53 F
Milpitas
Thursday, March 28, 2024
spot_imgspot_img
Letters to the EditorThe Muslim Hijab; Freedom of Choice

The Muslim Hijab; Freedom of Choice

Dear Editor,

International Women’s day was celebrated on March 8, with a lot of fervor and promise, especially for young Muslim women like me but these current events beg a discussion about Feminism and how best to promote it.

First there is the issue of faux-feminism on International Women’s Day by marketers and advertisers as they use this day to heavily promote their companies. Another is the Nike Pro Hijab, which landed at Macy’s earlier this December which has spurred much debate. This is hypocritical because their advertising messages contradict their own business practices that allegedly range from unequal pay to uneven representation, to sexual harassment. Events such as these beg a discussion on how faith protects the rights of women, gives them their rightful status in society and prevents their exploitation.

In the western society, the hijab (veil) for Muslim women is misunderstood for the true purpose it gives women. It’s mistakenly criticized to be backward, traditional, suppressive, and preventing women from reaching their full potential. However, this false notion has been proven wrong by many great Muslim women achieving high status in society back in early Islam and even today, standing as equal to men.

In Islam, women are treated as sacred and honorable, like the qualities of a precious gem. If an average person wouldn’t display their precious gems and expensive jewelry out in the public for fear of catching the wrong eye, Islam views women in that same level of respect. Islam has given women dignity and respect to continue living the life she pleases and stand equal to men without having to worry about being judged by her appearance. The veil is also a reminder to all men to respect women and not to objectify them but to lower their gaze. In fact, the first commandment of hijab in the Qur’an is given to men, to restrict their lustful glances. It’s after this first commandment to men that women are then asked to safeguard themselves from such men by covering their hair and wearing lose garments that cover the body when they go out or are in the presence of any men who are not their immediate family members. Islam has given women respect and freedom to live in a dignified manner.

-Adverstisement-spot_img
-Adverstisement-spot_img
Alishba Haq
Alishba Haq
Alishba recently graduated from a Masters in a Medical Science program from Washington. She plans to do more research in the field of Nutrigenomics. Alishba enjoys volunteering for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women association as a Student Affairs Sec and organizes meetups with students to discuss contemporary issues they face. In her spare time, she enjoys travel.

5 COMMENTS

  1. The wearing of the hijab shows and symbolizes support for the utter subjugation of women, and sharia law. It should never be accepted as an example of any free religious practice.

    • It’s not about any laws, it’s totally about a woman’s choice. Whatever it maybe. Many religions and cultures practice modesty that are not Muslim.
      Also, Sharia is a set of logical ideas for living and doesn’t go against any laws of democratic nation.

    • @RHS Karlsson, sad to see that you have clearly missed the point of the entire article. Bottom line, freedom of veil-people should be allowed to dress however they want, if women want to wear the veil, their choice should be respected. End of story.
      Fyi, Catholic nuns always cover their head, Mary mother of Jesus has always been depicted with a veil and she was a symbol of a pious women, as do many other devoted women in other religions and culture. It’s all about respecting the difference. Seems like to me that you strongly prefer women to openly display themselves so that they can please your perverted mind. People like you have actually forced society to control women to look a certain way. Innocent girls as young as 5 feel that they aren’t pretty enough in schools because they don’t look a certain way or because a boy has never looked up to them. Why should we raise our girls in a manner that forces them to become conscious about their appearance all the time and pushes them to always sexually appeal to men just so that they can “fit in” or feel accepted by society? Now that is kinda messed up…

  2. In Islam, women are treated as sacred and honorable, like the qualities of a precious gem. (but we are human beings, not precious gems!) If an average person wouldn’t display their precious gems and expensive jewelry out in the public for fear of catching the wrong eye, Islam views women in that same level of respect (doesn’t this objectify women like some object to be hidden and should be covered from the world, instead of a living being with conscience, aspirations, dreams, and autonomy?). Islam has given women dignity and respect to continue living the life she pleases and stand equal to men without having to worry about being judged by her appearance. (but wearing the hijab does not extricate you from being judged by your appearance, on the contrary, in some places you will be judged because you wear the hijab because in some places you are not the norm, people do not think that hair is sexual, so to see someone wearing it only invites judgment: “why are you sexualizing hair, a very normal and innocent part of the human body, especially in a non-sexual setting?”) The veil is also a reminder to all men to respect women and not to objectify them but to lower their gaze (and why is the hijab the only way to do so? Doesn’t it objectify women instead by treating them like “precious gems” and objects to be covered for fear of “robbers”? “All” men? In many other religions, the hair is not sexualized this much; it is regarded as a very normal part of the human body; like eyes, nose, forehead). In fact, the first commandment of hijab in the Qur’an is given to men, to restrict their lustful glances (and why is it on women to cover themselves from head to toe? Why is the emphasis more on women to cover up, instead of men to lower their gazes in the first place? What if they see non-Muslim women? How is this effective in training males to ‘lower their gaze’?). It’s after this first commandment to men that women are then asked to safeguard themselves from such men by covering their hair and wearing lose garments that cover the body when they go out or are in the presence of any men who are not their immediate family members. Islam has given women respect and freedom to live in a dignified manner (but are women given the freedom of choice, to choose what they deem is a dignified life? Does Islam not trust its own women to comport themselves modestly without the imposition of hijab? And why MEN make the decision, not women?).

Leave a Reply to RHS Karlsson Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

-Adverstisement-spot_img
-Adverstisement-spot_img
-Adverstisement-spot_img
- Advertisement -spot_img