Women, Islam, and Hijab
Background
The practice of hijab among Muslim women is one
based on religious doctrine, although the Qur'an
does not mandate it. Instead, it comes from the Hadith
of Sahih Bukhari. The Hadith, the "tradition of Mohammed,"
reveals the teachings of the Prophet to believers. Bukhari's version of
this text is generally regarded as the standard one, although numerous
versions exist. In a very broad sense, the relation the Hadith has to the
Qur'an resembles the New Testament's to the Old in Christian scriptures.
According to the Hadith, "My Lord agreed with me ('Umar) in three
things... (2) And as regards the veiling of women, I said 'O Allah's Apostle!
I wish you ordered your wives to cover themselves from the men because
good and bad ones talk to them.' So the verse of the veiling of the women
was revealled" (Bukhari, v1, bk 8, sunnah 395).
Surah XXXIII, Verse 59 of the Qur'an is most often cited in support of
veiling. It states "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and
the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close around them. that
will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is
ever forgiving, merciful...." (from A.Yusef Ali's translation of the
Qur'an; other versions translate the original Arabic as "veils"
where Ali uses "cloaks").
The veil is not a uniquely Islamic convention; the practice has a long
history in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Catholic nuns engage in the practice,
of course, and there are several references to the practice in both the
Old and New Testaments (King James Version). Ironically, the representation
of veiling in the Bible is much more problematic than those in the Qur'an
or the Hadith, because the Judeo-Christian sources imply that women should
be covered because of their inherent inferiority. I Corinthians 11 (3-10)
offers one example:
- But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and
the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every
man praying or prophesying having his head covered, dishonoreth his head.
But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth
her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman
be not covered, let her also be shorn or shaven; but if it be a hame for
a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought
not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but
the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but
the woman of the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her
head because of the angels.
For more information about veiling in the Judeo-Christian Tradition,
see Women
in Islam Versus Women in the Judeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth and the
Reality by Dr. Sherif Abdel Azeem.
The Ongoing Debate
Among
Muslim women, the debate about hijab takes many forms. Many believe that
the veil is a way to secure personal liberty in a world that objectifies
women. Several women have argued that hijab allows them freedom of movement
and control of their bodies. Understood in such terms, hijab protects women
from the male gaze and allows them to become autonomous subjects. Others
have argued that the veil only provides the illusion of protection and
serves to absolve men of the responsibility for controlling their behavior.
Both positions assert that Islam is not responsible for sexism. In fact,
the Qur'an supports the notion of gender equality. As scholar Fatima Mernissi
puts it "the existing inequality does not rest on an ideological or
biological theory of women's inferiority, but the outcome of specific social
institutions designed to restrain her power" (Beyond xvi).
Mernissi views the recent rise of women's repression in some Muslim countries
as a rejection of colonial influence:
- The fact that Western colonizers took over the paternalistic defense
of the Muslim woman's lot characterized any changes in her condition as
concessions to the colonizer. Since the external aspects of women's liberation,
for example, the neglect of the veil for western dress, were often emulations
of Western women, women's liberation was readily identified as succumbing
to foreign influences (Ibid, vii).
Although written in the 70's, Mernissi's work sheds light on more recent
events like the reinstitution of mandatory veiling by Afghanistan's Taliban
regime.
Some Interesting Links
Hadith Service
This service provides a great way of becoming familiar with the Hadith
and the role that it plays in the Islamic faith. When you subscribe, you
will recieve two to three surahs per week via e-mail. Muslims and non-Muslims
are encouraged to participate.
The
Virtual Library This database provides a good overview of major issues
concerning the Islamic faith.
The
Qur'an This great resource provides the full text of the Qur'an online.
The
Hadith This database has the full text of Sahih Bukhari as well as
excerpts from other versions of the Hadith.
Arab Net If you are interested
in just about any aspect of Arab culture, you will find this website useful.
Arab Net provideds detailed information about several middle Eastern and
North African countries, including information about the status of women
in these countries.
Full-text Articles
on Women and Islam
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/humanrelations/womeninislam/
http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/home/fevens/women_art.html
http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/about/women
http://www.kuwait.net/~rws/wi-toc.htm
Women's
Issues in Third World Countries--Discussion on Hijab
Bibliography
All of the following are the work of thinkers
from the Arab community.
Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern
Debate. New Haven, CT.: Yale UP, 1992.
Badran, Margot and Miriam Cooke, editors. Opening the Gates: A Century
of Arab Feminist Writing. London: Virago, 1990.
Engineer, Asghai Ali. The Rights of Women in Islam. New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1992.
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock and Basima Qattan Bezirgan, editors. Middle
Eastern Muslim Women Speak. Austin: Texas UP, 1977.
IBRASH. Hijab: The Muslim Woman's Mode of Dressing According to the
Qur'an and Sunnah. Lagos: International Printing Press, 198--.
Mernissi, Fatima. Beyond the Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in a Modern
Muslim Society. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1975.
-----. The Forgotten Queens of Islam. Trans. Mary Jo Lakeland.
Minneapolis,MN: Minnesota UP, 1993.
-----. Islam and Democracy: Fear of the Modern World. Trans.
Mary Jo Lakeland. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1992.
-----. The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of
Women's Rights in Islam. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1991.
-----. Women's Rebellion and Islamic Memory. Atlantic Highlands,
NJ: Zed Books, 1996.
Nasir, Jamal J. The Status of Women Under Islamic Law and Under Modern
Islamic Legislation. London: Graham & Trotman Ltd., 1990.
Saadawi, Nawal el. The Hidden Face of
Eve: Women in the Arab World. Trans. Sherif Hetata. Boston: Beacon
Press, 1982.
Sabbagh, Suha, editor. Arab Women: Between Defiance and Restraint.
New York: Olive Branch Press, 1996.
Sabbah, Fatna. Women in the Muslim Unconsciousness. Trans. Mary
Jo Lakeland. New York: Pergamon Press, 1984.
Shaarawi, Huda. Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist
1879-1924. Trans.& ed. Margot Badran. New York: The Feminist Press,
1987.
Silverman, Kaja. Threshold of the Visible World. New York: Routledge,
1996.
Toubia, Nahid. Women of the Arab World--The Coming Challenge: Papers
of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association Conference. Trans. Nahed
el Gamal. Cairo: AWSA Conference, 1988.
Tucker, Judith E., editor. Arab Women: Old Boundaries, New Frontiers.
Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1993.
"Veiled Visions/Powerful Presences: Women in Postrevolutionary
Iranian Cinema." In the Eye of the Storm: Women in Postrevolutionary
Iran. Ed. Mahnaz Afkhami and Erika Friedl. London and New York: I.B.Taurus
and Syracuse University Press, 1994. 131-150.
Zuhur, Sherifa. Revealing, Reveiling: Islamist Gender Ideology in
Contemporary Egypt. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992.
Author: Kim Parker, Fall 1996
Comments? kpark08@emory.edu
Links
within this site
Postcolonial Studies at Emory
(Image of an "Homme Carrefour" from Donald J.
Cosentino's Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou [Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler
Museum of Cultural History, 1995].)
Introduction