Morocco: Hijab as a Choice
Much has been said about “the veil,” or hijab. Perhaps too much – mention it, and suddenly everyone – Muslim or not – is an expert. While in the West, hijab is often used to simply refer to the headscarf (veil), a more correct definition is any Islamically mandated dress for either gender, which for women includes, but is not limited to, covering the hair.
In Morocco, hijab is certainly a choice. Young and old alike don the headscarf, and in big cities, seeing it is as common as not seeing it. Although in rural areas it is more prevalent, all women have (legal) freedom of choice whether or not to wear it. Everything Morocco explains Moroccan dress accurately:
Veiling in Morocco is not a law, but a choice. Some women may wear it in submission to their husbands, but many women wear it as a sign of faith in and respect for the Islamic code. On the street, veiled women walk openly with their unveiled sisters and friends. Women in the same family may or may not choose to veil and it's nobody else's concern. Older women still wear the full veil, revealing only their eyes. I have even seen the occasional burqa like the Afghan women wear.
No doubt part of the choice to wear hijab is conformity to traditional customs and social rules, but even that is not necessarily so strong it prevents a woman's choice. It is much the same as when a Western woman didn't leave the house without a hat, coat and gloves. I remember when I lived in Nurnberg and a woman did not go into the city in pants or shorts. If you were inappropriately dressed, the sales clerks in the stores wouldn't even wait on you. So, most Moroccan women won't leave the house without putting on their djellaba and a scarf over their hair.
Two elderly Moroccan women tie their scarves under their chins
Another excellent article, from the Washingtonpost.com, has Pamela Windo sharing her experience with hijab in Morocco:
Although [the scarves] are made of colorful fabrics with pretty clips at the back, what most struck me was the blatant dichotomy between the hijab and their other clothes. While a few women wear it with a subdued djellaba, and others with their everyday modern suits, skirts and coats, a startling number of young Moroccan women combine the hijab with figure-revealing blue or black jeans, elaborate glittering belts, modern sexy tops and designer sunglasses. Equally striking is the glossy-magazine-style make-up, heavy on the lipstick and black kohl eye-liner.
Traveling Mama offers a slightly humorous perspective in a post entitled “Advice for Grandma”:
There is a wide variety of interpretations of “modest” dress, but one rule that most women follow here is that the *ahem* buttocks must be covered. Many of the local women choose to do that with a jilaba, but there are others such as the woman crossing the street in the picture above who choose to simply wear a long shirt or jacket. You would also want to avoid anything particularly low cut, revealing or sleeveless.
The subject of hijab has apparently become so important among foreigners as to prompt a discussion on the subject at a Fez cafe, reports The View from Fez. The discussion, entitled The Role of the Hijab, takes place on March 7 at Cafe Clock, and is presented by Subul Assalam Centre.
For more on the subject of hijab, read Abdurahman Warsame's recent article, “Somalia: Can a hijab-wearing blogger get a respectable job in the US?”
Creative Commons-licensed photo by koffiemetkoek.
17 comments
I agree with R.S. Hersh. Remember even today, most people aren’t using suncreen. In southern Morocco (formerly Western Sahara) you see a different style of dress which is a complete wraparound of very fine gauze even covering most of the face. It suits the weather there perfectly, as there is always very finely blowing sand, which is kept out by the thin gauzy fabric. But of course, practicality is not the ONLY reason. Cultural and modesty reasons are paramount, even in men’s dress codes throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East (and probably most of the world).
Madame Monet
Madame Monet:
You may not discriminate yourself, but you certainly condone discrimination. While I tried to show the foolishness of judging a book by its cover, you’re adamant that this is a sound state of affairs, extending your reasoning to bearded men. For my part, I consider wearing the hijab or not wearing the hijab morally equivalent, in so far as I wouldn’t judge a person’s worth as an employee on his/her headgear or beard.
The hijab, “in your face”? Certainly from a French viewpoint, where there is furthermore a long – colonial and post-colonial -story of discrimination against Muslims and a different legal setting than the rest of Europe (not to mention Morocco). But I would submit that any type of clothing, or lack thereof, can be in your face, that most Moroccans living in Morocco would not normally find the hijab particularly “in your face”, and that Moroccans by the way are not there simply for the benefit of tourists, who incidentally travel to Morocco not really expecting to find Las Vegas or Soho (well, at least the decent tourists…).
As for Marjane, not employing hijab-wearing women would reflect more on the prejudices of its management than on any real displeasure from its clientèle. As you may know, there’s a widening gap between the Westernised francophone bourgeoisie and the rest of the country, with the former very much adopting French views and manners.
Finally, I would again stress that if one adopts a neutral point of view, stripped of ideology, wearing or not wearing the hijab should be viewed as a personal choice. There are of course limits – you wouldn’t expect a barmaid, a swimming instructor or a go-go dancer to appear with a hijab – and wearing a hijab or not doesn’t absolve you from your duties as an employee, but basically, the choice should be made by women themselves. Imposing an intruding dresscode topdown merely mirrors what Islamic régimes in Iran or Saudi Arabia do…
Ibn Kafka:
Of course you are absolutely right that any type of clothing can be “in your face.” I have been very shocked by much of the Western dress I have seen some Moroccan wearing which would be scandalous in the United States.
My only conclusion is that some Moroccans are trying to show that they are “modern,” but are using French tourists’ beach and TV attire to decide what is appropriate dress to go about town, or to work, in!
I think smart people don’t dress as much for THEMSELVES as they LOOK AROUND AT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE WEARING, AND TRY TO FIT IN. One should dress in order to make others feel COMFORTABLE, NOT “IN YOUR FACE” in ANY form of dress.
Regarding the Hijab and beard, it is not the items themselves PER SE that are “in your face.” It is the WAY THEY ARE WORN that I’m referring to. There are plenty of women in hijab that are dressing appropriately and not “in your face,” but some of those women are being told by the women who are extreme in their dress that they are not being “conservative enough.”
One Moroccan woman I know went to the mosque, and told me she was perfectly appropriately dressed. A woman next to her, who was in black from head to toe, proceeded to criticize her in whispers, telling her she must wear gloves, black socks, etc. My former maid was really into Islamic dress, and had friends who told her she wasn’t conservative enough, and said she had to wear an extra hair band over the forehead, just to keep one wisp of hair from sticking out, for example. The traditional Moroccan dress is a “normal” way of looking in Morocco. All this black stuff from head-to-toe that is coming in from the Gulf countries is really “in your face” as far as I am concerned.
I’d be curious to know what you think about this.
Madame Monet
The element of free choice in wearing any sort of modesty clothing has two elements: freedom to put it on AND freedom to take it off. Only when both are allowed is there free choice.
Remember what the great Arab poet, Khalil Gibran said about modesty in clothing:
“Some of you say, “It is the north wind who has woven the clothes to wear.”
But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread.
And when his work was done he laughed in the forest.
Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.
And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?”
Madame Monet: well, then we are agreed on the fact that irrespective of whether your hair is covered or not, your attitude and general demeanour may vary, depending on your personality, ideas and opinion. Which underlines the folly of discriminating simply on account of what kind of headgear you wear.
As for the niqab, I must confess that there goes my limit…