Veil
Posted by: amellie
2 years, 1 month ago
Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw recently made comments urging Moslem women to remove their veils. “I’m not talking about being prescriptive. But with all the caveats, yes I would rather (women did not wear full veils). Communities are bound together by informal chance relations between strangers. That is just made more difficult if people are wearing a veil,” he said.
First of all, let’s see what the Qur’an says about the veil:
… and say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms. An-Nur: 30-31
O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women that they should cast their outer garments over their bodies (when abroad) so that they should be known and not molested. Al-Ahzaab: 59
There is a debate over whether or not woman should cover her face. Some people believe that the covering of face is compulsory, while others believe that it is recommended. It’s worth knowing that there are some Hadiths that support the former, i.e. :
Aisha RA used to say: “When (the Verse): ‘They should draw their veils over their necks and bosoms,’ was revealed, (the ladies) cut their waist sheets at the edges and covered their faces with the cut pieces.” Bukhari
Therefore, wearing a veil is indeed mentioned in Hadiths. It is up to you how you want to interpret those verses in the Qur’an and Hadiths. But I personally believe the latter view, that wearing a veil is not compulsory; so as my family. Although I lived in a ’secluded society’ where the segregation of sexes was visible, I was raised to be in a society where men and women were mixed. I respect all women who prefer to hide their face from men. I have so many Indonesian friends (in Jeddah, of course) who put their veils on whenever they go out of their houses. But once they travel overseas, they will leave their veils behind. They wear their veils only in Saudi Arabia merely because they want to protect themselves from the evil eyes of men. If you’re a woman and you’ve been to the Kingdom before, you know what I’m talking about ;). Men over there are ‘hungry’ of women, that even seeing the face of women draw sexual attractions for them!!
I’ve seen some women wearing their veils here in Brisbane. I honestly have a mix feeling over this. I’m glad that they have the strength to do it even in an open country like Australia and seem to ignore what other people would say about them. But I also see how other people become unease when they see them or want to interact with them. It is as if you see a monk or a nun in Saudi Arabia 
(well, you’ll not find any of them there).
In Saudi Arabia itself, veils become a problem for many people, particularly the authorities. It’s very easy to lie or perhaps to commit crimes if you wear a veil there. It’s not necessary for Saudi women to put their pictures in their IDs and it’s certainly forbidden for other men (e.g. police) to ask them to reveal their face. So one may wonder who is exactly hiding behind that veil/cloak? There are many stories I heard from men who wear veils so that they can go to or out of Mekkah. These people are usually illegal workers who do not have proper IDs (usually you have to pass a checkpoint in order to enter Mekkah. You have to have a valid ID when the police ask you one, or else you’ll be deported from the Kingdom). It’s also very easy for women to use other women’s IDs. The police won’t check their face :D.
I understand why Mr Straw made a point about this matter. He stressed it was a choice for women and he was making a request and not a demand. His fear over the “separateness” and “the development of parallel communities” are, for me, understandable. Let’s forget about religious freedom for a second and focus on his statements. Knowing that very few Moslem women in the West wear veils, the problem of community’s separation is unfortunately not a very clever thing to say. Will they - a minority within a minority 
- create a separateness on British communities?? I don’t think it effects the communities that much. He said it as if he thinks that the majority of women wear veils!
I just fear that the West is getting more “intense” to insult our religion and give us less freedom to practice Islam. Who knows that in the next few years, they’ll raise a debate over whether or not we should wear a hijab/scarf??? I’d appreciate him if he just leaves this debate to the Moslem society! Let us decide how we go about it.
Viewed for 527 times
Trackbacks.
No trackbacks to Veil
Ping this article
Your Reply.
Designed by Amalia Sanusi aka amellie © 2006
Hey, you leave nothing to comment on. All of them are already well-spoken!
Yo Jack Straw! Check this out!
reader: really?? i actually thought today’s post was lacking of…. something.. which i didn’t know what it was. but anyway thanks
Yeah, once I was wandering around the streets of Madinah or Mekkah without wearing my veil!! I forgot to do so, and I didn’t realise that I was the only one who didn’t have a veil on. Luckily nothing happened, and as soon as my mom found out she made me realise that it was necessary to wear a veil there, lol.
Hmm I dunno how they really treat girls who wear veils there in Australia, but here in NZ everyone’s just so tolerant about it (im quite surprised about that actually). They’re not being shouted at, spitted at, thrown at, and so on. It’s like everyone here’s just minding their own business, lol, which is pretty good.
Oh btw i’ve been wondering why the Saudi government’s so strict about women covering up from head to toe when belly dancers are shakin off their bodies in sparkly low-cut skirts and bikini-like tops (or are there no belly dancers in the Kingdom..?)
Dessy: Hmm you don’t actually have to wear a veil in Saudi Arabia. I never wear it. Do you mean hijab/scarf? Hijab is compulsory, but not in Jeddah though.. there are many women go out without scarfs these days.
that’s good! so at least people who wear veils or hijab don’t feel intimidated right..? but over here I got shouted and thrown… hmm up until now, i always think they did that because they’re drunk… hopefully it’s true. Coz it happened not only to me, but also my Asian friends…
No, you won’t find any belly dancers performing publicly in Saudi Arabia. “HARAM”, that’s what they said.
But that doesn’t stop them from watching these dancers on TV right?? since all Saudi households have access to TV satellite….
You were lack of anger.
But you know, I was just trying to back you up.
Cheers!
Maaf teknis. Kalau tekan “enter” terkadang jadi alinea baru dan terkadang cuma jadi baris baru? Bingung jadinya…
reader: masa sih? kok di kompie gw gak kenapa2 ya?
meeel..bukannya kalo di Saudi cewe2 yg pake cadar kalo mau diperiksa, akhirnya diperiksa sama polisi cewe jg yah..jd teteb aja identitas bakal ketauan..
eniwei, ini ga ada hubungannya sama posting di atas..cuma pgn ngasih tau ajah..krn dirimu suka baca, aku anjurin baca novel2 indo jg deh..aku aja sampe import novel2 itu, sangking pgn tau perkembangan sastra negara kita..hahaha..coba laskar pelangi atau sang pemimpi..atau novel klasik karya STA..kamu bakal tergila2 dgn kekayaan sastra indo..
senaz: itu kalo di airport ato tempat2 tertentu… kalo di jalan2 gak ada yg namanya polisi cewe hehehe. masa mereka kemana2 pake abaya (jubah item itu) sambil ngatur jalan kan gak lucu
makasih loh mbak hehe.. iya ntar aku coba, tapi ntah kapan gak tau :D. Soalnya aku lebih suka non-fiction si… lebih real, lebih bisa dibayangin. hehehe. but thanks, one day i’ll read ‘em!
pertama.. kok rss-nya ga langsung kebaca ya di feed readerku (aku pakek bloglines)
terus yang masalah veil.. apa harus? pernah ga denger “omongan si ulil”, itu tuh dengan pernyataannya “gimana kalo islam lahirnya di china”? bottom line “veil” hanyalah kebetulan adalah budaya tempat islam lahir.
aku cuman wondering… did not mean to arguing, coz for me when it comes on “believe/agama”, ada istilah “it is what it is…”
Oh yup i meant hijab, hehe. I thought veil=hijab :p
setuju ama bebek … mungkin kalo kebetulan Islam lahir di Indo, belum tentu begini *wink*
wah seru banget. emang over the years selalu cara muslim berpakaian di negara non muslim jadi issue. sebenernya kalo disiasati bisa dijadikan metode dakwah.
veil for me, outside arabic country personally emang too much. dulu waktu kuliah di bogor, beberapa temen pake cadar dan itu masih dianggap ganjil, saya setuju sama Straw disini. Rasulullah aja, marah waktu sholat jamaah imam baca surah panjang2 karena ada makmum yang mau buru2. dengan alasan, Islam tidak boleh menyulitkan. Opini saya, veil dalam masalah keamanan seperti yang Straw ungkapkan memang in many ways menyulitkan.
However, as a woman with headscarf living in non islamic country, saya nggak pernah kesulitan dengan kerudung saya, alhamdulillah. kalau sudah mulai merepotkan pun, i’d rather negotiate and think twice, antara mengorbankan kepercayaan atau mengorbankan kepraktisan.then i will listen to my heart, karena kebenaran adalah yang menenagkan hati.
saya selalu bilang ke orang orang, headscarf is a choice. dalam artian, life it self, is always a choice, manusia kan bisa kapan aja bunuh diri (kasarnya). toh saya selalu punya pilihan untuk melepas kerudung. sholat pun saya bilang it’s a choice, karena toh saya selalu punya pilihan untuk tidak sholat dan mengabaikan kata hati saya.
saya bilang gini untuk alasan strategi penyampaian, western people gak suka paksaan dan selalu menghormati yang dilakukan dengan pilihan. jadi saya bilang,
“some people choose to interprete the quran this way, some others that way. u see how diverse the way of moslem dress from culture to culture. the interpretation it self is well influenced by the local culture. i myself, i believe this way, but i do respect the people who believe in that way. the way islam respect that u are not a moslem and choose ur own way of life”
wallahualam bissawab, kebenaran hakiki tidak saya miliki, saya cuman berbisik dalam hati semoga yang saya sampaikan benar.
setuju banget sama amel, the world should leave the decision among moslem themselves. dari mulai hizbut tahrir, jaringan islam liberal, salafy, tarbiyah dan kelompok2 islam lainnya aja udah bisa bikin friksi kalo diskusi, apalagi ditambah orang2 non muslim.
this is a huge chalenge for islam, how to actualize islam, bukan tekstual tapi kontekstual, seperti kata kang jalal, islam aktual. sesama mulsim, let’s work it out!-;)
Bravo mel, i like this posting!
bebek: soal rssnya, gak ngerti juga yah.. pdhl dah pake ping2an itu hehehe.. google readerku juga gt kok, rada lambat. Soal cadar itu, sebagian org mengatakan cew2 musti pake cadar, sebagian mengatakan cew2 gak musti pake. Masih ada perbedaan pendapat antara ulama qta kok.
bebek & Meda: bisa dibayangin gak, kalo Islam tdk dilahirkan di Arab, gmn kacaunya org2 Arab saat ini?? Skrg aja udah “kacau”…
Mulia: iya bener!! aku selalu menjelaskan kpd temen2 kalo gak semua org muslim pake jilbab/cadar.. semua itu tergantung masing2 org (how they interpret Islam). nyatanya, gak semua org tau ttg hal itu. mereka kira, all moslem women wear hijab. anyway, thx for making a really good point
buat yang masalah bebek: kayaknya di setting cms blog lo deh, yang bagian rssnya (gw juga g gitu ngerti sih hehe..) tapi seinget gw buat rss emang ada settingnya, bisa title doang, trus part text, ama full text. tapi gw g tau tempatnya di sebelah mana.