23-year-old Khalifah is a hairdresser in Jakarta. She agrees for an arranged marriage with 33-year-old prosperous shopkeeper Rasyd, in order to financially help her father and allow her younger brother Faizal to carry on his studies. She soon finds out that her husband follows the strict precepts of the Koran. After her miscarriage, he manages to make her accept to wear the chador, the all-over veil. Khalifah's life will be totally shattered. She cannot work anymore; she either stays at home in seclusion, or becomes the target of violent reactions. Due to his work, Rasyd is often away. Yoga, a young tailor, settles in the house opposite Khalifah's. He falls in love with the young woman but he too finally leaves to work in Saudi Arabia. Khalifah is told of her husband's accidental death. Beyond the issue of wearing 'the veil', with great sensibility Nurman Hakim depicts a young modern woman living in the largest Muslim country in the world, torn between her respect for her father and husband, and the independent personal life she yearns for.