The veils of modesty in debate

Author

Editor at LJRFvoice.com & Member of LJRF Trivandrum chapter

It’s been more than three weeks since at least six students of Govt. Women’s PU College barred from entering the classroom at Udupi in Karnataka for wearing hijabs. The teacher warned that if they didn’t leave, she would push them out of the classroom. It is not just a single case, but reported in Chikkamangulur, in Govt. University College Mangalore etc…A similar case took place in Nigeria, where Firdous Amasa, a Muslim law graduate, was forced to remove her hijab by officials of the Council of Legal Education and the Law School during the last call-to-bar exercise. Also, recently, the Kerala High Court rejected a Student Police Cadet’s plea seeking to be attired in full sleeves and a headscarf (hijab) for the student police uniform on the grounds that it may affect the secularism of the country. The world is under constant debate on wearing religious identities, especially Islamic symbols. Recently, students wearing saffron shawls in colleges have asked to let them into the classrooms, if hijabs are allowed in the same. Where does it all point the fingers? Is it all about secularism? Are Muslims targeted? Is it the women at large in agony? Are mandatory uniforms, denying any kind of religious symbols, in educational institutions, constitutional?

Facts Unveiled

When such an issue is in debate, as Dean Roscoe Pound of the Harvard Law School writes- “jurisprudence, ethics, economics, politics, and sociology are distinct enough at the core, but shade out into each other,”, it is essential to look into the factual, historical, political, social, and economic aspects of the issue in detail.
The most ancient evidence of veil come from a 13th century BCE Assyrian text that requires women of defined status to wear veils to avoid being publicly available and as a protection from any gaze from men. The same text prohibits slave women and prostitutes from wearing the veils. Since then, there has been a structural hierarchy of veil usage. Jews wore it, as evident from the Bible, but its usage became common during the early Middle-ages. Later, this spread to Christianity through its Apostles, encouraging it. Christian nuns were given veils as a symbol of marriage to Christ or as a sign of chastity. After the Islamic conquests of the Eastern Byzantine empire and the domains of the Sassanian empire in the early 7th century, the fact that non-Muslim women covered their hair and remained at home got spread among the preachers; also, that even the Prophet’s wife wore it, motivated even the women to wear the veils in different forms. The emphasis on Muslim women’s religious outfits is explicitly based on the Qur’an and Hadith (precepts of the Prophet as inspired and suggested by God) based interpretations.
Verses 31 of Chapter 24, ‘The Light’ of Quran says-“and tell the believing women to restrain their looks, and to guard their privates, and not display their beauty except what is apparent thereof, and to draw their coverings over their breasts, and not expose their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women, what their right hands possess, their male attendants who have no sexual desires, or children who are not yet aware of the nakedness of women. And they should not strike their feet to draw attention to their hidden beauty”.
Verses 59 of Chapter 33-“ O Prophet! Tell your wives, and your daughters, and the women of the believers, to lengthen their garments. That is more proper, so they will be recognized and not harassed. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
And for another set of women, under the verse 60 of the same chapter- “Women past the age of childbearing, who have no desire for marriage, commit no wrong by taking off their outer clothing, provided they do not flaunt their finery. But to maintain modesty is better for them. Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
This kind of guidelines are also framed for the men too in the versus 30 of chapter 24. There are various types of veils used by women in Islamic community. Some of them are khemar-covers head, neck, shoulders; burqa- covers the entire body with a grill for eyes; niqab- covers entire body with eyes open; jilbab- long loose rob covering head and body ; chador- covers full body and the hair except the face; and finally, the hijab that covers the hair, ears and neck. ‘Hijab’ is an Arabic word which means barrier/ partition.

Changing Perspectives

But later, in modern times, the Europeans considered the veils as a separating factor from the West that suppressed the dreams and aspirations of Islamic women. Thus began the discussion regarding the status of women in the light of Islamic veils, greatly criticizing the patriarchal nature of Muslim rituals, prayers, and lifestyles. But, later in 1979, the Islamic Revolution in Iran largely patronized the Islamic culture and lifestyle. There was this implicit politicization of Muslim culture; it encouraged Muslim women to wear veils and abide by its guidelines.
Debates regarding the condition of women in the Muslim religion entered the forefront and led to restrictions on wearing veils in different parts of the world. The recent timeline on its ban dates back to 2003 when Germany allowed states to pass laws to ban veils on teachers. In 2010, Belgium voted to ban such face coverings, but France became the first country to outlaw the full-face veils in 2011. Belgium abolished it three months later. The pro-Islamic political movement was resurrected after the 9/11 attacks, when there was a misunderstanding of stereotyping Muslims as a dangerous minority. It, now become a necessity for Muslims to establish their identity through their posterity. An existential crisis for their voices !
Also, the European Court of Human Rights upholds the French ban. In 2015, the Dutch government imposed a partial ban on such face covers. But the UK ruled out any public ban but extended its support to institutions that imposed it. In the same year, Egypt’s Cairo University banned professors from wearing the niqab to enable professors to communicate easily with students. Later, the Egyptian government drafted a Bill to ban the burka in public places and government institutions. In 2016, when French municipalities restricted burkini swimwear, the French government agreed to it in August, the same year. A partial ban was imposed on burqa and niqab in Germany in 2016 by the then chancellor,Angela Merkel. Austria joined this movement in 2017,agreeing to prohibit full face veils in courts and schools. Lately in 2018, the Danish Parliament banned garments that cover the face, thus, the niqabs and burqa fell into the criteria. After the Easter attacks, Sri Lanka banned veils on emergency condition.

Indian Laws

India is a country of diverse religions and cultures. The founding fathers engineered a Constitution that guarantees tolerance to all the sects. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution declares India as a secular nation; it means that India neither recognizes any particular religion as the national religion, gives any privileges to a certain religion, nor discriminates any religion. This implicit declaration is later explained in Part III, i.e., Fundamental Fights; Article 25(1) that ensures all persons get the freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice, and propagate any religion of their choice. Also, Article 29(1) provides right to conserve any distinct language, script, or culture to any section of the citizen residing in India or any part thereof. Article 29(2) states that “no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution which is administered by the state or has been established under any endowment or trust which required that religious instruction shall be imparted in such institution.”
Other statutes like the Indian Penal Code, under Section 295-A, classify any deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting their religion or religious beliefs into a cognizable, bailable, non compoundable offense and penalises it for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both. Section 298 punishes anyone uttering words etc., with deliberate intent of wounding the religious feelings of any person for a term extending to one year, or with fine, or with both. Therefore, disallowing students from attending lectures and entering classes, even from State owned Colleges, becomes illegal, unconstitutional, and an unjustified mistake.

International Involvements

Since religion and its manifestations have always been a matter of concern, international groups have set up guidelines on this factor. According to UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) one of the first attempts by the international community to recognize human rights. Article 18 of UDHR declares that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. Also, by Article 27, UDHR wants education to be a right and education have to promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among nations, racial or religious groups, furthering the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. But it’s quite fatal that the same institution that provides the same is the stage for all kinds of atrocities nowadays, from restricting religious fabrics like hijabs to ragging or abusing based on religion or caste.
Article 18 of the ICCPR (International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights) also upholds the UDHR and also freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief may be subject only to limitations as prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. This provides an escape clause for countries or governments to ban such manifestations like hijab in the name of protection of women’s rights or public safety. Article 1 to 3 of the UNDRM (United Nations Declaration of Religious Minority ) also includes any religious minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion in private and public without any interference or any form of discrimination. Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) exhorts to avoid any discrimination based on gender in political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. But the real question is how a cloth piece causes such irritation. Why is this fabric a symbol of one’s intensity of faith? There is a lot more expected outcomes from such international institutions, but the oppression is established when they are denied the right to portray their identity as a Muslim. By habit or by faith, is not the issue. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, who has been working for the education of Pakistani Muslim girls, said, “wearing a headscarf does not mean she is voiceless or oppressed. It’s a cultural symbol for us Pashtuns, so it represents where I come from, also I want to tell everyone that you can have your own voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture.” Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani human rights lawyer and social activist who co-founded and chaired the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, stressed the importance of safeguarding both the positive freedom to voluntarily display religious symbols and also the negative freedom from being forced to display religious symbols. In this context, she noted that “special attention should be paid to the protection of women’s rights, in particular in the context of wearing the full head-to-toe veil.” These words are quite impressive and powerful in today’s society.

Judicial activism

In the 2017, European Court of Justice ruled employers can ban their staff from wearing visible religious symbols like hijabs; but customers cannot simply demand to take it off if the employers do not have such a policy of ban. In Onyinyeka M. Enoch v Mary U. Akobi, the court held that the school’s regulation relating to keeping the hair short is “not only reasonable, but accords with proper and basic discipline in a model educational institution”. In Ilorin High Court in Bashirat Saliu and Ors. v The Provost. Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin and Ors, the Nigerian court held that- “a matriculation oath is not “a blank cheque signed by the students in favor of the college allowing it to withdraw as many rights of the students as the college fancy under the excuse that such rights have been waived”.

Kerala High Court rightly observed that the right to wear religious headdress would be covered by Article 25 in a petition challenging AIIMS’ dress code. The court upheld the earlier ruling in Amna Bint Basheer v CBSE & UOI which had ruled that the dress code prohibiting headdress would not be enforced against individuals who were required to wear the dress as part of their faith and that this was a right protected under Article 25. But Supreme Court while discussing similar petitions have upheld such bans and ruled that such bans do not violate the right to freedom of religion. The court even termed the insistence on wearing the headdress during the exam as an ego issue.

Thus, the situations regarding religious freedom of manifestation may differ. To give each child a level playing field, and train him or her to be disciplined, educational institutions may impose uniforms. There has been a liberal attitude toward the Cross, hijabs or sacred threads in those places. But when it comes to competitive exams, there will be restrictions to avoid any kind of malpractice. To cultivate a secular and unifying mind, defense forces rarely encourage such religious outfits. And for ordinary people, the faith and the habit of wearing have together shaped the minds of Muslim women to abide by the religious rules. In families where this guidance is not much forced, the girl child may or may not use them in future. Therefore, the voluntary usage of veils by women cannot be restricted unless there is a pitfall otherwise.

Economy

There was a $277 million clothing consumption by 1.9 million Muslims in 2020 which is expected to rise to $311 billion in 2024, according to the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report. Also, with the 2019 reports from Lyst’s Year in Fashion the internet searches for modest fashion increased by 90%. Modest sportswear is in high demand; various international companies like Speedo, Nike, Zusaura, Haute Hijab have launched modest swimwear, hijabs etc… There are many unorganized sector selling burqas and hijabs exclusively in different parts of the globe. There is rapid growth in modest fashion economy through innovations in such clothing. Hijab brand DUCK collaborated with Disney for its Frozen 2 hijab collection, products selling out online an hour after it went live. When the digital era cultivates the culture of wearing different fashions of them, the general public also expects women to be so. Thus the hijab, now become more than just a religious statement.

Conclusion

Analyzing all the factors, it is unfaithful to force women, who don’t want to wear it, for the sake of wearing so that political motivations are met. Also, it is unethical to simply ban or restrict wearing of such veils for unreasonable agendas. As the prominent Indian philosopher and secularist Swami Vivekananda exhorts, “religion as it is generally taught all over the world, is said to be based on faith and belief, and in most cases consists only of different sects of theories, that is the reason why we find all religions quarreling with each other.” Therefore, it is better not to interrupt others’ rights to wear or not to, or right to dream and aspire; but hold hands to grow together. Let’s end all the dilemmas of religion with the famous lines of Michael Jackson,… ”heal the world, make this world a better place to live, for you and me, and the entire human race….”

End Note

Citations

1. 1. Burqa bans, headscarves and veils: a timeline of legislation in the west- The Guardian
2. 2. Hijab Of Women in Islamic Civilization History, Zohreh Sadatmoosavi, Mohamad Ali Shokouhi* World Congress for Islamic History and Civilization, WOCIHAC 2011
3. 3. Jurisprudence and Legal Theory by V.D.Mahajan (5th edition)
4. 4. Quran English Translation by Talal Itani, Published by ClearQuran Dallas, Beirut.
5. 5. ‘The Hijab in Educational Institutions and Human Rights: Perspectives from Nigeria and Beyond’ an article published in Research gate by Abdulmumini Oba, Ilorini University, Nigeria
6. 6. State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020-2021. Published by Dinar Standard
7. 7. United Nations Declaration on Human Rights
8. 8. The United Nations Declaration of Religious Minorities
9. 9. International Convention on Civil & Political Rights.