Behind those Veils

Image Source: Flickr (Montse PB) CC by 2.0

Recently, the world media has been thrown into deep debates due to a single piece of cloth used to cover the head, face and body of a woman. Commonly named as niqab or burka, these ‘veils’ are widely associated with Islam. Though mostly associated with Islam, veils however have a history dating back to Greek civilization where it was used by women and called as kalyptra. There are three kinds of veils in use in Islam, namely:

• Hijab: It’s a dress covering all the parts of a woman’s body except the face.
• Niqab: It’s a dress covering all the parts of a woman’s body, including the face but leaving the eyes visible.
• Burka: Though uncommon but largely used in countries like Afghanistan, this is the dress covering the whole body of a woman, including the face and the eyes, leaving a mesh for the eyes to see through them. However no peripheral vision is there.

Anyway, enough with history and stuff – I might write about its history in some other post in another time. Not now though. I want you to decide if it’s acceptable or not acceptable and enlighten me in the comments after the post. For the sake of ease and understanding, I’ll be calling both niqab and burka as ‘burka’ in this post from now on.

Recently, France has banned this practice of covering faces in its public schools and places, mainly because it is a barrier against a woman’s identity. Following in France’s footsteps, Belgium did the same. With other trend-followers, burka has been put into jeopardy in modern era. Is it for the better or worse? You decide.

Not long ago, Dr. Taj Hargey, a Muslim Imam of Oxford Islamic Congregation and Director of Muslim Education Centre of Oxford launched a nationwide campaign to put a ban on burka in Britain. Apart from that, in 1899, and Egyptian scholar Qasim Amin published his book ‘The Liberation of Women’ in which he argued that face veil (or burka) should be abolished. I understand that non-Muslims have many many reasons for opposing burka but what might be the reason of this Muslim to go against something of his own religion? Maybe the answer lies in the explanation that burka is not a part of Islam but a part of culture.

So far as my little research on burka goes, I realized that even in the times of (as someone would say) true Islam, the complete covering of face was not practiced. Burka or niqab was limited to the covering of head and the whole body, except the face. True Islam gave the rightful identities to its women but as the time proceeded, and culture was molded according to needs, the covering of head soon changed into the covering of face as well and thus the whole identity of Muslim women was put behind a barrier.

A Qur’anic Verse:

I came across a Qur’anic verse a few days ago while surfing through the net. I checked its authenticity and turns out it’s authentic. The author, Chris Moore, puts forward an interesting fact. Let’s have a look at the verse first:

[24:31] And tell the believing women to subdue their eyes, and maintain their chastity. They shall not reveal any parts of their bodies, except that which is apparent. They shall cover their chests with their ‘Khimaar’.

So, the author explains the word ‘Khimaar’ in the above verse. It’s better if I quote him:

Most of the translators, obviously influenced by the hadith translate the word as VEIL and thus mislead people into believing that this verse is advocating the covering of the head and hair, some even go to the extent of claiming that 24:31 implies the covering of the face!
But the truth is that the word khimaar simply means a cover, any cover is called khimaar in Arabic.

No Burka at Kaaba:

It might be interesting to know that at the Muslims’ pilgrimage, or commonly called Hajj, the Muslim women are not allowed to cover their faces. They are obligated to cover all the parts of their bodies, but not the face. How come?

So, my research tells me that Islam commands the women to cover their heads and bodies but there is no reference to the covering of face. Therefore, hijab might be a logical and better way for Muslim women rather than a burka or niqab. Anyone might infer that covering of faces is not a free choice for women, but a forced one.

What is your opinion?