The Hidden Pearls

Recently I read a brochure that someone had given me entitled "The Hidden Pearls". At first I thought this was something to do with prayer or the treasures of the Quran. When I read it, though, I realized that it was a pamphlet explaining why women should wear the veil and the face covering (hijab and niqab respectively).

At this point let me make two things very clear: I have no problem with women who want to wear the veil, the hijab, the burqa, or the niqab. Nor do I have any problem with anyone who doesn’t want to cover themselves according to what many believe is the Islamic dress code for women. The following is simply my thoughts and feelings upon reading this pamphlet, a personal opinion and reaction to what was presented to me as a convincing argument for why women should cover themselves.

But I am clear about the fact that this pamphlet disturbed me a great deal. I am no specialist on the Quran or the Arabic language. I had no idea that the word khumur can mean "a head covering" and khamr can also mean "alcohol" because it "covers up the senses of a person” (i.e. intoxicates them) – information which was presented to me in the pamphlet. Comparing Quranic verses between different versions of the Holy Book, the most I can really do is look them up and be able to notice a little bit of difference in translation; from the very strict to the liberal to the modern or progressive. You can also quote any number of Hadiths and I really wouldn’t be able to prove them right or wrong, nor tell you which ones are authentic and which aren’t.

But to me, the pamphlet starts and ends with a very obvious agenda: it begins to explain the honor and dignity of a Muslim woman and ends with a full-on entreaty to take up the niqab, the type of dress that involves covering the entire body, including the face. Can we take this at face value as instruction to Muslim women on how to dress with modesty and decency, or is this really the voicing of those regressive elements in Islam who want to see women completely segregated and distanced from men and the rest of the world? Unfortunately, the very fact that this question crops up in my mind is a source of worry to me. When we begin to doubt the motivations of those who have taken it upon themselves to instruct us in religious matters, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling of mistrust begins to grow towards them, which is a source of division we certainly don’t need at this time.

Furthermore, some of the reasoning in this pamphlet doesn’t sit well with me at all. For example: "Eyes are windows to the soul... therefore controlling their unbridled usage was one of the steps to prevent unlawful relationships". I know full well about the Qurannic injunctions that warn us against committing adultery with our eyes and hearts as well as with our bodies, but I’m not sure you can therefore deduce that women’s eyes should be physically covered because the very sight of them would cause people to commit adultery in an uncontrollable fashion.

Elsewhere, the pamphlet states that just because we are not supposed to cover our faces during Hajj and Umra, and during namaaz (prayers), we should not assume it’s okay to go around with our faces uncovered during other times. After all, there are special rules to be followed during these special times which we don’t follow either, such as the wearing of ihram or the abstention from sexual intercourse. And, anyway, it is not prohibited to cover your face with an unsewn cloth during Hajj, only a sewn one, according to the pamphlet, which quotes a hadith from Bibi Ayesha: "Men on camels used to pass by us while we were with the Prophet SAW in the state of ihram. We would cover our faces with our jilbabs when they passed by us and then uncover them again." Whether a cloth has stitches in it or not may push something from the realm of the haraam to the realm of the halaal, but I think God is wise enough to know best.

"[How could Sharia]... command the covering of the head and bosom, the lowering of certain gazes, and a dignified walk… allow the face to remain uncovered?" But if this is so, what about the instructions to a man that when he is choosing a wife, he can look at her face and hands because this is where the main markers of character and personality lie? The pamphlet addresses this directly, stating that only a man who is going to marry can see his fiancee - and at no other time can a man see a woman without her face-covering. This is news to me, and if anyone can come up with a Hadith or verse to support it, I’d really like to know about it.

In reference to the wives of the Prophet, the pamphlet states that because they were given strict codes of behavior (not being allowed to see any non-mahrem man), "if these pious ladies have been ordered thus, where should we place ourselves?" However, it is well known that the wives of the Prophet had special status and were not allowed to marry after the Prophet himself had died. Are we to apply every injunction given specifically to them to ourselves as well, and is that not the least bit presumptuous on our parts?

The pamphlet ends (and begins) with the observation that certain things have been hidden because they are precious, including pomegranate seeds, pearls (hence the title), coconut, and the women of Jannat, the hoors with "wide and beautiful eyes, delicate and pure as if they were hidden eggs well preserved". The assertion is that women should consider themselves the same as pomegranate seeds, eggs, oysters, diamonds, and the ladies of the Afterlife, which is a bit galling, as most women probably want to be regarded as human beings as opposed to objects that need hiding within shells and skins.

I am, again, totally neutral when it comes to women wanting to cover themselves or not. It’s called freedom of choice and I think it’s one of the most important issues in the world that women have the right to exercise it. So convince us all you like, write thousands of pamphlets, go to town. Protest against Chirac’s government, because not allowing women to wear veils is as fascist a decision as forcing them to wear them.

But please, use intelligent arguments, don’t twist words around, don’t try to fool women with rhetoric, alternative translations, and alternative interpretations. If a woman is convinced to wear hijab through a compelling argument, fair play to you. If she is convinced through fear, emotional or psychological blackmailing, or the belief that she will somehow assume superiority and honor, or be guaranteed safety forever while wearing the face-veil, while her sisters elsewhere are being burned with acid, kidnapped, honor-killed, starved, beaten, sold into prostitution, disenfranchised because they didn’t, then there can be no respect for your argument in that case, and don’t expect too many women to support your cause.