Does a hijab just have to worn when in public? Does it have to worn in her home? If she is alone? What are rules on wearing a hijab?
Strictly speaking a hijab is an Arab thing, not exactly an Islam thing. Modesty in dress is what is religiously required. All the rest is culture.
All that being said, women here wear ‘Regular Clothing’ at home.
What would regular clothing be in Saudi Arabia? Would they different clothing if a guest was at the house?
That is an easy question, but I have no easy answer.
When a male comes to my house my (Islamic, not Arab) GF runs away to put on her hijab. She usually wear blue jean shorts around the house or a skirt and blouse.
On the other hand, when we go to an (Islamic, Arab) friend’s house, I have no idea what the wife is wearing as I never have met her. The girls run off to another room and do things I can only imagine (and brother, I can imagine a lot!). Come to think of it, I have never said a word to a Saudi woman.
I also want to point out that in some Arab cultures it’s not a “have to.” Some women have a choice, and they choose to wear the hijab. But if they choose to, I assume they follow some convention you are referring to. Don’t know what it is.
On the other hand, most Saudi women want to dress the way they do. When they go to London (or wherever) they dress differently, but only because they are overseas. It is wrong to think that local women are ‘forced’ to dress a certain way.
On the (yet another) hand, I will admit that a Saudi woman who dressed in a way most Americans would find unremarkable would ‘get in trouble’ here. Still, different places and different people have different cultures.
Disclaimer – I am a Muslim woman who does not wear a hijab, but I do have family that do. These are my observations from being around them.
In the company of other women only, a woman does not have to wear a hijab.
This point was made rather obvious to me at my cousin’s wedding, where the male and female prayer halls in the mosque are in seperate rooms, with seperate entrances. Outside the mosque, those women who wear hijabs, wore their hijabs, however, once into the women’s foyer of the mosque, the hijabs came off.
If a woman is in mixed company, then she wears a hijab, apart from when with immediate family, (I think).
If a woman is going out, so that she will be seen by others (male and/or female), she wears a hijab.
However, as Paul in Saudi notes, the wearing of the hijab is a cultural rather than a religous thing. The dress requirements placed on a Muslim woman, are the same as those placed on a Muslim man, which are to dress modestly, and to cover one’s hair when in prayer.
The majority of Arab women don’t wear hijab; that’s pretty much a Saudi pennisular thing. Even then outside of Saudi itself in the other Gulf states you’re more likely to see a headscarf with the abaya (that long black garment conservative Arab women wear in public) but not necessarily the veil. Depends upon where you are. The hijab is rather rare in North Africa, although in rural areas you will see a different type of headscarf which reveals some hair (a big haram for a lot of Gulf women). Some very conservative families in the Gulf have the woman in a burqa-like covering, even down to black fingertipless gloves so you don’t get turned on by Fatima’s palms.
In Tunisia it’s pretty common to see mom wearing a loose headscarf (no tie; held in teeth!) and abaya and daughter in tight jeans, hair done, lipstick, heels, spaghetti straps. 14th century to 20th in one generation. You won’t really see skirts though.
Looks as if most Lebanese women are usually dressed for a night out clubbing (as are most Gulf ladies under the abaya… which is itself becoming form fitting in some areas).
My female students in Qatar wore pretty wild eye make-up, had their nails and toenails done and wore some pretty funky shoes… platforms and heels. Apparently they’re decked out in the latest fashions under the abaya.
The general rule is that if non-immediate-relative males around (in the most conservative families) then put on the conservative dress; at home anything goes, but as a visitor (unless a visitor in a more liberal Arab society) you won’t see it. Traditional Arab homes have seperate majlis, or living room of sorts, unconnected directly to the rest of the house, for each gender.
Apparently the women’s wedding reception is quite a sight, in the Gulf in a rental hall and all the ladies dressed to impress (each other). The men’s receptions are usually outdoors, on carpets in the desert (i.e. on the egde of town).
This confuses me–“hijab” as it is used around here means just the headscarf, not necessarily a veil. However, hijab to me implies a headscarf that covers all the hair, as opposed to those which may let the hairline show.
Does “hijab” mean (or also mean) a veiled headcovering?
I think he’s using hijab to mean a veil over the face, possibly?
As far as I understand it, hijab actually means the requirement of modest dress, but that it’s come to also mean the scarf itself. I’ve heard the Muslim women I know say hijab or just scarf to refer to the scarves they wear. The scarves can be pre-made (meaning, it’s a cloth headband and a cloth tube you slip over your head), or cuts of fabric in triangle, square, or rectangular shape. You wrap and pin it yourself, so you could choose to pin it loosely so that hair shows, or tightly around your face to make sure not even a bit of the underside of your chin shows. Kind of fascinating, really.
And “niqaab” around here (Canada) means the face veil (so that you see only the eyes, or nothing at all.) The kind I’ve seen is a set of squares sewn together with a long tie, and you tie it to your forehead along with your scarf, and you can flip down each square of fabric so that nobody can see even your eyes, or raise them so that all anyone can see is your eyes.
I’m curious and for some reason embarassed.
Do you live together? Is there a social stigma with that? Does she keep her shorts with the veil or change clothes as well?
(emphasis added)
Are you saying, Paul, that there is no legal penalty for women who dress how they please in Saudi Arabia? Because that’s not what Amnesty International says.
From: http://www.amnesty.ca/SaudiArabia/5.php
Maybe that’s out of context, maybe not, but that sure sounds to me like they are forced to dress a certain way.
The GF and I used to live together, but we have split up.
A woman who dresses in a conservative Western way will generally not get in trouble. A Mexican lady I know get hassled more as she ‘looks Saudi.’ A woman who went to the mall wearing short-shorts would be arrested, I guess.
So no, women in Saudi cannot ‘dress as they please,’ but then the same is true where you live, I guess. All societies I suppose have their limits.
What I was trying (and failing) to say is that most local women dress the way they dress here because that is the way women are ‘supposed’ to dress here. I do not think that women are beaten with sticks as each morning they insist upon wearing their ‘Sexy Spice’ costume. Women are taught to dress here by their mothers. Same as elsewhere except in the details.
(Oddly we never hear about the dress code in effect for Saudi men, because there is one.)
I don’t think you can walk around nekkid in Arkansas, but I don’t know if anyone ever tried it.
Una’s post reads pretty badly for your side, Dude.
And whose short-shorts are they?
Around these parts (UK), a hijab is a headscarf which covers the hairline, so the face can be seen, but not the hair. A niqab is a veil which covers the face, and a burkha is akin to a long dark coat/cloak type thing that covers the body completely.
I have no side. Dude.
Do they make ones to match bikinis? Just wondering…are the beaches in Saudi Arabia full of hijab-wearing women? 
As far as “has to” goes in Islam, the issue is not as cut-and-dried as some people make out. Has anyone heard of Sa‘id al-‘Ashmawi, the Egyptian expert on Islamic law?
The whole article is germane to the OP, but allow me to quote the part about al-‘Ashmawi’s legal opinion.
My point is that it remains a controversial topic, and people should be very cautious about categorical statments saying “Islam requires such and such” without being aware of the different currents of thought in the ongoing debate.
Yep. Here in Saudi Arabia, the ladies go to the beach an sit and cook and make coffee. The men and boys (and little girls) play in the water.
I went to the beach one day and was treated to a nice cabin cruiser close inshore. Very California, with a bunch of guys who shouldn’t be wearing speedos doing so. In the back were a half dozen ladies draped from head to toe, sitting in the cockpit facing one another, all wearing orange life vests.
Of course this varies. In Malaysia women on the beach are probably dressed to help the men bring in the day’s catch.
Here in Saudi Arabia, the people are (generally) rich enough to dress in accordance with the strictest interpretation of the rules. As has been said before, the dress code and its interpretation varies.