Islamic feminist views on dress codes

Islamic feminist views on dress codes include feminist views on the issues surrounding women's dress codes in the Islamic religion.

Overview

An issue that concerns Muslim women is the dress code expected of them. Islam requires both men and women to dress modestly; this concept is known as hijab and covers a wide interpretation of behavior and garments. There is mixed opinion among Muslim feminists concerning externally imposed control. Sufi groups such as Al-Ahbash do not make it mandatory for women to wear traditional Islamic clothing, even allowing jeans.^[1]

A number of Islamic feminists, including Fadela Amara and Hedi Mhenni, support bans on the hijab for various reasons. Amara explained her support for France's ban of the garment in public buildings: "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."^[2] When some feminists began defending the headscarf on the grounds of "tradition", Amara was said: "It's not tradition, it's archaic! French feminists are totally contradictory. When Algerian women fought against wearing the headscarf in Algeria, French feminists supported them. But when it's some young girl in a French suburb school, they don't. They define liberty and equality according to what colour your skin is. It's nothing more than neocolonialism."^[2] Mhenni also expressed support for Tunisia's ban on the veil: "If today we accept the headscarf, tomorrow we'll accept that women's rights to work and vote and receive an education be banned and they'll be seen as just a tool for reproduction and housework."^[3]

Sihem Habchi, director of Ni Putes Ni Soumises, expressed support for France's ban on the burqa in public places, stating that the ban was a matter of 'democratic principle' and protecting French women from the 'obscurantist, fascist, right-wing movement' that she claims the burqa represents.^[4][5]

There is also strong support in favor of the veil. Both men and women now view the veil as a symbol of Islamic freedom. As a growing number of individuals have accepted and incorporated the hijab into their cultural dress, women are beginning to reclaim the meaning behind the veil. The veil itself acts as a different experience lived by each woman who wears it.^[6] “It is no longer a bandanna version of the all-encompassing Afghan burqa, signaling a woman's brainwashed submissiveness or at the very least her lack of choice”.^[7] Many scholars agree that there is no scripture that requires women to wear the hijab but many still do as an act of religious piety.

A growing number of women have begun to incorporate the hijab into their cultural dress, whether they live in predominantly Muslim countries or not. The veil itself acts as a different experience lived by each woman who wears it, rather than a homogenizing item of clothing. Over the past ten years, the hijab has become more prominent in countries of the world where wearing the hijab itself is not required of women by state law.^[6] The willingness to wear the veil outside of required states acts as a radical statement in some instances, in a way reclaiming the symbol and meaning of the veil. Where the veil once stereotypically represented the oppression of women, it now acts as a power statement of pride in religion, femininity, and sexual identity. Feminist philosophers such as Luce Irigaray also note that the veil can take on the role of empowerment regarding a woman's sexual difference from man.^[6]

The Qur'an states that both 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, burka, chador, or abaya. It uses the words jilbab meaning cloak and khumur meaning shawl. These do not cover the face, hands, or feet. Furthermore, until the third through the ninth century^{[clarification needed]} women prayed in the mosques unveiled. The whole body covering with the burka, chador, and other items of clothing is a tradition and cultural manifest from a conservative reading of the Qur'an by Mullahs; men. It is not what the Qur'an itself states.^[8]

Rachel Woodlock points out that the wearing of hijab is contextualised by culture. In addition, modern Muslim feminists believe that ultimately the importance lies in a woman's freedom of choice---her choice to wear the veil or not to, and not have her right to do so threatened. Muslim women should be able to define dress codes for themselves and what they deem to be morally right.^[9]

See also

• Islamic feminism
• Hermeneutics of feminism in Islam
• Haya (Islam)
• Sartorial hijab
• Islamic clothing
• Awrah
• Purdah
• Hijab by country

References

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