The Practice of Wearing Hijab in a Multicultural Mosque of America

Muhammad Sigit Andhi Rahman; Aini Firdaus

doi:10.21512/humaniora.v9i2.4430

Authors

Muhammad Sigit Andhi Rahman Old Dominion University
Aini Firdaus Independent researcher, Universitas Gajah Mada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21512/humaniora.v9i2.4430

Keywords:

hijab, cultural hybridity, multicultural space, Muslimness, America’s mosque

Abstract

This research examined the practice of wearing the hijab among Hampton Roads Muslim women of Islamic Center of Tidewater (known as the ODU Mosque) in Norfolk, Virginia. This research asked two main questions: how did Muslim women at the ODU Mosque negotiate the social meanings embedded in the hijab? And, how did the ODU mosque as a cultural institution and as a multicultural space for Muslim women shape their practice of wearing the hijab? This research followed qualitative research method. The observation was primarily conducted during November 2017. For this research, interviews were conducted with five Muslim women who were at least 18 years of age, resided in Norfolk. This research finds that there is a cultural hybridization of the practices of wearing the hijab among Muslim women of this community. Moreover, by using the concept of ‘space’ by de Certeau, the researchers contend that the mosque has become not only a place of worship but space for them to interact and negotiate their Islamic practices or so-called their Muslimness. The ODU mosque is a space for them to negotiate their practices of Islamic rulings including the hijab.

Dimensions

Plum Analytics

Author Biographies

Muhammad Sigit Andhi Rahman, Old Dominion University

I am an Indonesian who currently doing my Ph.D. research under Fulbright Scholar Program at Graduate Program for International Studies (GPIS) of Old Dominion University (ODU), Norfolk, Virginia. My study interest focuses on the theme of how religious communities respond to globalization. I am also Lecturer on (study) leave at International Relations Study Program at President University of Indonesia. Currently, I am working on my Ph.D. dissertation on the topic of Takaful or Islamic Insurance Development while working as a Graduate Assistant (GA) as WebTech of College Arts and Letters of ODU.

Aini Firdaus, Independent researcher, Universitas Gajah Mada

I am a journalist and master student from Indonesia. I write family-related topics for a Muslim Magazine (Majalah Ummi) in Indonesia and travel articles for one of Indonesian airlines.

References

Ahmed, L. (2011). A quiet revolution the veil’s resurgence, from the Middle East to America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Akou, H. (2010). Interpreting Islam through the Internet: Making sense of hijab. Contemporary Islam, 4(3), 331–346.

Al Wazni, A. (2015). Muslim women in America and hijab: A study of empowerment, feminist identity, and body image. Social Work, 60(4), 325–333.

Bagby, I. (2012). The American mosque 2011 (US mosque study 2011). Washington D.C.: Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Bhowon, U., & Bundhoo, H. (2016). Perceptions and reasons for veiling. Psychology and Developing Societies, 28(1), 29–49.

Bouvier, G. (2016). Discourse in clothing: The social semiotics of modesty and chic in hijab fashion. Gender and Language, 10(3), 364–385.

Cevik, N. (2016). Muslimism in Turkey and beyond [e-book] religion in the modern world. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chioco, I. V. (2017). Looking beyond the veil. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 24(2), 547–573.

De Certeau, M. (2011). The practice of everyday. Translated by S. Rendall. (3rd edition). California: University of California Press.

Hamzeh, M. Z., & Oliver, K. (2010). Gaining research access into the lives of Muslim girls: Researchers negotiating “Muslimness”, modesty, “Inshallah”, and “Haram”. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 23(2), 165–180.

Honkatukia, P., & Keskinen, S. (2018). The social control of young women’s clothing and bodies: A perspective of differences on racialization and sexualization. Ethnicities, 18(1), 142–161.

Jeldtoft, D. N., Dessing, D. N. M., Nielsen, P. J. S., Woodhead, P. L., Catto, D. R., & Woodhead, P. L. (2013). 1 tactical and strategic religion. UK: Ashgate. Retrieved from https://www.123library.org/ebook/isbn/9781472417541/.

Khan, N. (2015). Fashionably modest [Amazon video]. Zujaja Creative. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Fashionably-Modest-Dina-Torkia/dp/B01N9CZGSW.

Lapidus, I. M. (2002). A history of Islamic societies (2nd edition). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

Litchmore, R. V. H., & Safdar, S. (2016). Meanings of the hijab: Views of Canadian Muslim women. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 19(3), 198–208.

Medina, J. (2014). This battlefield called my body: Warring over the Muslim female. Religions, 5(3), 876–885.

Moaddel, M. (2013). The birthplace of the Arab spring: Values and perceptions of Tunisians and a comparative assessment of Egyptian, Iraqi, Lebanese, Pakistani, Saudi, Tunisian, and Turkish Publics. Michigan: University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. Retrieved from https://mevs.org/files/tmp/Tunisia_FinalReport.pdf.

Pieterse, J. N. (2015). Globalization and culture global mélange (3rd edition). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Roded, R. (2010). Women, family, and gender in Islamic Law by Judith E. Tucker. International Journal Middle East Studies, 42(3), 524-526. doi: 10.2307/40784842.

Strabac, Z., Aalberg, T., Jenssen, A. T., & Valenta, M. (2016). Wearing the veil: Hijab, Islam and job qualifications as determinants of social attitudes towards immigrant women in Norway. Ethnic

and Racial Studies, 39, 2665–2682. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2016.1164878.

Tariq-Munir, E. (2014). The dynamics of wearing hijab for Muslim American women in the United States. In A. M. Kusow, G. Jones-Johnson, & A. Prokos (Eds.). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Van Roojen, P. (2011). Islamic fashion (Pepin fashion, textile and patterns). Amsterdam: Pepin Press.

Wang, Y. (2017). Muslim women’s evolving leadership roles: A case study of women leaders in an immigrant Muslim community in post-9/11 America. Social Compass, 64(3), 424–441.