This is not about a handsome and wealthy man loved by many women named Boy like in the movie “Catatan Si Boy“. Nor is it about a neighbour we called “Boy” because maybe his name is Boimin. But about Saudi Arabian women’s hairdo trends! How come? Here are the facts.
It seems that, throughout its history, this is the first time that Saudi Arabian women’s hair fashion trends have been in the spotlight and discussed by the media in the world; Since its independence from the Turkish Sultanate and becoming its own country in 1932, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strictly requires all women to wear the abaya. This loose garment covers the entire body. So, no one ever talks about Saudi Arabian women’s hair because they are always tightly closed. And their eyes never see the non-mahram men.
Recently, the law that required women to hide their hair in public was finally repealed; Arab women have the freedom to “show the crown”; “show off” their hair anywhere, anytime, to anyone.
In the land of Saudi Arabia, now we can find a new scene: many women, old, young, or children walking around in the crowds with their faces exposed and their hair flowing because they no longer wear the hijab or headscarf. Things that were previously considered taboo and violated the Shari’a. And to celebrate her freedom, Arab women began to rearrange their hairstyles. And one of the most loved is the “boy” model—hairstyles for women who cut their necks short. I don’t know why it’s called the “boy” model, probably because the model is like a boy’s hair. Demi Moore once popularized the “boy” hairstyle through the movie “Ghost”, which was released in the 1990s. At that time, Demi Moore’s hairstyle was called the bob model.
These days, many Saudi Arabian women flock to beauty salons to perfect their makeup, including changing the appearance of their hair. Many of their mouths said “boy” when the hair stylist asked what kind of hairstyle they wanted. From these beauty salons, Saudi Arabian women finally appear in public like men, like the “Boy” with short hair — anyone can be free to look into it.
2030 Vision vs Sharia
The world then wondered: why did Saudi Arabia, the most strict and strict country practising Islamic law, become the mecca of the Muslim world? From there, the message of Islam began, give freedom to women?
Apparently, it all started with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, an ambitious yet transformative vision promoted by the Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman (MBS). King Salman mandated that MBS carry out Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will modernize in a revolutionary and visionary manner. Through Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is determined to become the centre of the Arab and Islamic world, the world’s investment power, and the centre that connects three continents, namely Asia, Africa and Europe.
To realize these ideals, Saudi Arabia no longer wants to “leave” women. Arab women should be encouraged to be actively involved or participate in the success of development programs in all fields. That means Saudi Arabian women must be given the freedom to make life choices, ranging from professional and work issues, entertainment and vacations to how to dress. A small example, for example, is that women there are already allowed to drive their vehicles —something that was previously taboo. Another example is that Saudi Arabian women can attend music concerts or crowd the football field. They can also travel abroad alone. And, the latest example (not necessarily the last one) may no longer wear the hijab —the most important symbol of Muslim women!
Of course, recently, what has happened in Saudi Arabia will again confront most of the world’s Muslims in the debate about aurat—to the pendulum of Islamic formalism. But, of course, we know that it was from Arabia that the message of Islam began, and from there, the teachings of Islam spread to various parts of the world—including the spread of Wahhabism. But, then, in Arab lands, the development of the Muslim world is oriented to trivial things, including how to dress a Muslim, especially Muslim women.
As in many parts of the world, including in Indonesia, at first, the teachings of Islam entered an area by struggling with local traditions, including how Muslims and especially Muslim women should dress. Until the 1970s, the so-called headscarf, hijab, niqab, burqa, or veil were almost unknown to Indonesian Muslim women. A headscarf was commonly worn at that time, a piece of cloth draped over the head. The women or nyai who were active in Muslimah Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Aisyiyah Muhammadiyah at that time were also quite veiled in their activities in public spaces.
What is now referred to as Muslim clothing, such as the hijab, hijab, niqab, burqa, or veil, has only become popular in recent years, especially since the Reformation era, along with the influx of transnational ideologies such as Wahhabism and Khilafahism. Until then, the trend of Islamic formalism was so thick that in several public institutions or public schools, there were rules that required every Muslim woman to wear the hijab. In addition, there has been a case where a non-Muslim official was expelled from an area for visiting without wearing a hijab.
There is “Arabization” cynicism in responding to this trend, precisely when in Saudi Arabia itself, there is “relaxation” towards religious formalism. It’sIt’s kind of a paradox. In this context, two readings can be made of what happened in Saudi Arabia. First, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is aware of the “wrong policies” in the past, in this case, one of which is the rules that “shackle” women. So to achieve progress as proclaimed in Vision 2030, they must remove these shackles.
Second, what happened in Saudi Arabia is “aware” us that what is called aurat and how to cover it is something that “can be interpreted” —at least a new interpretation is needed that is contextual to the times and localities. This is nothing new. So many classics debated this issue centuries ago. The latest and most exciting interpretation came from Muhammad Syahrur, an Islamic thinker from Damascus. He is known as a liberal thinker who always raises the issue of sharia liberalization and deconstruction of interpretation.
One of the issues that he reinterpreted is the issue of women’s genitalia. After tracing the texts of the Qur’an, hadith, and classical books, in his book Nahwa Usul Jadidah Lil Fiqhil Islami (2000), Syahrur concluded: “Awra comes from shame, namely a person’s dislike of showing something, both from his body and behaviour. And this shyness is relative; it can change according to customs. So the chest (al-juyub) is permanent, while the genitals change according to time and place.”
With such limitations, Syahrur’s genitals are “what makes a person ashamed to be seen”. He also concluded that the awrah had nothing to do with halal-haram, both from up close and afar. So linguistically, genitalia is relative.
We don’t know yet whether the Vision 2030 means that Saudi Arabia has started to abandon Wahhabism and then base its policies on the interpretation of Syahrur. However, it is clear that by revoking the law that requires women to wear headscarves, Saudi Arabia has given women the freedom to choose how best to dress. And will continue to appear as the “Boy” from Saudi Arabia.
Note: translated by editor from https://www.duniasantri.co/si-boy-dari-arab-saudi/