Modesty & Muslims

This is an essay I wrote for my Islam & the Gospel class. I was told to write on any aspect of Islam that interested me, so I chose to write on modesty--from a Muslim perspective and an LDS perspective.

Women, Modesty, and Personal Choice
Modesty in dress and appearance seems to be a standard that is quickly on the decline in today’s society, especially in the United States. Sadly, I have seen this standard of dress almost completely abandoned by even some of my LDS friends, even though our prophet and other Church leaders so often emphasize its importance. So when I read in Colin Turner’s “Islam: The Basics” about the Islamic practice of modest dress, I could understand where the doctrine was coming from. Many people today see the wearing of the hijab by Muslim women as a sign of oppression or inferiority, but when one really looks at modesty from a religious perspective, wearing the hijab—or modest clothes, for LDS women—can often be seen as a personal act of piety and devotion to God (although, unfortunately, this is not always the case).

As an LDS young woman from California—land of short shorts, tank tops, and “progressive thinking” of all kinds—modesty has been a belief that has been both difficult to defend and difficult to uphold (due to a lack of modest options in clothing stores). Often, my friends would tease me about being “uptight” or a “goody-two-shoes,” asking what harm wearing shorter shorts could do anyway. Even though there were some other LDS young women around me, I often felt alone in my standards, as the other girls tended to wear strapless dresses, short shorts, and bikinis. I have always known that there are others that have standards of modesty in dress, but, quite honestly, they seem very few and far between when immersed in California society. I often questioned why I kept the standards that I did. That question always led me back to my faith and my love for God. My body is a temple, a sacred creation granted unto me by God, and that temple is holy (1 Corinthians 3:17). I kept the standards of modesty that I did because it was my personal choice to do so, and I am blessed to live in a country where I am free to exercise that choice.

Muslim women, similarly, have a standard of modesty. The big difference is, however, that Islam is not monolithic like the LDS faith is: there is no one central authority dictating what is and is not a “Muslim lifestyle.” The closest thing they have to any kind of central authority figure is the book of scripture, the Koran. The Koran says, in Sura 24:31, “And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their [close family or slaves], or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women…” This requirement of modesty from women seems to imply that there is no need for them to show off their bodies to people who shouldn’t have the sacred privilege to see them—a woman’s husband, close family, children, etc.
According to the Gospel Study tool on lds.org, modesty is “an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior. If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves. Instead, we seek to “glorify God…” (“Modesty” ¶1). Though this statement came from an LDS source, it seems to fit the attitude of Muslim women as well; the point of modesty is to not draw undue attention to our bodies, it is an attitude of “propriety and decency.” This last point, however, is the source of much of the contention between women who wear the hijab and women who do not. In some areas, such as Palestine, women might be forced by law to wear the hijab or niqab, removing any personal piety from the equation altogether (Hammami 1990, p25). In other places, such as the United States, wearing of any kind of head covering is totally optional for Muslim women. One Gazan woman said that wearing the hijab “is not an issue for me. In my community it’s natural to wear it. The problem is when little boys, including my son, feel they have the right to tell me to wear it” (Hammami 1990, p26). Sadly, rather than the head covering being any kind of expression of piety or personal choice, for many women the hijab is simply yet another imposition by culture or local law.

Yet even when modesty is required by the law of the land, women can make wearing the hijab an act of personal choice. This is something I learned through my experience both at home in California and here at BYU. The standards of modesty that I strive to live started out as impositions by outside parties—my parents, general authorities, and church leaders. However, as I learned more about why those rules were put in place I came to a greater appreciation for the symbolism and the meaning behind the act of dressing modestly. I adopted the rules as my own personal standards of dress. It follows, therefore, that Muslim women can still make wearing the hijab an act of personal piety and devotion to their religion, even if it the clothing is required by cultural or governmental laws. Just as many non-LDS people might see my “inability” to wear a bikini to the beach as a limiting or oppressive act committed by some abstract chauvinist leader, many see the wearing of the hijab or niqab as horribly oppressive and degrading of women. It has become a political lodestone to many people (Ahmad 2008, p99), but it doesn’t have to be to the women who wear the head covering.

Though it has been the focus thus far, the hijab is not the only clothing that must be modest for Muslim women. They should not wear tight-fitting or clothes that reveal the legs or the upper arms. Material should not be sheer, nor, in many cultures, should the fabric be brightly colored or patterned. (http://www.islamicboutique.com/dresscode.asp). Similarly, LDS women should not wear tight-fitting clothing, see-through or revealing clothes, short shorts, or tank tops, and should avoid “extremes” in styles (First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve 2001, p15-16).
Discovering this similarity between Islamic and LDS cultures—modesty and the struggle to live it personally—has really helped me to see how similar our faiths really are, even in the little things, like how we dress. Modesty can be a personal choice for women, no matter what the laws or cultural norms may demand. For Muslims, it might be the hijab or niqab; for me, it might be longer shorts or modest dresses. No matter what the specifics might be, we can choose to make it a matter of personal devotion to our religion.