under Islam. More frequently, ™ijàbis regarded as
various styles of head and/or body coverings
adopted within and across cultures where Islam is
practiced (Shirazi 2000, 115). However, histori-
cally the concept of ™ijàbis a much broader concept
that refers to the act of covering and the covering
practices of both Muslim men and women (El
Guindi 1999). The concept of ™ijàb, then, is not
only an item of dress that has evolved over time as
a compulsory practice for Islamization policies but
more specifically an item of dress that more often
defines women as female.
£ayà±refers to the concept of modesty that gov-
erns both Muslim men’s and women’s dress (Daly
2000). £ayà±prescriptions vary according to reli-
giosity and personal, social, and cultural contexts.
Some of these prescriptions concern the degree of
cover or exposure of the body; the area of the body
covered; the proximity of the clothing in relation to
the body; the opacity or transparency of textile
qualities; the public or private nature of a social sit-
uation; the prayer versus non-prayer times of day;
and the individuals present, their gender, familial
relationship, nationality, and religion. An ortho-
dox individual may adhere strictly to these pre-
scriptions and wear a ™ijàb. In contrast, the state
may impose the wearing of a specific style of ™ijàb
and how it must be worn. In Iran since the early
1980s the Office of Guidance has imposed on
women the compulsory ™ijàb(Shirazi 2000, 116).
Similarly, during the 1990s under the rule of the
Taliban in Afghanistan the most extreme ™ijàbre-
strictions were imposed on women by the Depart-
ment of Vice and Virtue. Afghan women were
denied their human rights based on how they cov-
ered or revealed their body when seen in a public
social context; wearing or not wearing a head cover-
ing, the chaadaree, was not a choice (Skaine 2000).
Though many Muslim men and women regard-
less of culture or ethnic affiliation dress according
to an enculturated understanding of ™ayà±, many
Muslims may not actually be cognizant of this
Arabic term and merely maintain that “we are
dressing as proper Muslims out of respect for our
religion and our families.” In Islamic states such as
Afghanistan and Iran, it is unclear whether mod-
esty is a self-regulated concept or an institutional-
ized value that governs the modesty of (primarily)
women (Nakanishi 1998).
Muslim women’s head coverings are not the cen-
tral focus of most discourses of their lives but in
many instances head coverings are implicated in
questions about their rights as citizens. Whether
historical, religious, generational, political, or gen-
der specific explanations are given, the preoccupa-500 modesty discourses
tion with women’s ™ijàband ™ayà±is more than
ambivalence toward their meaning and use in daily
and special occasion wear. They have become sites
of compliance as well as resistance for women
defining their lives.
Afghan women wear two different types of head
coverings. Both may be considered ™ijàband both
are considered an expression of ™ayà±. For over a
century, Afghan male politicians and religious cler-
ics have debated the form, style, and other aes-
thetic, social, and moral dimensions of women’s
head coverings as well as women’s rights. The most
common are the chaadarand the chaadaree(Daly
1999). The chaadaris a two-dimensional, square or
rectangular shaped garment, analogous to the
Western notion of a scarf or shawl. Though the
style of wearing varies, typically a chaadarcovers
the head including the hair, neck and shoulders of
the wearer and protects these parts of the body
from view. It is considered a partial head covering,
scarf, or shawl worn as part of an ensemble. It is
worn in both private and public contexts and it is
subject to style variations and personal aesthetic
preferences. In contrast, the chaadareeis a three
dimensional vertically-paneled, seamed, and pleated
garment that encompasses and encloses the entire
body of the wearer, in order to obscure her from
view. It is considered a “full veil” and is worn over
a woman’s entire ordinary clothing, including a
chaadar. A rectangular area of open-work embroi-
dery covers the eyes and provides limited vision for
the wearer as well as minimal vision by the observer
of the wearer. It is worn primarily in public contexts
outside the home.
Since the turn of the twentieth century Iranian
women’s head covering practices and notions of
modesty have likewise been regulated by Iranian
men. However, proactive Iranian women have
manipulated their head coverings to communicate
acceptance as well as resistance to political and reli-
gious reform movements in Iran (Baker 1997). In
Iran, both individual choice and collective consen-
sus have existed simultaneously for decades. But
similar to the Afghan women’s chaadar, an Iranian
woman wears “a large scarf that covers the hair,
shoulders and neck,” the rusari, and like the
Afghan woman’s chaadaree, the Iranian rupushis
“a loose outer garment that flows down the knees
and covers the arms” (Shirazi 2001, 1).Bibliography
P. Baker, Politics of dress. The dress reform laws of
1920/30s Iran, in N. Lindisfarne-Tapper and B. Ingham
(eds.), Languages of dress in the Middle East, Rich-
mond, Surrey 1997, 178–92.
M. Daly, The paarda expression of hejaab among Afghan