To some, Islamic veils are expressions of faith. To others, they are symbols of oppression. Either way, they continue to spark debate. Kristina Chetcuti finds that in Malta the Muslim community is also divided about whether women should choose – or choose not to – wear the Islamic veil.
There are clearly different schools of thought in the Maltese Islamic community on the topic of the hijab, and disagreement was not veiled at a seminar in Valletta about the role of women in Islam.
“It is a sin not to wear a veil,” according to Mrs Laila Losta, a representative of the Libyan Embassy in Malta, who was donning a purple veil.
“It is clearly indicated in the Koran that a woman has to wear a veil to protect her dignity,” she added.
The veil is traditionally worn by Muslim women at the first signs of maturity. Mrs Losta said every Muslim woman was free to make her personal choice on whether to wear a veil or not, but reiterated it was a sin not to follow the verses in the Koran.
The Koran urges men and women to dress and behave modestly in society. It does not specifically mention the burka or tell women to wear such confining clothes.
There are two verses in the Koran that deal with clothing: “Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close around them”, and “Draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers”.
Mrs Sanaa El-Nahhal, president of the Arabic Culture Information Society, expressed a more lenient view: “If a woman wears the hijab then she is a woman living her religion better, that’s all. Islam lists the rules and it’s up to the individual to follow the rules.”
The veil issue took over the seminar, meant to tackle the place of woman before and after Islam, organised by the Libyan Arab Cultural Centre in collaboration with the Arabic Culture Information Society last Friday.
The majority of the Muslim women in the audience were not wearing a veil and most were not in agreement with Mrs Losta’s hardline view on the hijab.
“I do not wear a veil but I do not feel I am a bad Muslim,” Lina El-Nahhal, a young Muslim, told The Times.
Mrs Losta also commented on the burka, the all-enveloping cloak which completely covers the face: “It is not indicated in the Koran that you have to completely cover yourself, unless you are very beautiful.”
This caused a stir among the audience, with some saying that surely beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
However, Mrs Losta replied: “A woman knows if she is beautiful, it’s up to her to decide if it’s better for her to cover up to protect her dignity.”
She added that secular countries in the Islamic world, like Turkey and Tunisia, were not practising the Islamic religion according to the Koran.
“Their Constitution states it’s up to the woman to decide, but in reality it is a religious issue,” she said.
She also cited the example of their loose interpretation of Ramadan, the month of fasting: “In Tunisia, by law, the Ramadan is held over 30 days, when the Koran clearly states it should be determined according to the lunar calendar.”
Muslim males in the audience contributed actively to the animated debate, by pointing out that other religions – mainly Judaism and Christianity – have had their own forms of veils in the past.
A Muslim male participant questioned why in the West, a Catholic nun’s wimples were accepted but the hijab was not. Another raised the point on whether Christian women were free to cover their heads should they wish to.
The end of the debate was determined by twilight, which meant a break in Ramadan fasting for most of the Muslim seminar participants.
Just before the seminar was wrapped up, a member of the audience, who declared herself a Turkish Muslim and a non-wearer of the veil, made a passionate appeal: “A scarf is not a handicap. I am fed up. Why is it that we always have to end up talking about scarves? Let’s talk about women’s rights in Islam, let’s discuss other important values of the Islamic religion.”
Historical and political perspective
The veiling of women was not an Islamic innovation but a Persian and Byzantine-Christian custom adopted by Islam. For most of Islam’s history, the veil in its various forms was seen as a sign of distinction and protection for upper class women.
Since the 19th century, the veil has come to represent a more assertive, self-consciously Islamic expression. Muslim countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia require women in public to wear the hijab by law. Secular countries in the Islamic world, like Tunisia and Turkey, leave it up to the woman to decide.
The West is increasingly becoming involved. France recently banned all forms of religious clothing and articles in the schools throughout the nation, with President Nicolas Sarkozy saying the burka was an “affront to French values” and a denigration of women.
The Netherlands also banned the wearing of the face-covering headwear.
In Belgium a recent law argues everyone in public must be recognisable in the interests of security and that the burka clashes with the values of a free society, which respects everyone’s rights.
Amnesty International des-cribes the ban as discriminatory and as a violation of women’s rights to freedom of expression and religion.
Different kinds of Muslim veils
The word hijab comes from the Arabic for veil and is used to describe the headscarves worn by Muslim women. The type most commonly worn in the West is a square scarf that covers the head and neck but leaves the face clear, but there are others.
The al-amira: A two-piece veil consisting of a close-fitting cap, usually made from cotton or polyester, and an accompanying tube-like scarf.
The shayla: A long, rectangular scarf popular in the Gulf region. It is wrapped around the head and tucked or pinned in place at the shoulders.
The niqab: A veil for the face that leaves the area around the eyes clear. However, it may be worn with a separate eye veil. It is worn with an accompanying headscarf.
The burka: The most concealing of all Islamic veils. It covers the entire face and body, leaving just a mesh screen to see through.
The khimar: A long, cape-like veil that hangs down to just above the waist. It covers the hair, neck and shoulders completely but leaves the face clear.
The chador: Worn by many Iranian women when outside the house. It is a full-body cloak.