I broke the fabulous news in my last post that I got a full-time teaching position, which pretty much explains why it’s been a full week since I last posted!
There was a lot I omitted from that post, though. First of all, I didn’t mention I was hired by a private school. A private religious school. Which, given my personal beliefs (atheist), could be a little incongruous. Luckily, this religious school didn’t require me to provide proof of membership at a church or a baptismal certificate or similar, because that’s what the private Christian schools require around here. But then again, I’m not working for a private Christian school. I’m working for a private Islamic school.
Which is all well and good. Most of the teachers at this school are, in fact, not Muslims, so I’m not alone in that regard. And there’s no requirement that staff follow Islam or any other religion, for that matter. As teachers, we’re expected to be respectful of the fact that we work in a religious school, although we aren’t expected to take part in any religious services. We do, however, wear a uniform. Well, the women do.
Now before you freak out, I don’t have to cover my hair or face or wear a big sweeping cape. (More on that assumption and other reactions by friends and acquaintances to my employer in my next post) But the women teachers in the school all wear what’s called a jilbab. It’s provided by the school, is emblazoned with the school logo, and looks, essentially, like a grey lab coat. Underneath, you can wear whatever you want. So, yeah, I wear lululemons and a t-shirt to work every day, and I’ve never been more comfortable at a job in my entire life. The jilbab itself looks very much like this:
On the ones we wear at school, the pockets are on the side vs. the front, but they’re still very handy. Plus, our uniforms are solid grey without pinstripes and the lapels are a little smaller, but the idea is essentially the same.
Having done a little surfing on the internet, I found out that not all jilbabs are cut from the same cloth (oh, the joy of punning). In fact, this garment, which is designed to provide for the Qur’an’s requirement for women to dress “modestly”, can be made pretty sexy indeed. Here are a few examples I found:
And this one, heralded as the “most expensive abaya (another word for jilbab) in the world”, a diamond-encrusted beauty worth $35,000:
There is one staff member at our school who wears her own, stunning jilbab, because the ones the school ordered were too short for her slender 6-foot-plus frame. It’s sheer, black and pleated, and very much in the vein of these beautiful outfits. Every day she coordinates her headscarf with her jewelry and lipstick, and I think she’s one of the most stunning women I’ve ever seen in my life, despite the fact that every inch save her face and hands is covered in fabric. Most of us, though, can be seen with our heads bare, and the bottoms of our jeans or yoga pants (or even pyjamas!) peeking out from under the hems of our jilbabs, just above our sneakers (I wear my Sketchers ShapeUps every day).
There is, however, one notable exception. There’s a woman on staff who wears a niqab, which is a 3-part headscarf that also covers the face, leaving just the eyes visible. Unlike the burqa (which has become the iconic image of Muslim women because of its popularity/notoriety in Afghanistan) the headscarf doesn’t extend down to the feet, and there is no mesh to cover the eyes. It is, however, an incredibly concealing garment, and I can’t imagine how it must feel to breathe with it on:
I will say I was slightly shocked the first time I saw her, and I will admit to having a morbid curiosity with her sartorial choices. In Canada, where we don’t experience blistering sun and blowing sand, I can’t see this outfit having many practical applications. So it therefore becomes a religious choice, and there again, there seems to be some amount of contention (from what I can gather in my admittedly sparse experience) about what is actually required by the Qur’an. By far the most common choice amongst the Muslim women at my school is the jilbab (usually rather tailored and quite beautifully embroidered or bejewelled and in an array of colours) and a hijab, or headscarf. Most of the hijabs worn at my school look essentially like this:
Except the students, who wear white ones (from grades 4-9) or black ones (grades 10-12). And now that I’m exposed to Islamic dress every day (by the way, Muslim men are called upon to dress modestly as well, although the requirements are admittedly more lax; they must only cover from their navel to their knees), I’m beginning to see it in a different light. I can see that the women who embrace the full garb don’t see it as a form of oppression, but rather as an expression of their faith, much like the Christian women I know who wear a crucifix next to their hearts every day, or the Jewish men I know who choose to wear the yarmulke.
All in all, it promises to be a very interesting year, full of great experiences and life lessons, and I promise to share it with you here.
Hi Kath,
I’m glad you like your job so far and are okay with working with Muslims.
Salaam alaikum Sister Pamela,
The only one pure version of the Quran is the Quran (in Arabic). It is the book promised by God to be preserved until the day of judgement. From time to time people translate it in their language, and then it’s called the translation of the Quran by so and so. Translations are done by learned scholars of Arabic and the language they are translating into, because they know that they have to answer to God if even one little word is mistranslated.
Quranic Verses about Hijab:
“O you Children of Adam! We have bestowed on you raiment to cover your shame as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness, that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition.” (Quran 7:26)
“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, or their brothers’ sons or their sisters’ sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers, turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.” (Quran 24:31).
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Quran 33:59)
Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammed(peace be upon him)):
“Narrated Aisha: Asma, daughter of AbuBakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah {sawas} wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah {sawas} turned his attention from her. He said: ‘O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this,’ and he pointed to her face and hands.” (Abu Dawood, Book 32, Number 4092).
We only look at the Quran(God’s words) and the Hadith(sayings of Prophet Muhammed(peace be upon him)) for complete guidance, no where else.
And God knows best.
Congratulations on your job! I found this absolutely fascinating to read. I’m a Muslim woman who chooses not to wear hijab and abaya, but I have friends and family who wear it proudly. I agree that it can be so beautiful and flattering to many women, and a proud expression of their faith. I am excited to read about your new experience, and hear your always-thoughtful perspective on this school. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kath,
Glad to hear you love uniforms I do too, happy to hear the Islamic school is not picking teachers based on religious preference.
I revert to Islam at the age of 32, I grew up in Christian home, lots of priest in my family from the different denominations, I know them personally good, honest, loving, kind all of them. I chose Islam after research and the Koran is a logical book design for everyday life. What the media portray is a different story and often taken out of context.
The reason I am telling you this is Hijab, Burqua, Jilbab has nothing to do with Islam it is man made rules, their is nothing is Koran about this (God said is the Koran that we should dress modestly) a pure version of the Koran is Written By Dr Rashad Khalifa , he was later assisinated by people who don’t quest for the truth .
A Muslim can be recognised by Rightousness that is Character and what we do on a daily basis in regards to environment e.g recycling, disposable vs cloth diaper, local produce vs imported etc, economics e.g what we do in regards to free trade and fair trade, what we buy and how it affect the the people in country it came from, are we shopping where products were made by underage children. Politics- do we pick a politician based on what he/she do for our pocket(especially if we are high income earners) or one that work for the masses.In regards to religion are we depending on what the Imam said happen 1400 hundred years ago from a book other than the Koran, As a Muslim we are told by God to be steadfast-how can one be steadfast the Koran answer that question Prayer, Charity, a light to the world, do unto others as you would like to be done to you etc.
God tell you in the Koran you have a brain use it- are we lisenig to the Cnn or Fox to get the news or are we going to unbais sources like the CBC or democracy.org(Amy goodman)
I am juggling My Kids currently so my writing is not as eloquent or gramatically corrent, this is why I never have time to respond to anything in the past, but it’s time as a Muslim for 8 yrs I inform what Islam is and that those clothing has nothing to do with Islam. I am glad you like the clothing / uniform and best wishes on your new job.
Pamela
Hey Erin, you’ll probably be surprised how much you’ll like the kids in your new class: I love my grade nines and I totally thought I would not! Feel free to call any time – I can’t help much on math, but I teach English and Social Studies to the gr 9 classes at my school, so I’ll help in any way I can. Sucks to be moved mid-year, though.
Seems like the allure of uniforms is pretty universal…yeah, much better than having your boss tell you that boots with a skirt is “inappropriate office attire” (she told me this while she was wearing shorts with nylons and pumps!). Easy, cheap and comfortable. I like.
And Tracey, LOL about the capes. For some reason, the word just makes me think of dracula!
Some of those are so very pretty… and why doesn’t a big, sweeping cape sound like a bad idea to me? I freaking LOVE capes…
And congratulations on your new job! Yay for you!!
this is freaking fascinating. I’d frankly LOVE to have a uniform to wear to work every day – I’m down with the uniforms…takes all the judgement out of things.
Can’t wait to hear about the job as well!
Thanks for posting and that is so interesting. It will be great to hear more about your experiences. In so many ways I think we all have a ‘uniform’ of sorts for work. I am a nurse and of course, for a long time had to wear a real uniform (scrubs – not nearly as flattering as your uniform) but now can wear my own clothes. But I will be honest, I go out to pt’s houses who are not very well and so I have a few ‘work clothes’ that I use only for that as they get exposed to a variety of things and I don’t necessarily want to wear them outside of work. So really it is much the same thing, except they aren’t nearly as pretty as some of the pics you have showed.
Wow. Some of those are really beautiful! The one for your school sounds OK. It will make it easy to get ready for work and save you some $ on work clothes.
I have to say though that images of the burqa or the niqab disturb me. I think they really represent oppression in my mind.
Like Christine, I can’t wait to hear more about your new job! I may be phoning you for advice…I’m getting moved from my grade 4 class to 7/8 English and Math!
When I was little I always wished that I could wear a sari. I’ve always thought they were the most beautiful clothes that looked so incredibly comfortable.
The pics of the jilbabs that you posted are exquisite!
The one you wear seems quite practical and the fact that you can wear whatever you want underneath – bonus.
I can’t wait to hear more about this new teaching position!