Young Iraqis face religious fashion crackdown

Young Iraqis face religious fashion crackdown



For much of Iraq's youth, sporting blingy makeup, slicked-up hair and skintight jeans is just part of living the teenage dream. But for their elders, it's a nightmare.

A new culture rift is emerging in Iraq, as young women replace shapeless cover-ups with ankle-baring skirts and tight blouses, while men strut around in revealing slacks and spiky haircuts. The relatively skimpy styles have prompted Islamic clerics in at least two Iraqi cities to mobilize the "fashion police" in the name of protecting religious values.

"I see the way they (police) look at me - they don't like it," said Mayada Hamid, 32, wearing a pink leopard-print headscarf with jeans, a blue blouse and lots of sparkly eyeliner on Sunday in northern Baghdad.

She rolled her eyes. "It's just suppression." So far, though, there are no reports of the police actually taking action.

This is a conflict playing out across the Arab world, where conservative Islamic societies grapple with the effects of Western influence.

The violations of old Iraqi norms have grown especially egregious, religious officials say, since the Aug 20 end of Ramadan, Islam's holy month. In the last two weeks, posters and banners have been hanging along the streets of Kazimiyah, sternly reminding women to wear an abaya - a long, loose black cloak that covers the body from shoulders to feet.

Religious officials speculate young Iraqis got carried away in celebrating the end of Ramadan and now need to be reined in.

"We support personal freedoms, but there are places that have a special status," said Sheik Mazin Saadi, a Shiite cleric from Kazimiyah, home to the double gold-domed shrine that is one of Shiite Islam's holiest sites.

He said the area's residents lobbied Baghdad's local government to ban unveiled women from walking around the neighborhood, including its sprawling open-air market that attracts people from across Iraq.

"The women started to follow this order," Saadi said.

Government leaders in Baghdad say they've issued no such ban. "We think that wearing a veil for women in Iraq is a personal decision," said Sabar al-Saadi, chairman of the Baghdad provincial council's legal committee.

Muslim women generally wear headscarves or veils in public out of modesty, and female worshippers are required to wear an abaya or other loose robes in shrines and mosques.

But over the last several years, following the 2003 US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Western styles have crept into Iraq's fashion palate. Form-fitting clothing, stylish shoes and men's edgy hairstyles are commonly seen on the street. Some younger women have even begun to forgo the hijab, or headscarf.

Their parents - and their grandparents - fear Western influence will drown out Iraq's centuries of culture and respect for religion.

"We as Iraqis do not respect our traditions," said Fadhil Jawad, 65, a gold seller near the Kazimiyah shrine. He estimated his profits have dropped by 10 percent in the last two weeks since authorities posted warnings about improper dress codes at the entrance to the market.

"Legs can be seen, there are low-cut shirts," Jawad said. "They should be given freedoms, but they should know their limits."