Riyadh - The Hijab - The Veil

(Google Photo)

This  picture is similar to the one at the start of my last blog.  I show it again I guess because  I could not get used  to seeing women in the hijab or the veil and even now find it strange.    It started when I was at the airport in Frankfurt waiting for my flight to Riyadh.  Sitting across from me was a lady wearing a hijab but, unlike the one in the picture , her veil had a thin film of cloth across the eyes so that she could see out but others could not really see her.  I wondered to myself how she felt travelling the world "unseen" by others. I wondered if she enjoyed wearing the garb for the protection it might provide from interaction with strangers or if she resented having to wear it or was it so much a part of her upbringing and every day life that she did not even notice or give thought to her dress.

Leaving Riyadh, I was again at an airport but this time instead of one woman in the hijab, there were perhaps one hundred women , or so it seemed, in the airport waiting area but most were not Saudis or even Middle Eastern.  They were mostly Filipinas, domestic workers, and a goodly number of Western women, all wearing the hijab to appear modest in society.  I never did find out if they dressed this way to avoid the hassle of standing out or if they were required to dress this way.



(Google Photo)

 I checked on Google to learn more about the dress code in Saudi and learned the following:.  Rules regarding Muslim women's (and men's) attire are derived from   the Quran, Islam's revealed text, and the traditions (hadith) of the  Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the Quran, God states: "Say to  the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their   modesty...And say to the believing women that they should lower their  gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty
 and adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they  should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers...

 The vast majority of Muslim scholars  and jurists, past and present, have determined the minimum requirements
 for Muslim women's dress: 1) Clothing must cover the entire body, with the exception of the face and the hands. 2) The attire should not be   form fitting, sheer or so eye-catching as to attract undue attention or reveal the shape of the body.

To learn more about the hijab, check this site:    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab

I was surprised at how all encompassing the dress code seemed to be whether required by regulation or norm.  At the Riyadh airport, I saw tall well- dressed European women wearing the hijab casually open and uncovered standing  in the Immigration line but then pulling it closed when they left Immigration.  At the Marriott Hotel, all the women guests wore the hijab. In fact, when they checked in, they were given one to wear.  It was strange to see all the female guests wearing the hijab in the lobby, in the restaurant and even the executive lounge.

At the embassy, the female workers, both American and third country staff ( there are no Saudi workers here or for the most part at any of the large companies) wear Western clothes  and can be quite fashionable.  But  when the office I was working with invited me to lunch thee women all put on the hijab.  All the women ( three US Foreign Service Officers and three Filipinas) met us at the motorpool van wearing the hijab to go downtown to a Chinese restaurant.  When we got to the restaurant and were shown to a private room ( a family room where women are allowed to dine) all the ladies took off the hijab .  I found it strange for women to have to live in two worlds and go between these worlds a couple of times a day.

They talked about how  difficult and stressful it was being treated like second class citizens ( or is it second class people)   One of the American ladies said she tries to travel to other countries as much as she can to relieve the stress.  She said going to Abu Dhabi or Kuwait was good enough for a break,  She travels for the needed relaxation but she said she also wants the change to make sure that the present state of affairs never becomes "normal ".  

THE DIPOMATIC QUARTER

The Diplomatic Quarter


Fortunately for all the ladies I lunched with, they spend most of the work week in the Diplomatic Quarter (DQ) and for the State Department employees, they spend most of the week in the DQ where they live in embassy residences. I think it cuts down considerably on the stress but they can't hold up in this oasis. They do need to go downtown for a normal life of shopping and dining but when they do, they wear the hijab.

The Diplomatic Quarter truly is an oasis.  It is a seven mile closed in area where all the embassies (90 countries) have their chanceries and the residences for their national employees.  In this location, women can wear what they so choose and couples can even walk hand in hand.   Serving in Saudi has got to be a hard tour of duty and so much more so for the women in the US community. Without this oasis called the Diplomatic Quarter, it would be even harder.