My Crazy Experiences as a Hijabi

It's Tough Being a Girl - Khalid Latif

Comment: Readers will know I consider my self to be an Islamist Feminist brother and so I love this khutbah! And I seriously love this brother! Mashallah, one of best Khutbahs I have ever heard.

Hijab revival: fashion, religion or strategy?

Moroccan schoolteacher Rhimou Bachtioui has been engaged three times. Each time, she called off the marriage because her fiancés wrongly believed she was "subservient, docile and very conservative".

Like a growing number of young women across the Maghreb, she wears a veil.

"The hijab is merely a matter of dress that concerns no one other than the woman who wears it. Although the veil indicates that a woman is religious and adheres to the values of Islam, this is no reason to overlook her personality," she tells Magharebia.

Thami Bahmad, a sociologist, says that the hijab ceased to be a matter of religion during the 1990's. "Some conservative parents used to make their daughters wear the veil, but things have begun to change," he says.

"Well-educated young girls are now deciding for themselves whether or not they will wear the hijab. It remains a personal liberty that does not reflect women's personalities. It's not just a conviction, but also a matter of image," Bahmad adds.

Indeed, the only study on the subject found that young women who wear the hijab have only "patchy and distorted knowledge of the Qur'anic verses and hadiths that concern the veil".

According to the 2007 study by the Association of Moroccan Women (ADFM), the hijab was seen as a symbol of religion and militancy in the 1980s but from 2000 onwards it became a secular matter and eventually just one style of dress among many. The ADFM also noted that most women choose their clothes, apart from headscarves, according to popular fashion.

As with Morocco, the appearance of the hijab in Algeria was linked to the beginnings of the Islamist movement. Decades after the dissolution of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which advocated wearing of the veil, the style remains.

Yet while some complain that the haiek (Algerian traditional dress) has given way to the Islamic headscarf, the veil is increasingly popular with young Algerians to the point that they consider it a new style trend.

"Algerian women have always been accustomed to wearing a head covering, be it the Algerian haiek mrama or the colourful Kabylie scarf, but then there is an imported type of headscarf that does not have its roots in Algeria," said senior citizen Youssef Ferradji.

At an Islamic clothing shop in one of the busiest streets of Algiers, women are delighted by pink scarves with sequins and rhinestones designed to attract Algerian fashionistas.

There is now a "typical Algerian hijab" which has no basis in religion.

"Most of our girls wear headscarves with tight pants. It is as if they're caught between the duty of repentance before God and the desire to please," notes Mrs. Boudia. She chooses to complement her headscarf with a long black tunic.

The hijab revival in Algeria has prompted a nickname: the "Kinder Surprise" veil.

"Like the famous chocolate egg, the Algerian hijab hides surprises. It's also called 'El M'hadjeb', the name of the Algerian dish," jokes Merki Mohammed.

"It is very difficult being a woman in Algeria. One can understand that they want to protect themselves from violence and attention that a different kind of look might attract in public," he adds.

Meriem, his fiancée, tells Magharebia that the hijab represents "the hypocrisy of Algerian society".

"Many of my girlfriends decided to wear the scarf in the hopes of getting married," she explains with a smile.

Tunisia faces a similar phenomenon. Nearly 20 years after former President Habib Bourguiba issued a decree banning headscarves or hijabs in public institutions, veils are visible everywhere, from universities and government offices, to the beaches and hotels, to stores and coffee shops on public streets.

Many link the veil's return to the growing phenomenon of spinsterhood.

"Wearing the veil by some girls to hunt down husbands has become a rampant phenomenon on Tunisia," Saeeda Sweileh told Magharebia. "My chances to attract a would-be husband have become greater since I started wearing the veil," the 31-one year old unmarried woman says.

"Most of the girls who access the marriage chat websites on the internet wear the veil and practice all religious duties in order to attract the other party," Saeeda adds. "Other girls take the veil as a tool to hide their past and to win the trust of men. In this way, they become less monitored by their families."

Eman al-Zaidi says that she wears a scarf out of conviction, rather than out of a desire to get a husband. But she is well aware that other girls have different reasons for putting on the hijab. "Unfortunately, we can't deny it. This bad mentality that exploits religion for worldly ends does exist."

The phenomenon of wearing the veil to win a husband has indeed increased in recent years, Monia Bou Abd tells Magharebia. "I reject this exploitation of religion and veil for personal ends," adds Monia, who does not wear a veil. She believes that "good conduct and respectable clothing" are enough, without having to wear the veil to prove virtue.

"The most important thing is for the girl to behave without false pretences that would fall off with the first clash with her life partner," Monia adds.

Nadia al-Uamari agrees that "some girls in Tunisia spare no effort in order to reach their ends". She explains that those who are looking for work often wear short clothes.

"However, when it comes for looking for a husband, they dress differently," she says.

For her part, Farida Aiari says, "This phenomenon does exist in Tunisia, but I don't recommend these twisted ways for looking for husbands." She performs all of her religious duties, she adds, without having to wear the veil.

Men, meanwhile, are becoming aware of the practice.

"These tricks no longer deceive young people in Tunisia. They understand well that good manners and exemplary behaviour can't be proven just by the veil or long clothes, given that the matrimonial relation is much deeper," Wahab al-Jamani tells Magharebia.

"We shouldn't get involved with a life partner merely based on appearances that are in most cases deceiving," he adds.

Anis Slim, agrees, saying that he did not care whether his future wife is veiled or unveiled.

"What's important is good manners, good conduct and education and being a good mother."

With so many different opinions on the cause of the headscarf's renewed popularity in the Maghreb region, Magharebia asked an imam for his opinion about using the hijab to attract a husband.

"If men or women resort to appearances for the purpose of deception and trickery, and if these appearances are contrary to what is truly inside them, then this is hypocrisy itself," the imam said.

He cited a hadith: "God doesn't look at your images or bodies; rather, He looks at your hearts."

source

Abercrombie & Fitch says 'No Hijab Please'

Well, another fashion chain in the USA seems to have problem with Hijabi girls working in their store. I wonder if they have the courage to put up a sign saying Hijabis not allowed to shop in store. I suppose they should have a problem with girls wearing too many clothes. The company motto is to have least clothed models for adverts.

Anyway, the article on Hijabophobia is here and here.

Dont Judge fellow muslims for small things

A few days ago, I was visited by a non-Muslim who was keen to know about Islam. I was impressed by the amount of knowledge and understanding she had.

The way she understood how things go and her agreement that the media was causing a lot of damage was very encouraging. Yet, the many questions she had and the many problematic issues she raised were not less than the amount of knowledge she had.

For more than two hours, we discussed issues, many of which were relating to occasions in the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) narrated mainly in the Sunnah (tradition).

This raised in my mind a question I had been thinking about for quite a long time; is the Sunnah causing problems in our life or are we causing the problem by failing to understand the Sunnah within the context of the events and its relevance or irrelevance to our present time?

As it is part of my faith to always look with objectivity at things, I started looking into many texts which presumably cause problems to see where the controversy comes from.

To walk the talk, let's take an example. The other day I was waiting at one of the mosque's receptions until my wife finished her own business. As it was my day off and I was spending the time with my family, I was wearing a sports outfit.

One of the brothers who have known me for long approached me with a big exclamation mark, or blame, on his face. He asked why I was wearing this outfit, while, as he claims or understands, I was supposed to wear "Islamic attire".

I smiled. "What Islamic dress you are talking about, brother?" I enquired. And because I knew his answer even before he uttered it, I gave him the space to voice all his complaints against my "westernised" dress.

The brother continued explaining to me that the Prophet told us we should not be wearing clothes that are similar to those of non-Muslims. We, faithful as we are, should be following his example and, according to the brother, it is a sunnah (recommended action) to wear a turban and long garment.

He started quoting hadiths (sayings and traditions of the Prophet) all describing the Prophet entering Makkah with a turban on his head. He also referred to many other occasions when the Prophet wiped over the front of his turban in ablution and many other situations of a similar nature.

Gently, I said to the brother, "Do you trust my knowledge?" As he replied in the affirmative, I explained to him how extensive the research I did regarding this specific issue of the turban was.

I explained that I had discovered at the end that all hadiths narrated as regards to the issue were either weak or non-indicative of any recommendation, let alone obligation, to wearing it.

Going further in my discussion, I had to refer to the main characteristics of Islam as a religion again, stressing the fact that its being a universal religion means that it has to carry the factors that make it so.

In other words, issues like clothing, eating, and similar things should not be explained under any one environment-related condition. Rather, they should be flexible enough to be understood according to any society and its norms.

This is what is known in Islamic Shariah asurf(custom or tradition of society), which is considered as a legitimate source of legislation.

Islam has placed general guidelines as to what constitutes decent clothes and what should be covered in what situations. Yet, the details of this can be decided according to the situation and the society.

Therefore, I would find it very comforting and religiously suitable if I am wearing a suit and tie when I am lecturing at the University of London in my capacity as an imam, rather than wearing a long cloak and some head cover that makes me alien to the place as well as the audience.

One of the biggest challenges that Muslims need to overcome to solve the problem between the Sunnah and the present society is their understanding and view of the traditional explanation of the texts.

It seems that considerable amount of Muslims born and raised in the West are looking with the eye of admiration at the classical Islamic heritage and the explanation of early and medieval scholars; which I personally share with them.

Yet, taking this admiration further beyond the boundaries of admiration is quite problematic. In Islam, nothing is taken as being beyond criticism except the Quran and the authentic sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

This means that whosoever's explanations, commentaries, or whatever, are not divine. They can be respected and deserve so because they are Pious and scholarly as their authors may be, they are still seen within the boundaries of human efforts and therefore subjective criticism can be directed at them. They cannot be taken as absolute or unchallengeable.

The real problem does not occur when we read what Prophet Muhammad said and start to apply it.

Rather, it happens when we start to apply what we have understood from the sayings of Prophet Muhammad in our own way and with our limited knowledge and later on give it a status that is normally due to the text itself, and not the interpretation.

It has always been a problem when people add their personal views or interpretations without indicating that they do not belong to the original text. When they fail to draw the line between what is unchallengeable and what is not, problems occur.

This is because in Islam, what is divine is always perfect, and what is human is endowed with imperfection.

By Ahmad Saad, Currently the Imam of North London Central Mosque (formerly known as Finsbury Park Mosque).He studied Religious Pluralism at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005. He is also a member of the American Academy of Religion. He is the former imam of the Muslim Community of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies (English) from Al-Azhar University. He is currently working on his MA thesis on the Sunni-Shi`ah dialogue. He holds Ijazahs in Qur'an and Hadith and Islamic texts from scholars in Egypt, Jordan and UK.

The different faces behind the veil

Jilbab. Niqab. Al Amira. Dupatta. Burqa. Chador. Even the language used to describe the various kinds of clothing worn by Muslim women can seem as complicated and muddied as the issue itself. Rarely has an item of cloth caused so much consternation, controversy and misunderstanding as with the Islamic headscarf or veil.

For those Muslims who literally wear their religion on their sleeves, hijab (from the Arabic for curtain or screen) can be many things. For some it is a cultural practice handed down through the generations, an unquestioned given that is simply adopted. For others the need to dress and behave modestly can define a person’s relationship with God, their religious devotion or even their politics. For others still hijab is a complicated journey, one with twists and turns where veils are briefly discarded on the ground or taken up with willing fervour.

“Muslim women wear hijab for many reasons including piety, identity and even as political statements,” says Tahmina Saleem, the co-founder of Inspire, a consultancy which helps Muslim women become vocal members of their communities. “Most do so willingly, some unwillingly”.

To its detractors the headscarf – and in particular its more visible cousin the face veil – is simply a form of oppression, regardless of whether modest clothing has been adopted willingly or not. Why, the abolitionists ask, would any woman ever voluntarily choose to hide her hair or face in public?

Later this month France’s ruling party will debate a law that could see the face veils banned in public, meaning any woman caught wearing a niqab or a burqa (the Arab and Afghan versions of a full face veil) could be fined £700. If the law is passed it would represent a watershed moment in Western Europe’s relationship with its Muslims citizens and could encourage politicians in neighbouring countries to promote similar legislation.

In the argument over whether to ban or not to ban, the polemicists usually reign supreme. Hijab is either good or evil, wrong or right. The voices of the women whose lives would be monumentally affected by any sort of curb on Islamic clothing are rarely seen or heard from.

Today The Independent speaks to five British women from different walks of life about what form of hijab they choose to wear and why they wear it. From a graduate who became the first one in her family to cover her face entirely, to the mother of four who chose to take off her headscarf and sees no problem with remaining a devout and practising Muslims – their stories are as varied and colourful as the scarves on their shoulders.

Read the complete article with the interviews here.

When women are sinners in the eyes of extremists

By Alaa Al-Aswany in The Independent:

The Shabaab movement in Somalia controls large parts of the south and centre of the country, and because officials in this movement embrace the Wahabi ideology they have imposed their views on Somalis by force and have issued strict decrees banning films, plays, dancing at weddings, football matches and all forms of music, even the ring tones on mobile phones.

Some days ago these extremists carried out a strange operation: they arrested a Somali woman and whipped her in public because she was wearing a bra. They announced clearly that wearing these bras was unIslamic because it is a form of fraud and deception.

We may well ask what wearing bras has to do with religion, why they would consider them to be a form of fraud and deception, and how they managed to arrest the woman wearing the bra when all Somali women go around with their bodies completely covered. Did they appoint a special female officer to inspect the breasts of women passing by in the street? One Somali woman called Halima told the Reuters news agency: "Al Shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts... They first banned the former veil and introduced a hard fabric which stands stiffly on women's chests. They are now saying that breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat."

In fact this excessive interest in covering up women's bodies is not confined to the extremists in Somalia. In Sudan the police examine women's clothing with extreme vigilance and arrest any woman who is wearing trousers. They force her to make a public apology for what she has done and then they whip her in public as an example to other women.

Some weeks ago the Sudanese journalist Lubna al-Husseini insisted on wearing trousers and refused to make the public apology. When she refused to submit to flogging she was referred to a real trial and the farce reached its climax when the judge summoned three witnesses and asked them if they had been able to detect the shape of the accused's underwear when she was wearing the trousers. When one of the witnesses hesitated in answering, the judge asked him directly: "Did you see Lubna's stomach when she was wearing the trousers?" The witness gravely replied: "To some extent."

Lubna said she was wearing a modest pair of trousers and that the scandalous pair she was accused of wearing would not suit her because she is plump and would need to lose 20 kilos in order to put them on. But the judge convicted her anyway and fined her £500 or a month in prison.

In Egypt too, extremists continue to take an excessive interest in women's bodies and in trying to cover them up entirely. They not only advocate that women wear the niqab but also that they wear gloves on their hands, which they believe will ensure that no passions are aroused when men and women shake hands. We really do face a phenomenon which deserves consideration: why are extremists so obsessed with women's bodies? Some ideas might help us answer this question:

Firstly, the extremist view of women is that they are only bodies and instruments for either legitimate pleasure or temptation, as well as factories for producing children. This view strips women of their human nature. Accusing the Somali woman of fraud and deception because she was wearing a bra is the same charge of commercial fraud which the law holds against a merchant who conceals the defects of his goods and make false claims about their qualities in order to sell them at a higher price.

The idea here is that a woman who accentuates her breasts by using a bra gives a false impression of the goods (her body), which is seen as fraud and deception of the buyer (the man) who might buy (marry) her for her ample breasts and later discover that they were ample because of the bra and not by nature. It would be fair to remember that treating women's bodies as commodities is not something found only in extremist ideologies but often happens in Western societies too.

The use of women's naked bodies to market commercial products in the West is merely another application of the idea that women are commodities. Anyone who visits the redlight district in Amsterdam can see for himself how wretched prostitutes, completely naked, are lined up behind glass windows so that passers-by can inspect their charms before agreeing on the price. Isn't that a modern-day slave market, where women's bodies are on sale to anyone willing to pay?

Secondly, the extremists believe women to be the source of temptation and the prime cause of sin. This view, which is prevalent in all primitive societies, is unfair and inhuman, because men and women commit sin together and the responsibility is shared and equal. If a beautiful woman arouses and tempts men, then a handsome man also arouses and tempts women. But the extremist ideology is naturally biased in favour of the man and hostile to the woman, and considers that she alone is primarily responsible for all sins.

Thirdly, being strict about covering up women's bodies is an easy and effortless form of religious struggle. In Egypt we see dozens of Wahabi sheikhs who enthusiastically advocate covering up women's bodies but do not utter a single word against despotism, corruption, fraudulence or torture because they know very well that serious opposition to the despotic regime (which should really be their first duty) would inevitably lead to their arrest, torture and the destruction of their lives. Their strictness on things related to women's bodies enables them to operate as evangelists without any real costs.

Throughout human history, strictness towards women has usually been a way to conceal political abuses and real crimes. Somalia is a wretched country in the grip of famine and chaos but officials there are distracted from that by inspecting bras. The Sudanese regime is implicated in crimes of murder, torture and raping thousands of innocents in Darfur but that does not stop the regime from putting on trial a woman who insisted on wearing trousers. It is women rather than men who always pay the price for despotism, corruption and religious hypocrisy.

Fourthly, the extremist ideology assumes that humans are a group of wild beasts that are completely incapable of controlling their instincts, that it is enough for a man to see a bare piece of female flesh for him to pounce on her and have intercourse. This assumption is incorrect, because humans, unlike animals, always have the power to control their instincts by will power and ethics.

An ordinary man, if he is sane, cannot have his instincts aroused by his mother, sister, daughter or even the wife of a friend, because his sense of honour and morality transcends his desires and neutralises their effect. So virtue will never come about though bans, repression and pursuing women in the street, but rather through giving children a good upbringing, propagating morality and refining character.

Societies which impose segregation between men and women (as in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia), according to official statistics, do not have lower rates of sexual crimes than other societies. The rates there may even be higher. We favour and advocate modesty for women but firstly we advocate a humane view of women, a view that respects their abilities, their wishes and their thinking.

What is really saddening is that the Wahabi extremism which is spreading throughout the world with oil money and which gives Muslims a bad image is as far as can be from the real teachings of Islam. Anyone who reads the history of Islam fairly has to be impressed by the high status it accords to women, because from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until the fall of Andalusia, Muslim women mixed with men, were educated, worked and traded, fought and had financial responsibilities separately from their fathers or husbands. They had the right to choose the husband they loved and the right to divorce if they wanted. Western civilisation gave women these rights many centuries after Islam.

Finally, let me say that religious extremism is the other face of political despotism. We cannot get rid of the extremism before we end the despotism.

Democracy is the solution.

Muslim woman banned from wearing a 'burkini' in France

The Burkini swimsuit - designed to spare the blushes of Muslim women worldwide - was plunged into controversy yesterday.

A French mother was banned from wearing the three-piece outfit at her local swimming pool.

Carole, a 35-year- old Muslim convert, was told it was ' inappropriate' on hygiene grounds, but she insists the ban is racial discrimination.

It follows French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently attacking Muslim burkhas as a 'sign of subservience' for women and saying they should be banned.

Carole - who did not want her surname published - bought her burkini for £40 during a holiday in Dubai.

She said: 'I was told that it would allow me the pleasure of bathing without showing off my body, which is what Islam recommends'.

She approached a number of swimming pools before the manager of one in Emerainville, near Paris, said there would be no problem with the burkini.

Carole, who converted from Christianity when she was 17, insisted: 'For me, it's discrimination. I understand that the burkini can shock, especially as we're in France, but what disturbs me is that this is a political issue.

'I'm going to fight this problem through anti-racism groups, and if no solution is forthcoming I'll consider leaving the country.' She has made a formal complaint to police at nearby Meaux.

Yannick Decompois, swimming pools director for the Marne-la-Vallie area, said: 'This isn't anything to do with discrimination, but simply a hygiene problem. We also ban people wearing shorts in pools - it's the same thing.'

French pools bar any clothes that can also be worn outside, where they can pick up dirt and contamination.

In June Mr Sarkozy risked the wrath of Muslims by backing demands for the full-body burkha to be banned, calling it a sign of the 'debasement' of women.

'In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,' he said.

The president was supporting a call by dozens of French politicians for the ban.

France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, an estimated 5million. But in 2004 it passed a law banning the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from state schools, sparking fierce debate at home and abroad.