ATTITUDE TOWARDS VEIL IN

WESTERN COUNTRIES

BY: AZLAN ANDI

AUTHOR OF BINIKU NINJA (MY WIFE IS A NINJA)
 Abstract

We will explore the definition of veil, discuss the notion about the image and
identity of the veil and understanding why people choose to wear it. Is it a form of
resistance and anti-social? I would question the acceptance of the community in the
ideology of feminism that they try to convey through the veil and how this impacts on
society in terms of safety and community relationship. I will then focus on the debate in
the western world, especially in France regarding the “burqa ban” since 2011. With this,
we can unlock the causes and issues behind the veil, an image that is masked behind a
piece of cloth that covers the face of the woman but poses a mixed identity controversy.
Description of Veil
Summarizing the meaning of the veil, Fadwa El Guidi, in Veil: Modesty,
Privacy, and Resistance (1999), observes that the veil appears in four dimensions: the
material, the spatial, the communicative, and the religious. The material dimension
consists of clothing and ornamentation. As a cloth, it is an article that covers the head,
shoulders, and face as well as an ornament over a hat drawn over the eyes. The spatial
dimension specifies that the veil be seen as a screen dividing physical space, while the
communicative sense emphasizes the notion of concealing and invisibility. The veil in
religious setting means seclusion from worldly life as in the case of the life and vows of
nuns. Besides that, according to the Oxford dictionary, veil intends a piece of fabric
forming part of a headdress, resting on the head and shoulders.

Veil ideology has actually been practiced since thousands of years ago and has
been through several times across the era of Persian, Mesopotamian, Hellenic, and the
strong influence was in the days of the Byzantine Empire. It is unfair for me to relate the
interpretation of every era since the interpretation element in each era is different in
terms of the purpose, cultural and historical usage. In other words, wearing the veil can
be treated as a cross-cultural ethnography that brings a variety of purposes.
(Fadwa El-Guidi, Veil; Modesty, Privacy and Resistance, 1999, pp 3-4).

Besides that, in terms of religion, it also turned out that the use of the veil has
been proven beyond the Arabic and Islamic civilization, even though less recognisable
in terms of veils among Christians, but until now the use of veil is more synonymous
with Muslim women, especially for middle eastern societies. In Arab culture, the veil is
associated with the use of various terms even in the Encyclopedia of Islam, there are
hundreds of dress parts that are used for veiling but I want to narrow the scope of the
application dedicated to covering the face, which is the burqa, and niqab.

Burqa is a head cloth that covers almost the entire body, including face and body
shape. There are some burqas where the eyes are covered with netting. Meanwhile, the
niqab is a piece of cloth used to cover the face that are tied up with straps, or belt at the
back of the head. Niqab can be divided into two types; half and full niqab where half
niqab covers half of the face and full niqab covering the entire face except the eyes.
Representation of Veil in Islam views
In Islam, the term for modesty is known as Haya. Haya is not just something
personal or the humiliation of being protected, even the dignity, sacredness of the family
is carefully preserved. Therefore, as a woman who represents the family status and
dignity of feminity, women are labeled with exclusive privileges and reflected in their
dress and behavior. Haya also reflects a sense of shyness and humility deeper based on
faith. A sense of Haya should affect the behavior of a Muslim before God, before others
and even when be alone.

Muslims believe that God knows everything that is done by someone, from the
greatest act until the smallest act, despite what is in the heart, the awareness of that's
“This God is watching us” is called in Arabic as Taqwa.

Therefore, they are taught to be honest and feel shame in front of God, thus
influencing their behavior in front of others because the external private course, will
affect the internal behavior. This attitude in terms of Arab culture is called Mustahab
meaning seeking the love of God.
\
" O children of Adam, We have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as
well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some
of God 's signs, that they may take heed." (Qur'an, 7:26)

" Faith consists of more than seventy branches. And haya (modesty) is a part of faith.”
(Prophet Muhammad PBUH)

Although, there are two opinions in Islam on the face veil which it is
recommended to wear but not necessary and the other valid opinion where it is
necessary to wear the veil, they both stick to the main purpose is the sufficiency to cover
the Awrah; Awrah is a limit of body parts that cannot be expose without reason. The
limit of awrah can be disclosed depending on the status of a person, whether that person
can be married or not married (for example family members) as described by Allah in
Quran:

“And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their gaze and guard their private
parts and not expose their adornment except that the which [necessarily] Appears
thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose
their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their
sons, their husbands ' sons, their brothers, their brothers ' sons, their sisters ' sons, their
 women, that their right hands possess roomates, or those male attendants having no
physical desire , or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women .
And let them not stamp their feet to the make known what they conceal of their
adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you , O believers , that you might
succeed .” (Qur'an, 24:31)

“O Prophet , tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring
down over Themselves [part] of their outer garments . That is more suitable that they
will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.”
(Qur'an, 33:59)

This proposition clearly shows, it is the responsibility of women to take care of their
self-honor and appetite. One of the ways is to guard themselves from being too prone to
promiscuity, especially with different gender that can be married. With the sense of
Haya they choose to cover themselves with veils, those who wear it know that how
much safe and protected they feel in veil. It also makes them feel exclusive from the rest
of the ladies whom willing to expose part of their body in public. Look at what
happened recently with Miley Cyrus. She went from Hannah Montana to twerking. Is
that the kind of role models we want for our daughters? Or do we want to cover up?

Figure 1 (Evans,2008)
Ban the veil and the controversy
Since the September 11, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001,
the Arab Muslim communities have become the targets of negative stereotypes in the
media across the western world ( Biles and Ibrahim , 2002) .

Starting in october 2006 when Jack Straw, British Member of Parliament (MP)
and government minister, issued a statement in his local newspapers about the notion of
veil-wearer, that he is comfortable talking to someone that he could see her face than
women in veil. His comment has raised the issue of veil at that time.

“I thought a lot before raising this matter a year ago, and still more before writing this.
But if not me, who? My concerns could be misplaced. But I think there is an issue here.”
(Jack Straw, 2006)

However, in 2012, Jack Straw publicly apologised over his 2006 comments. He said
that he should not have made such comments but the “burqa ban” has already been
implemented. France Introduced its "burqa ban" in April 2011, and any women wearing
a face veil in public could be fined or given lessons in French citizenship which means
not only are perfectly upstanding women being fined for their choice of dress, but an
increasing number of defendants are being tried for attacking them physically. Women
in veils are prohibited from any public activity including walking down the street, taking
a bus, going to the shops or collecting their children from school. Even there is a case, a
man and woman punched a French lady in the street in front of her daughter, called her a
whore and told her to go back to Afghanistan. There is also a pregnant 21-year-old being
attacked in the commuter and putting the woman in a hospital, where she lost her baby.
There has been a constant stream of wretched cases involving the handful of Muslims
who choose to wear such garments.
(Angelic, C. The Guardian,2011)
Figure 2 : French lady convicted for her veil . image source: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/01/france-
muslima-convicted-for-resisting-police-who-ticketed-her-for-wearing-a-niqab

Other than that, public opinion survey in Quebec, Canada showed that 62 % of
Quebec Francophones believed that Muslim women who wear the Islamic veil pose a
problem for Quebec society (Roy & Gagne, 2007). Another survey poll found that 57 %
of Quebec respondents thought the Quebec government should ban religious signs such
as the Islamic veil worn by some Civil Servants in the public administration
(Castonguay, 2010). Just because the niqab covers the whole face, public attitudes
toward such face veils are more negative than those toward the hijab. In 2010, the
Quebec government proposed Bill 94 banning the niqab from the public administration,
schools, and hospitals. A recent public opinion poll showed that 95 % of Quebecers and
80 % of Canadians supported this provincial ban on the niqab (Angus Reid Public
Opinion, 2010).

Sadly, in other western countries that have not implemented the ban there is also
a negative attitude towards the veil. There are trivial responses to the contemporary
veiling came from radical secularists, who ridiculed the trend using exclusivist,
materialist language: "these women are covering their hair because they can not afford
to go to the hairdresser!" or "they are veiling to hide their ugliness ". Besides that, the
veiled womens are attacked on their morality such as: They are veiling to cover illicit
sexual relations and immoral behavior. The common impression is that many people
have about those wearing the veil is that they are oppressed, uneducated, passive, kept
behind closed doors and not integrated within western society. Not only that, they think
everybody who wears it is an extremist.

Last year, there is a debate in UK regarding this issue, and The Sun made it front page:

“THE Unveiled SAYS JUDGE ORDERS AS Uncover WOMAN TO FACE , THE SUN demands VITAL
REFORMS 1 BAN veils in schools , courts and hospitals 2 BAN them in airports , banks and secure areas 3
LET employer decide if OK in the 4 BUT workplace freedom to wear them in streets and parks.”
(The Sun, 2013)

For those women who willingly choose to wear the veil, it is not only a symbol of
Muslim identities, but also an issue of individual rights. Muslim women believe that it is
their right to decide how to appear in public. Moreover, the veil allows Muslim women
physical mobility because they feel free from the male gaze. Consequently, they move in
the public sphere more comfortable. Besides that, there are some points agreed upon by
the veil-wearer. They do understand there is some issues like security, education and
medical reason that they need to reveal their face. There is no harm in that for them.
 Clearly, the veil is not a form of resistance or anti-social, and it does not
endanger the safety or create barrier between the veil-wearer with the community. In
fact, it just a personal choice of a woman who wants to feel closer to God, and should be
respected as such. Security guidelines in certain place have also been observed by veil-
wearer, the former western community acceptance should be more open-minded. There
needs no further debate regarding this issue. Questioning the choice of someone wearing
the veil should itself be considered discrimination, and contrary to the fundamental
values of freedom, a freedom to choose what to wear. Whether we oppose or support the
veil in terms of a code of behavior or just an idea of clothing, both has impacted a major
consequence among the feminine status and liberation.

Bibliography

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Arrest’. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/19/battle-for-the-
burqa [Accesses 19 September 2013].

Guindi, F. (1999) Veil: Modesty, Privacy, and Resistance. Oxford: New York

IISNA (2014) [online] The Burqa & Niqab - Uncovering the Facts. Available from:
http://www.iisna.com/articles/pamphlets/the-burqa-and-niqab-uncovering-the-facts/
[Accesses 6 January 2014].

IISNA (2014) [online] British Debate Over Veil. Available from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_debate_over_veils [Accesses 8 January 2014].

Murdoch. R. (2013) ‘A Judge Orders Woman To Uncover Face, The Sun Demands Vital
Reforms Unveiled’, The Sun, Tuesday September 17, 1.

Ramdani, N. (2013) [online] Don’t Follow France’s Burqa Ban, It has curbed liberty
and justice. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/
sep/21/dont-ban-veil-in-uk [Accesses 21 September 2013].

Straw, J. (2006) [online] I felt uneasy talking to someone I couldn't see. Available from:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/oct/06/politics.uk
[Accesses 6 October 2013].

Journal
El-Geledi, S.; Bourhis, R. (2012), Testing the impact of the Islamic veil on intergroup
attitudes and host community acculturation orientations toward Arab Muslims
Volume 36, Issue 5, September 2012, pp 694-706.