Moroccan-Spanish Author Najat el Hachmi Calls Islamic Veil a ’Mobile Prison’ for Women

Hachmi arrived in Spain from Nador at the age of eight. Now 42 years old, she continues to fight against discrimination and for the fulfillment of Muslim women. In an interview with El Pais, she recounts that she was born a rebel. "As a child, I was already a rebel, but with a cause. I rebelled against inequality and injustice. It seemed absurd to me to be pointed at because I come from another country. Writing helped me heal my wounds and survive," she says.

"When I started writing, I didn’t know there were things it was better not to say. The first story I wrote won a high school prize. It was about a girl who falls in love with a young migrant who dumps her after taking her virginity. It spoke of the punishment she suffers for something as simple as being carried away by desire; I don’t even know if it was love. It was desire," explains Hachmi. The story was published in a local newspaper and embarrassed the neighboring Muslim families. "My father was very upset because the neighbors started congratulating him in a cafe," she adds.

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Hachmi also explains that in her view, the veil is "a mobile prison". "The Islamists invented the veil because they couldn’t lock us up in the houses. It’s a prison and a flag with various meanings. A symbol with which you consent to submission," she argues, recalling that she was part of a very devout family. "I wanted to be the perfect Muslim woman and the principal of my school forbade me to wear it: ’You can’t go to school like that,’ he told me. And then he did me a favor," she specifies.

The divorced mother of two also wants to instill good values in them. "I educate my daughter to have confidence in herself. This foundation will allow her to travel the world. My son, who is 20 years old, I no longer educate him, he doesn’t let himself be done... The most important thing is no longer what you say, but how you behave in front of them," says Hachmi.