http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=101724&d=26&m=10&y=2007&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Friday 26 October 2007 (15 Shawwal 1428)
Face-Veil: Mistaking Social Customs for Religious Rules
Maha Al-Hujailan, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-
Saudi women have been burdened with several social customs
imposed on them as though they were inviolable religious injunctions. Islam,
apparently, is not the only factor shaping the Saudi social life, as many
outsiders or even some within the Saudi society itself are inclined to assume.
It is closely tied to the local customs and traditions.
It has also been observed that such customs have a tighter
hold on the Saudi people than the religious values, particularly in case of
some conflict between the customs and the religious teachings. For instance,
Islam does not insist that a woman cover her face while wearing a hijab (head
cover). At the same time, women of conservative or tribal families conceal
their faces as though they are observing an indisputable religious rule. Any
one who dares to challenge the practice would be punished psychologically and
at times even physically. While Islamic law permits a man to look at a woman
when he is seeking a spouse, some Saudi families deny this right, resulting in
bizarre situations such as a bridegroom being unable to identify his bride. In
some extreme cases a husband would never be able to identify his own wife
because certain tribes do not allow women to lift their niqab (face-cover) even
in front of their husbands.
Another Saudi custom, not related to Islam, is brides
demanding fabulous sums of money as dowry, particularly if the suitor belonged
to a different tribe or region. Regional or tribal spirit pervades some
sections of Saudi society to such an extent that the major Islamic principle
that the noblest of the people are the most pious is very often ignored. The
present Saudi society regards family, wealth and position as the yardsticks to
measure the nobility of a man.
I have been a witness to how an inconvenient social practice
the face veil can become in a different social environment. A married Saudi
woman used to attend classes in an American college where I was studying. She
was fully veiled including her face, hands and feet. She was religious and well
behaved but presented a picture of depression and sadness. However, after a few
weeks she used to remove her face-veil and gloves the moment she entered the
college campus. She would not veil her face until the time her husband came to
pick her up. I believed then that wearing or not wearing a veil was a purely
personal matter. However I observed a markedly positive change in her classroom
conduct with increased participation in the academic activities after she
removed her face-veil.
I would like to point out the psychological significance of
the change in her without criticizing a cultural tradition or religious
practice.
A social custom would lose its meaning in another society
where that custom would be judged by a set of different values. After all a
people's evaluation of a custom is based on a set of social and psychological
factors that vary from culture to culture. This woman felt very comfortable
covering her face while she was in Saudi Arabia. But when she moved to a
different society, the US, she had to interact with men of different cultural
and religious values. In this new society body language plays a major role in
human communications. In US or any other society, a man or woman finds it very
difficult to communicate with a woman if her face is fully covered. This
naturally leaves a woman with face-cover in a state of depression and
isolation. The matter becomes worse for the Saudi woman when the Muslim women
from other countries appear without a face-veil. The inevitable result is that
others label Saudis as "rigid," "fundamentalist," "alien," or "barbarian."
This Saudi woman might have suffered too much stress and
tension while attending classes but would not dare discuss her difficulties
with her Saudi husband. Instead she removed the veil when her husband was away.
A Saudi woman veils her face because it is the expression of
modesty and dignified conduct in the Saudi society. In the US society where she
is studying, leaving the face uncovered is never considered an immodest act. In
the American culture, a woman wearing her skirt just below the knees is
considered more modest than the one wearing the skirt above the knees, while in
Saudi Arabia covering the face and head is considered more modest than covering
the head leaving the face unveiled.
Modesty is a relative term with varying definitions depending
on the society in which one lives. The husband of the Saudi woman did not
understand the relative meaning of the modesty but like several other Saudis
transplanted the Saudi modesty to the United States on the understanding that
face-veil is an inviolable religious stipulation. Islam is not a religion with
complex customs though some people strive it to make it a difficult one to live
with. The woman's husband did not hesitate to shave off his beard when he found
that his beard was unacceptable to some of his teachers at his college.
Ironically enough, there is a contradiction here. The Prophet, peace be upon
him, recommended wearing a beard as a virtuous act.
The husband removed it in order to win social acceptability
while he did not allow his wife to remove her face-veil though it did not
involve violating any religious rules.
This happens often at most places away from the watchful eyes
of the tribe or family. Saudi women remove their face-veil because they are
fully aware that the face-veil is only a cultural practice and not a religious
order. When they find themselves in a changed cultural situation as required by
their job, studies or some other factor, Saudi women can be seen making some
adjustments in their cultural behavior without compromising their religious
values.
- Dr. Maha Al-Hujailan is a medical researcher at King Khaled
University Hospital in Riyadh.
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