Reports | 25 05 2020
Recent years have changed many details in the life of some Syrians and their society. These changes have encroached upon established customs and traditions as well—even the hijab. Some women have chosen to take it off, others put it on, while many others elected to simply keep wearing it.
Thirty-year-old Hiba’s decided to take off her hijab after ten years of wearing it, pointing out that the outbreak of the Revolution in Syria as well as her own exodus from the Damascus countryside, have been contributing factors in one way or another, in increasing her awareness and her opening up to the world—as she says.
“My father forced me to wear the veil—especially living in the city of Harasta. I increasingly hated my Hijab after studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts, where most of my [female] friends did not wear the veil," explains Hiba.
She adds: “All these years, I used to wear it without any conviction. Undoubtedly, having to leave Syria and distancing myself from my family, gave me the chance to take it off, without their knowledge.”
Hiba acknowledges that her inability to find any work in the Turkish city of Istanbul, was another reason helping her take the decision to take off her veil. She, thus, was able to find employment in a private firm, “quite easily” as she puts it.
Social Pressure Plays a Role!
Hiba’s story does not seem that different from that of twenty-five-year-old Hind; who wore the veil due to family and social pressures in her native Syria. The social traditions and habits surrounding her have, however, had quite reverse outcomes: they helped make her increasingly reluctant about wearing the veil when she was wearing it.
She says: "When I was displaced from Syria to Turkey, I started observing [Syrian] society’s shortcomings from the outside. The hideousness of religion and social diseases that the war engendered, spurred a state of rebellion in me. This helped me see things for what they were; there were no ;longer those who would talk and ‘gossip,’ and I no longer live in a closed society. All of this helped me take off the veil."
War and Fear
A single mortar shell was enough to change Zeina’s opinion of the Hijab. Despite resisting the desire to wear it, she wore it with complete conviction originating from a deep fear. She was exposed to a near-death experience, following a spate of indiscriminate shelling near her home in Damascus. This made her wear it and cling thereto, even when migrating to Europe.
Explains Zeina: “I have now become a refugee in a European country, but it is impossible for me to even consider taking my hijab off—despite their [Europeans’] hostile views of Muslims, even if they were to offer me the treasures of the earth. As for those girls who chose to take it off, all I can say is ‘may God help you.’”
Faith and Convictions
"I do not want to die without being veiled.” That is how Oula briefly expresses her own experience of wearing the hijab. The terror of war and death witnessed daily in her hometown of Damascus, has increased its insistent clinging onto it.
24-year-old Oula, tells us with ease the story of her wearing the hijab at an early age, following one of her friends being killed in a domestic gas explosion incident before her eyes. She explains: "That incident generated a great fear in me. The very next day I listened more intently to my Islamic Religion teacher’s accounts of life and death, and the necessity of wearing the hijab. She indeed succeeded in convincing me of wearing, despite my tender age at the time.”
She concludes: "I believe that this is entirely tied to conviction in the veil. It would be an error to judge a woman by the choice to wear or not to wear it."
An Islamic Habit
During our meeting with her, sociologist Manal was of the opinion that "the veil is just another mode of male control over women in our society."
She elaborates more about the contribution of the war in one way or another, in the rebellion of some women and their decision to take off their veils—especially those who have been subjected to social pressure and suppression. Their exit from the country has greatly helped them liberate themselves from the fetters of their society, as she puts it.
Says Manal: “Historically speaking, hijab is not exclusively a Muslim habit; it has also been tied to other monotheistic religions—namely Judaism and Christianity. This is evidenced by the existence of many images of the Virgin Mary, in which she is depicted with a headscarf."
Another sociologist, confirms to Rozana that the hijab is also a social custom. Each society has its own fashion code and language of its own; whereas others see it as an expression of adhering to their identity, she says.
She concludes: "It would be an error to see the hijab as a symbol of backwardness; we ought to respect the variety of individual freedoms."