Muslim feminist views on hijab

File:Hijab Niqab Muslim Veil.jpg

Islamic feminist views on dress codes include views on issues surrounding women's dress codes in Islam, especially on the hijab and niqāb. Hijab traditionally refers to a type of veiling which covers the skin from the hair to the chest. Niqāb refers to a cloth that covers the face as a part of sartorial hijab. There are mixed opinions among Muslim feminists regarding the merits of veiling.{{cite journal | last=Al Wazni | first=Anderson Beckmann | title=Muslim Women in America and Hijab: A Study of Empowerment, Feminist Identity, and Body Image | journal=Social Work | volume=60 | issue=4 | date=2015 | issn=0037-8046 | doi=10.1093/sw/swv033 | pages=325–333| pmid=26489353 }}{{cite journal | last=Hasan | first=Md. Mahmudul | title=The Feminist "Quarantine" on Hijab: A Study of Its Two Mutually Exclusive Sets of Meanings | journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs | volume=38 | issue=1 | date=2 January 2018 | issn=1360-2004 | doi=10.1080/13602004.2018.1434941 | pages=24–38}}

Quran

The Qur'an states that men and women should be dressed modestly (33:59-60, 24:30-31; in translation by Ali, 1988, 1126–27). However, it does not use the words veil, hijab, burqa, chador, or abaya. Instead, it uses the words jilbab (cloak) and khumur (shawl). These garments do not cover the face, hands, or feet.

= Interpretations =

Interpretations of how women should dress vary according to different cultures, geographic areas, and sects of Islam. Sufi groups such as Al-Ahbash, for example, do not make it mandatory for women to wear traditional Islamic clothing, even allowing jeans.{{cite book |last1=Elrich |first1=Hagai |url=http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf |title=Al-Ahbash and Wahabi |publisher=Cambridge University |page=528 |access-date=2018-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215113032/http://aigaforum.com/documents/Al-Ahbash-whaibyya.pdf |archive-date=2017-12-15 |url-status=live}}

Views emphasizing freedom of choice to wear hijab

Some Muslim feminists see the veil as a symbol of Islamic freedom or otherwise attribute a personalized meaning to it.{{cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=Anne-Emmanuelle |date=1998 |title=The Newly Veiled Woman: Irigaray, Specularity, and the Islamic Veil |journal=Diacritics |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=93–119 |doi=10.1353/dia.1998.0001 |jstor=1566326 |s2cid=170559271}}

Feminists such as Leila Ahmed say the veil no longer represents "a woman's brainwashed submissiveness or at the very least her lack of choice," and note that many American Muslims have worn the hijab to show opposition to anti-Muslim discrimination following the September 11 attacks or to show solidarity with Palestine.{{cite magazine|last=Moeveni|first=Azadeh|date=June 13, 2011|title=Is the Veil Now a Symbol of Islamic Freedom?|magazine=Time|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2076653,00.html|url-status=live|access-date=2014-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503061813/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2076653,00.html|archive-date=2014-05-03}}

Some feminists link the freedom to wear the hijab to women having a right over their own body. Feminist philosophers such as Luce Irigaray note that the veil can take on the role of empowerment regarding women's sexual difference from men. Publicist Nadiya Takolia adopted the hijab after becoming a feminist, saying the hijab "is not about protection from men's lusts," but about "telling the world that my femininity is not available for public consumption...and I don't want to be part of a system that reduces and demeans women."{{cite news |last1=Takolia |first1=Nadiya |title=The hijab has liberated me from society's expectations of women|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/28/hijab-society-women-religious-political |access-date=1 December 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=28 May 2012}}

One view of modern Muslim feminism holds that a woman's freedom of choice is of paramount importance, and that she should be able to choose whether to wear the veil or not without being coerced or threatened. This view focuses on a personal expression of Islamic faith, holding that Muslim women should be able to define dress codes for themselves and what they deem to personally empower them.{{cite web|title=Veiling and Hijab as understood|url=http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_301_350/veiling_and_hijab_as_understood.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115172313/http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_301_350/veiling_and_hijab_as_understood.htm|archive-date=2015-11-15|accessdate=9 December 2015|work=irfi.org}}

World Hijab Day, started by Bangladeshi-American Nazma Khan, is a popular annual event.{{cite web|url=http://worldhijabday.com/|title=World Hijab Day - Better Awareness. Greater Understanding. Peaceful World|access-date=13 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006192248/http://worldhijabday.com/|archive-date=2016-10-06|url-status=live}}

Views in opposition to compulsory hijab

Women in opposition to compulsory hijab claim that whole body covering with the burqa, chador, and other items of clothing is a cultural tradition that arose from a conservative reading of the Qur'an by male mullahs, and that the Qur'an itself does not require such covering.{{Cite book |author=Asma Barlas |title=Believing Women in Islam |date=2002 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |pages=53–55}}

Views in favor of banning hijab

A section of Muslim feminists, including Fadela Amara and Hédi M'henni, do support bans on the hijab, claiming it inherently represents a subjugation of women. Amara supported France's ban of the garment in public buildings, saying "the veil is the visible symbol of the subjugation of women, and therefore has no place in the mixed, secular spaces of France's public school system."{{cite news|last=George|first=Rose|date=July 17, 2006|title=Ghetto warrior|work=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jul/17/france.politicsphilosophyandsociety|url-status=live|accessdate=May 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830072547/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jul/17/france.politicsphilosophyandsociety|archive-date=2013-08-30}} She also pointed to feminists in Algeria who had fought against wearing the veil, accusing those who criticized the ban as participating in neocolonialism. Mhenni expressed support for Tunisia's ban on the veil on similar grounds, claiming that acceptance of the veil would lead to acceptance of women's rights being limited.{{cite web|title=IslamOnline.net- News|url=http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-10/06/06.shtml|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601165818/http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-10/06/06.shtml|archivedate=June 1, 2010|accessdate=August 31, 2009}}

Sihem Habchi, director of the French feminist movement Ni Putes Ni Soumises, also expressed support for France's ban on the burqa in public places, stating that the ban was a matter of "democratic principle" and protects French women from the "obscurantist, fascist, right-wing movement" that she said the burqa represented.{{cite news|last=Malik|first=Zubeida|date=March 15, 2010|title=France's burka dilemma|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8568000/8568024.stm|url-status=live|access-date=2010-07-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100809035550/http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8568000/8568024.stm|archive-date=2010-08-09}}{{Cite web|title=Ni Putes Ni Soumises Organizes a Protest Against the Burqa - VINGT Paris News|url=http://www.vingtparismagazine.com/2010/01/ni-putes-ni-soumises-organizes-a-protest-against-the-burqa.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522080511/http://www.vingtparismagazine.com/2010/01/ni-putes-ni-soumises-organizes-a-protest-against-the-burqa.html|archive-date=2010-05-22|access-date=2010-07-15}}

Bibliography

{{Cite thesis|url=https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/2038|title=Hammad, Amber (2021) Unveiling The Veil: Self-Representation in Contemporary Muslim Female Art|year=2021 |doi=10.26190/unsworks/2038 |last1=Hammad |first1=Amber |publisher=UNSW Sydney |hdl=1959.4/100128 }}