Revisiting the Veil Ban during the COVID-19 Epidemic: The Shift in the Social Context

Shaimaa  Ballout

doi:10.35516/hum.v50i4.5645

Authors

Shaimaa Ballout Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Art, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2703-1205

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v50i4.5645

Keywords:

Coronavirus, Covid 19, facemask, face politics, Islam, veil

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to re-evaluate the veil ban in a new era. For many years, the prevailing belief was that covering the face obstructed successful communication between society members, thus eliminating cohesion, provoking peace, and endangering public security. However, when masks covered faces during the Covid-19 crisis, this belief became questionable, leading societies to renegotiate face politics and other social concepts.

Methods: The study analyzed social and media contexts to discuss how societies coped with face masks, even applauding individuals for covering their faces, while laws still rejected veiled Muslim women.

Results: The preliminary results of the study indicate that social structures exhibited high flexibility and adaptation to changes imposed by Covid 19; people managed to reshape rules of social interaction.

Conclusions: Surprisingly, the epidemic improved the social experience for Muslim women wearing a veil. The study also carried a practical advantage; it offered a new perspective on Muslim women's social future in the post-Covid-19 world

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