Meanings of modesty and thehijabamongst Muslim women in Glasgow, Scotland

Abstract

Based on interviews with 30 Muslim women in Glasgow, Scotland, the study explores the meanings that the women attach to modesty and the hijab. Fifteen of the 30 participants wear the hijab. The article begins with an overview of the debate between traditional Muslim scholars and Muslim feminists about whether the hijab is an Islamic obligation. It illuminates the significance of space, as veiling practices are deeply enmeshed and embedded in the spatial practices shaped by the local Scottish context. The findings and analysis reveal differences as well as similarities between wearers and non-wearers of the hijab. While the former regard the hijab as an embodiment of modesty, virtue and respect, the latter consider it an unnecessary piece of clothing. However, despite their contrasting views on veiling, both groups of participants hold remarkably similar views on the importance of female modesty.

Muḥajababes. Meet the new fashionable, attractive and extrovert Muslim woman. A study of the ḥijābpractice among individualized young Muslim women in Denmark

“…In fact, Islam permits the Muslim to be well groomed and neat, be careful about his/her appearance, and enjoy what God has created for the purpose of clothing and adornment, yet forbids arrogance and vanity ( Bonner 2013, Hsu 2013. Dressing modestly and decently, maintaining your dignity, having a pleasant appearance, avoiding waste in clothing and other consumption are sometimes conflicting requirements that, according to some scholars (see Sandikci & Ger 2005, Mossiére 2011, Siraj 2011and Tarlo 2010, lead to different interpretations of proper dress. It also makes the head covering, along with the proper dress, far from a monolithic practice.…”

“…However, disregarding the fact that proper and modest dress rules are open to a wide range of interpretations, there is a consensus among Muslim scholars and intellectuals that the muḥajabah is instructed not to wear anything that makes her appear attractive, sexy and seductive. Furthermore, theologians stress that the practice of the ḥijāb is an extensive one that not only tells the woman how she should dress, but it also instructs her in how to behave (see Sandikci & Ger 2005, Mossiére 2011, Siraj 2011and Tarlo 2010.…”

Ways of Seeing: Sexism the Forgotten Prejudice?

“…Dwyer 1999;Siraj 2011;McGinty 2013). Muslim women are usually portrayed as undifferentiated lacking agency and as victims of what is perceived as a patriarchal and culturally backward Islam -unable to think or act for themselves (Khiabany and Williamson 2008;Meer, Dwyer, and Modood 2010;Ehrkamp 2010).…”

“…Johnson 1994Johnson , 2013, notwithstanding the blossoming of geographies of gender in Gender, Place and Culture -informed by post-structural and postcolonial theories -which have, and continue, to unpick the relational, differentiated and contested nature of 'gender' as lived and experienced (e.g. Staeheli and Nager 2002;Siraj 2011;Bailey and Shabazz 2013).…”

Attitudes of Professional Muslim Women in Saudi Arabia regarding Wearing the Abaya

“…Relatively little research has explored its popularity among Muslim women, in terms of fashionability. Most studies have concentrated on Muslim women living in western or liberal Arab contexts, used small participant groups, and used a paradigm of tension between adornment and modesty (Zine, 2006;Sobh et al, 2008;Al-Qasimi, 2010;Siraj, 2011). This article uses Appraisal analysis to explore what young professional Saudi woman say about the abaya, as a fashionable item of clothing.…”