Anaquel de Estudios Árabes ISSN: 1130-3964/e-ISSN: 1988-2645 https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/anqe.95415
BOOK REVIEWS
MORROW, John Andrew. Hijab, Word of God or Word of Man? Washington-Londres: Academica Press, 2023, 425 pp.
In recent decades, the female veil (hijab) has aroused special interest among researchers and academics as a topic of study because it is a highly topical issue that transcends the limits of the Muslim world by reaching other regions such as Europe and the United States.
Morrow, a [former] researcher and professor in the field of Arab and Islamic Studies at the National University of Rosario (Argentina) and author of the work reviewed here, makes an exhaustive analysis of the hijab throughout history, consulting the opinions and works of a large number of ulama, scholars, and academics to support his point of view and conclusions.
The book consists of a preface written by Riffat Hassan, professor emeritus at the University of Louisville, nine chapters, general conclusions, and several appendices, in addition to a very extensive bibliography.
The first chapter analyzes women’s clothing in the Qur’an and prophetic tradition. The author criticizes the conservative vision that is imposed in the Muslim world. The founding texts of Islam, in Morrow’s opinion, do not dictate the use of the veil. He even goes so far as to question the authenticity of some of the Prophet’s sayings that discriminate against women.
In the second chapter, the author asks if women are simply vulvas and vaginas as they have been treated throughout the history of Islam by the misogyny of some ulama and clerics to control their sexuality and curtail their rights and freedoms. According to Morrow, the origin of this vision dates back not to the Torah, which is the written tradition that contains the laws and narratives given by God to Moses, but to the Talmud, which represents an oral tradition that collects the discussions and explanations of the rabbis about the Torah.
The third chapter is entitled “Boobs, Bosoms, and Beyond.” It exposes the semantic and interpretive effort made by the scholars of animosity and hatred regarding the Qur’anic verses or the words of the Messenger of Islam to conclude that women must hide their entire bodies under the veil and not just their private parts as these texts command.
In the fourth chapter, the author focuses on the dress of the slave woman and contrasts it with that of the free woman according to Islamic tradition. The author questions this difference, which consists of the fact that the scholars of Islam soften their requirements regarding the dress of slave women to the detriment of free women, something that has no justification.
The fifth chapter examines the imposition of “Islamic” dress on women. In this part of the book, Morrow provides a broad overview of the dress of Muslim women throughout the history of Islam. He points out the fundamental differences between traditional Islamic dress and the model imposed by radicals from the 1980s onwards; a kind of uniform that covers a woman’s body from head to toe.
The sixth chapter discusses the resurgence of progressive Qur’anic reformist, rationalist, and secularist ideas and revivalist voices. The role of different currents is analyzed, especially those reformist ones within Islam that seek to be rational and pragmatic. Some of these currents have emerged as a result of what is wrongly known as the “Islamic Awakening” which does not take into account the political and social causes of the Muslim peoples.
Chapter 7 presents the views of men on the hijab. Men from different fields express their opinions on the hijab. It provides the views of a significant number of Muslim scholars, writers, intellectuals, academics, and leaders on the Islamic veil.
The eighth chapter presents women’s views on the hijab. In the same vein as the previous chapter, it presents the views of a group of mostly Muslim women on the veil. They are women writers, intellectuals, academics, and activists. Some have suffered persecution by Muslim radicals and were forced into exile or required to seek protection.
The ninth and final chapter, entitled “A Long, Long Way to Go,” explains that the achievements made so far by Muslim women are insufficient because there are still many obstacles to overcome. The hijab, like other external or internal signs, has its origins in pre-Islamic times and represents the powerful patriarchal system of that period.
The book also provides an interesting linguistic study by analyzing the terms that are related to the concept of hijab, such as khimar, zina’, juyub, jalabib, tabarraja… but it is worth noting that in the first chapter, the author confuses the term zina’ (to commit adultery) with zinah (beauty). The former is derived from the root z/n/a and the latter from z/a/n.
The author insists that the Islamic veil — defended by certain sectors of Muslim societies and by certain Western left-wing groups using arguments relating to personal freedom, identity, or even the fight against colonialism — is in reality nothing more than a symbol of male domination. Muslim scholars and ulama who are characterized by their conservative tendency try to cover up and seclude women because they fear and hate female sexual power and seek to suppress and subjugate it. The hijab is a sign of male authority that turns women into private property without independence.
Morrow’s main argument is that the Qur’anic verses that refer to women’s modesty have been misinterpreted and manipulated by Muslim clerics and scholars. This explanation may be valid in specific cases, but what cannot be denied is that we find in the sacred text of Islam many negative references to women. These are clear and transparent texts that discriminate against women and treat them as inferior beings, which do not admit a second interpretation. These are rulings that have to do with marriage, divorce, inheritance, or social value.
The author does the same with the prophetic tradition when he claims that the hadiths attributed to the Prophet that violate women’s rights are false or manipulated. Unfortunately, we find a large number of prophetic sayings in the collections most recognized by Muslims that represent laws that do not do justice to women.
Sometimes the author uses “Allah” instead of its English translation “God,” which seems to us more appropriate to the nature of the text. It would be desirable for the author to unify the nomenclature and clarify in which circumstances and for what reasons he alternates both names.
In the seventh chapter, the opinions of some Islamist leaders on hijab, which would have been enriching, are missing, such as those of the Moroccan Sheikh Yasine, the Tunisian Ghannouchi, or the Lebanese Hassan Nasrallah.
In short, this work represents a great effort and a serious contribution to the subject studied, covering a wide space-time dimension and consulting the most important specialized works, both ancient and modern. It would be advisable to translate it into Spanish.
[Dr.] Waleed Saleh [Honorary Full Professor, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Madrid]
Dr. John Andrew Morrow 