Why I Wear the Muslim Hijab - A Discussion

WARNING:  Remember, my comment policy warns you that this blog is a dictatorship! This is WriteousSisterLand, and I am Queen, President, Jefa, Amira and all that! It’s my space and I get to say what I want. If you don’t like it, feel free to click your way back out of my Land. If you can handle it, read on.

Quite some time ago, on my old blog, I posted a short article entitled “Why I Wear the Muslim Hijab”. It was written in response to the many questions I was receiving at that time about why I chose to wear a headscarf. In many cases, the questions arose because in my particular community, though a good-sized city, it is extremely rare to see a Muslim woman and recognize her as such because few wear hijab outside the masjid. And many people were discovering that women they knew were in fact Muslim, but they hadn’t realized it because these Muslim women dressed just like them. So when they met a woman like me, they were confused as to why I would hold on to such an “antiquated” aspect of my beliefs when as far as they could see it was not really necessary anymore.

Now, not wanting to start argument, I will also bluntly say that I am a LOVER of niqaab, or face veil. I have worn it over various spaces of time since being Muslim, although I currently do not. I fully support every woman’s right to dress as modestly as she feels is appropriate.

Anyhow, that article about why I wear hijab was picked up by IslamOnline.net (affectionately known as IOL) and published there, resulting in emails from all over the world ever since. It’s been more than a year since and I still receive at least one email a month about it, mashaAllah. Most are supportive and pleasant. Today I received an unusual email. It was not unsupportive or negative, just questionning in a way I had not previously received.

Well, first, you should go read my article so you know what we’re talking about here.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1154235126891&pagename=Zone-English-Discover_Islam%2FDIELayout

Also, before I post the email and my response, I’d like to point you to a really cool post on a brother’s blog. Arshad pokes some holes in Jack Straw’s comments about the Islamic face veil. He also provides some awesome links to different women’s views on the face veil (and, I’m blushing, he included the link to my hijab article too) as well as a link that explains the concept of modesty that many Christian women continue to believe in and practice (you’ll see why this is particularly relevent when you read the email I received). So go check out Arshad’s post to at http://justlybalanced.blogspot.com/2006/10/veil-off-with-jack-straw.html

Okay, now that you are back, here is the email I received. Yes, I am protecting his identity and not revealing anything to you about who he is!

Dear Aaminah,
I have just read your article about women’s headscarf. In this article you said “There are verses in the Qur’an and in the collected words of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), as well as collected norms and behaviors of the wives of the Prophet and his Companions that show clearly that covering of the entire body and head was enjoined upon and practiced by the early Muslim women.” Can you be more specific, and tell me were in the Qur’an, it is said  that women should wear a headscarf. As far as I know the headscarf is related to culture and not religion. My grandmother used to wear a headscarf and she was a passionate Catholic…in Spain most women used to wear the headscarf. Nowdays most Eastern European women, most of which are Christians, wear headscarves. I will appreciate if you could make a point on why the headscarf is related to only Muslim women.

And, my response, which I hope is coherent enough to help both the man who wrote me and to clarify points for anyone else who finds this issue confusing. Thank you for your email. However, I am afraid that you have quite completely misunderstood what my article was about and what its statements were. First, you must realize that the particular article was intended primarily for a Muslim audience, but also as a manner of reaching out to non-Muslims who consistently question why I would wear a headscarf. When non-Muslims ask me why I am wearing a headscarf, they are not looking for a detailed history of women’s headcoverings. They are asking me specifically why I believe in it and choose to practice it, and that is intrinsically tied to my Islam.

In no way whatsoever does the article state or imply that the headscarf was mandated to Muslim women only. You have, I’m afraid, completely misconstrued that. 

You are also seriously incorrect in your assumption that the wearing of a headscarf is purely cultural with no basis in religion. The covering of the head is mandated in the Old Testament and was practiced by pious Jewish women. It is also mandated to Christian women in the New Testament and there are traditional Christian women who continue to practice this belief as a part of their spiritual obligation, not merely culture (Amish, Mennonite, Mormon, Orthodox, etc.). Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the final revelation in a long line of revelations that included parts of what are now known as the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible. This should clarify to you that the covering of a woman’s head is indeed based in religious values and morals first and foremost.  

Sadly, the modern reality is that most Christian and Jewish women have decided that the mandate to dress modestly, much less to cover their heads, is no longer necessary. In some cultures, and in the older generations, such modesty is still viewed as an expectation or at least a norm which they continue to accept. Which is why many Christian women in Eastern Europe continue to cover “culturally” because it is just normal or comfortable or serves another purpose of convenience to them, but they may or may not believe in any religious implication in that covering. This is also why you will still find many old women in Spain and Latin America who cover; it is a habit from a different time period and culture that they have retained. In many (though certainly not all) cases, the original religious or spiritual requirement of that dress code has been forgotten and it is only being practiced as part of culture. But this does not negate the fact that it originated in a spiritual tradition. 

Personally, I can tell you about Central American churches that are not Catholic in my own neighborhood where the women continue to cover their head prior to entering the church. Many also dress very modestly outside of church, even if without headcovering. They do this because they spiritually believe in modesty as a moral value, not only because it is part of their culture.  

In fact, there are even Muslim women who do not accept that headcovering is necessary for them, although they do not have the support of any Islamic scholar in this choice. And there are Muslim men who feel that it is old-fashioned or unnecessary in this day and age, despite the clear injunction for it. In general though, you will find that more Muslim women do continue to practice it than those that don’t, and of many who do not practice it the reason is due to the difficulty they feel it imposes on them but they continue to believe in it and recognize that they are sinning to not be wearing it.  

In specific answer to your question for verses, it would be unnecessary for me to point to them for you because if you are not Muslim and familiar with the context of the verses, they will mean nothing to you or can be easily misunderstood. In fact, there is no verse in the Qur’an which specifies that Muslim women must cover their heads; instead it specifies that women must cover their entire bodies and draw their coverings across their necks and chests. The reason it does not specify head covering is because head covering was assumed at that time due to previous revelations (at that time ALL Jewish and Christian women covered their heads) and cultural practice, and it was only necessary to clarify that the chest (the setting being pagan Arabia that it was originally addressed to, where women also wore headcoverings in many cases but left their breasts fully exposed) needed to also be covered. It is actually through the sayings of the Prophet on what constitutes appropriate women’s dress, and on the history of the practice of the women of his time, including his own wives and daughters, that we are able to ascertain the exact “level” of coverage that is expected of Muslim women. Even so, scholars continue to debate whether covering of the face is indeed required, preferred but not required, or simply an acceptable practice.  But there is no debate whatsoever amongst legitimate Islamic scholars that the minimum of coverage for a Muslim woman is that only her face and hands may be exposed publicly.  

That is not to say that non-Muslim women cannot or should not cover. In fact, I personally know of many women who do so and I fully support them doing so. I have even personally known self-avowed pagan women of many persuasions who believed that modest dress and full coverage was part of their spiritual practice. And of course it is also a cultural practice as well and there is nothing wrong with that.  

But it is not my place to remind non-Muslim women of their obligations and responsibilities, or where they may be lacking. As a Muslim woman, I only have the right to speak to what is expected of Muslim women, how I personally incorporate that expectation into my own life, and how I have interpreted Islam’s injunctions upon me as a Muslim woman.

I hope that this is helpful to you in clarifying the issues you have brought up.