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Often times, I come across non- Muslims who vehemently despise the Hijab. For them, the Hijab symbolizes everything the modern women fought so hard to break away from – it is viewed as a sign of oppression for women of our times. Unfortunately, many Muslim women just get annoyed with these daunting questions of why do you let people oppress you, why do you cover your beauty, why do you let them do that to YOU and so on and so forth? As Muslim women, I think it is high time we address these questions with more patience and understanding. I have realized that some of the concerns our sisters of other faiths have are nothing but genuine concern! They just fail to comprehend why you would cover your hair – and it is their right to know. As humans, we learn about other cultures and religions by asking – and no question is every a stupid question. Last year, I meet a Christian classmate who asked me “Halima, you obviously seem a smart person then why do you cover your hair? I was speechless for a minute. And, then asked her “Does the shorts you wear symbolize your intellectual ability?” To which, of course, she replied “No, clothes do not represent a person’s smartness or learn, but that thing on your head is just a tool for YOUR people to oppress you, dear.”
I told her how no one in my family oppressed me to wear the Hijab, and that I basically started wearing it after I came to America. I could say my answer really shocked her. Why would you cover in the land of the free? I told my classmate that my freedom is my Hijab and that it symbolizes me and helps me observe – that which my creator Allah Ta’aal has made obligatory on every believing woman. I showed her the verse from Surah Al-Nur verse 31 which clearly established the dress code for Muslim women: “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, or their brothers’ sons or their sisters’ sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.” (Quran 24:31). A few days later, I gave her a copy of a poem I wrote regarding the Hijab. She did not ask me anymore questions about the reason I wear the Hijab…but rather why didn’t so many other Muslim women wear it – if it was in the Qur’an…Her questions were no longer – why I wore it now, but rather why didn’t I wear it before? To which I just said, we are just humans and we are bound to make mistakes. This poem is titled “For my sisters of other faiths” and is in no way meant to offend any Muslim sisters who do not wear the Hijab – if anything I hope it just serves as a reminder to all of us to turn to our creator and ask him for forgiveness. And, for non-Muslim sisters I hope it will serve as a direct way of knowing that the Hijab does not oppress us, nor does it take away our freedom, if anything I hope you will see my Hijab as a symbol of my freedom to practice my faith in my new adopted home – America. “For my sisters of other faiths” __________________________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com |
