I certainly don’t wear a scarf simply because it’s comfortable—in 115-degree heat, it’s often uncomfortable! Several times I wished I could feel the cool breeze on my neck . . . or rather, the warm breeze—any breeze would have been welcome!
Wearing a scarf avoids distraction. Our team lived and ministered in a village setting. We taught English to middle and high school boys. They are accustomed to gender-segregated schools with male teachers from fifth to twelfth grade. It would be highly distracting to them if we didn’t cover our heads, and some parents might not allow their children to attend our program. Wearing clothes that fit the local standards allowed us to focus on the topic at hand and to build friendly and respectful relationships in the classroom with these boys.
Wearing a scarf can be modest—yes, modest. Many dress considerations depend on context. Part of modesty is not drawing attention to yourself. If I were to wear a headscarf in the US, it would draw lots of attention. However, wearing a black robe and scarf in the Arabian Gulf made me nearly invisible to strangers.
According to the context . . .
- I don’t wear a headscarf inside my own home or with Americans who understand my culture.
- I don’t wear a scarf in big cities that have lots of tourists and Western influence. In the city where we stayed, our host asked her neighbor if she should wear a scarf. Her neighbor replied that if she lived in the next neighborhood, she would not need to wear a scarf since that neighborhood has a large Indian immigrant population. However, in her current neighborhood, it is better to wear a scarf.
- I don’t wear a scarf in a country that has a native Christian population since local Christians don’t wear scarves. But at the same time, I am there to focus on reaching the conservative Muslim population, not the Christian population, so I don’t necessarily have to fit the nominally “Christian” culture.
Wearing a scarf can also be for my own protection. One blessing of being invisible is a feeling of physical safety. In addition, dressing as a respected member of society hopefully encourages people to treat me as a respected member of society, in the same manner that they would treat a mother or grandmother or sister.
Wearing a scarf credits my reputation in a culture that places supreme value on reputation. In order to aid the perception of being a spiritual person, one able to teach others about God, I choose to wear a scarf. Doing so helps win a hearing to share the Gospel. The local people tend to think that all Americans are Christians. Their perception of American Christianity is what they see in American movies, and they often assume that all American women treat immorality lightly. I am fighting an uphill battle against that stereotype. I have to work hard to correct those assumptions and earn my reputation back. It’s better that I err on the side of caution and then have the opportunity to explain that I am not Muslim than to err on the side of liberty and confirm their suspicions of my morals as a “Christian American.” Folks around me have commented that my generally conservative dress (even in situations without the scarf) has changed their perceptions of what it means to be a Chrisitan. Several mothers have been concerned about their daughters spending time with Christians until they realized that these Christians were not wearing tight and short clothes and spending time with boys.
Wearing a scarf shows respect for the local culture. Our local friends enjoyed it when our American host wore the traditional colorful dress to a wedding we attended. They are accustomed to wearing a scarf whenever they go outside their homes as part of their normal outfit. Therefore, removing the scarf in public does not often cross their minds. Sometimes when I have visited ladies privately in their homes, they have not worn scarves. However, ladies in the Gulf wore a scarf when we (ladies only!) visited them in their homes. We had a fun time with a group of ladies who were close friends in a privately rented vacation home—and they still kept their scarves on! For this reason, the question of what Muslim-background believers should do is complicated. Asking someone from that culture to remove her scarf after becoming a believer might be like saying in an American context, “Now that you’re a Christian, you should go out in public in a bikini.” How inappropriate that would be! In some instances, it might be appropriate for a woman to decide to abandon her scarf as a testimony of her new life in Christ. However, this would be a significant decision in any context and would almost inevitably lead to persecution. Therefore, the Holy Spirit must convince a lady in her individual situation that her timing for taking this stand is right.
I do not believe that any one standard applies in every location. Each missionary must carefully evaluate her own context and do what the Holy Spirit convinces her is pleasing to God. I had a coworker once say to a believer from a Muslim background, “I hope that people will know you not by your ‘Christian’ dress or by your ‘Muslim’ dress. I hope they will glorify God because they see that you choose to dress not following any specific cultural pattern but that because you follow Christ you choose to dress in an appropriate, respectful way.”
This is the heart of the issue. Paul said he became all things to all men—seeking the good of many that they might be saved. We let our light shine—not so people will see us and be pleased with us—but so people will see us and glorify our Father.
Photo by Umar ben on Unsplash