The Muslim Students’ Association hands out head scarves at Sidney Smith on Monday. The annual Pink Hijab Day aims to sensitize people to hijabs and raise awareness for breast cancer.
In Arabic, the word hijab refers to modesty in everyday life. What is commonly called a hijab—the scarf that covers the hair and neck—is in fact called a khimar. Head-covering practices in relation to hijab vary for Muslim women. Some wear just the hijab, while others wear the niqab, which covers the whole face save the eyes. Still others wear a burka, which covers the eyes as well. Whether head coverings are necessary or appropriate has generated wide-ranging debates both within Muslim communities and among the general public.
At the Sidney Smith lobby Monday afternoon, the Muslim Students’ Association gave away pink head scarves as part of Pink Hijab Day. The event’s goals were two-fold: it aimed to promote breast cancer awareness and support, as well as promoting better understanding of the hijab.
Pink Hijab Day took place two weeks after the Muslim Canadian Congress called on the federal government to ban the niqab and burka altogether. The full covering is not a “central pillar of Islam” but rather a “medieval misogynist practice,” Farzana Shahid-Hassan, the MCC’s communications director, told the Mississauga News. Her comments point to a key criticism against the hijab.
Opponents of head coverings say they are inherently oppressive, sexist, and archaic, and argue that many women are not given the free choice to wear or not to wear. Another critique holds that women who do choose to wear the hijab do so for political reasons. Shahid-Hassan called burkas “political symbols of Saudi Arabia–inspired Islamic extremism.”
In 2004, the French government banned religious apparel, including Sikh turbans and large crosses, in public schools, but the ban on all forms of Muslim head scarves attracted the most attention.
“The problem of the burqa is not a religious problem,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy. “It is a problem of liberty and the dignity of women. It is a sign of servitude and degradation.”
These criticisms have met with strong resistance, in part from Muslim women who say the choice of wearing a head covering is liberating.
Alaa Al-Sayed, a spokesperson for the Islamic Society of North America, said that it is a woman’s choice to wear the burka. “They’re actually insulting the intelligence of women who wear the burka or the niqab by telling them they’re being oppressed,” Al-Sayed told the Mississauga News.
Sharifa Khan, a Master’s student and one of the organizers of Pink Hijab Day, said she wears a hijab for personal reasons. “I do live in this world, but I live within certain guidelines, and hijab is just one of those which helps you get closer to God,” Khan said. “Guys factor in, but it’s not that great.”
In recent interviews, three students tell The Varsity what they think of head coverings.
Idil Burale is in her fourth year, doing a double major in political science and diaspora and transnational studies.
The Varsity: Why do you choose not to wear a hijab?
IB: I think you have to be at a certain point in moral development to don hijab and it comes with great responsibility. […] If you want to wear it, you have to be serious. My concern is feeling like I will lose my sense of self—I can’t be as funny anymore, or as loud. But that’s not the act of wearing a hijab, I just equate wearing a hijab with being perfect. But the more I hear about these controversies, I sometimes do get angry enough that I want to wear it for political reasons.
TV: What do you think of France’s ban on religious apparel in public schools?
IB: With that case, they had 200-some women who came up and said we’re being harassed, so they did that to protect women. It’s not to deny that some women are forced into wearing it, but the exception should not be the rule. The government should find ways to intervene, and if it’s happening in the schools, then do better work in the schools. To take the choice [to cover up] away from them is to undermine them. It’s a very lazy solution.
TV: How do you respond to the argument that wearing a head covering assumes that men automatically see women sexually, and that it’s the women’s responsibility to fend this off?
IB: I think covering up is empowering. It’s a big “fuck you” to society and to the media that sells us this inconceivable notion of what beauty should look like. It’s like the most feminist thing a woman could do. That’s why I’m confused when feminists go against this. We live in an over-sexualized world. At the end of the day, if we want to save girls we should be focusing on the ones who are slaves to the media.
TV: Is that why you think women wear it?
IB: It depends. I know a lot of girls who wear it because it’s a “screw you, I’m not going to be objectified by you.” And their parents will tell them, “Take it off, we brought you to this country, you’re free to do whatever you want, why are you wearing this thing that makes you look so backwards?” And they’re like “No, I’m empowered in it.”
Hanan Kulmiye is in her fourth year, with a major in bioethics and a double minor in physiology and biology.
The Varsity: Was it your choice to wear khimar? Do you think it is a choice for everyone?
HK: It’s a family-to-family thing. As a mechanism of control, some people will just use whatever, whether it’s a hijab or a curfew or whatever. In my family my mum was a big advocate of individualism and autonomy, and we believe God is all-knowing so what is in your heart is known to him. […] To enforce it or pressure someone to do things is going against the complete idea. You can’t tell someone to be true to themselves and not know what they’re doing.
TV: What is your response to the MCC’s call to ban the burka?
HK: From my own research, they have their own opinions on Islam. Did we choose? Did we vote for these people to represent us? No, we didn’t. Most importantly, every individual is free to choose how we should live our lives, and who are they to dictate in the name of liberation?
TV: How have things changed for you since wearing the khimar?
HK: It’s like a reminder that when you’re dressed modestly—not just khimar but covered up in general—it stops you from things that you wouldn’t want to engage in. Everyone assumes you are the nun who came from the nunnery, and even Muslims who are choosing not to be religious will see you wearing the hijab and think you’re super-religious, easily offended, not a person anymore.
But at the same time, I feel like I get more respect when I’m wearing the hijab at U of T or at work, because they see me walking and they know my views are probably different from theirs, and they want to know what I’m thinking.
Sharifa Khan is in the first year of her Master’s in political science, after getting her undergrad degree at U of T.
The Varsity: What are your thoughts on the MCC’s call to ban the burka?
SK: I think it’s absolutely ridiculous, and even if I don’t agree with it from a theological perspective, I support 100 per cent any Muslim woman’s decision. The assumption is these women cover their faces and they do not want to be a part of society, but the fact is you see them in society. The MCC doesn’t have much traction within the society I travel in.
TV: How would you react to a rule that bans the hijab?
SK: There’s no way I’m taking off the hijab, God willing. If you profess liberalism, the idea that “it’s okay, I know what’s better for them”—I think that’s a really patronizing and very superficial understanding.
TV: How do you respond to the argument that wearing a head covering assumes that men automatically see women sexually, and that it’s the women’s responsibility to fend this off?
SK: The idea is that I have control of my body, and I’m the one who’s regulating it, I’m the one who gets to say who sees what. There’s this very well-known phrase, “lower your gaze”—it’s incumbent upon men to act in this way as well, and not to view women as sexual objects. Within Islam, women are not seen as asexual, but it’s confined within the marriage. Islam is not a life of celibacy, but it contains that expression between a husband and wife, and that’s the difference.
TV: Is it possible that there are instances where it’s not the woman’s choice to wear a hijab or burka? How can we tell if it’s up to the woman or not?
SK: Oh it’s definitely possible, I don’t think anyone can deny that. But are you going to go up to every Muslim woman wearing the hijab or niqab and ask them? By virtue of doing that you are making that assumption. There are many problems in our society, it’s not just Muslim women. If you are going to do that, don’t discriminate, go to all women. Educate yourself, and if you still decide that you want to make it your mission to save Muslim women, that would be interesting.
TV: What can you do to fight this generalization?
SK: From what I say, how I act, what I do, people should know who I am. If people seeing all that say I’m oppressed, I would challenge it. When I talk to people, there’s a religious responsibility as well, because within Islam there’s a huge emphasis on engaging in dialogue. People have certain ideas, and even if you can’t change their views, it’s important to speak up.
