The post-9/11 hijab as icon

Sociology of Religion, Fall, 2007 by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad

The integration and assimilation of second and third generation Muslims into U.S. society was expected to proceed according to a predictable trajectory noted among previous immigrant groups. The children of the immigrants would shed their parents' religious and cultural markings and become more Americanized, and if a reassertion of a cultural identity occurred (hereafter referred to as "re-Islamization"), it would not take place until the third generation. This pattern appeared to be a reasonable expectation since the ad hoc leadership of the immigrant Muslim community self-consciously set out to emulate the successful integration of non-Protestant religious groups into the American fabric in the 1960s: Jews in their establishment of religious, cultural and political institutions, and Catholics in founding parochial schools that would help shape the future generations (Haddad 1991a; Haddad and Esposito 2000; Haddad and Lummis 1990).

This paper will argue that the process of re-Islamization has been accelerated in the aftermath of 9/11, as an increasing number of adolescents and young adults (daughters of immigrant Muslims) are assuming a public Islamic identity by wearing the hijab (headscarf). The Islamophobia that took hold in the public domain as a consequence of the propaganda for the war on terrorism appears to have suspended political correctness as it pertains to Arabs, Muslims, and Islam in the public square. This has become an important factor in the re-Islamization of Muslim youth. Faced with a growing American public acceptance of the diatribe against Islam and Muslims, some young American-born Muslim women appear to have appropriated a century old view of the hijab as a symbol of solidarity and resistance to efforts to eradicate the religion of Islam.

The hijab had become an integral part of revolutionary and anti-colonial struggle, illustrated most vividly in Algeria in the 1950s and Iran in the 1970s (Bullock 2002:87). From this perspective, the re-appropriation of the hijab in North America can be seen as a return to authenticity. At the same time, the hijab is a public affirmation of trust in the American system that guarantees freedom of religion and speech. For many of the young Muslim women who have decided to wear a hijab despite the fact that their mothers have never dressed Islamically, the hijab has become a symbol of American Islamic identity. As one Muslim leader once recounted to me, "If they do not wear the hijab, how will Americans recognize that there are American Muslims?"

This paper is based on over two decades of research on American Muslim communities in various parts of the United States (Haddad 1991a, 1991b, 2000, 2002; Haddad and Lummis 1990; Haddad and Smith 1993, 1994, 2002; Haddad and Esposito 2000, 2001, 2003; Haddad, et al. 2006). It is supplemented by information gathered through multiple qualitative sources in a larger study on Muslim youth and their adjustment to and integration into American society that I am currently undertaking. The qualitative sources include interviews with over 30 young women that I met at various Muslim gatherings throughout the country; two focus groups of students attending universities on the East Coast discussing the issues they face in their daily life (e.g., the mosques they grew up in, the politics of the mosques, the youth groups, initiation into Islam, etc); transcripts of focus groups held by the Muslim Americans in Public Spaces (MAPS) program; and information gathered by my research assistants on various aspects of Muslim communities in various parts of the United States. These qualitative sources are further supplemented by a review of the literature on "the veil" produced by Muslim women academics as well as recent publications of new voices of young Muslim women eager to "speak out" (Afzal-Khan 2005; Bullock 2005).

This study examines how the hijab, for those who have chosen to put one on after 9/11, has become the symbol of authenticity and pride. It discusses why it has increasingly been appropriated by second generation young Muslim women in the United States as a signifier of an identity that defies Western demonization of Islam and the debasement of its women. For an increasing number of second generation American Muslim women, it has become an iconic symbol of the refusal to be defined by the Western media and war propaganda since 9/11, and of affirming authentic Muslim and American identity. As one young woman explained the meaning of her new hijab, "Islam is beautiful! Deal with it!"

THE WAR ON TERRORISM AND THE VEIL

In the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration launched an all out propaganda campaign to win the hearts and minds of the American public in support of its military campaign in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and the Taliban. The war propaganda cast American efforts to bring about regime change in Arab and Muslim nations as guided by noble and altruistic motives, aimed at bringing civilization to uncivilized Muslims and democracy to those living under autocratic regimes. It was also projected as defending American values deemed valid for all time and place, beginning with the empowerment of Muslim women. The campaign stressed the need to mobilize American armed forces to liberate the Muslim women of Afghanistan, in particular, from their degrading condition. First Lady Laura Bush, for example, in her November 17, 2001 radio address claimed that "the fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women." (1) The American press initially fell in lock step with the government propaganda effort. Chris Matthews, for example, commented on MSNBC, "They hate us because our culture teaches us to respect women." Increasingly the American public has identified "the veil," whether a hijab (a covering of the hair) or burqa (a coving of the head including the face), with Islamic militancy, extremism, jihadism, and oppression of women.