**6. Conclusions**

By analysing unveiling in present-day Egypt, this article intends to contribute ethnographically to an 'anthropology of Islam, doubt and (non) religion'. The process of (un)veiling includes deliberations in everyday life about religious normative discourse and practices, as well as resistance and reconsideration of these norms and practices. 'Grand schemes'—in this case the religious discourse of the Egyptian piety movement—and 'the everyday' are not opposed, but integrated into my interlocutors' daily life reflections and choices. This contribution also intends to counterbalance the 'over-Islamisation' in anthropological studies by looking into religious doubt and non-belief, without a priori opposing non-belief to belief. My interlocutors' narratives indicated not only the complexities in the relationship between unveiling and religious identifications, they also showed that it is difficult to draw hard lines between belief and non-belief. Many of them remained spiritual, whether within or beyond the self-defined boundaries of Islam.

<sup>47</sup> Interview with author on 15 February 2015.

<sup>48</sup> Interview with author on 11 January 2019.

Unveiling appears to be a fundamental *religious* issue and will certainly be perceived as such by many (religious) observers in Egypt. I do not want to deny that unveiling is related to (non)religion, at least during the process of my interlocutors' daily deliberations whether to unveil or not. As demonstrated, for some interlocutors unveiling was part of the process of finding a more spiritual and personal relationship with God, whereas for others it was a staging post in leaving religion altogether.

Yet the religious dimensions only scratch the surface of the profound issues underlying unveiling. My interlocutors' narratives show that unveiling is part of a process of uncovering the self in its manifold aspects. They discover and express their unique personalities, (non) religious identities and their femininity. They express their desire to take ownership of their selves, minds and bodies.

Within the context of social, religious and political pressures weighing on them, they are searching for their own subjectivity. Similar to Mahmood's analysis regarding veiling, we can see that by unveiling they not only express 'the self' but also craft their individuality. Unveiling expresses and brings about transformations in their subjectivities, desires and ambitions. Unveiling is an articulation of—and also sets in motion—a larger process of discovering who they are and what they want. In the process of unveiling, my interlocutors proactively cultivate selfhood. By actively deliberating on "who they are", they reflect on "themselves" and on "the world".

Both my religious and non-religious interlocutors were searching for authentic selfhood, albeit cloaked in different positions regarding Islam. Unveiling challenges normative religion, even if it is motivated by a search for a personalised spirituality. More importantly, my interlocutors share a fundamental motivation to "find themselves" and discover their femininity, their own desires, ambitions and way of living. In opposition to socio-political and religious discourses defining women's subjectivities and desires, they discover their own voice.

By not a priori taking religion as the starting point in the process of unveiling, it was possible to unearth a common fundamental dynamic at play. Crafting selfhood by women challenges the power of the three authoritative pillars in Egypt: religion, politics and the family. Contestation about unveiling is a battle over women's (rebellious) minds and bodies more generally, rather than their religiosity per se. Uncovering the self by unveiling is indeed part of an on-going 'silent revolution'.

**Funding:** The research was partly funded by University of Kent's Understanding Unbelief programme (https://research.kent.ac.uk/understandingunbelief/).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee (ETC-GW) of Radboud University, Nijmegen on the 14 June 2017 (no. 9947).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data are not publicly available due to the sensitivity of the topic and protection of the interlocutors.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
