Cover Your Nakedness by Mary Kathryn Savage http://www.nd.edu/~frswrite/issues/2002-2003/Savage.

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Fall 2002 Issue

Mary Kathryn Savage

Cover Your Nakedness

As Shakespeare’s Romeo once questioned, “What’s in a name?,” so does this essay. Its intriguing title lures the
reader into an essay that questions the stereotypes of the American belief system. “Cover Your Nakedness” is
intended to challenge preconceived notions of Islamic veiling—a narrative told from behind the enigmatic hijab.
The Unit 2 assignment tests the writer in his or her ability to create a researched argument. This provides the ideal
context from which a writer may question a controversial issue, shed new light onto a cloaked mystery, or delve into
the true symbolism of foreign cultural practices. Inspired by the wish to uncover the true origin and purpose of this
masked tradition, this essay argues the American illiteracy in “reading” unfamiliar pious practices. In short, “Cover
Your Nakedness” reminds the reader that ignorance is not bliss. The ensuing exploration of Islamic tradition will
revolutionize previous notions of the hidden society of Muslim women, “swathed in their veil, locked away” (Griffin
2).

A voice from behind the shrouds of an Islamic veil exclaims: “I often wonder whether people see me as a radical,
fundamentalist Muslim terrorist packing an AK-47 assault rifle inside my jean jacket. Or maybe they see me as the
poster girl for oppressed womanhood everywhere.” In American culture where shameless public exposure,
particularly of females, epitomizes ultimate freedom, the head-to-toe covering of a Muslim woman seems inherently
oppressive. Driven by an autonomous national attitude, the inhabitants of the “land of the free” are quick to equate the
veil with indisputable persecution. Yet Muslim women reveal the enslaving hijab as a symbolic display of the Islamic
ideals—honor, modesty, and stability. Because of an unfair American assessment, the aura of hijab mystery cannot be
removed until the customs and ethics of Muslim culture are genuinely explored. It is this form of enigmatic seclusion
that forms the feminist controversy between Western liberals, who perceive the veil as an inhibiting factor against
free will, and Islamic disciples, who conceptualize the veil as a sacred symbol of utmost morality.

A rudimentary key to Islamic tradition, the hijab serves not as a fascist tool for domination, but as a foundation for
upholding the principles of the Muslim faith community. Loyal devotees, Muslims turn to the Koran, the Islamic
scriptures, for spiritual and behavioral guidance. The Koran directs men and women to the decrees of proper body
etiquette, an image essential for a moral society. The Surahs, similar to the books of the Bible, entreat women to:

Cover your nakedness, do not play your with your femininity as a commodity. Be proud and save your intimate best
for the one who stands by you in good and bad. Speak loud and clear; the game-and-promise bedroom voice does not
belong on the streets. Walk firm and tall; the swaying and jingling advertisement of the body carries a “for sale” sign
on it. (Surah 33:32)

By condemning the public “sale” of a woman, the scripture visibly opposes the accepted “femininity as a commodity”
American view of appropriate public demeanor and bodily revealment. The Western world sees the veil as weight
inhibiting the growth of female empowerment and autonomy in the outside, professional world. Opposingly, this
established statement of behavioral expectation forms the backbone of the Muslim religious and social culture.
Women and men of the community embrace the values it advocates through the tradition of the hijab
adornment—honor, modesty, and stability.

Resulting from historical origins, the hijab is a formative piece to the long-standing tradition of organized culture
according to pious distinctions. The notion of veiled women was conceived by Allah, the Muslim name for God, and
inspired onto his prophet Muhammad. The sheltering of the prophet's wives initiated the 1,400-year tradition of
Muslim veiling. “If you ask his wives for anything, speak to them from behind a curtain. This is purer for your hearts
and their hearts” (Brooks 20), declares the Koran. With a literal translation of “curtain” (Brooks 20), the modern-day
hijab originated for the recognition and protection of ladies of elevated status. Seclusion of these affluent women

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would set them apart from the laboring class, signaling their religious devotion to Allah and husband's prominence
within the community (Brooks 21).

The “curtain,” once a declaration of pious nobility, grew into a common practice for women of the Islamic faith.
Adherence to Muslims’ ethical principles is symbolized by the veil, thereby segregating the devout from the immoral,
instead of dividing the upper class believers from the lower-tier followers. Yet Muslim hierarchy remains sustained
by the division the original veil carved amid societal classes. The burqua, the stringent, historical “curtain,” requires
concealment of all body parts excluding the palms and eyes, thus hiding the female form from the societal minions.
Over time, perceptions of “nakedness” relaxed, allowing common modern women to display a more lenient version of
the burqua; the present day hijab takes the form of loose clothing topped by a scarf worn around the head and under
the chin (Griffin 1).

Despite the gradual undressing of females, the principles surrounding the veil remain unchanged; honor, modesty, and
stability continue as chief determinants of personal and familial integrity. The wearing of the contemporary hijab
symbolizes an appreciation of Allah's command and a sincere wish to please him. As females are commanded by the
Koran to “cover your nakedness” (Surah 33:32), the veil portrays palpable obedience to his laws and wisdom. These
true supporters of Allah are immediately apparent to the outsider, as the “curtain” verifies religious dedication to the
Islamic ideals. A personification of piety, the veil affirms to the public and reminds the woman of the moral bounds
prescribed by the Koran. Choosing to uphold the virtues of the hijab equates to a declaration of religious purity,
external temperance of behavior, and internal peace.

No longer an ostentatious display of faithfulness and communal hierarchy, Islamic women of all classes wear the
hijab as a mark of external and internal modesty and obedience to the Muslim ideals—honor, modesty, and stability.
The modernized burqua tradition continues as the concept of “respectable body image” continues to play a vital role
in shaping Islamic public opinion of an individual family's reputation (Moghissi 20). By becoming the symbol of
familial respect, “every girl becomes a temple of her family's honor” (Moghissi 20). As a representative
demonstration of familial obeisance to Allah's commands, esteem is sustained by preserving the Muslim veiling
tradition. The responsibility and pride the honorable hijab conveys makes it an invaluable custom for women.

Moreover, Muslims view the hijab as “more than just a weighted scarf” (Brooks 17); it is an esteemed, indispensable
“temple” of modesty—an Islamic ideal. From this, the perception of a woman's obedience to the Islamic ideals is
determined by her actions, words, and, most apparently, by her garments. As a religion advocating modesty, a balance
between extremes, Muslims deem appropriate, unrevealing attire as an externalization of humble behavior and
thoughts. Through this public demonstration of reserve, a woman gains honor for herself and her family. By
flawlessly upholding the Islamic tradition, the woman gains recognition for her behavioral and religious stability.

With the respect gained by proper compliance of the hijab tradition, Islamic females may engage in society as an
upright member of Muslim faith and tradition. Without this emancipating “curtain,” women slip into Western
concepts of freedom paralleling expressive exposure—a behavior opposing the ideals that the Islamic faith strongly
promotes. The modesty policy of appropriate Muslim dress allows females to be judged according to the decency of
their actions, not the indecency of their apparel. For females “hidden” by the hijab, weight is a paradoxical term for
the uninhibited liberation it bestows upon them.

Aside from supporting familial respect and honor, the veil also serves to maintain a morally principled society.
Validating this significance of the hijab is a motto of Muslim veiling supporters: “Sex and beauty stay at home”
(Griffin 1). According to traditional beliefs, men possess an urgent sexuality that necessitates the veiling of female
strangers to prevent inexcusable incentives and advancements. Leaving the private “desires of men unchecked”
(Griffin 2) promotes the shattering of humility and religious dedication, for the male and female. As strict upholders
of the marriage covenant, the devastating effects this physical enticement and seduction can produce within a
righteous, religious community concerns Muslim devotees. By cloaking women and leaving temptation within the
household, the Islamic culture upholds a “healthy social environment … with positive, constructive, and practical
values and concepts” (Griffin 1).

Unfortunately in this time of treasured Western autonomy, the American perception and struggle with female
independence taints the symbolism of the veil, a time-honored Islamic tradition preserving Muslim society and its
virtues. The traumatic, yet successful, women's rights movements of the last fifty years have left American women
tender to the oppressive touch. Without exploring the true connotations, feminist groups of the Western world
shudder at images of hidden women “swathed in their veil, locked away” (Griffin 2). The freedoms expressed in the
First Amendment cannot, according to American dogma, be characterized by a garment that hides from society the
form of an individual. “Locked” into a life of oppression, the Muslim female is viewed as a prisoner deprived of her
rights under the pressure of this miserable and ignorant system of human materialism.

“Locked” —as a typically ethnocentric culture quick to notice foreign disparities, the Islamic practice of veiling is

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viewed according to American standards of freedom and religious tradition (Griffin 2). Yet the United States
possesses free female citizens who practice the Islamic faith, including the hijab tradition—the same image that
creates the oppressive judgment of their Middle Eastern equivalents. What does the Western world declare about this
American woman? Certainly no United States citizen would be categorized as “locked.” (Griffin 2) However, this
citizen maintains a custom many of her fellow Americans view as a sinful domination of her foreign Middle Eastern
counterparts. Forgetting the practicing Muslims within the United States, Americans become unconscious of the true
meaning of the historic, religious hijab as the symbol of Islamic faith. Through the inability to recognize similarities
in American religious practices, the United States creates false accusations about unethical treatment of religion
members.

Furthermore, honor, modesty, and stability—the fundamental Islamic morals the veil proclaims—are values desired in
American society as well. Recognition of the true symbolism associated with the hijab will lead the Western world
into greater appreciation of the Muslim tradition. The Islamic religious commands may compare with the political
expectations in the United States. As a nation structured around a democratic government dependent on constituent
opinion, the United States strives to establish these central ideals by demanding behavioral stability from its leaders.
Similar to the Muslim females, politicians embody the honor, modesty, and stability of the community. Personified
differently, the hijab and political position are critical to upholding the exalted opinion of foreign outsiders. An
Islamic female who denies the ideals and chooses against the hijab, gains a reputation as a failure of tradition and an
embarrassment for the family. A politician, who denies the ideals and chooses corruption, gains a reputation as a
failure of democracy and an embarrassment for the nation. From this, one deduces the ideals of each community to be
identical in purpose yet opposite in representation. The ignorance of Americans to realize the close correlation the
hijab forms with political leaders creates the misinterpreted biases toward the virtuous symbol.

By improperly judging an alien religion, the veil becomes a symbol of oppression and devastation, instead of a
representation of pride and piety. Despite Western images, the hijab is a daily revitalization and reminder of the
Islamic societal and religious ideals, thereby upholding the conduct and attitudes of the Muslim community.
Americans share these ideals yet fail to recognize them in the context of a different culture. By sincerely exploring the
custom of Islamic veiling, one will realize the vital role the hijab plays in shaping Muslim culture by sheltering
women, and consequently society, from the perils that erupt from indecency. The principles implored in the Koran of
modesty, honor, and stability construct a unifying and moral view of the Islamic Middle Eastern society when
properly investigated. As it was transcribed from Allah, “Speak to them from behind a curtain. This is purer for your
hearts and their hearts” (Brooks 20).

Works Cited

Brooks, Geraldine. Nine Parts of Desire. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.

Cooke, Miriam. Women Claim Islam. New York: Routledge, 2001.

Griffin, Tasleem K. Within the Sheltering Peace: Islam and Women. ICNA-Dawah Project, www.WhyIslam.org
(25 Feb. 2002).

Moghissi, Haideh. Feminism and Islam Fundamentalism. New York: Zed Books, 1999.

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