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Head scarves not just for religion, say Iraqi women

Mayada Chazi does not think of herself as particularly religious. She's more interested in talking about boys, reading English novels, or dreaming of visiting New York. But she has taken to wearing the head scarf of a devout Muslim woman.

Many women who bared their heads and dressed in Western-style clothes in Saddam Hussein's secular Iraq have started covering up -- some out of Islamic devotion, others in a desperate bid to shield themselves from the torrent of violence that has swept the country since the dictator's fall.

Wrapped in scarfs and cloaks, the ghostlike figures shrink into the background, barely noticed as they drift past the bomb craters, sandbagged checkpoints and blast walls along Baghdad's chaotic streets.

mixed feelings

Chazi's Muslim family grew up in a predominantly Christian neighborhood of Baghdad. Their mother was a stylish dresser who eschewed head scarves for herself and her three daughters. But when Chazi returned to her university English course after the US invasion, her father insisted she cover her hair to avoid drawing attention -- particularly from the gangs that have turned kidnapping into a lucrative profession.

Chazi did so under protest, pairing a sparkly blue scarf with a long jeans skirt, tight red shirt and blue nail polish on her fingers and toes.

"Do I look like a religious girl to you?" she said with a grudging laugh.

Many in Baghdad initially celebrated the US-led invasion for bringing an end to decades of oppression. But the promise of new freedom swiftly gave way to an onslaught of car bombs, mortar and rocket fire, gunfights and crime that have terrorized the country.

A scarf may seem like slim protection, but Chazi says it helps her melt into the background and she has made her peace with it. Besides, if she stops wearing one now, she says, everyone will think she is chasing men.

"People here judge by your appearance," she said. "No matter what your personality, if you are a veiled woman, they will judge you better."

Fear is not the motivation for all. For some women the hijab is an expression of religious freedom after decades of enforced secularism.

Salama al-Khafaji, one of only three women on Iraq's interim National Council, takes pride in wearing an all-enveloping black cloak, known as an abaya, which leaves only her face showing.

Al-Khafaji, who as a member of the former US-appointed Governing Council survived an assassination attempt May 27 that killed her teenage son, grew up in a deeply religious household. But it was years before she dared wear the abaya. Unlike Chazi, the 45-year-old dentist does not find covering up oppressive.

"An abaya doesn't cover your education or your mind," al-Khafaji said in her study.
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