**4. The hijab as connection-maker**

Aisha told the interviewer how she, after reading the Qur'an and believing it to be 'the truth', learned more about the practicalities of Islam. Through an internet discussion forum, she made the acquaintance of a Somali Muslim woman of her own age, and learned more about

*I visited her a couple of times and she showed me how to pray and gave me a scarf and then an abaya. … So, I actually started to wear them and pray before I had said Shahada [the declaration of belief].*

As Muslim women are required to veil when praying, such garment gifts have a practical value for the new convert when she learns to pray and to integrate her new religion into her daily life routines. The gift serves the purpose of encouraging her to veil and operates as a

Such gifts are often easily given and considered neither too personal nor too valuable to accept. They are typically bought cheaply from sources outside Finland, and as commodities operate in the cheaper end of globalised fashion systems. However, as Mauss reminds us, a gift is normally given and received under obligation, and in the process of gift-giving, it turns from mere commodity into something more spiritual and socially meaningful. In this case, the scarf and the abaya can be seen as a covert attempt to convert someone (or at least to encourage their conversion), and one of the gift's purposes is to bind the receiver, if not to the gift-giving individual per se, then to the Muslim community as a whole through a sense of gratitude and obligation to return the favour. New converts who are on the receiving side are expected to contribute back to the community, which the original donor represents, later on. Rather than creating a bond between two individuals, the gift therefore aims to create a bond between an individual and the community, imposing certain expectations with regard

There has been a significant shift in Somali interpretations of Islam as the Somali diaspora has spread across the world. While many of the older generation are Sufist, many of the younger generation are influenced by trends of the global Islamic revival, and particularly those actively marketed by Saudi Arabia [19]. Many young Somalis are also involved in Da'wah ('calling to Islam'). This is a form of missionary work, which targets both non-Muslims and also Muslims deemed to be not the 'right' kind of believers and religious practitioners. Popular among various Arab populations and, in the US especially, black converts to Islam, Da'wah work is sometimes associated with conservative (or even radical) views of Islam. In Aisha's case, the presumed intention of the original donor bore fruit: Aisha is now a moral leader with conservative religious views, and lectures to other young Finnish converts to Islam. She has been successfully socialised into a religious community, and the original garment gifts she received

The following story exemplifies the nuances within the Finnish Somali community with regards to interpretations of Islam. Nura is a Somali Muslim woman in her mid-20s. She arrived in Finland as a teenager and is married to a Somali man from her own clan. The marriage was arranged by their families, and both spouses share Salafi-influenced views of their religion. The interviewer was passed leaflets to that effect from the husband when visiting their home, but never actually met him in person as he firmly stayed in his room when the female

to appearance and behaviour onto the potential convert woman.

some years ago played an important role in this regard.

everyday life as a Muslim.

162 Socialization - A Multidimensional Perspective

welcome to the community.

Miriam, a Finnish woman in her late 20s, had a very different conversion story. She also dresses very differently from Aisha, preferring long skirts, long-sleeved tops and a small scarf that covers her hair but not her neck. Converted 2 years prior to the time of the interview, she had no connection to any local Muslim communities, and her only Muslim contacts were her Arab husband and his family, who live abroad. Miriam has one child, and is practically a single mother in her husband's absence. She tells the history of her scarf-wearing as follows:

*In Finland, I've worn this kind of a scarf [a small scarf covering most of the hair and the ears but not the neck] since the spring… It was actually because in 2010 we visited Jordan and I wore there for the first time the full scarf and the family saw me wearing it… Then [my husband's] brother came to visit [Finland]… and when I heard he's coming and thought that they've seen me with the scarf and I kind of can't appear with them without the scarf so I started wearing this… I couldn't imagine myself any more without a scarf in front of the family.*

When Miriam married her husband, the husband's family asked if she wanted to convert to Islam. When she refused, the topic was never brought up again. Muslim men, unlike Muslim women, are allowed to marry a non-Muslim, so there is no doctrinal compulsion for conversion of the bride [20]. Nor had her husband ever indicated, after she eventually did convert to Islam, that he would wish her to veil, or indeed that he had any opinion on her dress whatsoever. However, Miriam herself had a desire for continuity of dress in front of her husband's family and thus compromised between what she calls the 'full hijab' (and which she considers 'ideal'), and a version of it that can be worn in Finland without risking drawing too much attention to herself. Her choice is even more interesting in the light of what she says about her Finnish family:

*When I got married, my mother-in-law gave me clothes; she had bought them abroad… At that time I didn't yet wear a black long robe, I had trousers and a top down here [indicates below mid-thigh] and* 

Here it is important to consider this requirement within the frame of the Finnish Iraqi Shi'a community. The family Afra married into is said to be directly descended from Prophet Mohammed. Within the Shi'a community, the descendants of Mohammed hold a special, very highly regarded position. They are also permitted to wear a certain special shade of green in their clothes, which makes them very recognisable within the community, particularly during celebrations. Such high status and clear visibility within the community is highly likely to motivate the family to protect their reputation more carefully than they might need to do

Indeed, Afra learned that she was marrying into a family with stricter religious dress codes than her own family has. For example, her younger sisters wear trousers, tunics and scarves, while her husband's sisters all wear more covering forms of dress. (Afra's own family's

*jilbab. When a girl goes to school, they dress [like that] immediately. Now [one young daughter] wears trousers and a tunic but they slowly teach her to wear the abaya… But us, mother wears the abaya and the jilbab but we don't, we wear jeans and tunics and skirts. We are different in the sense that it's not so particular, not so necessary to have the abaya. I didn't either, only when I married I put it on.*

Afra's sister-in-law, Kayani, a Finnish convert woman who married into the same family, also wears the same more covering form of dress. But she frames her dress style as a personal choice that fits her character, personal convictions and sense of style better than the trousers

*I've always worn [covering clothes]; I've never been a [sleeveless] top-person. Our upbringing was such that in the summer I might have worn a tee-shirt, but I never wore anything horribly revealing. I've liked skirts and dresses. It wasn't a great change; it was actually just the scarf [that was new].*

She altered her dress style before her marriage, stating that in the progression of her conversion career [23], she 'gained more courage' and therefore was able to embrace a more covering style which she felt was more 'like me'. Thus, she does not consider her dress choices to have anything to do with her husband's family but rather she believes that they derive from her personal integrity and preferences. In the eyes of the community, however, it is highly likely that her dress and behaviour are viewed in the context of family status and its protection. The hijab carries connotations of family reputation and intimate family connections, and gift-giving between women of different generations is a powerful means of enforcing family

Afra wears the jubbah, a long robe loosely covering the body from the neck down to the wrists and ankles. It is not

The abaya is 'a traditional Arab cloak that a person dons over his or her clothing when leaving the home', 'a longsleeved robe that covers the body from the neck to the floor'. [22] Abayas are typically black but are often decorated,

*In respect to dress, we are different because they [the husband's family] all wear the abaya<sup>6</sup>*

responses to her dress changes are discussed in the next section.)

and tops that she initially wore after her conversion.

forms of control over individual women.

unlike the better-known abaya (see next footnote).

especially the sleeves and the fronts.

5

6

 *I started to wear when I got married. It was [my husband's family's] wish* 

The Hijab as Gift: Mechanisms of Community Socialisation in the Muslim Diaspora

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.74649

165

 *and the* 

*then the scarf. This robe5*

*and I said why not.*

otherwise.

*I didn't tell [them about my conversion] directly; they've been left to deduce it from the changes that have happened to me. They've not said anything [negative] about it, and my mother even wanted to buy me a scarf, which was really nice. We were at the [open air] market in Porvoo, they have handmade woollen scarves there, and it was really kind of her because I think they think I've converted because of my husband.*

In a Finnish cultural context where the family does not necessarily communicate through expressing themselves in verbal and direct ways – a fairly typical situation in many Finnish families – a garment-gift may gain considerable significance, for it eloquently says that one's choice of religion – and by extension, one's broader lifestyle – is accepted and even supported by one's family. This kind of gift is also highly emotionally invested. A valuable gift, handmade (if not by the donor) [15], and embedded in intimate family relations, the gift clearly carries the personality of its donor, in this case, Miriam's mother, a non-Muslim who nonetheless wishes to signify her acceptance of her daughter's religious choices and forms of norm-observance.

A garment gift may also signify a new family bond created through marriage. Many of the women interviewed in the study mentioned scarves and other garments that they were given by their mothers-in-law. For example, Afra, an Iraqi Shi'a Muslim woman in her early twenties, married her husband in an arranged marriage.

*It was through my aunt. His sister asked if I'm married. … Then they came to visit and asked for my hand and my father asked me what I think, do I agree? I asked what do you [both the parents] think, what kind of a family is it? The family is good and it has a good reputation, we knew this is a highstatus family… [O]ne doesn't look at the boy what he's like, what he's done, but at the family. Because the family is responsible for the son. If he does something [wrong], the family takes the responsibility. I thought: that's a good family, the best family here in Finland, really good reputation, no one has as good a reputation here in Finland. So why not?*

In the frame of Shi'a Iraqi marriage, reputation, as well as status, is something that a family holds as a unit, and thus every individual's behaviour is judged as part of that unit. Therefore, a family unit holds a position within a community that defines each family member's status in that community, but at the same time each individual contributes to her or his family's status position. In a 'traditional' Muslim view on marriage and women, the women's honour is directly connected to the family honour, and therefore the women of the family also strongly influence the family's honour through their actions [21].

In light of this, it is not very surprising that after her engagement, and especially upon her marriage, Afra faced new requirements regarding her dress code.

*When I got married, my mother-in-law gave me clothes; she had bought them abroad… At that time I didn't yet wear a black long robe, I had trousers and a top down here [indicates below mid-thigh] and then the scarf. This robe5 I started to wear when I got married. It was [my husband's family's] wish and I said why not.*

When Miriam married her husband, the husband's family asked if she wanted to convert to Islam. When she refused, the topic was never brought up again. Muslim men, unlike Muslim women, are allowed to marry a non-Muslim, so there is no doctrinal compulsion for conversion of the bride [20]. Nor had her husband ever indicated, after she eventually did convert to Islam, that he would wish her to veil, or indeed that he had any opinion on her dress whatsoever. However, Miriam herself had a desire for continuity of dress in front of her husband's family and thus compromised between what she calls the 'full hijab' (and which she considers 'ideal'), and a version of it that can be worn in Finland without risking drawing too much attention to herself. Her choice is even more interesting in the light of what she says about her

*I didn't tell [them about my conversion] directly; they've been left to deduce it from the changes that have happened to me. They've not said anything [negative] about it, and my mother even wanted to buy me a scarf, which was really nice. We were at the [open air] market in Porvoo, they have handmade woollen scarves there, and it was really kind of her because I think they think I've converted because of* 

In a Finnish cultural context where the family does not necessarily communicate through expressing themselves in verbal and direct ways – a fairly typical situation in many Finnish families – a garment-gift may gain considerable significance, for it eloquently says that one's choice of religion – and by extension, one's broader lifestyle – is accepted and even supported by one's family. This kind of gift is also highly emotionally invested. A valuable gift, handmade (if not by the donor) [15], and embedded in intimate family relations, the gift clearly carries the personality of its donor, in this case, Miriam's mother, a non-Muslim who nonetheless wishes to signify her acceptance of her daughter's religious choices and forms of norm-observance. A garment gift may also signify a new family bond created through marriage. Many of the women interviewed in the study mentioned scarves and other garments that they were given by their mothers-in-law. For example, Afra, an Iraqi Shi'a Muslim woman in her early twen-

*It was through my aunt. His sister asked if I'm married. … Then they came to visit and asked for my hand and my father asked me what I think, do I agree? I asked what do you [both the parents] think, what kind of a family is it? The family is good and it has a good reputation, we knew this is a highstatus family… [O]ne doesn't look at the boy what he's like, what he's done, but at the family. Because the family is responsible for the son. If he does something [wrong], the family takes the responsibility. I thought: that's a good family, the best family here in Finland, really good reputation, no one has as good* 

In the frame of Shi'a Iraqi marriage, reputation, as well as status, is something that a family holds as a unit, and thus every individual's behaviour is judged as part of that unit. Therefore, a family unit holds a position within a community that defines each family member's status in that community, but at the same time each individual contributes to her or his family's status position. In a 'traditional' Muslim view on marriage and women, the women's honour is directly connected to the family honour, and therefore the women of the family also strongly

In light of this, it is not very surprising that after her engagement, and especially upon her

Finnish family:

164 Socialization - A Multidimensional Perspective

*my husband.*

ties, married her husband in an arranged marriage.

*a reputation here in Finland. So why not?*

influence the family's honour through their actions [21].

marriage, Afra faced new requirements regarding her dress code.

Here it is important to consider this requirement within the frame of the Finnish Iraqi Shi'a community. The family Afra married into is said to be directly descended from Prophet Mohammed. Within the Shi'a community, the descendants of Mohammed hold a special, very highly regarded position. They are also permitted to wear a certain special shade of green in their clothes, which makes them very recognisable within the community, particularly during celebrations. Such high status and clear visibility within the community is highly likely to motivate the family to protect their reputation more carefully than they might need to do otherwise.

Indeed, Afra learned that she was marrying into a family with stricter religious dress codes than her own family has. For example, her younger sisters wear trousers, tunics and scarves, while her husband's sisters all wear more covering forms of dress. (Afra's own family's responses to her dress changes are discussed in the next section.)

*In respect to dress, we are different because they [the husband's family] all wear the abaya<sup>6</sup> and the jilbab. When a girl goes to school, they dress [like that] immediately. Now [one young daughter] wears trousers and a tunic but they slowly teach her to wear the abaya… But us, mother wears the abaya and the jilbab but we don't, we wear jeans and tunics and skirts. We are different in the sense that it's not so particular, not so necessary to have the abaya. I didn't either, only when I married I put it on.*

Afra's sister-in-law, Kayani, a Finnish convert woman who married into the same family, also wears the same more covering form of dress. But she frames her dress style as a personal choice that fits her character, personal convictions and sense of style better than the trousers and tops that she initially wore after her conversion.

*I've always worn [covering clothes]; I've never been a [sleeveless] top-person. Our upbringing was such that in the summer I might have worn a tee-shirt, but I never wore anything horribly revealing. I've liked skirts and dresses. It wasn't a great change; it was actually just the scarf [that was new].*

She altered her dress style before her marriage, stating that in the progression of her conversion career [23], she 'gained more courage' and therefore was able to embrace a more covering style which she felt was more 'like me'. Thus, she does not consider her dress choices to have anything to do with her husband's family but rather she believes that they derive from her personal integrity and preferences. In the eyes of the community, however, it is highly likely that her dress and behaviour are viewed in the context of family status and its protection. The hijab carries connotations of family reputation and intimate family connections, and gift-giving between women of different generations is a powerful means of enforcing family forms of control over individual women.

<sup>5</sup> Afra wears the jubbah, a long robe loosely covering the body from the neck down to the wrists and ankles. It is not unlike the better-known abaya (see next footnote).

<sup>6</sup> The abaya is 'a traditional Arab cloak that a person dons over his or her clothing when leaving the home', 'a longsleeved robe that covers the body from the neck to the floor'. [22] Abayas are typically black but are often decorated, especially the sleeves and the fronts.
