Muslim women offer a glimpse behind the veil
Lecture at Brookdale addresses garment’s cultural significance
BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Brookdale Community College history professor Jane Scimeca gives a presentation during a lecture called “Women and Islam: Demystifying the Veil.” The lecture also featured three Muslim women who shared their experiences with the audience.

MIDDLETOWN — People often use clothing as a means of self-expression.

For some, clothing is a way of letting others know what kind of music they listen to, or how much money they have.

For others, clothing is used as a religious statement. A priest or nun can be identified immediately based on their clothing, and a man in a yarmulke is recognized immediately as Jewish.

CHRIS KELLY staff

Furthermore, a woman in a veil is automatically deemed a Muslim. The Islamic veil, however, is more than a religious statement to many of the women who wear it, but is a way of life.

This was the topic of discussion during a lecture at Brookdale Community College last Tuesday. Roughly 100 people showed up for “Women and Islam: Demystifying the Veil.”

It was a two-part lecture, with the first 45 minutes going to history professor Jane Scimeca, who gave a presentation on the Islamic veil and what it means to Muslim women. Following her presentation, those in attendance listened to the personal experiences of three Muslim women, all of whom wear the hejab, which is one type of veil.

Scimeca said that it is important to understand that there are differences between Islamic societies, and “Islam” does not describe all Muslims. She said that there are 1 billion Muslims in the world.

She said Americans often have a hard time understanding Islamic culture, and often cast judgments on women who use a veil to cover.

“We need to try to understand Islam and the veil with a sense of relativism,” Scimeca said.

She said that one way for Americans to be more open-minded is to avoid looking at themselves as “normal” and label people who do things differently as “abnormal.”

Scimeca said that women in America do many strange things to their appearance, such as plastic surgery, which the rest of the world doesn’t judge, so Americans shouldn’t judge others.

Scimeca also discussed the historical context of the veil. She said that before the Islamic religion, there was no veiling in Arabia. Now, there are certain Middle Eastern countries, such as Turkey, Syria and Egypt, in which women are not allowed to cover, and others, such as Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, where women must cover.

Veiling became a custom during Islamic

expansion, when countries adopted Muslim customs. She said the purpose of covering is to protect women from men outside the family.

Scimeca also discussed the significance of the intent to be modest. She said the Muslim belief is that Allah judges based on your intent, and your decision to cover must be a conscious one. If you wear the veil, but don’t really want to, Allah knows your true feelings, she said.

Scimeca discussed three different types of veils. There is the hejab (or hijab), which covers the hair but shows the face; the chador, which is like a cloak and is worn when the women go out; and the burqa, which covers the hair and face, with just a screen to see through.

Scimeca said that in the 20th century many societies in the Muslim world gave up veiling. For example, after World War I, Turkey gave up veiling and adopted Western dress because they wanted to be perceived as modern, she said.

In the late 20th century, women began wearing the veil again as part of the Islamic Revival, she said. Many Muslim women started to reject Western ways due to “corrupt values and morality,” she said.

Scimeca said there are a few different reasons that the modern Muslim covers. First, she said it is liberating to be judged by what you know rather than what you look like. Some of the other reasons are as a political statement and to be religiously observant and respected.

Following Scimeca’s lecture, three Muslim women gave brief statements about themselves, then answered questions from the public. The three women were Anesa Saheb and Claire Hamed, both Brookdale students, and Hamed’s daughter, Laila, a junior at Manalapan High School.

Saheb said she began wearing the hejab full time when she went through puberty, after it was advised by her parents. Saheb also stressed Scimeca’s statement that the veil should be worn out of modesty.

“Veiling should not be forced on a women. It’s about intention. That’s how you’re rewarded for God, by God actually,” she said.

Claire Hamed grew up in a Conservative Baptist home in Dayton, Ohio. Her father was a pastor. In her early 20s, she began to study and accept Islam. After studying for about two years, she decided to wear the hejab.

Hamed said she thinks it is important for women to make their own conscious decision to cover. She said she doesn’t agree with Saudi government, where they make women wear it.

“They put the hejab over human life,” she said.

Hamed’s daughter Laila has been covering for six years.

“I love wearing it,” she said. “It makes me feel one with God.”

Laila also discussed some of the hardships she’s faced by wearing the hejab, especially at a public school. She said that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks a substitute teacher came up to her in the hallway at school and asked her if she “was mental.” She also said that while she was at Six Flags theme park with her family, a man pulled it off, trying to be funny.

She said that incident was “a man touching a woman in a violating way.”

“After we wear it, it becomes part of us. To pull it off is a touchy subject,” she said.

All three women answered numerous questions from the audience, such as how they swim and if they had a problem getting a driver’s license.

They said they swim fully clothed with only their hands and face showing, and none of them ever had a problem with their driver’s license.

Saheb said the hejab can only be taken off in front of other Muslim women, their husbands and men they can’t marry, such as their fathers and brothers. The hejab cannot be taken off in front of non-Muslim women because they might go home and describe to their brothers, fathers or male friends what the woman looks like without the veil.

She also said that the hair represents sexuality, and that is why it must be covered.

The lecture explored the Islamic culture and the veil from numerous aspects. The three women said they opened up to the entire audience because they felt it was important to educate others on their beliefs.