Bear None, Bear All – Intensified Attraction

This entry has been inspired by Emirati’s recent entry.

I should start by informing you all I was once very good at dressing in proper accordance with Islamic laws. I would cover my face on occasion, especially if I was headed somewhere where the male population was certain to outnumber the female, or if I were on some particular day, wearing more make-up than I deemed appropriate in public.

These days, I’m not nearly as good, modest or even religiously proper.

I still wear Abaya (cloak) and Shayla (head scarf), but it’s more because I’m used to it than anything else. Often, you’ll find my Shalya dropped across my shoulders and not on my head. I’m stating this beforehand, so I don’t get any calls from you all about what a hypocrite I am for bringing this topic up. I’d remove it all together for a number of reasons, but change isn’t easy, and there’s a lot that has to be considered for a girl who has voluntarily worn Islamic Hijab for more than 7 years. I bet finding comfortable work, or even a social circle would be easier if I were to just take the thing off, huh?

Anyway, I and a few of my friends have found that women in Niqab (the veil that completely covers the face) get MORE unwanted attention then when we're not wearing it. Even those Niqab's that cover your eyes FULLY, seem to entice a certain bread of gawking men.

There's nothing like walking around partially blind, unable to breathe, listening to some twat shout at you, “Mumkin nta’arif?” (Pretty much means, “Can I get to know you?”) Or even better, random numbers shouted across lanes of traffic, is another favorite pick up line for the covered. And yes, it happens with girls who are unveiled or partially veiled as well. But when you’ve completely covered, it almost feels like more of an insult.

I’ve been followed while driving a car with 70% tint, while wearing a Niqab, from Ajman to Dubai. Granted, this was a few years ago; the same still goes. There’s an attractive mystery to the unseen that makes curiosity burn and enhances desire.

A friend of mine was standing outside a hospital talking in fluent (local accent) Arabic to her husband on the phone, concerning whatever medical situation was happening inside with her relatives. She of course, was covered from head to toe. When she finally closed the phone, a man came up to her side and said, “Finally. I’ve been waiting for you to get off the phone. My number is…”

Showing all or showing nothing at all, seem to have very similar effects.

Thus the rule of modesty is necessary. I don’t believe in the Saudi traditions of covering all, all the time. I do believe there are times, when covering your face is useful, and even preferable. Being incognito has certain advantages; I’m sure you can coin a few of them on your own, even when we’re talking in complete innocent terms.

But, women aren’t allowed to perform pilgrimage with their faces covered, or even pray that way, according to Islam.

I’m not going to argue the Islamic beliefs behind this. I’m not going to deny that pretty much all Islamic scholars will agree the wives of the Prophet (salallahu alhi wassalaam), were made the ‘Mother’s of Islam,’ and asked to cover their faces.

But the Qura’an itself does not clearly specify that this is an Islamic ruling, no matter how the words are interpreted.

I for one, feel it’s an extreme in today’s UAE world. I’m not talking about it being outdated, as Islamic rulings are meant to withstand time and I agree with this belief. I feel it’s an extreme because of the way the Hijab (Islamic covering) is worn, now.

I remember a house-guest I once entertained. Her husband had come to visit my husband. She was a local lady and though the men were to eat in the sitting room, and my sister-in-law, this guest and I were meant to eat somewhere else, she refused to remove her Hijab during her whole multi-hour visit with us, even while eating. I have never in my life felt so insulted; and I never invited the woman back. She was a snob, who clearly feared the ‘evil eye,’ or something along those lines. I don’t remember her name, but I remember the insult.

I suppose, she was a rarity and not the reason I have such issues with this sort of Hijab, over all.

Sure, the women are covered in public and being ‘modest’. But more often than not, their eyes are artistically painted to entice and encourage deep, curious looks, their fingers are usually adorned with diamonds the size of walnuts, and their perfume is usually an intoxicating, richly exotic scent that can be smelled a hundred meters behind their walking-path. And their Abaya’s are skillfully cut to flow around the body, showing hints of voluptuous curves. They reek of a feminism you can feel and almost taste in their presence. I am a woman; a strait one at that. It sounds undeniably seductive, because it is.

The point I’m trying to make, there are extremes and there is modesty. The naked Spinney’s women of today are at one end, the towering modestly femme women are the other.

Both, in my opinion, shouldn’t be complaining about harassment; cause whether they admit it or not, they’re asking for attention. If it’s a different kind of attention you’re looking for, try a different marketing scheme.