Illustration by Abro
Being a man, it is always a struggle for me to write about the issue of the hijab, abaya or burqa. Women who wear these or those who choose not to, are more suited to comment on this. But this hasn’t stopped many men in Muslim-majority countries from becoming the most vocal advocates of such headgear. One can draw potent insights in this context from the studies on the topic by some perceptive Muslim women academics and authors.
On January 13, 2019, Dawn reported that the vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture of Faisalabad (UAF) proudly announced that male students at the university will be encouraged to gift hijabs and abayas to women pupils on the campus on this year’s Valentine’s Day. For almost a decade now, as Valentine’s Day approaches, certain groups suddenly emerge waving scarves, hijabs and abayas at women, especially those who choose not to wear one.
Interestingly, such groups are mostly made up of men. Two years ago, on a petition (also by a man) the now-sacked judge of Islamabad High Court, Shaukat Aziz, banned the celebration of Valentine’s Day in public. Even though Aziz was dismissed by a judicial council due to vastly different and more serious allegations against him, the manner in which some men become hijab/abaya enthusiasts just before Valentine’s Day suggests that this day is as serious as the allegations against the sacked judge.
In our country, women are free to choose or discard veiling in public, yet it is advocated on public platforms from time to time
After going through the writings of various women authors and scholars on the subject of veiling (for or against), one can notice that the issue and debate of veiling was most intense in Muslim countries where veiling in public was sanctioned by the state (such as in Iran, Sudan and Saudi Arabia); or in certain non-Muslim countries where it was largely banned (such as Belgium, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Germany, Holland and Norway — even though the degree of bans vary in each of these countries).
This may come as a surprise to many, but veiling has never been a major issue in Pakistan. Indeed, it sort of emerges on Valentine’s Day, but this is precisely why it does. Some segments want the state to incorporate it in its discourse and use such occasions to bring this up. But there are no laws whatsoever on the issue of veiling in the country. In Pakistan, as far as the state is concerned, women are free to choose or discard veiling in public. So, in a rather paradoxical manner, those advocating it from a public platform, such as our pious vice chancellor of UAF, do not have the right to do so. And yet, at the same time, they can.
There are various interpretations of what the Quran says about veiling. It is thus almost impossible for a state to formulate a single interpretation without offending those who hold different meanings of the same verses. That’s why a majority of Muslim countries have left it to the women to make their own decision in this respect.
None of the many studies on the subject authored by Western and Muslim academics mention Pakistan. So maybe this bothers some Pakistanis. Therefore, the debate on veiling, when it does crop up in Pakistan, is sporadic, largely ill-informed (both on a theological and secular level) and sometimes entirely ridiculous. For example, some folk want chocolates and roses to be replaced with hijabs and abayas on Valentine’s Day.
As I said earlier, the most interesting and dense debates can be found in Muslim countries where veiling is mandated by the state and in those European countries where it is banned. But then there is also the case of Muslim-majority Turkey, where some very informed academic narratives on the subject have emerged. This is because veiling in general was aggressively discouraged by the state and then banned in public institutions after Turkish nationalist Kamal Ataturk discarded the decaying, conservative caliphate and declared Turkey a secular republic in 1923.