al-Hijab lil-Manfaluti
- Author died
- 1343 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Hidayah
al-Hijab (The Veil) is a didactic, narrative-style social treatise written by the Egyptian author and essayist Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti (1289–1343 AH / 1872–1924 CE) defending the practice of the veil and warning against the social consequences of Westernization and unveiling (sufur) in modern Egypt .
Summary and Narrative Structure
The work is framed as a moral narrative centered on an unnamed acquaintance of the author who returns to Egypt after spending several years in Europe completely transformed in character, having discarded his religious attachment and native traditions in favor of European social mores . The acquaintance visits the author to announce his determination to pioneer the abolition of the veil by compelling his reluctant wife to abandon the face veil (burqu') and freely mix with male company .
A debate ensues between the two men, wherein al-Manfaluti challenges his interlocutor's assumptions about human nature and society :
- The Fragility of Modesty: The author contends that chastity (iffah) and honor are vulnerable rather than inherent qualities, and that removing physical barriers between men and women inevitably invites temptation .
- Critique of Superficial Reform: Al-Manfaluti insists that men must be morally reformed before women are pushed into public life, arguing that calls for unveiling stem not from genuine sympathy for women's well-being but from men's desire to reproduce European lifestyles .
- Cultural and Environmental Context: He maintains that every civilization develops customs suited to its own condition, asserting that uncritical imitation of European secularism, social freedom, and emotional detachment cannot be sustained in Eastern society without causing familial and moral breakdown .
- Education and Domestic Harmony: While affirming women's need for learning and fresh air under proper guardianship, he argues that education should focus on domestic competence and moral upbringing rather than superficial emulation of fashionable European trends .
Following the discussion, the acquaintance persists in removing the veil in his household and welcoming male acquaintances into his home, leading the author to sever ties with him . Three years later, the author encounters his former friend being escorted by police to a station, where the man discovers that his wife has been apprehended in a suspicious situation alongside one of his close friends . Stricken with a severe brain fever, the man laments on his deathbed that he brought about his own ruin by facilitating the betrayal . Before he dies, his wife arrives to assure him that she did not commit the ultimate transgression, after which he passes away, leaving the author to frame the narrative as a cautionary lesson for the society .
Themes and Context
Al-Hijab forms part of the social and literary discourse surrounding the status of women in Egypt during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly in response to calls for unveiling championed by modernists such as Qasim Amin . Al-Manfaluti adopted a conservative stance defending the traditional veil, viewing it as a safeguard for female modesty and an essential protection against social degradation .
The text was published in standalone form by Maktabat al-Hidayah in 1412 AH (1991 CE) in a single volume .
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