Un-Veiling Dress Code Impositions

(An analysis of French ban on Face Veils)

There was an interesting story which became popular after the Cricket World Cup 1996, when India pulverized Pakistan in the Quarterfinals; The Pakistan team fearing public wrath had arrived back in the middle of the night and were whisked away incognito. Few days later in an up-market shopping mall in Lahore, two women wearing Burka, were haggling for some product with the shopkeeper, when one of them spoke to the other softly, “Wasim Bhai! Please let me buy this product, you can have another one” the other woman was shocked hearing the first lady call ‘her’ Wasim Bhai and replied, “How do you know I am Wasim Akram”, “Because I am Waqar Younis” replied the first woman as ‘he’ lifted ‘his’ veil uncovering ‘her’ face to Wasim Akram, who was disguised as the second lady.

This is just one benefit of wearing a Burka or Abaya or Hijab or Naqab or Veil or a deluge of many such synonyms which are doing rounds of the Dinner table discussion of all those people who don’t wear a Naqab or should be least affected or bothered by their neighbors living in nearby house, or in a distant city of France thousands of kilometers away, who are wearing one. This issue became notorious due to some overzealous French politicians who initiated a bill to ban full face veils in public in France, with countries like Denmark, Belgium and Netherlands too contemplating similar laws for their Muslim citizens (read women).

There are many different kinds of such veils which range from full face veils to long scarves to other different types or fashion statements which vary from Muslim women in USA to European countries to North African sub-Saharan terrains to the Middle East, Indian subcontinent to South East Asian peninsular regions. The reason for the differences in the veils worn by the women in these countries is not religion but the tradition, the culture, the local and societal influence on the way they dress and they present themselves or rather cover themselves. Rather the Purda system was there in India since the ancient times where newlywed girls had to keep their head and faces covered in the in-laws house out of respect to elders and demonstrate a shy and innocent demeanor, which was highly appreciated for a bride. The tradition is still followed in Rajasthan and other northern states and rural areas of India.

The main stress on bringing upon the regionalization aspect of dress codes or it’s so called imposition on people, specifically women is purely cultural and in no way religious. A quick glance on the Veil Fashion reveals (pun intended) that the full face veils or the Naqab's are majorly worn only by women in gulf countries restricted to the conservative Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the Taliban suppressed Afghanistan, tribal Pakistan and some parts of India. Most other countries comprising of Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain, Central Asia and others in and around these regions will have women adhering to the basic recommendations of covering their heads while keeping their faces open in public. While Muslims women in some Western European countries and America’s would wear long scarves to cover their head, while wearing the normally worn clothes common in those regions. Now this is not an autopsy of the clothes worn by Muslim women around the world, but just an attempt to showcase the minority percentage of Muslim women who wear full face veils. Considering the majority which does not follow any norms or traditions or these so called imposition myths associated with Islamic dress code or its rather forceful decree; does not stand by way of development or modernization or growth of Muslim women around the world in terms of Education, Career, Governance, etc.

Hijab has never been a gender discriminatory tool of Islam to suppress women. Rather the mention of Hijab in few places in the Holy Quran has been mentioned addressing the men and women in equal measures. Hijab as mentioned by Quran refers to the instructions to both men and women to dress in a modest way, so as not to expose your Awrah in public or in front of strangers. The definition of Awrah too varies differently as per interpretation of various scholars more influenced by their regional considerations than what the message actually put forth by Quran. Awrah refers to parts of body which can be termed as intimate or construed as objects of desires, to safeguard ones modesty and decency in public. These Quranic phrases had an objective at the time in 15th century Arab region when barbarism and violence was rampant. Killing of girl child, child marriages, brutality against women and their denigration as third grade members of the family was commonplace. It was the influence of Islam and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) with Quran as a guide and reference which helped in upliftment of women, their education, equal rights within the family and society. (Read my blog ‘Female Education: Vision of Islam’ http://fardinq.blogspot.com/2008/08/female-education-vision-of-islam.html). Decrying the ancient traditions, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) asked the people to maintain decency not only in terms of their way of dressing, but also in behavior, flaunting of wealth, compassion towards poor, respect to elders and decency in way of life. This was applicable for equally for both men and women.

A few Hadith’s (teachings based on Life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)) do mention how women were advised to maintain a particular dressing sense before strangers (unknown men), which was basically to self guard their respect and honor. People take them as a basis to criticize the Hadith’s while at the same time ignoring what it says about men. As Prophet Muhammad (SAW) mentions, ‘Men should walk upon the streets not with their chest jutting out and showing arrogance or proud, but should walk calmly and always lower their gaze and head in respect upon seeing a woman’. So aren’t these generic advice and education, which we are taught even by our parents since our childhood about maintaining decency, respecting others and dressing appropriately irrespective of our sex or our culture or our religion. I recently read a news snippet about a leading Oscar nominated Hollywood actress, declaring herself as a strict Mom, instructing her two daughters about which type of clothes to wear and whom to befriend. A bit surprising since we generally correlate American and Western society and culture as open and unhindered when compared to our Indian culture and more specific the so called ‘oppressing’ Arab or Islamic tradition. But then it is animal instinct which we see on a Discovery or Animal Planet; a mother lioness pulling her cubs when they entangle themselves in the bushes or fight with each other; she growls and snarls when they don’t listen, because she knows the dangers of the jungle and its threats. Similar is the case with us, human beings; our parents righteously advise us what is good for us and what can cause us harm from nature, society and our surroundings, at an age when we are quite naïve to judge it ourselves about right and wrong around us. So was the case in erstwhile Arab peninsula when Islam and Quran as a guide came upon its people as an advice about the way of living and as a fountain of knowledge of the universe to show them the righteous path.

We move to the subject of state interference in imposing dress code and so called perceived threat of face veils in guise of anti-social elements. The democratically elected Government of France thinks that extremists can wear the face veils and move within the public and cause damage to human life and property without being noticed. A very basic question which crops up here is, ‘Do these extremists tie the explosives on their face and then trigger them?’ No obviously not, they may have it tied around their bellies and around their bodies, etc. So what should be the logical reasoning on screening these anti-socials from the general public?, “Governments should ban wearing clothes altogether”, so that everyone and everything is open and a police officer can easily detect from a distant if a naked man has any explosives tied around his body. A few years back the ‘smart’ Traffic Police authority of the Nagpur (central Indian city) started imposing fine upon people who used to cover their faces with scarves while driving two-wheelers. The intention of the rider was to save his/her face from direct and harmful impact of summer heat-waves reaching almost 49 degrees, causing fatal sun strokes. The Traffic Police said chain snatchers and thieves were executing crimes under this disguise and running away undetected. A lady advocate filed a PIL in the High Court against this draconian edict, which the Honorable Judge overruled. The very next day, two local criminals wearing Helmets with dark visors snatched a bag from a lady waiting at the traffic signal and in the ensuing melee, caused grievous injury to her. The lady advocate filed another PIL justifying banning of Helmets as well, to avoid such crimes. The embarrassed Judge reversed his decision of upholding the Scarf ban and instructed the Traffic Cops to be more vigilant about ensuring Traffic Rules compliance rather than inventing such foolhardy laws.

Now after France; other countries like Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark are contemplating Face Veil bans for its citizens. Remember the last two of these are those whose government rather tried to justify the turmoil which rocked the world when some nut-head editor of their local newspaper published disrespecting caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) rather than directing them not to interfere and hurt religious sentiments of people (Islam forbids usage of cartoon and imagery of life forms when linked to religion). So we can very well judge that the intention of such a law is not safety or security purpose but some personal vendetta against targeted communities. While it is very well knows that the number of Muslim women wearing full face veils comprises not even 0.005% of the total Muslim population in these countries.

I conducted (tried to) a small survey amongst the female relatives and acquaintance about their views of imposition of face veil ban in European counties. The following are some details of the exercise:

· Targeted Population: 37 (All Adult Females, studying or working in different industry sectors; 4 of these were Muslims)
· Mode of Communication: E-Mail
· Replies received: 16 (2 Muslims)
· Analysis of the Response and Questions Asked:

Now out of 37 only 16 took pains to reply to the questions asked. Of the remaining 21 there are/were many who would seek clarifications from me every time there is some new Fatwa issued in some corner of the world or some incident happened related to Muslims. While I would try to give a just meaningful reply, there would be counter questions upon my view point and also why is such and such rule in place, is it not oppressive, is it not against the law of nature and a plethora of such naïve queries. Now when I asked them about their viewpoints, they chose to backtrack and did not reply, so as not to reveal their thought process and opinion on such issues. Well!! No Hard Feelings, its’ Individual perception

The very purpose of conducting this exercise was to assess what today’s educated women think about other women who are at the receiving end of such laws. The results as shown in the graph above gives a very clear indication, that a majority of women do not support the Face Veil imposition and Government interference in religion and dress codes. They also do not think that Face Veil is a symbol of suppression, verily in congruence to the viewpoint I tried to depict in the earlier part of this blog. To summarize let me quote a couple of beautiful replies received from some of the respondents of this survey (Identity hidden on request).

“During the evolution of religion, in those days, the face veil and other restrictions were acceptable and must have been more common. In today’s age of matured world, (I am not referring to the science and technology, but I am referring to the world of maturity as we are in today), I do believe that these two Quran verses were not interpreted appropriately. I opine these verses personified the need of dressing properly and decently, it’s an epitome of self-restraint and discipline for one self”

“I feel it is not the matter of Oppression or Suppression for all the women but depending upon the environment they have been brought up in, depending upon the value they are given for traditions or customs, depending upon ones individual comfort level, one can take it in positive sense or the other way”

Dress Codes, Religious impositions, Rituals, Decrees, Laws, etc are only justifiable as long as they provide an individual, a sense of belief resulting from its benefits for ones overall safety and development vis-à-vis the society, the culture and upbringing. Interference upon an individuals’ basic freedom of movement and expression in any form is truly condemnable. All the present religions, evolved centuries ago, were not with the intention of intruding one’s existing faith and personal life or its impositions, but as a guide to righteous path for their followers to lead and inculcate the good things and learn to make better their lives mentally and spiritually. An informal survey was conducted by an NGO’s in Mumbai in 2008, upon discovering a slight increase in the percentage of girls wearing full face veils while travelling in Local Trains. The results were startling for them. More than 60% of these girls were non-Muslim’s and were wearing the Naqab’s just as a precautionary safeguard against urchins and eve-teasers in the Local Trains while travelling alone to workplace and colleges. According to them the particular attire as a cover helped them avoid the undue attention from those lecherous hooligans’s, although they would never compromise on the issue of freedom of expression and choice. They would pack their Naqab’s in their bags upon entering the college premises or offices.

And finally regarding my views on Face Veils; I respect all those women who willingly and out of their own conscious decision wear them, but hate those men who try to impose the same upon their wives and sisters and female family members. Summarizing the same in two cases:
Case 1: On my way to Mahabaleshwar (a Hill Station in Western India) in a byway garden restaurant, I truly appreciated the dressing sense of a Muslim family, not out of any religious consideration but how nice they all looked. The bearded father (around 35) wearing a prayer cap covering his head and a pathani suit, was playing with his two kids; one boy (aged around 3) and a girl (aged around 5) as his wife (wearing a full face veiled black Abaya) sat on the bench nearby. The boy was wearing the same dress as his father, while the girl looked an angel wearing a small colorful Abaya just like her mother, only her face was uncovered.

Case 2: At a high end shopping Mall in Hyderabad, I saw a Muslim couple; the man was attired in a jazziest possible way; tight jeans, patterned party shirt, with top three buttons holes open, unkempt hair, unshaven face and a funky belt, flaunting a high end mobile phone. Walking besides him was his wife with her head down, walking slowly and shyly, wearing a black Hijab draped from head to toe with her face covered as well. It was very apparent that while the husband is chilling out, his wife is being subjected to this forceful imposition of wearing an Abaya.