Identity In The Time Of Dissent

For many Muslim women, wear ing the hijab forms an essential part of how they interact with the world, and with themselves

- Arman Khan

Thirty-four-year-old Mahira, a software engineer, describes the hijab in a rather unique way when I ask her if she can envision a day without it. “It’s the covering for my soul and without it, I don’t think I can truly be human,” she says. “It’s not an entity separate from me.”

Even beyond the religious code of conduct associated with it, the hijab takes on many forms. Various historical records tell us that urban women in Egypt would often wear it as a sign of civilisation; in post-Islamic Persia, the hijab was worn by women who were in academia; while in the high societies of Mesopotamia, Assyria and the Byzantine Empire, the act of shrouding and veiling was directly proportional to economic and social status.

While the term ‘hijab’ literally translates to ‘cover’, the finer nuances of this covering are interpreted in various ways in different cultures. The common denominator in all these expressions is that the act of veiling meant entering a metaphysical realm that was at the intersection of the Divine space and the physical one.

If you ask Dr Aafreen Kotadiya, who specialises in immunohematology and transfusion medicine, the way she expresses herself has a lot to do with how she styles her hijab. “If I wake up feeling hopeful, I go with floral prints and mint. And when I’m feeling a little blah, darker shades reflect my mood.”