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RETHINKING
MUSLIM WOMENAND THE VEIL
Challenging Historical& Modern Stereotypes
Katherine Bullock
THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
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RETHINKING MUSL
WOMEN AND THE V
Challenging Historical & Modern Stere
Katherine Bullock
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© The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1423ah/
the international institute of islamic tho
p.o. box 669, herndon, va 22070, usa
london office
p.o. box 126, richmond, surrey tw9 2ud, uk
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory excepti
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agree
no reproduction of any part may take place withouthe written permission of the publishers.
isbn 1–56564–287–2 paperback
isbn 1–56564–286–4 hardback
Typesetting by Sohail Nakhooda
Cover design by Saddiq Ali and Shiraz Khan
Printed in the United Kingdom
by Biddles Limited, Guildford and King’s Lynn
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Foreword
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
The Veil and Feminist Approaches
Islam and Methodology
The Veil, Islam and the West
Muslims in the West
Method and Argument
Terminology – The Veil
1. H . ija- b in the Colonial Era
Metaphysics of ModernityThe Harem and Colonial Control
The Meaning of ¤ij¥b for Modernizing Elites
Conclusion
2. Perceptions and Experiences
of Wearing H . ija- b in Toronto
Feminist Methodology and ¤ij¥b
The InterviewsPerceptions of ¤ij¥b
Wearing ¤ij¥b in the West – Everyday Experiences
Conclusion
3. Multiple Meanings of H . ija- b
Reasons for Covering
contents
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4. Mernissi and the Discourse on the Veil
Mernissi and Methodology
Women in Beyond the Veil and The Veil and the Mal
Discussion of Themes
Conclusion
5. An Alternative Theory of the Veil
¤ij¥b and Liberation
¤ij¥b and the Male Gaze
¤ij¥b and Femininity
¤ij¥b, Sexuality and Essentialism
¤ij¥b and Choice
¤ij¥b and ReligiosityConclusion
6. Conclusion
Appendix 1 The Interviewees
Appendix 2 Qur’anic Verses and Hadiths on Covering:
Interviewees’ References
Appendix 3 How do the Interviewees Want Others to See
Appendix 4 Interview Questions
Bibliography
Index
contentsvi
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Of knowledge, we have none, save what
You have taught us. (The Qur’an 2:32)
The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) has
sure in presenting this treatise on Muslim women and th
author, Dr. Katherine Bullock, embraced Islam during her
didacy and, interestingly, it was the experience of people’s
her conversion that led her to change the original topic of h
thesis and choose instead the study of the veil as the subject o
Through careful and meticulousstudy into an area fraught w
ical and cultural misconceptions the author has sought to
some of the subjective and negative fundamentals which ha
dominate much of the discourse into this important issue to
This detailed and significant study is a powerful critique
ular western notion that the veil is a symbol of Muslim
oppression. In postulating a positive theory of the ^ij¥b,
challenges with great sophistication both the popular cultu
Muslim women as being utterly subjugated by men, as well complex arguments put forward by liberal feminists such a
Macleod, and others who have sought to criticize women’s
cover as ultimately ‘un-liberating.’ Examining and questi
validity and accuracy of some of the latter’s assumptions,
puts forward the case that the judgment of the veil as being
foreword
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capitalist culture, the ^ij¥b can be experienced as liber
tyranny of the beauty myth and the thin ‘ideal’ woman.
The IIIT, established in 1981, has served as a major
itate sincere and serious scholarly efforts based on I
values and principles. Its programs of research, semina
ences during the last twenty years have resulted in the
more than two hundred and sixty titles in English and A
which have been translated into several other languag
In conformity with the IIIT in-house style sheet, wo
names of Arabic origin or written in a script derived fro
been transliterated throughout the work except when
quoted text. In such cases they have been cited as they aapplication of our transliteration system.
We would like to express our thanks and gratitude to
Bullock, who, throughout the various stages of the book
cooperated closely with the editorial group at the IIIT L
We would also like to thank the editorial and pro
at the London Office and those who were directly involv
pletion of this book: Sylvia Hunt (who made an impor
tion by reducing the length of chapter one of the origin
which now appears as chapter two), Shiraz Khan, Soh
and Dr. Maryam Mahmood, all of whom worked tirele
ing the book for publication. May God reward them a
for all their efforts.
ßafar 1423 anas alMay 2002 Aca
IIIT Lond
forewordviii
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All praise is due to God, the Creator
and Sustainer of the Universe.
This book is based on my Ph.D. thesis, ‘The Politics of the Vseen different versions since then, but I remain indeb
members of my thesis committee, Joseph Carens, Meliss
and Janice Boddy for their encouragement, support and cr
back on the initial text. Rethinking Muslim Women an
would not be here today if it were not for their support
Ph.D. years. My thanks again go to the women I interview
thesis, who gave so generously of their time and thinking: a
the ^ij¥b and their personal lives. Their words are the hthesis, and of this book.
Chapter One appeared as a shorter article ‘The
Colonial Plans for the Unveiling of Muslim Women’, in
Contemporary Islam (2, 2, Fall 2000); Chapter Three, a
article ‘Challenging Media Representations of the Veil
porary Muslim Women’s Reveiling Movement’, in the
Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (17, 3, Fall 2000); Chap
a book review of Fatima Mernissi’s Beyond the Veil , in t
of Law and Religion (xv, 1 and 2, 2000–2001). I am gra
publishers for permission to reprint these materials.
At the IIIT office, my thanks go to Dr. Louay Safi, and D
Shaikh-Ali for their backing of my project, and to Sylvia H
di i f h i
acknowledgements
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my apologies for often being too busy writing to take tim
properly to e-mails or letters.
Many long hours have gone into this book; I hope
in helping dispel some myths about Muslim women an
book helps ease the lives of Muslim women in the We
have done my job. May God assist us, and guide us to
straight.
Kather
C
acknowledgementsx
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Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil was being copy
publication when the tragic attack on the World Trade Cen
York occurred. President Bush’s response included an
message to the American people not to attack Muslims in
revenge. At his visit to a Washington DC mosque on Sep
2001, Bush made a speech praising Islam and arguing th
women in America who wear ^ij¥b must feel comfortable to
not to feel intimidated going outside. President Bush’s s
published in The Washington Report on Middle East Affai
ber 2001, xx, 8, pp.78–79). This public endorsement of t
the highest political leader in the US is unprecedented.
obsolete that part of my argument where I suggest that thstereotype of the ^ij¥b in the popular western perception is
US foreign policy. On the other hand, the week after the
received in the mail a free-trial offer from The Econom
cover was a picture of a woman in niq¥b and the heading “
and Democracy Mix?” This was an extremely insensitive a
less attempt on the part of The Economist to capitalize on a
sentiment that had been aroused in the US by the Septe
attack. It remains to be seen whether Bush’s speech marksof a new era of public discourse about ^ij¥b in the West
Economist ’s cover article indicates that it will be business
preface
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In 1991 I saw a news report on the television that show
women who were returning to the veil. I felt shocked and
for them. “Poor things,” I thought, “they are being brain
their culture.” Like many Westerners, I believed that Islamwomen and that the veil was a symbol of their oppressio
my surprise then, four years later, at seeing my own refl
store window, dressed exactly like those oppressed wom
embarked on a spiritual journey during my Master’s degre
minated four years later in my conversion to Islam. T
included moving from hatred of Islam, to respect, to i
acceptance. Naturally, being a woman, the issue of the ve
tral. Despite my attraction to the theological foundation
I was deeply troubled by what I believed to be practices
to women. I felt that the veil was a cultural tradition th
women could surely work to eliminate. I was shown the v
Qur’an that many Muslims believe enjoin covering on
women, and it seemed quite clear to me then that, indeed
did impose covering. I wandered home, feeling quite dep
sorry for Muslim women. If the verses were clear, they course: covering would be required for a believing Musli
I had to put these issues aside in order to decide whethe
accept Islam. What counted, in the final analysis, was
mental theological message of the religion – that there
God, and that Muhammad (ßAAS)* was His Last Servan
introduction
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When I finally made my decision to convert, now
years into my doctorate (July 1994), I decided that wh
or not, I should cover. It was a commandment, and I
warned some people in my department that I had beco
and that the next time they saw me I would be covere
say, people were quite shocked, and as word spread
saw me in my new dress), I found myself subject to
treatment. How could I have embraced an oppressive
cially when I was known as a strong and committed
could I embrace Islam? Had I not heard what Hamas h
Had I not heard what some Muslim man had just done
I was not quite prepared for this hostility, nor was the different way I was being treated by secretaries
medical personnel, or general strangers on the subway.
but I was often being treated with contempt. I was
I had been as a white, middle-class woman. It was my
experience of discrimination and racism, and made m
vious privileged position in a way that I had never b
understood.
My new Muslim women friends (including many cforted me as I negotiated my way through my new re
reactions that I was experiencing from the broader com
did my friends manage this situation, I wondered? D
ence wearing ^ij¥b (headscarf) in Toronto the same wa
I just being overly sensitive? Did people really stare o
or were they looking at something else? Why was I
with pity and/or contempt? During this difficult time
on a topic for my Ph.D. dissertation, and although I tr
for a while, it became obvious that the reaction to the
a topic worthy of exploration. Why was the ‘veil’ see
of oppression in the West? Why did the West seem to
How could I and my friends feel committed to somethi
introductionxiv
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dissertation, I felt it was important to share my research w
audience. The foremost aim of this book is to challenge t
Western stereotype that the veil is oppressive. My main a
that the popular Western notion that the veil is a symbol
women’s oppression is a constructed image that does not reexperience of all those who wear it. That construction h
served Western political ends, and it continued to do so
late twentieth century. In addition, I argue that the judgme
veil is oppressive is based on liberal understandings of ‘eq
‘liberty’ that preclude other ways of thinking about ‘eq
‘liberty’ that offer a more positive approach for contem
wearing of the veil.
a. the veil and feminist approach
The perception that the veil is a symbol of Islam’s opp
women has different adherents who embody different as
and different levels of sophistication. On the one hand t
mainstream, pop culture view: Muslim women are comp
utterly subjugated by men, and the veil is a symbol ofversion is the most simplistic and unsophisticated view
It is underpinned by an unconscious adherence to liber
modernization theory, compounded by an ignorance of
details about Muslim women’s lives. The pop culture vie
in the mainstream media and mass market ‘women and Isl
It is the view that I encounter: when my dentist sugges
grinding problem is caused by my scarf, and why don’t I e
by taking it off for a while?; when bureaucrats, upon seein
tralian passport and my husband’s Middle Eastern passpo
conspiratorally and worriedly to me, “You married a Mus
you? What’s it like?;” when strangers, upon discovering tha
a Muslim, ask me worriedly, “Are you happy?;” and when
h I d b l I i l W ’ D f i
introduction
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both Muslim and non-Muslim. They argue that Islam,
archal religion, subordinates women. They are committ
rights and believe that Islam does not allow women libe
the pop culture version, these feminists are often ve
able about Islamic history and practice. Though some listen attentively to the voices of covered women,1 o
an attempt to understand and present the Other’s vo
these writers do not ultimately find Muslim women’s
the meaning of covering persuasive. They remain con
satisfying life in the veil is still an oppressed life. Like t
view, their assumptions are also ultimately grounded
The concepts most at play are liberal concepts of individity, liberty, and oppression. For this reason, I shall cal
feminists ‘liberal feminists’.
There is another school of feminists, both Mus
Muslim, that also listens to the voices of covered wome
introduction
1 Azar Tabari, ‘Islam and the Struggle for Emancipation of IranianTabari and Nahid Yeganeh (eds.), In the Shadow of Islam: The WomIran (London: Zed Press, 1982); Fatima Mernissi, Beyond the
Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society, revd. edn. (Bloomington, Ind.: Press, 1987), and The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist InterpretRights in Islam, trans. Mary Jo Lakeland (Reading, Mass.: Addison-1991); Marie-Aimée Hélie-Lucas, ‘Women, Nationalism and ReligioStruggle’, in Margot Badran and Miriam Cooke (eds.), Opening the GArab Feminist Writing (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University PressStruggles and Strategies in the Rise of Fundamentalism in the MuEntryism to Internationalism’, in Haleh Afshar (ed.), Women in Perceptions, Realities and Struggles for Liberation (London: MacmillaPreferential Symbol for Islamic Identity: Women in Muslim Personal L
Moghadam (ed.), Identity Politics and Women: Cultural ReassertionsInternational Perspective (Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1994).
2 Haleh Afshar, ‘Islam and Feminism: An Analysis of Political Strategi(ed.), Feminism and Islam: Legal and Literary Perspectives, (ReadGarnet, 1996); Arlene Elowe Macleod, Accommodating Protest: WorkiNew Veiling in Cairo (New York: Columbia University Press, 19
‘Wearing the Hijab in Contemporary Morocco: Choice and IdentityGöçek and Shiva Balaghi (eds ) Reconstructing Gender in the Midd
xvi
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different conclusions about covering from those of the li
nists. Often anthropologists and historians, this group of fe
been concerned to understand the meaning of a social practi
inside. These feminists may also be grounded in liberalis
extent, but their methodological approach leads them awaymainstream Western liberal categories to judge the Oth
Many of these feminists raise the question as to whether We
nists’ issues are universally applicable.3 Naming this group
is somewhat problematic, because unlike the liberal appro
bed above, there is not an ‘ism’ that captures this orientation
of a better term, I shall call this approach the ‘contextual app
Writing as a practicing Muslim woman, I fall into thifeminism.4 I present the interviews of Muslim women wh
work in Toronto, Canada, as a way of better understandin
tice of covering, and as a way of puncturing the popula
Muslim women as subjugated (Chapter Two). My argum
directed at two different levels. In addition to challengin
culture view of veiling, I also seek to challenge liberal
understanding of the oppressive nature of veiling.
introduction
3 Uni Wikan, Behind the Veil in Arabia: Women in Oman (Baltimore, Mkins University Press, 1982); Lila Abu-Lughod, Veiled Sentiments: Honor aBedouin Society (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1986); Jud‘Problems in the Historiography of Women in the Middle East: The Case Century Egypt’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 15 (1983), pp‘Introduction’, in J. Tucker (ed.), Arab Women: Old Boundaries, New Fronington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1993); Janice Boddy, Women, Men
Cult in Northern Sudan (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin PresYamani, ‘Introduction’, in Mai Yamani (ed.), Feminism and Islam: LegaPerspectives (Reading, Berks, UK: Garnet, 1996); Elizabeth Fernea, GuestsAn Ethnography of an Iraqi Village, 2nd edn. (New York: Anchor BookVeiled Revolution’, in D. Bowen and E. Early (eds.), Everyday Life in the MEast (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1993), and ‘ForewordAzhary (ed.), Women, The Family, and Divorce Laws in Islamic History (Syracuse University Press 1996); Elizabeth Fernea and Bassima Bezirgan
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b. islam and methodology
As many commentators have observed, the study of M
indeed, Islam in general, has suffered from methodolo
not found in other areas. Until recently, the predomological approach to the study of Muslim women ha
alist, or neo-Orientalist. Orientalism, masterfully analy
Said, has viewed Muslims through the prism of religio
been seen as a static, monolithic, backward doctrine
plains and determines Muslim behavior. Colonialists
and secular feminists have subscribed to this view. Aft
II, Orientalism was transformed into modernization
Orientalism). This approach analyzed the non-Weste
the assumption that ‘progress’ required the world to evo
ern style institutions.5 The mainstream Western me
market books still rely on a belief in the inherent super
ern ways to make the case against Islam. In colonial
élites accepted the Western version of the meaning of th
also saw its disappearance as essential to the ‘moderni
countries. A Lebanese woman, Nazira Zain al-Din, twoman to publish a lengthy treatise” on the topic of
I have noticed that the nations that have given up the
nations that have advanced in intellectual and material
veiled nations are the ones that have discovered through
study the secrets of nature and have brought the physi
under their control as you see and know. But the veiled
not unearthed any secret and have not put any of the phys
under their control but only sing the songs of a glorioancient tradition.6
introduction
5 Cynthia Nelson, ‘Old Wine, New Bottles: Reflections and Projectionearch on Women in Middle Eastern Studies’, in Earl L. Sullivan and J(eds.), The Contemporary Study of the Arab World (Edmonton, Alta., of Alberta Press, 1991), p.131; Donna Robinson Divine, ‘Unveiling the The Art of Studying Muslim Women’, J. of South Asian and Middle E
xviii
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Historians, and anthropologists in particular, have
Orientalism and modernization theory in relation to Musl
by urging a focus on the specificity of Muslim women i
understand them better.7 They have challenged viewin
women only through the eyes of a deterministic religion,onstrate in their work that other institutions in society
impact on women’s lives: local customs, and political and
forces. Marsot argues that economic and political exigenci
count, and religion/ideology is used only to legitimate wh
been required. She observes that in wartime, women are e
to work outside the home, but after the war, domesticit
She believes this is a universal phenomenon, and mentionRiveter in the United States.8
Indeed, it is useful to point out that women’s rights
deteriorated under European intervention in the Musl
challenging the linkage of modernization and Westerniz
liberation for Muslim women.9 Seclusion increased in th
Empire during European penetration.10 Meriwether docu
adverse impact that European economic penetration had
Syria, especially on urban working-class women, who
introduction
7 Tucker, ‘Problems in the Historiograhpy of Women’, p.327; MarniEloquence of Silence: Algerian Women in Question (New York: Roupp.14–15; Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid Marsot, ‘Women and Modernization: A ReAmira El Azhary Sonbol (ed.), Women, the Family, and Divorce Laws in I(Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1996), p.50; Sonbol, Women, ThDivorce Laws, p.20; Camillia Fawzi El-Solh, and Judy Mabro (eds.), MuChoices: Religious Belief and Social Reality (Oxford, UK: Berg PublisherDeniz Kandiyoti, ‘Contemporary Feminist Scholarship and Middle East Stu
Kandiyoti (ed.), Gendering the Middle East: Emerging Perspectives, (Syraccuse University Press, 1996), p.9.
8 Marsot, ‘Women and Modernization’, p.51.9 Margaret L. Meriwether, ‘Women and Economic Change in Nineteenth-
The Case of Aleppo’, in J. Tucker (ed.), Arab Women: Old Boundaries, N(Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1993); Tucker, ‘Problems’, ation’; Sonbol, Women, the Family, and Divorce Laws.
10 Di i ‘U ili th M t i ’ 8 Wik ’ t d f O i
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important place in the cotton industry owing to impo
twists and dyes.11 Muslim women have had the right
law to own and control their own property, theoretica
husband’s involvement. In Aleppo, upper-class wome
erty owners of some importance in the eighteenth acenturies…In 1770, 59 percent of all property sales in
as either buyers or sellers; in 1800, 67 percent; and
percent.”12 Women in Egypt were not so lucky. Mu
(1805–1848) centralization program deprived them
independence. In Mamluk Egypt (1254–1811) upper
class women had actively participated in the economy
were significant property owners and tax farmers. Th
trade and commerce. Centralization excluded them, as
ments, because the ruler gave away land at his discreti
detriment. In addition, the
new centralized system also introduced new institutions
Europe that militated against women. Banks, stock exch
ance companies, et cetera, in Europe did not recognize th
tence of women; and so they followed the same strateg
Women were not allowed to open bank accounts in theiror to play the stock market or to indulge in other activ
own right.13
Marsot argues that it is only in the twentieth centur
have “recovered some of the economic activities they
eighteenth century” (p.47). So, if modernization im
and education and, after colonialism, ended seclusion,
women’s “social maneuverability” deteriorated.14
Hence historical study of specific women in spe
revealing that Westernization and modernization d
equal advancement for Muslim women. That shoul
come as a surprise to any feminist. Which of them in
of their own societies ever believed that modernity wa
introductionxx
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women? On the contrary, feminists attack modernity for
‘male–female,’ ‘reason–nature,’ ‘superior–inferior’ dichot
suppress women.15
My study also attempts to challenge the tradition–
dichotomy. The veil is seen as quintessentially traditionalists, missionaries, Orientalists and secular feminists attac
as a backward tradition, but it is now known that veiling be
widespread in the Middle East after Napoleon’s invasio
in 1798, and increased during European occupation of t
East (1830–1956). Cole writes:
In an Orientalist corollary to Heisenberg’s uncertainty princ
intrusive presence of Westerners appears to have helped prophenomenon [widespread veiling] that they observed. In sh
notion of tradition as a stable foil for the dynamism of mode
been demolished, as the diversity and volatility of premoder
European societies has come to be better appreciated.16
So ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ are unstable categories
aims to break the equation: ‘modernity equals unveil’.
Committed Muslims are often criticized for discussing t
women in ‘Islam’ in terms similar to the Orientalists: th
religion to be the determinate force in people’s lives, and t
an ahistorical ‘Islam’ that liberates women. For instance,
that “in Islam women have the right to own property,” whe
practice women may not have been able to own proper
notes how that approach mirrors the Orientalist: it ignor
real oppressions that Muslim women have faced, or curre
Orientalists ignore specificity to claim Muslim backwardMuslims ignore specificity to claim progressiveness. As I
throughout this book, religious text does not determine in
way how people live. There are factors of interpretatio
introduction
15 Christine Kulke ‘Equality and Difference: Approaches to Feminist Th
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prevailing discourse, local customs, and political, econo
considerations. Any study that purports to discuss Mu
they are must account for all those forces.18
Lazreg argues that unlike black women in the
‘Eastern’ feminists frequently adopted Western femiwithout interrogating their relevance first.19 Tabari’s
firms this, as she mentions second wave feminism in
guide and inspiration to Iranian feminists in the la
1980s.20 That entailed an acceptance of modernizatio
the view that liberal secularism was the only path
liberation. There are still feminists with those views.
1990s has seen the emergence of two separate, but pro
phenomena that signal a change from this: the rise of in
is, non-Western) academics who accept a feminist goal
to fashion an indigenous model that does not hold t
ideal model; and the increased numbers of Muslim wom
who have started covering. These two groups may
although there may be some in the first who do not wis
some in the second who do not identify with feminism.
gory often includes historians and anthropologists wstudying the specificity of Muslim women. Even if they
Muslim/Arab feminist scholars are insisting on a fem
indigenous. Yamani’s collection of essays about Mus
Muslim and Arab women is a call for an indigenous f
The second category of women, which comprises m
demic women, are those in the ‘re-veiling’ movement
the late 1970s. This trend, where many young, edu
started covering even though some of their mothers aners had fought against the veil, has caught many femin
introduction
18 Nelson, ‘Old Wine, New Bottles’, p.141; Tucker, ‘Problems’, p.32519 Marnia Lazreg, ‘Feminism and Difference: The Perils of Writin
Women in Algeria’ Feminist Studies 14 1 (1988) p 82
xxii
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guard. Why embrace a symbol of oppression? Afshar, w
to not understanding why women embrace the veil,22 wri
The twentieth century marked the apex of Muslim women’s
tual engagement with their religion, first to denounce it an
engage from its gender-specific prescriptions, and then to r
the texts and reclaim their Islamic rights. Faced with this un
volte face researchers have tended to take embattled pos
attack or defend the faith, and have all too often failed to
with the realities and the situations in which women hav
themselves.23
By and large, it seems that many feminists have troubl
how to deal with the veil, Islam, and the women who eAfshar points to the “embattled positions” that researcher
Keddie observes that the women and Islam field is id
charged and tense:
One group denies that Muslim women … are any more o
than non-Muslim women or argue that in key respects th
been less oppressed. A second says that oppression is real bu
sic to Islam; the Qur’an, they say, intended gender equality,was undermined by Arabian patriarchy and foreign impo
An opposing group blames Islam for being irrevocably gen
galitarian. There are also those who adopt intermediate posi
well as those who tend to avoid these controversies by sti
monographic or limited studies that do not confront such
Some scholars favour shifting emphasis away from Islam
omic and social forces.24
introduction
22 Haleh Afshar, ‘Fundamentalism and its Female Apologists’, in Renee PrH. W. Singer (eds.), Development Perspectives for the 1990 s (London: Macp.315.
23 Haleh Afshar, ‘Development Studies and Women in the Middle East: ThResearch and Development’, in Haleh Afshar (ed.), Women in the Middle EasRealities and Struggles for Liberation (London: Macmillan, 1993), pp.8–9.
24 Keddie, ‘Introduction’, pp.1–2. Keddie notes that a debate among
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It is my belief that there is no doubt that Muslim wo
unduly restricted and denied their rights to attain thei
as human beings, but I maintain that we must be very
where we lay the blame for this situation. Sometimes
have extrapolated too much from certain verses of formulate laws that restrict and discriminate agains
example, restrictions on involvement in public life s
a particular understanding of verses from the Qur’an
that is often taken to proclaim general male guar
women).25 Often, however, restrictions on women a
local community’s way of ‘being Muslim,’ that has litt
the Qur’an, the Sunnah, or juristic teachings, or result
own understanding of their role, which they then imp
We should always attend to how much actual practice
explicit juristic rulings, and how much is based upon
As I explain in more detail in Chapter Four, we should
ful in equating ‘Islam’ with ‘Islamic law’, and ind
careful in suggesting a deterministic relationship betw
interpretations of a particular Qur’anic verse, or juri
women in general and the resulting practices of Muslturies and all countries. Local custom and predilection
perhaps most important for an understanding of wome
and involvement in society.
Obviously conceptual views of women’s position a
ciety do count for something, and one of the burnin
the contemporary Muslim scene is to what extent ear
scriptions and prescriptions for women’s status and ro
the guiding norm for Muslims today. Several camps those seeking to debate these issues from inside the fo
1. Traditionalists who argue that Islamic law is alr
complete and ought to be relied upon as author
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2. Modernists of various types (including some feminist
who in differing ways aim to build on, extrapolate
from, or sometimes negate, classical Islamic law, and
reinterpret it for modern times (many of whom attem
to overcome the classical law’s restrictions on womenby reinterpreting Qur’anic verses in the light of the
Qur’an’s unmistakable commitment to male and
female spiritual equality).
3. ‘Salafis’ calling for the end of adherence to traditiona
schools of law, who rely on the same early scholars a
do the others, but who do not rely on the historical
precedents of the total body of classical Islamic law,instead formulating new rulings on some matters, an
who, in varying degrees, do and do not promote equa
of the sexes (often referred to as fundamentalists or
Islamists, which is confusing, since some in the mode
camp concur on the point of ending Muslims’ total
adherence to a particular traditional school of law)
There are also those feminists whose benchmark is libeliberalism, who seek to remove all aspects of Islamic law t
conform to a secular liberal feminist standard of equality
ation for women.
An assumption of this book is that ‘Islam’ does n
women, and that where ‘Islam’ finds its expression in law
should not oppress or discriminate against women; and
such burdens are to be found in law, they should be am
removed, and that the Qur’an and Sunnah provide the
and wherewithal so to do. However, to elaborate how th
done would be the subject of another book, not that of
which is dedicated to challenging the notion that the vei
women. My contention is that if and where veiling is lin
introduction
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introductionxxvi
to ‘Islam’, or to ‘the’ meaning of the veil. The main tas
is to disconnect such assumptions, and demonstrate m
ings of the veil. The focus is on the Western discour
rather than debates inside the Muslim world.
Hence I differ from Sonbol, who argues that methodological problem in the field is with those schol
the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sunnah as “representing the
posed to the normative condition of women.”26 Her
that the normative position of women can be said to be o
that actual women’s lives may not have been, that a
lives may not have conformed to the description of
‘official’ doctrine: “If anything, social discourse seem
position quite opposite to what the ‘formal’ discour
This means that the actual lives women led cause
clergymen to interpret laws more conservatively. Th
women, the stricter the interpretation” (p.5). Across I
this is sometimes true. Huda Lutfi’s analysis of four
Ibn al-¤ajj’s prescriptive treatise is an example. Ib
denouncing Cairene women’s habits in no uncertain
forcefully that they should be made to stay in their hwomen ignored such injunctions to stay home, and ca
ness in the marketplace and so on as usual. Lutfi uses t
daily lives to challenge the stereotype of Muslim w
missive.27 However, like Sonbol, her argument is that
found in theological literatures are restrictive and
women, and not an ideal.
Sonbol’s and Lutfi’s points are an important cor
Orientalist/religion paradigm that would have Muslipressed owing to one or two verses in the Qur’an that
accord women equality and dignity. Nevertheless, I
their corrective. I agree that there are interpretations
that normatively point to an ‘ideal’ that is anti-wom
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introduction
there are other interpretations that do not. It depends on w
one is quoting and to which scholar one is referring. In
depends on which definition of freedom or equality one
upon. Hence I disagree with Lutfi’s extrapolation from Ib
text to all Islamic theology. She analyzes his text to show thIslamic discourse,” whether medieval or modern, seeks a
ideal order that inherently oppresses women.28 My conclu
some Islamic discourses may result in an oppressively
order, but other Islamic discourses do not.
Berktay, a Turkish feminist, criticizes the contextual
described above, which seeks to understand Muslim wo
their own perspective, for its cultural relativism. She argu
ing Tabari, “cultural relativism becomes a banner under
pression may be made to appear tolerable.”29 Berktay refer
as an example of the problems of cultural relativism:
This benevolent cultural relativism on the part of Western
sometimes goes so far as to extend a rationalisation of the
tion of women to accepting and condoning even veiling
Middle Eastern ‘sisters’: ‘Although universally perceived in
as an oppressive custom, it [veiling] is not experienced as women who habitually wear it’, writes Leila Ahmed.30 Leav
the strength of the argument about the social construction
rience and feelings, and about how misleading it therefore is
a special ‘authenticity’ for (only some among) them, one
whether Western feminists, who know perfectly well that th
tices spring from a theology of the maintenance of so-calle
purity, would ever accept ‘veiling’ for themselves – and n
‘alternative’ way of life, but as something compulsory, from
there is no possibility of opting out.31
Berktay believes there is a difference between avoid
centrism, and avoiding criticism of oppressive practices
28 Ibid., pp.100, 118–119.29 F l B k ‘L ki f h “O h ” Sid I C l l R l
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introduction
cultures. But as the quotation above illustrates, it wou
to agree on what counts as ‘oppressive practices’. She o
veiling oppressive, whereas I do not. And I reject th
that I hold my position unreflectingly. Our differe
about veiling have to do with differences in our worlideological and political commitments and context
understand Berktay’s emphasis on seeking what is com
women of different cultures. As Moors argues, differe
be essentialized: there are universal human values that
What this means, though, is that it should be indig
themselves who define what counts as an oppressive pra
As this chapter shows, even amongst themselves they
What needs to be done, then, is to accept disagreem
together on issues that coincide. There will be issues
women can cooperate: education, spousal abuse, hum
for women and so on.
Berktay is one of the few feminists openly to cha
attempts to understand the meaning of veiling from
tural relativism gone wrong, although I would argue
is the prevailing norm in most feminist studies of M(even if left unstated). Hélie-Lucas argues that femini
find liberation from within Islam will eventually reve
Islam,33 and Keddie and Berktay conclude that the
equal’ notion often used by Muslims to contend for t
women in Islam, is not equal, but inferior.34 Keddie h
if Muslim women are treated with dignity and respe
veiling is part “of a system where males are dominan
are to be controlled.”35 Hessini argues that women wcover are ultimately acquiescing in male dominance by
ing the male–female relations at their core:
32 Annelies Moors, ‘Women and the Orient: A Note on Difference’, in Peter Pels (eds.), Constructing Knowledge Authority and Critique in So
xxviii
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When women wear the hijab, they obtain respect and freethis sense, the hijab, which is often perceived by Westerners
of male domination, may ultimately be a liberating force fMoroccan women. However, this choice is made within a pa
framework. It is a conditioned reaction and can exist only wiscribed norms established by men for women.36
Leila Ahmed concludes that the contemporary re-vei
ment is an “alarming trend”37 because of her fear that it
forces holding restrictive interpretations of women’s role
that will win over all other currents and streams of Isla
ments. We can hope that she is wrong, and be active in w
another goal. Nevertheless, we must be very careful abou
sions are made from ‘this particular Islamic movement holsive views on women’ to ‘the veil is the sign of what this
defines as women’s roles and only theirs is the meaning o
Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil , then, is ent
debates over covering at two levels. First, I rely on inter
Muslim women living in Toronto, Canada, to discover th
standing of the meaning of ^ij¥b. I stress that I do not
from my small sample of interviewees to all Muslim wom
some of the sentiments expressed by some of my interview
tune with views recorded by other scholars studying the
movement. I do not claim that all Muslim women do,
hold opinions like those of my interviewees. The aim her
to listen to the voices of some Muslim women about th
standings of, and experiences with, the veil. A second leve
a perspective that has hitherto been marginalized, namel
of view of the believer. Because almost all my interviewegiously oriented, indeed, because I am religiously oriented
as a whole has a spiritual orientation.38 This allows for
reading of women, Islam and the veil.
introduction
36 Hessini, ‘Wearing the Hijab in Contemporary Morocco’, p.54.
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Not surprisingly, religious belief is marginalize
academic circles, which have a secular orientation. Ev
sing is traditional feminist disdain for religious belief,
associations between religion and misogyny.39 Neverth
scholars are revising their total rejection of religious btice for women. Young’s introduction to Sharma’s Wo
Religions finds that the feminist assumption that religi
ably patriarchal is now seen as simplistic.40 Carmody
World Religions assumes that in spite of women’s s
organized religion, many women have drawn streng
religion, and that the world’s religions offer women a
sources for forgiveness and renewal:”
Without denying [the] feminist critique, I would add thless, the bottom line in virtually all the developed religio
is a holiness equally available to women and men. Womfered many disabilities in the organisational dimension
but when it comes to intimacy with God and helpfulother people, they do at least as well as men … If one’s s
est, loving, and wise, one was what God or the Way wadepths of the world’s religions offer an instruction as im
is consoling. Indeed, the instruction is important preciseis consoling: any person may become holy and wise.41
Warne speaks of the “unacknowledged Quarantine
isted between feminists and religious studies, and sug
to break down the barriers:
Unfortunately, there is a tendency to consider only [wome
experiences [with religion] as accurate, and all positive on
tion, as a kind of patriarchally induced false consciousments such as these pose serious problems for scholars
both women and religion, because work that attempts
nuanced is sometimes read as betrayal, or as patriarchal co
introductionxxx
39 Denise Lardner Carmody, Women and World Religions, 2nd edn. NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1989 [1979]), p.3 and passim.
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These are welcome voices. However, as Lazreg has p
their force has been observed only for Judaism and Christia
many would still view these religions as oppressive to wom
an acceptance of those feminist (even non-feminist) women
to identify as Jewish or Christian, while simultaneouslliberation and working for women’s equality. Muslim w
not yet been accorded such respect:
The evolutionary bias that suffuses most thinking about w
the Middle East and North Africa is expressed in a definite p
against Islam as a religion. Although U.S. feminists have at
to accommodate Christianity and feminism and Judaism a
nism, Islam is inevitably presented as antifeminist. What is
here is not merely a plausible rationalist bias against religio
impediment to the progress and freedom of the mind but an
ance of the idea that there is a hierarchy of religions, with som
more susceptible to change than others. Like tradition, relig
be abandoned if Middle Eastern women are to be like
women. As the logic of the argument requires, there can be n
without reference to an external standard deemed to be per
My task, then, is to introduce respectability to the belie
lim woman’s voice, to claim liberation and women’s equ
Islam. I believe that this is an indispensable part of unse
the Western popular cultural view that the veil is a symbol
women’s oppression, and those feminist conclusions th
with pop culture.44 I seek to challenge the assumptions He
leod and others use to criticize women’s choices to cov
mately un-liberating.
Differences in judgment over ^ij¥b finally turn on points. The following is a list of six themes that I have gar
my reading in the women and Islam field. Those who critic
rely on secular liberal assumptions about society and hum
Thus veiling is supposed to be oppressive because it:
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1. covers up (hides), in the sense of smothering, fe
2. is apparently linked to essentialized male–femal
difference (which is taken to mean that by natu
is superior, female is inferior);
3. is linked to a particular view of woman’s place
(subjugated in the home);
4. is linked to an oppressive (patriarchal) notion o
morality and female purity (because of Islam’s
emphasis on chastity, marriage, and condemnat
of pre- and extra-marital sexual relations);
5. can be imposed; and
6. is linked to a package of oppressions women in
face, such as seclusion, polygyny, easy male div
unequal inheritance rights, and so on.
I address these assumptions over the course of the
argue (not in this order) that covering:
1. does not smother femininity;
2. brings to mind the ‘different-but-equal’ school o
thought, but does not posit essentalized male–fe
difference;
3. is linked to a view that does not limit women to
home, but neither does it consider the role of st
home-mother and homemaker oppressive;4. is linked to a view of morality that is oppressive
if one considers the prohibition of sexual relatio
outside marriage wrong;
5. is part of Islamic law, though a law that ought
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It will become clear that I do not necessarily dispute s
feminist criticisms as false. However, my own world-view
view those things differently (for example, male–female di
Critics of the Western discourse of the veil point out tha
ern focus on the veil has been obsessive.45 Many of thowomen who do not cover feel annoyed that Muslim wome
ced to their headcovers, as if there is nothing else about th
worthy of mention. Many of those who do cover are disapp
their own positive experience of covering is denied; and,
who do not cover, annoyed that other aspects of their i
ignored. In some ways by writing a book on ^ij¥b, I am ke
the Western tradition of discussing Muslim women only in
their headcovering. My justification is that despite the We
on the veil, the prevalent view is that of the ‘oppressive
veiling and Islam. This is in spite of the ethnographic and
accounts of particular Muslim women in specific times and
challenge the stereotype of Muslim women as oppressed
still very few fora that provide an empathetic space for th
those who cover, or for a positive theory of veiling.
c. the veil, islam and the west
At the begining of the twenty-first century, the topic of
damentalism, terrorism, extremism and women’s position
on many people’s minds, from the local bus driver to th
scholar. The discourse in the popular mind is one of
wardness, violence and barbarity of Islam, Arabs and Mu
oppression of women is a given. This makes challenging t
Western stereotype that the veil is a symbol of Muslim
oppression an uphill battle, all the more so in light of c
twentieth-century events in the Muslim world: Iran’s im
the chador after Khomeini’s revolution in 1979; the
imposition of the burqa¢ after their accession to power in
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attempt to discuss all the socio-political problems i
world. Nonetheless, the turmoil in the Muslim world c
task because of the Orientalist legacy in the West (a leg
with wide-spread and profound ignorance of Islam). T
vision of Islam is precisely that Islam is barbaric, violentbackward. Yet when was the last time the media
Catholics with the actions of the IRA, or all Protes
actions of the Loyalists? The media should not th
Catholics and Protestants: the point is that Muslims ar
the same degree of care and precision, there is no
special, localized circumstances that intervene betwe
enactment.
While US administrations and other Western powe
anything against Islam as a religion in general, or ag
in general, I am convinced that the public rhetoric dem
is part of the Western maintenance of its global hegem
course of the veil in the West is tied to Western nation
policy in the Middle East is to protect its access to M
oil fields and give unconditional support to Israel.46 B
perceived as anti-West, the contemporary Islamist install Shari¢ah law are feared. It is thought that M
ments committed to implementing Islamic law will
Western interests and may threaten Israel. Hence pro-
lar governments in the Muslim world are supported
repress their own populace. The veil’s association wi
movements is thus the link between Western power p
anti-veil discourse in the West. The media and Western
a stake in maintaining Western hegemony, so some Wprovide the intellectual justifications for this anti-Isla
introductionxxxiv
46 Yvonne Haddad, ‘Islamist Perceptions of U.S. Policy in the Middle EEast and the United States, (ed.), David W. Lesch (Boulder, Co.: Westvie1996), p.419; Ralph Braibanti, The Nature and Structure of the IslamiIll Int Strateg and Polic Instit te 99 ) p William Q andt ‘Ne
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The mainstream media carry the discourse into the popula
Journalist Hoagland argues that with respect to US fore
Washington DC sets the media agenda:
With international affairs it is pretty much a Washington
it’s a company town. And it is very difficult to sustain inte
foreign policy issue if the White House and the State Departm
the Executive Branch and even Congress are not interested
trying to downplay that particular issue… but without tha
follow-through by some part of the government, the press
very weak in trying to set or sustain an agenda. You can do
day, or maybe for 3 days, but at the end of the 3rd or 4t
there’s no echo, there is very little you can do to create that
However, US and Western national interests have dicta
policies that are interpreted by most of the Muslim and A
lace as hypocritical and harmful to their own interests
Israel is not bombed for its covert nuclear weapons pro
West remains silent over violations of Muslims’ human
pression and torture of Muslims in Turkey, Tunisia, a
and the West supports corrupt governments over democr
ments.50
All these things fuel extremist groups in the MusNevertheless, the actions of terrorists in the Muslim w
cially against Western tourists, leave the Western pop
vinced that Islam and Arabs are barbaric and anti-West
need of strong treatment and punishment from the West
erners are afraid of Islamic parties being elected to pow
against that, and Muslims, convinced that the West is aga
are driven to more extremes. The vicious cycle continues t
Hence US and Western national interests have allowed ization of Islam in the public mind to flourish. And ideas ab
oppression of women and the role of the veil in that opp
part of this discourse. When the Western populace is pred
disliking Muslims and Arabs, asserting US/Western for
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judicial assassinations of Palestinians, or the sufferin
Iraqi citizens owing to sanctions.) People who consum
news as their only source of information about Islam
anything but the negative perspective on the veil.
The mainstream Western discourse against Islam it harder for Muslim reformers to improve the stat
women, because betterment has often been linked wit
and/or Westernization.51 Tucker observes that Arab fem
to chart a difficult course between ‘tradition’, that may
but is seen as ‘authentic’, and reform, that may be see
ization and ‘inauthentic’.52 Indeed, calls to protect
‘authenticity’ have even hampered improvements tha
women more in line with the earlier rights that wounder Islamic law over a deteriorated ‘tradition’. For i
mid/late twentieth century, Mawd‰dÏ, an Islamic sch
Indian subcontinent, decried family planning efforts
tempts to undermine Islam by reducing the number of
though family planning was condoned by all four Isla
(schools of law) and widely practiced in the pre-coloni
Another legacy of Orientalism that complicates my mining the stereotype that the veil is oppressive is
dichotomy that it enshrines. It is too simplistic to label t
a ‘Western’ stereotype (though easier for sake of expos
there are plenty of Muslims in the world who also v
oppressive. Dividing the world into ‘West’ and ‘East’ is
assumption that has worked to ensure ‘Western’ su
‘Eastern’ inferiority. The duality simplifies global poli
importantly, erases areas of similarity between ‘WeMuslim states in the Middle East and Asia have bee
‘modernizing’ for the past one hundred years. Nume
introductionxxxvi
51 Tucker, ‘Introduction’, pp.x–xi. 52 Ibid., p.xi.53 Abdel Rahim Omran, Family Planning in the Legacy of Islam (L
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are not practicing Muslims, just as a significant number of
are no longer practicing Christians or Jews. (Indeed the
dichotomy glosses over Christians and Jews living in ‘Mus
tries, and Muslims living in the West.) Many Muslims a
Islam as many Westerners are, convinced it is oppressive, violent and so on. The legacy of Orientalism in mainstrea
media and scholarship, by leaving out these dynamics, w
inforce the negative stereotype of Islam in the West. It f
negative stereotype because the uncomplicated West/Ea
enables simplistic equations to be made: West equals p
East equals underdeveloped; Western women are liberate
women subjugated; and so on. And yet it is also widely ack
that these days the world is a ‘global village’. In recognizization, it is possible to become a more sophisticated obse
world. The truism the ‘veil is oppressive’ is not tenable in
a refined understanding of the dynamics and currents i
village in which some Muslim women embrace the veil wi
others do not.
d. muslims in the west
The need to challenge the negative stereotype of the veil as
is urgent for those Muslims who live in the West.54 Anecdot
demonstrates that Muslims (male and female) are hurt by t
image of the veil and Islam. Several examples will suffice t
this. In 1995 some Muslim schoolgirls were expelled fr
in Quebec, Canada, for refusing to remove their scarves. T
ruled that the scarves were an ‘ostentatious symbol’ akin
tika. A teenage girl in Quebec who wore ^ij¥b to high mortified to see her teacher on television proclaiming, “Islam
women.” “I started to cry. I couldn’t understand why some
say something like that,” she told [Kelly]. “She knows me.
what I am like, and that I am not like that. How can she s
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An Islamic advocacy group in the United States and
Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) doc
sment and discrimination against Muslims. In 1998
incidents of women losing their jobs or not being hired
uncover at: Dunkin’ Donuts (Boston); US Airways; BRestaurant (Sacramento, California); Taco Bell (Arling
Domino’s Pizza (Colorado); KMART (New Jersey); an
Hotel (Washington). In all cases the women were r
CAIR intervention. Some women received apologies
sation. Muslim men suffer from the negative discour
too. CAIR reported in November 1997 that a 13-yea
hospitalized after being beaten by two or more teenag
him a “rag head” and “f---ing sand n-gger.” Apparenoccurred after the father of one of the attackers called
the victim a “rag head” and “rag head lover.”56 My bo
to undermine the stereotype, thus aspires to improve th
lims living in the West.
e. method and argument
Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil straddles mdisciplines: political theory, feminism, anthropology,
tory, and Middle East and Islamic studies. My method i
the stereotype of the veil is eclectic: there are five chapte
different methodology (drawn from one or more of
mentioned above) to take a different tack in challeng
type. The thread that holds the different chapters toge
dition of political theory, the ‘home’ discipline of my
cal theory, broadly conceived, aims to study the natupolitical communities – between citizens and the Stat
citizens and other citizens – and to inquire into just an
and unequal patterns and relations of power. In Reth
Women, I mean to focus on the popular Western cult
introductionxxxviii
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Chapter One traces the origins of the ‘veil is oppressive
in the West. I argue that attacking the veil was an essential
colonial project, necessary to break down barriers betwe
power and hidden women. The point is to stress the c
nature of the antiveil discourse, and to highlight its link political interests. I also show how the move to indep
colonized Muslim countries included a focus on the veil, as
élites accepted the West’s version of the meaning of ^ij¥b
to ‘liberate’ their country from backward Islamic practice
Two presents interviews with some Toronto Muslim wome
May and July 1996, I interviewed fifteen Sunni Muslim w
one Ismaili woman to ask them about their understandin
and for those who cover, their experiences of wearing ^ronto. The chapter draws on feminist methods of using
experience as a foundation of knowledge. Chapter Three is
the contemporary ‘re-veiling’ movement in the Muslim w
I draw on contemporary anthropological, sociological an
literatures that discuss the ‘re-veiling’ phenomenon. The
demonstrate that women cover for many different reaso
religious, social or political. Empirical reality alone chaWestern stereotype that all Muslim women are forced to
that covering is oppressive. With a critique of Morocca
Fatima Mernissi’s perspective on the veil, Chapter Four
book into theoretical grounds. Here I show that Merniss
of the veil is based on an idiosyncratic reading of Islam.
pretations are based on her own negative personal experi
veiling, but she argues that all Muslim women suffer
veiling. I disagree with that conclusion and attempt to shoalternative reading is possible within Islam. Chapter Five
toward formulating a positive theory of the veil. I dra
testimonials by Muslim women in newspaper articles a
positive experience of covering. The women’s arguments d
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women. Clearly some women experience covering as o
point is that the ‘veil is oppressive’ notion has become
which the ‘meaning’ of the veil as oppressive assumes
truth claim. I am saying that I disagree with that inte
this book, I present an alternative perspective.It is important to understand that this study is a deb
of ideas. I include interviews not as part of an ethnogra
women who live in Toronto, but as a jumping off point
about the veil. My underlying assumption that Islam
theory (a theory of political community) does not o
guides my critiques and formulation of a positive theor
understand that real Muslim communities may not refl
normative outline that I describe. However, just as libean ongoing aspiration for the creation of a good socie
yet been achieved in reality57 – a society free of racism, p
and so on – so I hold to a theory of Islam that is an ongo
for the creation of a good society. Though we struggle a
fight as we go, we are aiming at a higher good.
f. terminology – the veilA final note on the word ‘veil’. I sought to avoid the wo
writing, because the word is so laden with the negat
Part of the whole problem of the West’s focus on the
scholars have mentioned, is precisely the simplification
‘the veil’ entails: as if there is only one kind of ‘veil
women have ever worn.58 This is a travesty that augmen
of the negative stereotype. In the English language a ‘ve
“a piece of usually more or less transparent fabric
woman’s hat, etc., to conceal the face or protect ag
introductionxl
57 Gutmann, ‘Challenges of Multiculturalism in Democratic Educatio58 Helen Watson ‘Women and the Veil: Personal Responses to Globa
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[OED].59 This word corresponds to the Arabic niq¥b, th
which women cover their faces. As a word to convey t
notion of ^ij¥b it is totally inadequate. ¤ij¥b, from the r
meaning to cover, conceal, hide, is a complex notion enc
action and apparel. It can include covering the face, or not.lowering the gaze with the opposite sex, and applies to m
who must lower their gaze and cover from navel to knee. T
^ij¥b is also the name used for the headscarf that women
their heads and tie or pin at the neck, with their faces show
the centuries, and in different places, how a woman covers
enormously – what parts are covered, with what kind o
texture, pattern etc. The terminology has varied also, regio
of course. In this book, I use the word ^ij¥b to refer to tof covering. The word headscarf will designate women wh
but hands and face, and in keeping with common Mus
headscarf will be interchangeable with ^ij¥b; the word
refer to the face veil that some women attach to their hea
introduction
59 Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Definitions (2) and (3) are intere
widely known: (2) ‘a piece of linen etc. as part of a nun’s head-dress’; (3) ‘a cuseparating the sanctuary in the Jewish Temple’. According to the OED, ‘Tomeans becoming a nun. Given the respect accorded to nuns in the West, it is a pveil’ has not had the same positive connotations for Muslim women who ‘tak
This detailed and significant study is a powerful critique of the popular western
8/3/2019 Preamble Veiling v3
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/preamble-veiling-v3 40/40
This detailed and significant study is a powerful critique of the popular western
notion that the veil is a symbol of Muslim women’s oppression. In postulating a
positive theory of the ^ij¥b the author challenges with great sophistication both the
pop culture view of Muslim women as being utterly subjugated by men, as well as
the more complex arguments put forward by liberal feminists such as Mernissi,Macleod and others who have sought to criticize women’s choices to cover as ulti-
mately unliberating. Examining and questioning the validity and accuracy of some
of the latter’s assumptions, the author puts forward the case that the judgment of
the veil as being an oppressive feature of Islam is based on liberal understandings of
‘equality’ and ‘liberty’ that preclude other ways of thinking about ‘equality’ and
‘liberty’ that offer a positive approach for contemplating the wearing of the veil.
The author argues that in a consumer capitalist culture, the ^ij¥b can be experi-
enced as liberation from the tyranny of the beauty myth and the thin ‘ideal’
woman.
Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil straddles many academic disciplines: political
theory, feminism, anthropology, sociology, history and the Middle East and Islamic
Studies. The author’s research is wide-ranging — from the historical background
of the western stereotype of the veil and the influence of the colonial era, to mod-
ern veiling trends in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Her analysis includesinterviews with a group of Muslim women from various backgrounds in Toronto,
Canada. Ultimately, in dispelling some widely held myths about Muslim women
and the ^ij¥b, the author introduces respectability to the believing Muslim
women’s voice, claiming liberation and the equality of women as fundamental to
Islam itself.
---
KATHERINE BULLOCK is an alumna of the University of Toronto, where she
earned her doctorate in Political Science in . It was during her doctoral studies
that she embraced Islam. Her Ph.D. dissertation was on “Politics of the Veil” and she
has spoken on this, and other topics relevant to Muslim women, to Church and
academic circles in Canada, the USA and Australia. Dr. Bullock is originally from
Australia, and now lives in California with her husband and son.
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