

spotlighted.

An honor killing is when one of the males in a Muslim family takes it upon

himself to protect the family’s virtue and reputation by murdering the offending female.

The number of young girls that die this way is largely unknown, since the majority goes

unreported. A 1999 Amnesty International report noted, “Women and young girls are

set ablaze, strangled, shot at, clubbed, stabbed, tortured, axed, or stoned to death. Their

bodies are found mutilated with their throats slit or they are chopped into pieces and

thrown into a ditch.” The report also mentioned the honor killing of a sixteen year old

Pakistani girl who was allegedly electrocuted to death after being drugged with

sleeping pills and tied to her bed with iron chains. The reason for her death—marrying

a boy from the wrong community and refusing to observe hijab. (“Pakistan”)

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Honor killings are also becoming prevalent in the United States. In July of 2008

in upstate New York, Waheed Allah Mohammad, an immigrant from Afghanistan, was

charged with attempted murder after repeatedly stabbing his 19-year-old sister. The

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported that Mohammad was "infuriated because

his younger sister was going to clubs, wearing immodest clothing, and planning to

leave her family for a new life in New York City" - she was a "bad Muslim girl," he

told sheriff's investigators. (Jacoby) Stories like this are more than enough to scare

some Muslim girls and women into never removing their scarves.

Not all Muslims, however, condone honor killings. In a chat room conversation

I had with Usman Khan, a twenty-six year old Pakistani man, he informed me that

honor killings are related to an “un-educated cultural impact” and are not a part of

Islam. “Many Muslims don’t know much Islam. They are Muslim just from name and

they follow and mix culture in their religion.” (Khan)

A much less frightening reason that many Muslim women choose to wear their

scarves or body coverings is that of getting rid of sexual harassment. Mir Akram, the

psychology professor at Kabul University said, “Wearing a burqa is a kind of

exploitation that men visit on women. A woman on the street without a burqa is seen as

fair game for any sort of male overtures. Men are always making remarks and cursing

women, and this certainly has a negative effect.” (Ghafori)

Roqia, a Kabul woman, confirmed this by saying that she would feel naked

without her burqa and that she cannot take it off. “I would feel that everyone was

looking at me,” she said. (Ghafori) Other women feel that veiling themselves helps

them stop worrying about their looks and begin focusing on more important things such

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as her job or studies (Harik 132). It allows men to focus on their inner beauty instead of

being distracted by material cosmetic appearances.

It is evident that the stereotypes about the dress of Muslim women are widely

fictitious. It is possible that now that America is becoming increasingly involved with

conflicts in the Middle East, many people will become more knowledgeable about the

fact that Muslim women cover their heads and bodies, not because they are required,

but because they choose to, whether it be for religious, cultural, or personal reasons.

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Works Cited

Esposito, John. Islam: The Straight Path. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. (p 98)

Ghafori, Salima. “The Burqa, Prison or Protection.” 20 May 2005. Peace Woman.

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, United Nations Office.

10 Sept. 2008

<http://www.peacewomen.org.news/Afghanistan/May05/burqa.html>

Gill, Mohammad. “Origins of Hijab.” Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.

23 June 2004.

Harik, Ramsey M., and Elsa Marston. Women in the Middle East: Tradition and

Change. New York: Franklin, 1996. (p 125-136)

Hussein, Sumayyah. “Why do Muslim Women Wear the Hijab?”. Islam for Today. Ed.

Hussein Abdulwaheed Amin. 21 Sept 2008<http://www.islamfortoday.

com/hijabcanada4.htm>.

Jacoby, Jeff. “‘Honor’ killing comes to US.” Boston Globe 10 Aug. 2008. 21 Sept. 2008

<http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/10/

honor_killing_comes_to_the_us/>.

Khan, Usman. Personal Interview. 29 Sept. 2008.

“Pakistan: Honour killings of women and girls.” Amnesty International. 1 September

1999. ASA 33/018/1999. 27 September 2008 <http://www.amnesty.org/en/

library/info/ASA33/018/1999>.

Warlick, Kate. “Muslim Veils”. Original Sketches. 27 September 2008.

Yuan, Margaret Speaker, ed. Women in Islam. Detroit: Thomson, 2005.

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