Courtesy: Huffington Post UK
It seems that controversy over the hijab – the Islamic tradition of covering a woman’s hair and body – will not die down anytime soon. Governments such as France and Germany seem to be dead set against it, while theocracies such as Saudi Arabia go the other extreme by forcing women to cover. But ask the average Muslim woman, and she will probably wonder what the fuss is all about. Since when is dress a political statement, even a weapon? FEMEN – a feminist Ukrainian protest group – seems to think it is, and is up in arms over the hijab, declaring April 4 as International Topless Jihad Day. What FEMEN activists perhaps did not expect was that Muslim women who wear the hijab are a tad possessive about their right to wear it, and don’t take lightly to a declaration of jihad (Arabic for struggle) against it.
FEMEN predictably reacted with the following dismissal and trivialization of Muslim women’s concerns:
They say they are against Femen, but we still say we are here for them…They write on their posters that they don’t need liberation but in their eyes it’s written ‘help me.’
More and more this is becoming a childish argument about who knows best for the other party. So here’s a few popular myths propagated by organizations such as FEMEN, debunked for those who really want to know what the hijab is all about, and what it’s not about at all.
Myth 1: Muslim women are forced to wear the hijab.
Fact: The hijab, burka, or any other form of head/body covering is a choice for Muslim women such as me. Many Muslims consider it a commandment of God, similar to prayer and fasting, and its wisdom is rooted in protection and morality. Perhaps that’s why women living in countries with high rates of poverty and crime and low rate of education prefer to cover themselves from head to toe, while those in Europe and America wear only headscarves. While it is true that Muslim women in some countries like Saudi Arabia are legally obliged to cover themselves, that unfortunate situation is an indication of cultural norms, not religious practices.
Myth 2: Muslim women who wear the hijab are dependent, less educated, or not as successful as their uncovered counterparts.
Fact: No research has ever shown that hijab leads to mental or economic retardation. In fact, many Muslim women who wear the hijab report an increase in confidence, higher self-esteem and a greater sense of freedom. Muslim women who dress modestly have been successful in all walks of life, from politics to business and everything in between. They also understand that, contrary to what the entertainment industry would have you believe, nudity is not freedom. It is in fact just another form of oppression and victimization of women.
Myth 3: Hijab and feminism are opposing ideologies, with hijab being a way to suppress and oppress women, and feminism being a way to liberate them.
Fact: The reality is that according to Islam, hijab and feminism are two sides of the same coin. They go hand in hand, with hijab giving women the freedom to go wherever they like, do whatever they want, without feeling dependent upon anyone. Women wearing the hijab are able to study, work, go out and have fun, or stay at home. By giving them that choice, the hijab goes a step further than feminism and empowers women regardless of whether they work or not.
Myth 4: Muslim women who wear the hijab don’t have a voice and need to be spoken for.
Fact: Granted that women in some countries don’t have a voice, but religion has little to do with it. If the hijab was a tool of oppression, the millions of Muslim women who choose not to wear it would be the first to denounce it, and help their supposedly oppressed sisters in becoming free. The fact that only non-Muslim feminists speak out against the hijab makes their actions look downright suspicious.It is also disrespectful to Muslims to malign our religion because of the actions of a few. Muslims agree that those who oppress women in the name of Islam are liars and don’t deserve to be called Muslims. It’s frustrating that twelve years after 9/11 we should all still be saying essentially the same thing. “Bearded men with knives” do not speak for Islam whether they are killing innocent people or forcing women to cover themselves.
What disturbs me the most about this whole fiasco (and no, it’s not the offensive photos) is the way that FEMEN has been making its protest very public, protesting in front of embassies, consulates, mosques and even political gatherings. What exactly are they trying to achieve other than attention? With the exception of Saudi Arabia and Iran, no other country in the world currently makes the hijab legally binding on its female citizens; protesting in front of embassies and foreign offices of nations where large numbers of women don’t cover themselves stinks of political strategy rather than social justice.
The International Topless Jihad Day, in my opinion, is nothing more than a new and more insidious form of Islamophobia. How is this any different than France fining women who wear the veil, or Germany banning the headscarf in schools? Let’s face it, when we base our actions on assumptions, we face the danger of making things worse. Instead of building bridges and giving everyone the right to live (and dress) in the way they want, organizations such as FEMEN compound the view that ‘it’s my way or the highway’.
The reality is that Muslim women, or women of any faith, don’t need to be rescued, and they have avoice with which they can speak if they so choose. Furthermore, in countries where they don’t have a voice, it is not so because of the hijab. If FEMEN really wants to free oppressed women, there are a host of other issues they could work towards… education, healthcare, democracy… and hijabi women will strive (or do jihad) in those causes right alongside them. That’s a promise.
Thank Allah that Mulsim woman can realize their civil rights in the West
Sammy, are you sure you read correctly? You seem to have missed the main point.
Saadia as always an excellent article! I completely agree with all of the above I also agree that hijab definitely gives me more freedom , it makes me proud ,makes me stand out who I am and what I believe in. I have never thought of it as oppressive it actually liberates me!
Women in Germany bared their breasts in Germany to protest the imprisonment of Pussy Riot in Russia. Putin demanded that they be punished. I support everybody’s right to dress or undress the way they like.
The State should have ABSOLUTELY no say in the matter.
Nor should little girls be shot in the face in broken Pakistan for get an education
It is very good article. Hijab makes me stand out who I am and what I believe in.
The hue and cry about Hijab seems a western propaganda about anything that is different from what they consider to be their norms. It is just a hysterical outburst against anything Islamic. Covering the head and face is widely practiced in South East Asia by Muslims as well as non-Muslims, and is recognised as a cultural, social and religious symbol. It is also a fact that the hijab has been voluntarily adopted by many women after they have moved to the west; they are increasingly visible in universities, work places and in specialised institutions. The hijab does not interfere in their competence or performance. Incidently, I live in Pakistan and do not practice hijab.
You live in a failed state where little girls arr shot for trying to go to school
You need to visit Pakistan to guage sentiments about terrorism. However so called successful states have reported killing of school and university students.. ‘failed state’ needs to be redefined.
Intelligence services hiding Beh Laden and launching the terror attack in Mumbai leaves one with a dim view of Pakistan. It it were not of the ISI, te Taliban would never have taken control of Pakistan.
A Jewish reporter visited Pakistan and was beheaded alive.
ow many people in Pakistan still believe Jews were behind 911 thanks to the media in Pakistan?
Beheading is instant death and far more humane than many other methods of death. Surely “one” doesn’t expect any force to behead the dead.
You talk about failed states… How do you define a failed state? In your so-called successful nation, little girls and boys in elementary school are killed by psychos whose mothers keep guns in the house. In your country people enjoying movies in theaters are killed by psychos who should never have had access to guns. People kill women outside abortion clinics, men kill their wives over disputes, teenage gang members kill each other over turf wars, children as young as two die of gunshot wounds… the list is endless. This in a nation that boasts education for all, liberal values and a secular government. Yet your enlightened population cannot agree on stricter gun control laws, ignores a huge prison and gang problem nationwide, does nothing while the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. Who are you to call other nations failed states? Pakistan and other countries like it struggle with real problems like lack of education and the type of poverty that you cannot even imagine, and many of the problems we face are a result of outside influences… if one girl gets killed by the Taliban, hundreds die by US drones. No one is condoning violence or terrorism, but please let’s not cast any stones until one’s own house is in order.
The US has a functioning justice system and a functioning government. How ever flawed, i am guessing a woman would have a far better chance of success than in Pakistan. How ever flawed the US is, there are many who would rather be living here than Pakistan
The girl who was shot i tye head for trying to go to school is getting educated elsewhere because it is likely that there would be another attempt n her life….just for going to school.
You live i a country with a 3 headed monster, the the prime minister, army and terroristic intelligence services. Your intelligence services are the cause of much of the grief in the region. Sending terrorists into the heart of Mumbai, helping the Taliban into power in Afghanistan and of course hiding Ben laden.
Your country helped behead a journalist while alive
Those Drones are doing e job the Pakistani army shod be doing, but they are afraid to. The civilian casualties are the responsibility of the Taliban. You know and I now how they use civilians as shields bu hiding in their villages.
Like I say, a failed state that would fall into bedlam without US assistance.It would become another Taliban state. That would make Pakistan the most dangerous state in the world,
Could I please ask, Jerry, how much time you have spent in Pakistan?
Aisha,
Very well stated, thank you! Unfortunately, too many take the easy road of judging others rather than face the reality of their own injustices.
yes, Pakistan is a world class country that we can all strive to be. In reality it is a broken country with a nuclear bomb.
Greg, How ever many faults the US has, people still strive to be here, including many Pakistanis
It’s sad to see how rampant Islamaphobia perverts the very celebration of diversity which is one of the stellar aspects of America that we all should cherish and strive to perpetuate. When one refuses to see any but the negative or problematic aspects of another culture while excusing one’s own national failings, nothing but division and hostility results. It should be obvious that there are strong and powerful women who also adopt hijab, that all Pakistanis do not shoot school girls or behead journalists, and that Islamic values include many that support individual and communal well-being. It’s also obvious that our unquestioning support of individualism and materialism has contributed to economic inequality and rampant violence in our own, but those problems do not negate our successes in promoting enviable levels of freedom and opportunity. Both cultures offer things to appreciate and failings to be remedied. Labeling one or the other solely according to it’s weaknesses is counterproductive and, frankly, an act of ignorance and destructiveness. All of us have aspects that are “broken” on both an individual and collective basis, and bigotry is one that seems to, unfortunately, be gaining ascendance in the U.S. due to lack of a full understanding of Middle Eastern culture. Perhaps the remedy is to listen to those Islamic contributors here who can give a fuller picture of life in their homeland. Stereotypes that sprout from a mere shred of reality seldom lead to mutual understanding or resolution of conflict.
Lia, First things first, Pakistan is not in the Middle East. My fear of Pakistan is come from the fact that there is a strong terror group in that broken state known as the Taliban. The Taliban have a perverted view of Islam. Pakistan also has an intelligence service that runs terror squads into neighboring India
Like I say, it is a broken country with nuclear weapons and that is something to fear.
I respect individual choice for how one presents one’s self in public. However, my problem is with religious dogma in general. Religion in general is patriarchal with a tendency to shut down open conversation. I was raised Roman Catholic. My partner of twenty-one years is Jewish. He was raised mostly secular with Judaism as a cultural tradition. Before we met he began to study Kabbalah with a rabbi. Religion stills takes the backseat to his secularism. I on the other was raised religious. I was devout child but as I matured I began to understand hypocrisy. I live aware of my fellow beings and my responsibility in the world. I gave my background as credentials to support my thesis. If a woman wears hijab out of choice it is one thing. If she wears it due to religious orthodoxy it is another. I respectfully suggest one must investigate their adherence to religious systems that insists a woman must cover her body, her hair, possibly her face when men has no such constraints. I respectfully suggest the enforced covering of woman’s body makes her invisible in cultures where such coverings are demanded. Regardless the hijab calls women who choose to wear it to bare responsibility for her Muslim sisters living in homes, communities, and countries where there is no choice, no education, only degradation and misogyny. We are all responsible for those women and for many the hijab etc. are symbols of oppressive patriarchal societies where orthodoxy denies freedom of choice. Thank you for educating me that in some instances this is not the case. I do not think it is the right of governments and legislation to outlaw any form of dress.
I have noticed that people constantly suggest that Muslim women cover themselves due to patriarchy. I have never heard anyone say anything about the many cultures where men always keep their heads covered. Could someone please address this?
I get it. So the religious Jewish women in Israel (and some in NYC) who use a headscarf also need to be liberated. Oh yes, and the east European Orthodox like the Serbian women and other Orthodox women who use a kerchief on their heads are also oppressed. And when I was in Peru the older Catholic women with the black headscarfs can’t find liberation. So we must go and rescue all these women. It’s a daunting task. Maybe clean up the Christian “oppressed” women first. Forget dictators,poverty, hunger and war. Just save all the women of the world who would look fat and/or misshappen in a bikini if they finally agreed to give up all their headcoverings.Maybe they need to go
on a diet before they unveil.
In a sense, the press is largely responsible for the advent of FEMEN. The phenomenon will die a natural death if FEMEN nudity “events” are ignored. Nudity sells, and that’s about the only thing FEMEN understand.
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