Fashion reveals an incremental reformation in Arabia and Islam

While living in Saudi Arabia (I lived there for about 20 years), it was interesting to watch the slow change in fashions that has taken place, representing a slow move away from the backward, restrictive “moral” code of the Mutawa’een – the self-appointed morality police who enforce their own interpretation of Islamic law on the masses. While there, I noted that women’s abayas (the long black cloak that is supposed to hide their feminine curves from men’s gazes) were becoming less like tarps and more like clothing, with decorative flourishes. I remember thinking that it was nice to see that people were becoming less austere and more willing to maintain modest dress while expressing individual tastes.

But I should have known that this would not be a society-wide movement. This story notes that abayas with little decorations like a fringe of lace or some glitter or sequins around the cuffs are in fact a form of “illegal” abaya, even if they cover the woman from head to toe. Here’s a quote from the always-enlightening Mutawa’een:

“You look around you and you find abayas that are embroidered, fitted or with wide sleeves. Most abayas now need abayas to cover them,” says a religious pamphlet available at malls in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. “When some girls go out they (look) like prostitutes who invite people to carry out lewd acts. How else can you explain how some women adorn themselves with their abayas … ?”

The Mutawa’een and like-minded supporters believe that abayas should completely obscure a woman’s outline, cover her face, and some even believe that no skin – even on the hands – should be exposed. I encountered more than a few women in Saudi Arabia who wore black gloves in addition to their abayas.

“This is our way,” said more than one Saudi I talked to about the tradition. But it’s certainly not the Islamic way, and has nothing to do with the Qur’an. It’s simply another made-up rule by the so-called “Ulama” – the “learned ones” of Islamic scholarship – based on willful misinterpretation.

Women in the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s life were relegated to the role of chattel – bought, traded, abused, and even inherited by a deceased husband’s brothers, if they wanted her. Islam gave women the right to own property that could not be touched by their husbands, gave them the right to refuse marriage to someone they didn’t want to marry and to divorce their husbands, allowed them to give testimony, inherit property, and generally allowed them to participate fully in society. This was no small change in Hejazi society at the time; it was cause for some followers of the prophet to dump the new religion and return to the backward ways of their forefathers. But the rules stood firm, even in the face of tremendous internal and external pressures.

Almost as soon as the Prophet had died, however, these rules were rolled back, despite the clear words of the Qur’an, and Hadeeth – alleged “sayings” of the Prophet – were used to justify these clear contradictions of God’s word. Combined with obvious misinterpretation of Qur’anic passages, the Ulama put their collective foot back on the necks of women, and there it has remained ever since.

Now, however, things are moving away from their narrow, unrealistic, and un-Islamic worldview. I can only hope they continue to lose ground, and that the globalization of the idea of women’s rights will continue to re-awaken Muslims to the remarkably forward-looking feminism in the Qur’an. If one thinks about Islam logically – which we are constantly reminded to do by the Qur’an – then it becomes clear that Islam is meant to be a progressive religion. Women were liberated by Islam centuries ago, so its prescriptions should be examined in that context. Until the Ulama concede that the Qur’an was revealed in and for a specific cultural milieu, their views will always be centuries outmoded.