THE ISLAMIC VEIL AS SYMBOL OF MODERNITY

20th c Egyptian Feminists: Huda Shaarawi and Saiza Nabrawavi

In the 1920s, Huda and Saiza historically unveiled and set into motion the end of the harem system in Egypt

Here, they are pictured at the 1923 World Feminist Conference in Rome, when they would soon spread the new style of unveillng back home.

Turkey in the 1920s

Ataturk, founder and first President of the modern Turkish Republic

From 1925 onward in Turkey, Ataturk undertook a program of modernization. This included:

new educational curriculum

economic and legal reforms

the legal equality of the sexes, including in inheritance and marriage

changing the Turkish script from Persian to Roman

Modern Dress in Ataturk’s Turkey

Official measures were gradually introduced to eliminate the wearing of religious clothing and other overt signs of religious affiliation. Beginning in 1923, a series of laws progressively limited the wearing of selected items of traditional clothing. 

The Hat Law of 1925 introduced the use of Western style hats instead of the fez.

Legislation did not explicitly prohibit veils or headscarves and focused instead on banning fezzes and turbans for men.

The 'Prohibited Garments’ law banned religion-based clothing, such as the veil and turban, while actively promoting western-style attire.

Turkish Script: Before and

After

Iran in the 1930s

In Iran in 1936, Reza Shah banned the veil, linking his policy of unveiling to modernizing reforms in Turkey.

This was compulsory and led to extreme controversy. Unveiling was a major religious offense and an emotional challenge to many women who are not ready or willing to appear in public unveiled. As a result, many women stopped leaving their homes.

Reza Shah ordered veiled women barred from theatres, offices, and restaurants.

Unintended consequences were the seclusion of religious women in their homes and preclusion of girls from religious families from education.

When again the veil was made permissible under the reign of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi (in 1941), wearing the veil became a prominent symbol of resistance against the political and Western values of the monarchy.

Iran in the 1950s, 60s &70s

Afghanistan in the 1950s, 60s, & 70s

“Since the late 1970s, the phenomenon that is often called ‘the Islamic resurgence’ has had a profound impact on religion, politics, and society throughout the Islamic world and beyond. One of the most conspicuous symbols of this powerful and resilient movement is the style of women’s clothing that is frequently called, in a verbal shorthand, ‘the veil’.”

Suzanne Brenner on the rise of the veil in Indonesia:

Leila Ahmed on the Veil’s Resurgence

Leila Ahmed writes about the emergence of the veil in the 1990s as a far-reaching symbol of religious practice among Muslim women, a practice considered unimportant for Islamic piety in Egypt in the 1940s.

(Leila Ahmed, A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America, Yale, 2011.)

Resurgence of the Veil

Why do some Islamic women veil?

Why have many Islamic women who never previously veil started to veil now?

What age group is starting to veil and why?

“The Islam I had entered, and the growing ideology among Muslims at the time, constituted a major shift away from religion as a private affair to include religion as a public act."

Zain Abdullah on Islam in America in the 1970s:

Modern Indonesia, the Veil, and Arabic Culture

http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_indonesia.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20120321142305/http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/2007/08/flds-women-and-their-dresses.html http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/hijab-street-style http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/08/05/street-style-hijab-personal-flavors-faith.html 

Hijab Street Style