A Study of Cultural and Religious Significance of Hijab in Kahf’s the Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Author(s) : Dr. Mazhar Hayat, Saira Akhtar, Umaira Bashir

Abstract:

This research paper aims to evaluate the religious and cultural significance of hijab (veil) in Europe in the wake of Western hostility to this Islamic female dress code. In the aftermath of 9/11, there is an increasing trend among Muslim women in Europe and America to use hijab as an embodiment of Islamic identity. Western critics of Islam are hostile to this dress code and have been using it as a pretext to paint Islam as an oppressive and male-oriented dogma which does not give equal rights and freedom to women. Islamic feminists take this Eurocentric interpretation of Islamic veil as a continuation of Western colonial mindset to unveil Muslim women. Kahf, an Arab Muslim feminist writer, deals with the controversy regarding hijab from Islamic feministic perspective in The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf and challenges western constructed image of Muslim women as monolithic entities. The writer presents female characters that cherish hijab practice as a symbol of their Islamic identity.