The historical development of the veil in Egypt

The historical development of the veil in Egypt

By: Radwa Montaser Al-Faqi*

The hijab is not just a Muslim woman’s wear that expresses her religious convictions, but it is also a part of the societal landscape, through which the various changes and stages that Egyptian society has gone through can be monitored, including political circumstances, social and intellectual transformations, and cultural convictions. This study is trying to trace this topic historically, documenting the various stages of the veil in an attempt to understand how from a divine directive the veil becomes a cultural heritage and then a social custom whose adherence or rejection carries many connotations and meanings.

No doubt that the veil is a religious teaching that accords a special respect to the body. Also no doubt that the religious component has always been a basic tributary of the Egyptian personality, shaping its societal customs and cultural traditions.This is why Egyptian women, until the beginning of the twentieth century, wear some form of veil (covering their head and face) when leaving their homes, regardless of their religious belief, or her social level. Even when the question of religiosity declined, the “wrap-around veil”, the “burqa”, the “Abu Uwaya handkerchief”, the “yashmak” and the “bisha” were present as an integral part of the acceptable social form and common dress of Egyptian women. So, the Abu Uwaya handkerchief and the wrap-around veil were present[1] in the popular neighborhoods, while the burqa[2] was common among the middle classes, while the bisha and yashmak were seen[3] only in the wealthy and upper class.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Egyptian society witnessed social transformations and political circumstances that led to the emergence of many movements calling for the removal of the burqa, first, and then extending to the hijab. It is worth noting that the phenomenon of removing the hijab during this period did not occur in one step, but rather in different phases and stages, influenced by many events that Egyptian society experienced.

Phenomena that led to the removal of the veil:

It all began with the arrival of the French campaign in Egypt, where it became common to see French Women in the Egyptian streets in modern Western fashions – according to what Al-Jabarti recorded about the history of Egypt during this era -. These French ladies attracted attention because they did not wear head coverings, revealed their faces, and wore clothing different from what Egyptians were accustomed to. Then Muhammad Ali took over the rule of Egypt and the number of European women in Egypt increased. Moreover, Muhammad Ali brought European women to teach his daughters in the palace, and so did the elite. Then the British forces occupied Egypt and brought with them large numbers of English women with their European clothing so different from the clothing and customs of Eastern women.

For a long time, Western fashions were restricted to European women in Egyptian streets, until a number of Egyptian men and women began calling for the removal of the burqa and the hijab.

This tendency began with Princess Nazli Fadel[4] while supporting the women’s liberation movement. She organized the first cultural salon in the Middle East in 1890, where pioneers of the liberation movement and believers in women’s freedom could discuss and exchange opinions. Among the salon’s most prominent members were Sheikh Muhammad Abduh, Saad Zaghloul, and Qasim Amin. These three figures led the liberation movement in Egyptian society on the religious, intellectual, and cultural level, followed by a series of writings and articles by leaders and thinkers of the nation.

The first real call to remove the veil as a form of women’s liberation came in the book “Woman in the East” in 1894 by Morqus Fahmy[5]. This was followed in 1896 by many women’s magazines which dealt with women’s issues and called for removing the veil, considering it a symbol of backwardness. For example, of these magazines: Al-Firdaws magazine, Mira’t Al-Hasna’ magazine, and Fatat Al-Sharq magazine.

Qasim Amin had the greatest influence in this regard through his book “The Liberation of Woman” in 1899[6]. At that time, this book had a wide resonance between supporters and opponents, so many foreign and Arab books and articles were published that supported and encouraged him. On the other hand, there were articles and books that denounced and rejected his ideas, including the book “The Education of Woman and the Veil” by Talat Harb, which was published in 1899[7], Mustafa Kamil  also published a number of articles in Al-Liwa newspaper attacking Qasim Amin’s views, and some accused him of being loyal to the West. This prompted Qasim Amin to respond to those who criticized him in his book “The New Woman” in 1900[8].

We note here that Qasim Amin’s call was a call for a comprehensive program for reform and national progress that included the liberation of women by removing the veil and revealing their faces so that they would not be hidden from society and would be able to participate in the country’s progress! He believed that covering woman’s face with a burqa is a custom Muslims adopted from their interactions with other cultures, then they have exaggerated it, and dressed it up as a religious practice. Some have viewed Qasim Amin’s call as an attempt to gradually abandon the veil itself, but Qasim Amin confirmed that his call is in accordance with Islamic law, not following Western traditions.

Then the magazine “Al-Sufur”[9] (1915) headed by a number of women’s liberation advocates, called women directly to remove the veil. This magazine focused on women’s liberation, removing the veil, and promoting the most famous fashion houses, modern Western designs, and the latest hair styles.

The call to remove the veil then took a political turn within the framework of the 1919 Revolution, when Safiya Zaghloul[10] led a women’s demonstration on 20 March 1919, to demand independence. At that time, the commander of the occupying forces reprimanded her and warned her that what prevented him from shooting at them was the fact that they were women. She removed the veil to confirm to the colonizers that they were like the men of Egypt and that there were no differences between them.

Following the 1919 revolution, specifically in 1921, Huda Shaarawi and Siza Nabrawi lifted the veil in front of the crowds welcoming Saad Zaghloul upon his return from exile. In addition, Zaghloul’s efforts to remove the veil from Egyptian women were also evident. He missed no opportunity to call for women’s liberation, requiring those attending his sermons to remove the veil from their faces.

Then came the publication of magazines specialized in women’s affairs, such as “Al-Masriya” magazine and “Al-Mar’a Al-Jadidah” ​​magazine (1925) which did not differ much from “Al-Sufur” magazine’s topics. The publication of books and articles calling for the removal of the veil became a common occurrence like the book “Al-Sufur and Al-Hijab” by Nazira Zein Al-Din in 1928.

It is worth noting in this context that the statue of the Egyptian Renaissance by Mahmoud Mukhtar, which was erected in one of the major squares of Egypt next to Cairo University in 1928, depicts a woman dressed as an Egyptian peasant, placing her right hand on the head of the Sphinx and lifting the veil from her face with her left hand, expressing – as Mukhtar stated – the rise and desire to remove what is hindering Egypt from progress and advancement!

Calls to remove the veil continued in various forms, until Egypt became a country without veil in the third decade of the twentieth century. However, it remained a personal choice, and no official law was issued banning the veil, as occurred in some other Arab and Islamic countries. However, the influence of the various movements and calls for women’s liberation was stronger than the law, as the matter did not stop at removing the veil from the woman’s face, rather it extended to the hijab for women of all classes -since the beginning of the 1940s -. One reason for this phenomenon may be that the veil, at that time, was no longer part of the religious component, but rather had become a mere cultural heritage, like the fez for men. So, removing it became easy since the veil lost its religious obligation. This prompted some to attempt to awaken the religious sense of Egyptian women and urge them to wear the hijab in response to divine commands. This was evident, for example, in Nemat Sedqi’s 1947[11] book “Al-Tabarruj,” in which she called on Muslim women to complete the pillars of their faith by wearing the proper Islamic dress.

However, since the 1950s, the state has adopted leftist rhetoric and raised nationalist slogans, which led to the disappearance of the hijab from the Egyptian street for decades.

Getting closer to God and returning to the veil:

The veil did not suddenly return to Egyptian society. But, it went through a long process, paved by a growing religious conscience and Egyptians’ desire to get closer to God after the June war 1967 and the decline of the national project. To overcome their feelings of defeat and boost morale Egyptians gradually shifted towards Islam. This was evident in the October War, when religious slogans were raised, and the October victory cemented the societal shift towards religion.

During this period, the number of women wearing the hijab was not large, but it began to gradually increase in the streets, universities, and workplaces. The large numbers of Egyptians traveling to work in the Gulf countries during this period had a significant impact on the adoption of Gulf clothing styles, including the niqab.

The veil continued to grow in popularity in the Egyptian street and was not affected by the state’s crackdown on political Islam groups after Sadat’s assassination. This is due to the fact that the veil had become firmly established within society and had taken on a religious, not just cultural, dimension, thanks to the efforts of the sheikhs of Al-Azhar, the religious lessons and programs broadcast on Egyptian radio and television, and famous female artists and media personalities began wearing the hijab. This new phenomena gave rise to fashion designers’ rush to adapt the hijab to the standards and trends of fashion and beauty.

At the beginning of the third millennium, the number of veiled women among the general public and celebrities increased thanks to the new preachers and their ability to attract young people by presenting a moderate Islamic discourse, and their reliance in their style on simplification and the use of modern terms and contemporary methods. These preachers have focused a great deal of their efforts on attracting a segment of upper-class women. The presence of these preachers has expanded on television and satellite channels, and they have begun to appear in seminars held at universities and clubs. Their lectures have also been widely distributed as cassette tapes.

Despite the increasing number of veiled women during this period, the intellectual debate surrounding the veil did not cease. A number of thinkers and journalists rejected the veil and called for its removal. Among the most prominent of these were Iqbal Baraka in her book entitled “The Veil: A Modern Perspective”[12]( 2003), and Muhammad Saeed Ashmawi in his book “The Truth of the Hijab and the Authenticity of Hadith”[13]. Through a special interpretation of some verses of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah, they both tried to prove that the Hijab is not a part of religion and that it is a symbol of backwardness.

On the other hand, it is worth noting the restrictions that some veiled women faced in the late 20th century and the beginning of the new millennium, and the attempts to limit their role in society, by denying them access to senior government positions and preventing them from appearing on television as broadcasters, with the exception of a few limited examples.

New calls and the removing of the veil:

Recently, Egyptian society has begun to witness a clear decline in the number of women wearing the hijab, especially after the January 2011 revolution. This can be attributed to several reasons:

1. The feeling of freedom after the revolution, which led to many repercussions, the most prominent of which was the disintegration that affected many traditional values, and the desire to be free from the imposed social, cultural, and religious restrictions. These new feelings encourage the youth to break all constants, and to demolish the old state and rebuild it on new foundations and standards.
2. The failure of political Islam movements to fulfill their promises to Egyptian society, and the erosion of their image among young people after their involvement in political life. A link was falsely made between the teachings of the Islamic religion and the performance of these groups leading to a total rejection of anything that might indicate a relation with these Islamic groups, including the hijab.
3. After being considered as symbols of religious moderation, new preachers lost credibility by mixing religion and business, and by some personal behavior going against what they preach.

These and other reasons paved the way for movements demanding the removal of the hijab and yearning for the 1940s and 1950s, when Egyptian women were so elegant without the hijab. Social media became increasingly used to promote these ideas, and the topic began to be discussed on television and talk shows, with debates about whether the hijab was an act of worship or only a custom.

Gradually, removing the hijab became a form of open defiance. Some girls began posting photos of themselves removing their hijabs in a provocative manner. Others wrote books documenting this stage of their lives to encourage other girls and women to remove their hijabs. Moreover, there was a call from some activists for a demonstration to remove the hijabs, which some women actually responded to by standing in Tahrir Square on May 1, 2015.

We are now facing a very complex societal scene. It is noticeable that the number of veiled women is still large, and it can even be said that they represent the majority in the society. However, their numbers are noticeably declining, especially among the youth, and a percentage of veiled women are oscillating between the religious form and the modern form of the hijab (wearing the turban and the Spanish).

It’s true that amid all these calls to remove the hijab, a counter-phenomenon can be observed: some women wearing the traditional hijab have attained a number of senior public positions – ministers, deans, and broadcasters -. However, this doesn’t negate the overall confusion surrounding Egyptian society.

In conclusion, it can be said that wearing and removing the veil is a revealing indicator of the relation between Egyptians and their frames of reference. The Egyptian personality experiences a confusion or a struggle between his own Islamic identity and the dominant western civilization.

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* She holds a master’s degree in political science from Cairo University.

[1] The mandil abu owiya is a colorfully patterned piece of cloth tied around the head. The malaya laf is a piece of black cloth wrapped tightly around a woman’s body, with its end raised over her head.

[2] The burqa is a black, interwoven thread covering the face with a gold reed for decoration.

[3] The bisha is a type of veil of Turkish origin worn by women in public places to cover the face.

[4] A princess from the Alawite family, she is the daughter of Mustafa Fasil bin Ibrahim Pasha bin Muhammad Ali Pasha.

[5] Marqus Fahmy, Women in the East (Cairo: Dar Al-Ta’leef for Printing and Publishing), 1984.

[6] Qasim Amin, The Liberation of Women (Cairo: Al-Tarqi Library), 1899.

[7] Talat Harb, Women’s Education, and the Veil (Beirut: Dar Al-Kitab Al-Lubnani), 2012.

[8] Qasim Amin, The New Woman (Cairo: Egyptian General Book Authority), 1993.

[9] It is a magazine whose first issue was published in 1915 and continued to be published weekly until 1922, with approximately 302 issues published. It was founded by Abdel Hamid Hamdi, Mustafa Abdel Razek, Mansour Fahmy, Taha Hussein, and Mohamed Hussein Heikal.

[10] The wife of leader Saad Zaghloul and a pioneer of the feminist movement in Egypt.

[11] Nimat Sedqi, Al-Tabarruj (Cairo: Dar Al-I’tisam), 1947.

[12] Iqbal Baraka, The Veil: A Contemporary Vision, Kyon House for Printing, Publishing and Distribution, 2003.

[13] Muhammad Sa`id al-`Ashmawi, The Reality of the Hijab and the Authenticity of Hadith (Cairo: Rose al-Youssef Foundation), 2002.