"The veil denies men their usual privilege of discerning whomever they desire. By default, the women are in command. The female scrutinises the male. Her gaze from behind the anonymity of her face veil, or niqab, is a kind of surveillance that casts her in the dominant position," says Pakistani author Maliha Masood of the niqab.
It's a powerful description of a garment frequently associated with patriarchy and repressiveness in the West. However, niqabs can embody a spirit of fierce feminism, as shown in the provocative Pakistani web series, Churails, which was released in August and quickly went viral.
Written and directed by Asim Abbasi, the Zee5 show stars Sarwat Gilani, Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha and Mehar Bano in lead roles, and tells the story of a band of women taking on Pakistani patriarchy headfirst.
The Urdu word "churail" translates to hag or witch, but in the series, it's the name chosen by a group of women from diverse backgrounds and social classes who come together and form a secret detective agency to save other women from patriarchal injustices. They open a modest fashion boutique called "Halal Designs" as a front for their agency, and while running their vigilante missions, they wear colourful niqabs.
"The whole idea of Churails was based around subversion, and how you subvert something that is rife with negative connotations, take ownership of it and give it a positive spin," Abbasi tells The National. "The idea of the clothing store cover came from one of the central themes of Churails, which is a woman's autonomy over her body and her lack of the autonomy over that body in a society that is mainly made up of men, who are in positions of power and dictate what a woman can and cannot wear."
Niqabs, often regarded as “Islamic” garments, are worn by a minority group of women in Pakistan, and while there are varying opinions and debates about face veils even within the Muslim community, niqabs are cultural garments imported from the Middle East, rather than historically rooted South Asian attire. In some patriarchal families, they are enforced upon women, but in other cases, they are willingly worn as a symbol of religious conviction.
“In many ways, they are a symbol of respect and femininity in our society,” says Samiya Ansari, the show’s costume designer. “I wanted to keep it simple yet bold, and respect the silhouette and style, while paying homage to all the women who wear burqas and niqabs on the daily. It was challenging because I’ve never dealt with niqabs personally and had to learn the different ways of tying them.”
The whole idea of Churails was based around subversion, and how you subvert something that is rife with negative connotations, take ownership of it and give it a positive spin
A fashion and celebrity stylist, wardrobe designer and former style blogger, Ansari’s forte is high fashion and elegant evening wear, and she says she had never given much thought to face veils before this project. “It was just a way of life that many people had chosen for themselves and I always thought it’s a matter of choice – as long as it’s not forced upon someone, which I understand in many cases, it is, in our culture,” she says.
Abbasi says it was important to highlight the niqab as a symbol of choice and freedom, rather than oppression. "The idea of autonomy and free will is very important here; these women choose. If you choose to use an item of clothing that works for you then you should be allowed to use it as you deem fit. And if it does not work for you then no man should be telling you that you should be wearing it," he says.
Throughout the show, niqabs are instrumental in protecting the anonymity of the Churails as they lead their missions – from threatening an abusive husband to saving a member of their clan from a forced marriage. And, to keep the costumes captivating even while faces are covered, colour plays a vital role. “We all wanted them to have an individual aesthetic on the camera, because you’re only seeing their eyes – if they were all in black it would have been very hard to decipher them, and black on camera would become very dull for an extended period of time,” explains Abbasi. “Samiya was very keen on choosing those colours and giving each woman a standout piece.”
From Bano's character, Zubeida, a sparky teenage boxer, to the snobbish event planner Jugnu, played by Rizvi, each role was complex and layered, and the attire was key to forming their on-screen identities. "The colours had to be bold, bright and vibrant, just like the women donning them," says Ansari.
“They stood out from miles away, and that is empowering enough when you are running top-secret missions to save and give strength to other ladies, plus you are out in the open, willing to be seen. It also showed that they aren’t doing something they’re guilty about, but rather, very proud of.”
One of the most powerful scenes of the series is when the Churails line up outside of their store, protecting their business from a throng of angry male protesters. “That one image was the manifestation of everything, when they are standing outside of Halal Designs, and forming that wall, saying, ‘We are going to protect our home.’ For me, that was the culmination of sisterhood in a society that is so deeply patriarchal – one way of dealing with it is bonding together and finding strength in numbers, which is what these women do,” says Abbasi.
While Muslim women's dress codes can make for sensitive topics, the makers of Churails by no means disparaged niqabs – on the contrary, the garments are celebrated throughout. "I hope that people who see the show will realise that we were using it outside the parameters of that religious conversation, and that the idea of taking the niqab and taking ownership of it did not stem from a disrespectful place at all," says Abbasi.
Often stereotyped as garments that hide women from society and prohibit their participation in the public spheres, throughout Churails, the colourful niqabs serve as a reminder that symbols of modest fashion – including face veils, in no way restrict women from being empowered heroes and change-makers.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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match info
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 37')
Atletico Madrid 1 (Costa 39')
Man of the match Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Six things you need to know about UAE Women’s Special Olympics football team
Several girls started playing football at age four
They describe sport as their passion
The girls don’t dwell on their condition
They just say they may need to work a little harder than others
When not in training, they play football with their brothers and sisters
The girls want to inspire others to join the UAE Special Olympics teams
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Liverpool 4-1 Shrewsbury
Liverpool
Gordon (34'), Fabinho (44' pen, 90' 3), Firmino (78')
Shrewsbury
Udoh (27'minutes)
Man of the Match: Kaide Gordon (Liverpool)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
