Hijab vs Bikini
Compiled by Sohail Moughal
01 November 2006

Hijab is an Arabic word which literally means a cover, a screen or a partition. Islamically it refers to the dress code of the Muslim woman. There are hijab requirements for men too, but who cares about men. I think the way men look at women and the women look at men will never change in any part of the word. Hijab is not just a piece of cloth that covers the head or hides the face. It is the whole lifestyle. For many it represents the oppression which Islam imposes upon women. A common misconception is that Muslim women are the only ones who cover their hair. It may be true that Islam is the only religion in which most women follow its directives to cover the hair, but it is not the only religion to have such directives.

This is what Quran says:
""And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khumur over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; .." (Sura An-Noor 24:31).

Also, "O’ Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their veils over their bodies. That is most convenient that they should be recognised and not be molested". (Sura Al-Ahzab 33:59).

But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered, disgraces his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is the same as if she were shaven. For if a woman is not covered, let her be shaven. But if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. A man indeed ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man. For man was not created for woman, but woman for man. This is why the woman ought to have a sign of authority over her head, because of the angels. (First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 11. Read verses 3-10).

The explicit purpose of the Christian woman's headcovering may be derived as, ans also as stated by Paul, is that it is a sign of man's authority over woman. Many have reflected on this idea differently too. There seems to be an imbiguity. It is also said that when Paul says ‘the head of the woman is the man,’ but because she is the type of the Church and he of Christ. …just as the Church should have no Head but Christ, so the woman should have no head but her husband. On the other hand the explicit purpose of Islamic hijab is modesty. Strange how so many people think that the purpose of hijab is a symbol of male authority. Maybe they know that that's what it is thought of in one religion and thats why they assume that the other religion must be the same...!

Lets go back in history, when these verses from different holy books were in effect. How do we know how women dressed a few thousand years ago. We know it from the statues, old pictures, and now peoples depiction in the movies, or tell me if there are any other means. We know that not more than fifty years ago, women in Africa and the Arab world didnt have the sewing machines, needles, or stiching facilities of today. In many areas, women didnt find it necessary to cover their upper front body. The only way of covering was made of two pieces of unsewn cloth wrapped around, tied in knots. In many African countries and lands of the wise and traditional Beduins or African tribes, this is a common practice even today. How would this woman go around doing her everyday household chores. I have seen women with these unswen pieces of cloth working around cooking fires. She is so unsafe reaching over to lift the pot sitting on burning fires. Most of her body would be revealing if she is not cautious about hijab and cautios about fires. Imagine some one knocks at the front door. Not kowing who is knocking how would you show up at the front doot. Would you not cover yourself. Imagine someone knocks at your front door and you have just come out of a shower. The safest and fastest thing would be to use the same piece of unsewn cloth and wrap it around you. If you were very cautious and to avoid giving any foolish ideas you would hide yourself completely. Drop it on your head and hide your face, body, legs. We see the same piece of cloth dropped on the head even today in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan. Dropped on the head to hide everything, avoiding any foolish ideas men might get.

These two pieces of cloth are still used in Mecca for the Holy Pilgrimmage (Hajj). Women are excluded and they have been asked to use whatever covering they think are necessary. So that men dont get foolish ideas while praying. No one can control the way the mind wanders. She has been asked not to cover her face while doing Hajj. Identity is important. Hijab is important. Safety is important. Security is important. The spirit and the form clash again, when we think Opression is the important.

Some modernist Muslims believe that hijab is a cultural issue and has nothng to do with Islam. I think they are referring to the types and practices of hijab (the form and the spirt contradiction) and not the concept of hijab itself. Cause I think the hijab exists in all women, even all human beings of all kinds and shapes and cultures and religions.

The nature of a woman is fundamentally different from man. But lets see what an ordinary woman wants. (Women to whom hijab will be applicable). I am not talking about extraordinary women like lesbians, strippers or fashion models. This is getting tough....

She does not want to be a slave in a mans world. She does not want pressures from the society, where she is forced to or expected to conform to what others want to see. She wants to be judged as a decent, polite, responsible and honorable woman. She does not want to be harrased or ogled by people at every step she takes. She does not want to learn from experience how evil and opressive men can be. She does not want to unnecessarily evoke intense desires that men are known for. She does not want to motivate every one on the street for sexual interaction. She wants to be in charge of her own life. She wants to be left alone when she desires and she wants to be pampered when she needs it. She wants you to know exactly when she need what. lol.....

Americans did their first peace time nuclear bomb testing on little Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands in the remote Pacific ocean. Four days later on July 5, 1946, Louis Reard revealed a shockingly skimpy swimsuit he had designed, consisting merely of four triangles of material strategically placed on the female body and held in place by thin straps. Reard couldn't get any fashion models in town to show it off. But he was able to recruit a nude dancer from the Casino de Paris to pose in the garment. No decent women was willing to wear it. The French couturier called his new invention a bikini. Shamelessl isnt it. The name Bikini is from the Marshallese language, spoken by about 30,000 people in the Marshall Islands. It belongs to the Micronesian subgroup of Eastern Malayo-Polynesian. No other words from Marshallese have made their way into present-day English.

Before the invention of the bikini, daring women wore the athletic tank suits in the 1920s. The suit legs stopped at an unflattering point mid thigh and beneath the suit legs were built-in modesty shorts. Fashion history was shocked revealing figure hugging swimsuits that revealed the body limbs more clearly than ever before. in 1930s, feminine cotton printed playsuits often with little over skirts to hide the thighs gradually replaced the 20's fashion. Even after the Reard invention in 1946, women still continued to wear all in one swimsuits in the 1950s. The bikini was still thought of as risqué and best suited to film stars and strippers. Today we have the G-strings and Thongs. Now most bikinis are designed to reveal as much as possible. Many women find it hard to buy a modest bikini now and some women remain totally covered up by an oversized shirt or T-shirt or sarong wrap, removing it only for a timed sunbathing session. The acceptability of a bikini and choosing the right one has haunted women for centuries and today is no different from before. Is it because there are only a few perfect bodies out there. Is it that there is always something that they are trying to hide or deal with. Is it that hijab is almost an instinctive behaviour.

So lets see what you hear women saying about bikinis:
a. Wearing a bikini on the beach is my worst nightmare...and with me in a bikini, probably most mens worst nightmare too.
b. I hate this time of year with gorgeous , toned females modelling little bits of cloth. Make me sick.
c. It is'nt fair that blokes can show off their flabby bits while we have to hide them.
d. No way I am gonna wear a thing or go topless, a bikini with a wrap, fine with me.
e. I don't care what anyone thinks, it's not like they know me. I doubt they will be looking at me anyway.
f. Wearing a bikini is far too dangerous for me. Either a hoard of Japanese men will turn up and try to harpoon me, or Greenpeace will try and roll me back into the ocean.
g. If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

Have someone asked them, why they have to go through this agonising ordeal. One who likes you will like you come what may. Does making someone like you, always works out in the end. Is it that the post second world war economies required semi-nude advertisements. Is it that men designed all the bikinis, so that they could see all they wanted to. Is it all about money, sex and desires in the end.

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Note: What do I know. I have never been married and never been divorced. What I write comprises of visual, mental and literary observations supplemented by an endoeavour for neutral analysis, and of course, some personal experiences are playing a role too. I have friends who are staunch believers of both sides of the picture. My writings are not directed to offend any person and if they do, I apologize in advance. My suggestion would be to read as if you have never known the writer, if you ever have.