Islamic Article ~ TO VEIL OR NOT TO VEIL, THAT IS THE QUESTION

The Oprah Show did an introduction of Islam on October 5, 2001, which
was called Islam 101. Oprah, whose program is broadcast to most of the
world, wanted to introduce Islam to the American public. "Since our
world was horribly shaken three weeks ago," she told her viewers, "all
eyes have focused on a part of the world and a set of beliefs thatmany
of us know very little about. We're told that terrorism violates the
teachings of Islam, but what is Islam? Who are Muslims? What are their
practices?"
This was promising. Moreover, Oprah was friendly and open to what
Muslims, who constituted the majority of the audience during that
show, had to say. Even the expert she had asked to the show,
anthropologist Akbar Ahmed, was Muslim. But did we discuss the meaning
of being Muslim, or the problem of violence, or even the rage caused
by American foreign policy in the region? No, the Muslim audience had
more pressing things to discuss. The show proved to be a mirror of our
intellectual bankruptcy, a mirror of our true obsessions and
fixations, becauseafter a quick discussion of what Islam was about,
the show veered off to discuss women in Islam, particularly the dress
code. The "after show" segment, which the program puts daily on its
website after the live recording inthe studio, was entirely about
"Hijab." This was both insightful and disheartening. It seemed that
the gender question in Islam had become the central issue and what
Muslim women wear the core of the debate on Islam, both internally and
externally. It was disgraceful to see how our contemporary discourse
as"modern Muslims" has become sofocused on the scarf at the expense of
the real paradigms that define Islam, its history and its universal
values.
It is truly sad to see a certain culturally and historically specific
edict with controversial roots andimplications--becoming the
raisond'être for contemporary Muslims while the larger parameters of
Islam and its challenges are rendered into obscure shadows in the
background.
In a pervious show, a woman from Oprah's audience, asked if Muslim
women could take off their scarves, at least until things calmed down.
Oprah had to apologize in this show for that question after a big
amount of mail from Muslims was sent to her(When did Muslims start
writing so much mail? If it is about the Hijab, I guess, we will
write). But, Oprah did not have to apologize for something the very
religious establishment in the Middle East had raised in the last few
weeks. This was a legitimate question, although it was received with
hostility, even when it came from Imams in the form of affirmative
fatwas in the larger community, published in Al Majalah magazine a
couple of weeks ago-- allowing women to remove their scarves in the
wake of recent events.
I understand Muslim women's sensitivity regarding the recent fatwas or
the question on Oprah'sshow. They feel this is who they are and they
are not about to quitwhen the going gets tough. They perhaps even feel
somewhat betrayed by such fatwas, since wearing the Hijab has not
always been easy anyway in a society which has equated it with
genderoppression and fanaticism. But for Muslim women living in North
America, keeping the Hijab in the current crises has also represented
a spirit of defiance against racism and ignorance. This shows the
contextual nature of Hijab, which could be a symbol of oppression or
courage and independence, depending on the circumstances. In fact, an
American women organization called for American women to cover their
hair on October 8th asa sign of solidarity and protest against racial
harassment.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that the scholars acted out of concern and
open mindedness. But I also find it interesting how, for the first
time since the Hijab has become central to our identity in the last
few decades, the scholars suddenly realized the relativity and
conditional nature of the verses dealing with covering, andthe
principles of recognition and safety implied in them. --In the case of
early Islam, free women were asked to cover to be distinguished from
slave women while slave women were not allowed to. I do not think the
well-meaning Muslim women in Oprah's audience knew anything about this
or even wanted it airedin front of Oprah.
I have always hesitated to discussthe issue of Hijab in public, or its
controversial historical roots I had come across in my reading
ofclassical Islamic texts for fear of falling into the same hole of
centralizing this marginal edict of Islam. I also did not want to
associate myself with an issue that I consider marginal, yet so
sensitive to the entire Ummah. In fact, I adopted a culturally
specificcode of dress for myself. I cover in Muslim circles and the
Middle East and do not in the West. If I do otherwise, I will put too
much time into having to explain why I am not wearing it or why I am
wearing it, depending on where I am.
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