Liberation by the Veil (Why Islamic Women are Content.)

Jannah ^ | FR Post 6-8-2 | Sehmina Jaffer Chopra

[vannrox]

Liberation by the Veil

Modesty and chastity , very important ideologies with Islam, are achieved by prescribing standards on behavior and the dress of a Muslim. A woman who adheres to the tenements of Islam is required to follow the dress code called Hijab, other synonymes are Veil, Purdah, or just Covering. It is an act of faith and establishes a Muslim's life with honor, respect and dignity. The Hijab is viewed as a liberation for women, in that the covering brings about "an aura of respect" (Takim, 22) and women are recognized as individuals who are admired for their mind and personality, "not for their beauty or lack of it" ( Mustafa ) and not as sex objects.

Contrary to popular belief, the covering of the Muslim woman is not oppression but a liberation from the shackles of male scrutiny and the standards of attractiveness. In Islam, a woman is free to be who she is inside, and immuned from being portrayed as sex symbol and lusted after. Islam exalts the status of a woman by commanding that she "enjoys equal rights to those of man in everything, she stands on an equal footing with man " (Nadvi, 11) and both share mutual rights and obligations in all aspects of life.

Men and women though equal are not identical, and eachcompliments the other in the different roles and functions that they are responsible to. " From an Islamic perspective, to view a woman as a sex symbol is to denigrate her. Islam believes that a woman is to be judged by her [virtuous] character and actions rather than by her looks or physical features" (Takim, 22). In the article, "My Body Is My Own Business", Ms. Naheed Mustafa , a young Canadian born and raised, university-educated Muslim woman writes, "The Quran [ which is the Holy Book for Muslims] teaches us that men and women are equal, that individuals should not be judged according to gender, beauty, wealth or privilege. The only thing that makes one person better than another is his or her character." She goes on to say, "In the Western world, the hijab has come to symbolize either forced silence or radical, unconscionable militancy. Actually, its neither. It is simply a woman's assertion that judgement of her physical person is to play no role whatsoever in social interaction."

Muslims believe that God gave beauty to all women, but that her beauty is not be seen by the world, as if the women are meat on the shelf to be picked and looked over. When she covers herself she puts herself on a higher level and men will look at her with respect and she is noticed for her intellect , faith ,and personality, not for her beauty. In many societies, especially in the West, women are taught from early childhood that their worth is proportional to their attractiveness and are compelled to follow the male standards of beauty and abstract notions of what is attractive, half realizing that such pursuit is futile and often humiliating (Mustafa). Chastity , modesty, and piety are promoted by the institution of veiling. The hijab in no way prevents a woman from playing her role as an important individual in a society nor does it make her inferior." (Takim,22)

A Muslim woman may wear whatever she pleases in the presence of her husband and family or among women friends. But when she goes out or when men other than her husband or close family are present she is expected to wear a dress which will cover [her hair and] all parts of her body , and not reveal her figure. What a contrast with Western fashions which every year concentrate quite intentionally on exposing yet another erogenous zone to the public gaze! The intention of Western dress is to reveal the figure, while the intention of Muslim dress is to conceal [and cover] it, at least in public (Lemu,25).

The Muslim woman does not feel the pressures to be beautiful or attractive, which is so apparent in the Western and Eastern cultures. She does not have to live up to expectations of what is desirable and what is not. Superficial beauty is not the Muslim woman's concern, her main goal is inner spiritual beauty. She does not have to use her body and charms to get recognition or acceptance in society. It is very different from the cruel methods that other societies subject women, in that their worth is always judged by their physical appearance. The are numerous examples of discrimination at the workplace where women are either accepted or rejected, because of their attractiveness and sex appeal.

Another benefit of adorning the veil is that it is a protection for women. Muslims believe that when women display their beauty to everybody, they degrade themselves by becoming objects of sexual desire and become vulnerable to men, who look at them as " gratification for the sexual urge"(Nadvi,8). The Hijab makes them out as women belonging to the class of modest chaste women, so that transgressors and sensual men may recognize them as such and dare not tease them out of mischief" (Nadvi, 20). Hijab solves the problem of sexual harrassment and unwanted sexual advances, which is so demeaning for women, when men get mixed signals and believe that women want their advances by the way they reveal their bodies.

The western idiology of, 'if you have it, you should flash it!' is quite opposite to the Islamic principle,where the purpose is not to bring attention to ones self, but to be modest. Women in so many societies are just treated as s ex symbols and nothing more than just a body who "display themselves to get attent ion" (Mustafa). A good example is in advertising, where a woman's body is used to sell products. Women are constantly degraded, and subjected to reveal more and more of themselves. .

The Covering sanctifies her and forces society to hold her in high esteem. Far from humiliating the woman, Hijab actually grants the woman an aura of respect, and bestows upon her a separate and unique identity (Takim, 2). According to the Qu'ran, the same high standards of moral conduct are for men as it is for women. Modesty is essential in a man's life, as well, whether it be in action, morals or speech. Islam also commands proper behavior and dress of men, in that they are not allowed to make a wanton show of their bodies to attract attention onto themselves, and they too must dress modestly. They have a speci al commandment to lower their eyes, and not to brazenly stare at women.

In Sura Nur of the Holy Qu'ran it says, " Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them, and God is well acquainted with what they do". Many of the misconceptions of the Muslim woman in the west, particularly her veil stems from Arab and Muslim countries that have deviated from the true doctrines of Islam, and have " mixed up Islamic principles with pre-Islamic pagan traditions" (Bahnassawi, 67)

In this present period of decline from Islam, many Muslim women are alienated , isolated from social life, and are oppressed by Muslim men and rulers who use the name of religion for their injustices. (Bahnassawi, 65) In this instance, the Hijab is used as a means of keeping many Muslim women away from society, with the misconception that it signifies isolation and weakness. But as many Muslim women come back into the fold of the untainted and true Islam, they are able to recognize the injustice of men who have for so long stripped them of their rights to be an integral part of society and "deserving the same dignity, honor, progress and prosperity as the men" (Nadvi,26). Women regaining their true identity and role in society, are now wearing Hijab and embracing its concept of liberation for women, and are taking their rightful places that Islam had endowed upon them fourteen hundred years ago.

Please copy and distribute to whoever can benefit from the above paper. Thank you, peace and blessings of Allah to all my brothers and sisters in Islam,

Sehmina Jaffer Chopra

Samichopra@aol.com

[vannrox]

You know, the more I read about Islam the more interested that I get. But still, the terrorsts can't possibly believe that it is ok to kill or hurt people in the name of Islam.

[dighton]

A woman who adheres to the tenements of Islam ...

[neutrino]

untainted and true Islam

An oxymoron! Saying "untainted islam" is closely akin to saying "untainted sewage". As for true islam - I believe we saw pictures of that...from New York...on September 11...

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Maybe Muslim men should liberate themselves by wearing the hijab. I wonder how long that would last?

I don't know what surprises me more, the Muslim male's attempt to rationalize this or the Muslim woman's complicity in it.

[goodnesswins]

A "Muslim" woman who does NOT comply is probably a DEAD woman.....see previous thread of young woman murdered on her wedding day.....

[dighton]

Death and Dishonour

[denydenydeny]

Another liberated woman:

[Chu Gary]

"When she covers herself she puts herself on a higher level and men will look at her with respect and she is noticed for her intellect , faith ,and personality, not for her beauty."

Also, she can put off shaving that day!

[liberalism=failure]

THese women are born into this culture and raised there. Except for a few (who are probably to scared to say anything) they accept, and in many cases, embrace their diminished status.

[Cultural Jihad]

Thanks for posting. I have read that besides forcing men to view them as other than mere objects, the veil protects men because women know how much power they have over men, who will do foolish things for sex. I have also read that Mary, the Mother of Jesus dressed much as modern Muslim women do, the veil being a cultural phenomena more than a religious one.

[Snickersnee]

Well! That's very enlightening. Now let's talk about cutting the clitorises off little girls.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

True. Perhaps I should have been more specific. What I meant by complicity was the willingness of Muslim women to write and preach about the glories of these burlap sacks when they are not forced at gunpoint to wear them.

[Neologic]

It is interesting to read this attempts at rationalizing the status of women in Muslim coutnries. By focusing on the dress the women (are forced to wear) we miss the more important picture of the women's role in Islam. They are regarded as little more than property. To divorce a woman in Islam, the husband must say 'I divorce you' three times. That is sufficient. Of course women do not get this privilage.
A woman is only truly liberated if she can freely choose to wear the veil. In Islam, this is not an option. How is that truly free? In Saudia Arabia, woman cannot drive themselves. Is this liberation? What about being able to associate with men who are not close relatives? Why is this punishable by death, if these woman are truly liberated?
Historically speaking, when these rules were established, there was no sense of women's liberation, the purpose of these rules was to cover women, to make them an invisible part of society, because they had little more to do in life than produce children.
What we are seeing today is just some modern day spin on role of women in the middle east. Luckily, in the more 'liberal' countries, women are beginning to enjoy greater freedoms, but this usually comes with the retreat of religion from everyday life, rather than a teeming Muslim women's liberaton movement.

[Restorer]

Thanks for posting this. I think the author makes some very good points. The modern Western fixation on female physical beauty is indeed demeaning to women, IMHO. Islamic veiling, however, is not the answer, especially when forced.

[Cultural Jihad]

Turkey is an Islamic country where the vast majority of women are not veiled, but then again they are often forced to not wear it. Also, Catholic women until recently used to wear a veil when they went to Mass.

[cicero's_son]

It wasn't all that long ago that women in the West dressed modestly for the exact same reasons cited by this Muslim woman.

But we in the West have learned from our masters, the Great Liberators, to despise our past and anything that reminds us of it.

[cicero's_son]

Catholic women until recently used to wear a veil when they went to Mass.

I'm not Catholic, but I went to a Latin Mass here in New York last weekend. It was stunningly beautiful, and many of the women did wear veils.

I suppose the Modernists here would have been "enraged" at the oppression.

[conservativemusicteacher]

This thread is getting to be very irritating. Lets face it, Islam is very inequitable to women. On the issue of inheritance, surah 4:11 "To the male a portion equal to that of two females". As a wife, surah 2:223, "Your wives are as a tilth (field to be plowed) unto you, so approach your tilth when and how you will". Then the Hadith says "Wives are playthings, so take your pick". And how about those beatings, surah 4:34 "As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, BEAT THEM" Indeed in Islam, and women is lower than cattle.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Yes, but in a Catholic Church it has a very different connotation. The veil does not wrap the head or cover women's faces. It is spiritually symbolic and other religious traditions do similar things (think Jews, Hindus, Sikhs). They are not meant to be repressive, demeaning, or subjugating.

The Muslim hijab is a far, far different thing.

[Cultural Jihad]

Lets face it, Islam is very inequitable to women.

Again, you are confusing a religion, spanning every continent and every race and every culture, with one particular culture. Since your topic is inequity, you ought to be informed before inequitably pointing an accusing finger at one fourth of the world's population.