my life in print

mish hijabi? | October 6, 2009

This morning’s Arabic class turned into more of a debate than a lecture. Yesterday and today, students have been taking turns giving monologues on their studies and how they came to study Arabic. My class is incredibly multi-cultural; Bosnian Muslim, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, German, Spanish, British, and Turkish students allow me to learn a more worldly Arabic—it’s a bit unexpected to hear MSA with a German, then a French, then a Korean accent.

There are quite a few Turkish students in the back row; the interesting dichotomy in the way the women dress represents what apparently is the crux of what’s going on in Turkey right now. Half the women dress like Americans, the other half are completely covered. Though a secular state, its population is divided over the issue of how religion can and should be expressed. Some of the Turkish hijabis came to the University of Jordan solely because they can’t attend public universities in Turkey while covered.

I’m really not sure where I stand here. It’s a huge issue that’s taking root even now in Cairo–the lead sheikh at Al Azhar is banning the niqab (the little drape that covers a woman’s face). There are issues with covering–problems with identification, association of the more conservative Islamic dress with spreading fundamentalism, and even cases where friends sneak in to take exams on behalf of students. But…could this be termed a human rights issue? Should the way you dress be determined by the government?  Any thoughts?