Is Niqab (veil) & Segregation Really an Obstacle for Women?

In the magazine The Economist dated February 4, 1995, on page 39 under the title "Saudi Arabia, Silent Revolution" there was an article regarding the practice of veil in Saudi Arabia and the business occupation of women. I was so elated that I am summarizing some relevant sections here.

"A Silent Revolution behind the veil in Saudi Arabia. While their husbands wasted the gold of the oil in buying weapons and building palaces, their wives and daughters were accumulating little big moneys. In the current financial crisis that is hitting the kingdom, this ‘feminine/female’ wealth could bring about change more effectively than any public show of frustration."

Some numbers to wonder about:

· As much as 40% of Saudi private wealth is in female hands...

· A quarter of the property in Riyadh, the capital, and half the property in Jeddah, the second city, is owned by women...

· More than 2000 women are registered with the Riyadh chamber of commerce...

· In a shopping mall in Jeddah, 8 out of 20 shops are owned and run by women (Notices forbid men to enter the shops women run!)...

· One or two women operate large business, but are careful to keep a low profile...

· The vast majority of women in the Arabian Peninsula wear Niqab especially in Saudi Arabia and Yemen...

Also in the book "Saudi Arabia: A country study" by Eleanor Doumato et alia (1) there were a few statistics that seemed highly encouraging:

· The level of female graduates has increased tenfold from 1674 in 1975 to 1821 in 1989

· Saudi Arabia’s fifth Development Plan projects 45,000 female graduates this year but only 38,000 male graduates

· In 1984 there were 12,000 women enrolled in the 7000 female colleges of education... In 1989 the number of graduates from all the kingdoms colleges and universities was roughly the same: about 7000 each ... Between 1983 and 1989 the number of university students increased from 58,000 to 113,000 which is a 95 percent increase ... The rate of increase for women was greater than the overall-women’s enrollment increased from 20,300 to 47,000 in the same period which makes their rate of increase to be 132 percent!

· In 1990, King Abdulaziz University graduated 15,000 undergraduates one-third of whom were women

· In 1984, Umul-Quraa University graduated 75,000 undergraduates - 51 percent of whom were women

All of this dramatic change, however, one thing was even more remarkable as observed by the author: "The practices of veiling and seperation, and the values underlying these practices, however, were not being dislodged."

As we can see, and contrary to Western belief, Muslim women can be very successful while sticking to the commandments of their Lord and the laws of their Deen.

My dear Muslim Sisters, pay attention to these pieces of reports by the kuffaar (westerners). And as it is said in Arabic "wal-Haqqu maa shahida bihi al-A’daa’u" - Truth is what was witnessed by the enemy.

Never think that hijab (niqab being part of it) is an obstacle to your emancipation. How can it be when it is Allaah who has prescribed it for you; it is Allaah who wants good for you more than you want it for yourself; it is Allaah, The Most Wise and The Most Knowledgeable, who made it mandatory on you for nothing but to make you happy in this wordly life and in the Hereafter.

Be careful not to follow those who call for the appearance of women among men; who call you directly and indirectly to mingle with men; who want to take you out of your home and out of your hijab (your home being part of your hijab) by playing on your emotions and by saying that the society is breathing from one lung only, or sayi ng half the society is jobless and inactive, or by calling you to compete with men in leadership by giving you examples such as Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Edith Creysson!

They only want to strip from you the nature that Allaah has perfectly created you in and that is of Daughter, Sister, Wife, and Mother. Their aim is to leave you confused; finding yourself having lost the characteristics of a dignified and respected Muslim woman on one hand, and having not reached the level of men on the other. (In those western countries who claim equality and liberty and freedom, salaries of men are still higher than those of women for the same kind of job, politics and leadership is still controlled by men...!)

And above all, they want to strip from you what Allaah has created you for and that is to worship Him. My dear Muslim Sister, follow the Sunnah of the Prophet salla Allaahu alaihi wa sallam and the practice of his wives, Mothers of the believers, may Allah be pleased with them. Allaah said in what translated means: "It is not for a believing man or woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error." (Al-Ahzab/33,36)

(1) Eleanor Doumato et alia, Saudi Arabia: A country study, Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, 1993. (It is sponsored by the U.S. Army (in fact they have a whole series of similar books).

Acknowledgment: Statistics provided by Sr. N. Jihan (Syracuse, NY)

This article was originally published in Al-Mu’minah The Believing Woman Volume 1, Issue 1.

Published by Al-Qur’an was-Sunnah Society of North America. htpp://www.qss.org