Hijab Has Come Full Circle in India

Hijab Was Not Strictly Worn By Girls until Recently

Main Points:

1.    During the 19th century Muslim women of India remained in purdah.

2.    Thanks to spread of education, Muslim girls came out of purdah in India in the 20th century.

3.    Girls going to schools and colleges did not use hijab.

4.    Hijab and Niqab among girls caught up with Muslim girls only after the 90s.

5.    Muslim girls came back to purdah in the 21st century.

-----

By New Age Islam Staff Writer

29 September 2022

The satirical poet of Urdu wrote in the 1020s:

Be Purdah Nazar Aayin Jo Kal Chand Bibiyan

Akbar Zameen Me Ghairat-e-Qaumi Se Gadd Gaya

Maine Jo Puchha Aapka Purdah Wo Kya Hua

Kahne Lageen Ke Aql Pe Mardon Ki Padd Gaya

(The other day I saw some girls/ women unveiled. I was embarrassed and asked them, "Where did you leave your veil?" They replied, "It has been cast over the intellect of men.")

This famous couplet gives a hint over the anxiety of the Muslim intelligentsia over the veil during the 1920s. During this period, Muslim women had come out of purdah to join schools, colleges and universities. It was an era of educational renaissance among Muslims. The Aligarh Muslim University was attracting both Muslim boys and girls who wanted to acquire "Angrezi Taalim" despised by stalwarts like Md. Iqbal and Akbar Allahabadi because they feared the western education would corrupt the minds of girls and will have a bearing on their morality. This was the reason Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was at the receiving end of both Ulema and the so-called Muslim intellectuals.

 

Members of the All India Muslim Students Federation protest at Delhi University against the hijab ban in educational institutions, on Feb. 8 in New Delhi, India.

Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

-----

Back in 1911, Begum Rokeya had started a campaign for the education of Muslim girls. She established a school Rokea Sakhawat Memorial Girls' School in Kolkata. But the parents would not allow their girls to go to the school because that would make them bepurdah (veilless). Ms Rokeya offered to make proper arrangement for purdah in the bus so that men would not be able to see them. After that some parents relented.

Gradually parents shed their inhibitions and more and more girls joined schools and college. The advancement of education was more rapid among the Bengali Muslims of Bengal including the areas of the then Bangladesh. Dhaka University attracted more Muslims girls where girls would go without veil. Fazilatun Nisa was the first Muslim graduate from Dhaka University. During that time girls would not wear hijab or Niqab to schools or colleges. Indeed, only mothers would go out in full covering Niqab. This truth is mentioned in the couplet quoted above. Another couplet expressing the dilemma of the Muslim intelligentsia is as follows:

Rashida Chamki Na Thi English Se Jab Begana Thi

Ab Hai Shamm-e-Anjuman Pehle Chiragh-e-Khana Thi.

(Rashida had not shined until she had learnt English. Now she is a socialite. Earlier she was merely the lamp of the house.)

These and other couplets of that period speak of the liberation of the women. They were participating in societal activities and making a mark in the educational arena. They had left the veil behind. Still, a section of the society adhered to purdah but students were not forced to wear hijab and Niqab.

The religious leaders even those considered liberal were strictly in favour of purdah. But another section did no object to women going in public without a veil. During a public meeting during the Freedom Movement in Bengal, the organisers, the Communists, wanted a Muslim lady deliver a speech from the stage. They sought permission of the Ulema sitting in the front row of the audience. They disapproved of it saying a lady could not appear before men on stage. Then the organisers proposed that she might deliver her speech from a room of the school adjacent to the venue. But the Ulema said that even a women should follow the purdah of the voice (Awaz Ka Purdah). She was not allowed to make her speech either from the stage or from the room adjacent to the venue of the meeting.

This incident shows that despite the opposition of the Ulema, Muslim women largely participated in public affairs without hijab or Naqib.

 

Muslim students speak to media after they were not allowed to enter pre-university colleges while wearing the hijab, in Udupi town, Karnataka, India, on Feb. 16.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

-----

After the Independence and Partition, the country became a secular country and secular education became universal. Muslim girls joined schools and colleges along with non- Muslm girls. Purdah was not mandated for girl students. With time, Muslim girls made big strides in the field of education. More and more schools for girls were established. Girls even studied in co-ed schools with boys and parents did not oppose and complain.

But after the 1990s, and markedly since the 2000, an ideological campaign in favour of purdah (veil) was started. Different Ulema and exegetes advocated the use of veil or hijab among young girls. On this issue all the sects of Muslims were united. They advocated for full veil for all the women irrespective of their age or marital status. The all-pervasive means of communication helped in the spread of hijab ideology. From India, to Afghanistan to Pakistan, women and girls were told to remain in the house and even if they needed to go out of the house, they had to go in full veil. Some Islamic scholars suggested women can see through one hole in the Burqa even if they fall on the road and meet with an accident.

The advent of Taliban and other extremist organisations contributed to the spread of the ideology of purdah among the Muslims of the sub-continent. In Afghanistan, they are even killed for not wearing hijab. In Iran, girls from the age of seven are mandated to wear hijab.

The reason why Islamic society went backwards during the second half of the 20th century was the volume of Islamic literature produced during the 20th century. Though Islam had reached the southwestern coast of India during the life of the prophet of Islam pbuh through Arab traders, Islamic literature was compiled only in the last quarter of the 19th century. Shah Waliullah was the first to translate the Quran in Persian during the 18h century and his son Shah Abdul Qadir translated the Quran in Urdu in the late 18th century. Shah Waliullah compiled hadith in India and was called Muhaddith Dehlvi. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was instrumental in the compilation of Islamic jurisprudence in the 18th century.

However, the work of exegesis and spread of sectarian ideology caught speed only in the late 19th century. During this period more and more exegetes, Islamic scholars and researchers emerged on the.L scene and promoted their own ideology. However, barring a few like Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, almost all of them propagated a hardline stand on purdah. This popularised veil in India. Now, different organisations also campaign for purdah even for small girls. Social and political circumstances also contributed to the popularity of veil. Girls now wear hijab to schools and universities and working women insist on wearing veil in office. This becomes a cause of confrontation and legal battles.

Thus, the veil which was imposed on the Muslim girls during the 19th century has again come into vogue in the enlightened age of the 21st century. Only the second half of the 20th century saw the emergence of the liberated women who contributed immensely to the development of the society and the country. Today, hundreds of girls leave their educational career for the sake of purdah.

URL:    https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hijab-niqab-veil-india/d/128062

New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism