Decolonizing the hijab: An interpretive exploration by two Muslim psychotherapists

Abstract

This article explores the professional, personal, and feminist interpretations and experiences of wearing of the hijab as a symbol of religious expression by two Muslim psychotherapists practicing in Johannesburg. By privileging these interpretations, the authors aim to demonstrate the need for questioning and resisting hegemonic representations of the hijab that have been appropriated by various international political and religious institutions for their own agendas, often to manipulate women’s sense of agency. With Western societies banning the hijab and Islamist societies making it compulsory, the agency of the wearer of the hijab is undermined. The inclusion of the voices of Muslim women, whether they wear the hijab or not, is necessary to redress the constraints on the agency of Muslim women that has emanated both from those in the West, and from within the Muslim community itself.