The I slamic veil as symbol of modernity

1. The Islamic veil as symbol of modernity

2. 20th c Egyptian Feminists: Huda Shaarawi and SaizaNabrawavi In the 1920s, Huda and Saiza historically unveiled and set into motion the end of the harem system in Egypt Here, they are pictured at the 1923 World Feminist Conference in Rome, when they would soon spread the new style of unveillng back home.

3. Turkey in the 1920s • Ataturk, founder and first President of the modern Turkish Republic • From 1925 onward in Turkey, Ataturk undertook a program of modernization. This included: • new educational curriculum • economic and legal reforms • the legal equality of the sexes, including in inheritance and marriage • changing the Turkish script from Persian to Roman

4. Modern Dress in Ataturk’s Turkey Official measures were gradually introduced to eliminate the wearing of religious clothing and other overt signs of religious affiliation. Beginning in 1923, a series of laws progressively limited the wearing of selected items of traditional clothing.  • The Hat Law of 1925 introduced the use of Western style hats instead of the fez. • Legislation did not explicitly prohibit veils or headscarves and focused instead on banning fezzes and turbans for men. • The 'Prohibited Garments’ law banned religion-based clothing, such as the veil and turban, while actively promoting western-style attire.

5. Turkish Script: Before and After

6. Iran in the 1930s • In Iran in 1936, Reza Shah banned the veil, linking his policy of unveiling to modernizing reforms in Turkey. • This was compulsory and led to extreme controversy. Unveiling was a major religious offense and an emotional challenge to many women who are not ready or willing to appear in public unveiled. As a result, many women stopped leaving their homes. • Reza Shah ordered veiled women barred from theatres, offices, and restaurants. • Unintended consequences were the seclusion of religious women in their homes and preclusion of girls from religious families from education. • When again the veil was made permissible under the reign of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi (in 1941), wearing the veil became a prominent symbol of resistance against the political and Western values of the monarchy.

7. Iran in the 1950s, 60s &70s

8. Afghanistan in the 1950s, 60s, & 70s

9. Suzanne Brenner on the rise of the veil in Indonesia: “Since the late 1970s, the phenomenon that is often called ‘the Islamic resurgence’ has had a profound impact on religion, politics, and society throughout the Islamic world and beyond. One of the most conspicuous symbols of this powerful and resilient movement is the style of women’s clothing that is frequently called, in a verbal shorthand, ‘the veil’.”

10. Leila Ahmed on the Veil’s Resurgence • Leila Ahmed writes about the emergence of the veil in the 1990s as a far-reaching symbol of religious practice among Muslim women, a practice considered unimportant for Islamic piety in Egypt in the 1940s. • (Leila Ahmed, A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America, Yale, 2011.)

11. Resurgence of the Veil • Why do some Islamic women veil? • Why have many Islamic women who never previously veil started to veil now? • What age group is starting to veil and why?

12. ZainAbdullah on Islam in America in the 1970s: “The Islam I had entered, and the growing ideology among Muslims at the time, constituted a major shift away from religion as a private affair to include religion as a public act."

13. Modern Indonesia, the Veil, and Arabic Culture • http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_indonesia.html

14. Hijab Street Style https://web.archive.org/web/20120321142305/http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/2007/08/flds-women-and-their-dresses.html http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/hijab-street-style http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/08/05/street-style-hijab-personal-flavors-faith.html