Fatima.Mernessi_The-Forgotten-Queens-of-Islam-EN

Conclusion
The Medina Democracy
Veils hide only what is obscene. And even more obscene than the
sovereign will of women is that of the 'amma, the mass of people,
defined from the beginning as lacking in reason. If the caliph is the
highest point of the political architecture, the 'amma constitutes the
lowest point, the most earthly. As all the historians will tell you,
the 'amma cannot think, for in order to think one must have criteria
for ordering, distinguishing, judging, and evaluating. And the
'amma lacks understanding and discernment. This makes it resistant
to order and its representative, the caliph, whose natural enemy it
is and whose life it constantly puts in danger.
This is what creates the necessity to protect the caliph, to hide
him behind a hijab, a veil-barrier. This hijab al-khalifa, caliph's veil,
is not a minor detail. It is a key institution which has its rituals and
its agents to watch over it. The caliph's hijab made its appearance
with the series of assassinations, in the mosque itself, of the first
Muslim rulers, with 'Umar at the head of the list.
'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, an irreproachable leader of exemplary
rectitude, humble before God and just with men, was cut down in
the heart of the mosque as he performed his duties as the imam.
He was preparing to lead the prayers when a malcontent stabbed
him. 'Umar was the second caliph after the Prophet, and his death
was a traumatic event. However, although he was the first, he was
scarcely the last. His death unleashed a murderous hatred between
the leader and his subjects. Every time a caliph appeared, a murderer
lurked in the crowd. Caught between the duty to pray and