Exploring the role of the veil in the culture of Nusantara

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The veil or nikab is commonly identified with Arab culture. The use of bed linen is often considered incompatible with the culture of the archipelago. The reason is, nowadays the use of veils seems unusual in Indonesia. As far as the law of attraction is concerned, there is also the Khilafah. In fact, in the Shafi'i school itself, the scholars have different views on the obligation to cover up. How do you feel about the culture of Nusantara?.

If we look at the application of the Shafi'i school in Hadramaut, Yemen, we can see that there the law of veiling is mandatory. Meanwhile, most Indonesians believe that the veil is not mandatory. In fact, there is a theory that the Shafi'i school adopted by the majority of Indonesians was brought by the propagators of Islam from Hadramaut. This raises the question, whether in the process of spreading Islam in the archipelago people are never introduced to the veil? Is there a link between the culture and the culture of the Nusantara?

The assumption that the veil is not known in the Islamic treasures of the archipelago is apparently incorrect. Apart from the debate over the veil law, the veil has been known in the archipelago under different names. In Riau Islands, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Singapore, and Sarawak, the veil is known as tudung scopes; in Bima it is known as rimpu; while in Kampar, Riau, it is known as maroguok.

The scope hood is a wide cloth (sarong) used by Malay women to cover the head, face, and upper body. Scope hoods have varied patterns and colors. In the past Malay women had to wear a scope hood every time they left the house and when visited by male guests who were not their mahrams. As for the current scope hood is rarely used, but in Jambi is still used in cultural festivals.

Malay women are required to wear a scope veil since the age of puberty. The way the scope hood is worn indicates a person's status and age. Women who are virgins are required to cover their face and body tightly and should only show both eyes. For married women, the veil may or may not cover the face, but still cover the upper part of the body. If the woman is elderly, the scope hood is worn loosely and no longer covers the face.

The necessity of covering the face for girls is in line with the view of the Hanafi school which requires young women to cover their faces.

قال الحنفية: تمنع المرأة الشابة من كشف وجهها بين الرجال في زماننا، لا لأنه عورة، بل لخوف الفتن

"According to the Hanafi school, in our day it is forbidden for a young woman to reveal her face among men, not because the face is aurat, but to avoid fitnah,” (Al-Mausū'ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, juz XLI, page 134).

Since when is the veil scope known in the Malay world? There are several old Malay texts that can be a clue to answer this question. First, in the manuscript Sulalatus-Salatin mentioned,

“Early this morning he met Hang Nadim carrying a veiled woman, he took her up to jong Nakhoda Saiyid Ahmad, he sailed his way to Malacca.” (Sulalatus-Salatin, 1612)

Although it is not specifically called the scope Hood, from the manuscript it can be known that the hood in general has been known during the Malacca Sultanate. It could also be that the veil has been known since pre-Islamic times. Sumatran culture has long known head coverings for women, such as headscarves (Batak Karo), tengkuluk (Jambi), and Manto headscarves (Riau). These types of head coverings do only cover the hair, do not cover the neck and face. However, it encourages hijab and veil more easily accepted by the Malay community.

However, in the case of,

“Shahadan was during the reign of Yang Dipertuan Muda Raja Ali held some beautiful things that brought the name of a beautiful Kingdom and a strong religion. ... And at the time of his reign the religion of Islam established Friday and ordered women to cover their heads and complete the mosque that was not done by The Young Yang di-Pertuan Raja Abd al-Rahman al-Marhum because of his death.” (Tuhfat an-Nafis, 1866).

This fragment of the manuscript shows that Malay women in the Lingga sultanate were ordered to wear headscarves since the reign of Raja Ali bin Raja Ja'far (1844-1857). It is to be expected that the veil referred to in this text is the veil of scope. This is because the scope hood is still worn by a handful of people on Lingga Island.

Meanwhile, in Bima, the scope hood is known as rimpu. Syamsuri Firdaus, reciter from Bima, in a discussion with the author said that rimpu was introduced by Datuk Ri Bandang and Datuk Ri Tiro. They are the two propagators of Islam in Bima. Rimpu culture grew thicker after Sultan Abdul Kahir, the first king of the Bima Sultanate (1640), accepted the teachings of Islam and instructed women to cover their aurat perfectly. Muslim traders who came to Bima, especially Arab and Malay women, also encouraged Bima women to wear rimpu. Although many people now leave rimpu, until now there are still those who wear it.

The use of rimpu is the same as the scope hood. The Rimpu that covers the face, as a sign that the woman who wears it is not married, is called rimpu mpida. As for the rimpu that does not cover the face, as a sign that the woman has married, it is called rimpu colo. Rimpu consists of two sarongs: one covers the lower part of the female body, while the other covers the head by being wrapped and folded without pinning.

Meanwhile, in Kampar regency, Riau, there is a face covering called maroguok. The word maroguok comes from the word berguk or burqa’. Unlike the scope and rimpu hoods, maroguok is not a sarong that covers the body, but a cloth that is given holes for the eyes and separated from the veil.

Maroguok was made because of the wild views of the Dutch colonialists on women who were farming and gardening. Datuk Engku Mudo Songkal (1862-1927), a cleric and founder of Masjid Jami Air Tiris, told women to wear maroguok to avoid the view of men who are not mahram. In addition, maroguok is also used to avoid sunburn in the fields. Zakaria, The Heir of Datuk Engku Mudo Songkal, in an online interview with the author said, maroguok can be worn by women of all ages. Unfortunately, the use of maroguok began to be abandoned since independence.

Thus, the use of veils or face coverings is actually not something foreign in some areas of the archipelago. The scope hood, rimpu, and maroguok are proof that Nusantara culture can acculturate and adapt to Islamic teachings. As part of the Islamic Cultural Treasures of the archipelago, it is appropriate that the typical veil of the archipelago be preserved and reintroduced in order to reduce public discredit of veiled women.

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