I grab my coffee, sit down at the table, and open up my social media sites.
Staring in front of me, as I scroll down to see what today’s topic of controversy is, are copious amounts of women dissecting the hijab and its meaning. I take a deep sigh and try not to let my anger get the best of me.
But I am angry. Let that be known.
I am angry because in the last year there have been numerous think pieces on the hijab, multiple discussions on the hijab, and probably hundreds of thousands of tweets about the hijab.
I am angry because the entirety of my being as a Muslim woman has solely been concentrated on the hijab.
I am angry because as a Muslim woman the hijab is not the only thing that encompasses my faith.
I am angry because I am sick of conversations about the hijab.
In the last year, we have heard from Muslim women who chose to wear the hijab as a form of resistance to assimilation. We have heard from Muslim women who chose to wear the hijab due to feminist reasons, religious reasons, political reasons, fashion reasons, and social reasons. It seems that every time a piece on the hijab comes out there is somebody who is angered by it.
When a Muslim woman writes about how she wears the hijab because it makes her feel closer to God; the Muslim women who wear it for different reasons get upset. When a Muslim woman writes about how she wears the hijab because it’s a form of political and social resistance to assimilation, Islamophobia, and even patriarchy; Muslim women who do not wear it for that reason feel as if they were slapped in the face.
It seems that no matter how many think-pieces on the hijab are written and no matter how greatly different they are, both Muslim and non-Muslim people will refuse to accept that Muslim women chose to wear the hijab for a variety of reasons just as they chose not to wear the hijab for a variety of reasons. The issue here is that we continuously refuse to see Muslim women as having autonomy over their clothing, choices, and even how they practice Islam. Society refuses to accept that Muslim women can be in control of their lives and especially their clothes; so we write another hijab think-piece to prove that we can, in fact, have autonomy.
Islamophobia and xenophobia have conditioned us to continuously defend our choices to wear or not to wear the hijab.
I, personally, am tired of having to listen to my Muslim sisters defend their choices.
No group of women’s worth on this planet is wrapped in their clothing choices as much as ours. No other women have to incessantly write about their clothes. That’s what the hijab is – it is a piece of cloth. Our Muslim-ness does not revolve around a scarf.
I want my Muslim sisters to write about the other aspects of our faith and our Muslim-ness. I want to see think-pieces about our struggle to fast during Ramadan or our struggle to pray 5 times a day. I want to see think-pieces about how sometimes we want to wear the hijab and other times we do not and I do not want us to continuously have to defend our choices in the way we dress.
Muslim women are complex. Muslim women are individuals. Muslim women make their own choices.
Muslim women differ in their attitudes, opinions, and choices.
Muslim women are more than the hijab.
Our faith, Islam, is more than the hijab. Isn’t it time we realized that?
14 replies on “Stop reducing us down to a hijab.”
I disagree with the author. She states that “The issue here is that we continuously refuse to see Muslim women as having autonomy over their clothing, choices, and even how they practice Islam.”
Has everyone forgotten that the meaning of “Muslim” is one who submits? The truth is that to a certain degree, Muslim women do NOT have autonomy over their clothing. Allah swt has instructed us to cover nearly our entire bodies. Yes, obviously we can decide for ourselves how we choose to do that (within reason). But being a Muslim means submitting your will to Allah’s will, and giving up some of our desires for His sake.
The Quran and hadith teach us how to practice Islam. Islam is a simple, logical religion but it’s being over-analyzed and misappropriated by modern Muslims who cannot come to terms with some of the restrictions in Islam. Submit to the limitations of our religion, or don’t submit. But do not attack those who do their best to submit. It’s as simple as that.
And the reason hijab is written about so extensively is BECAUSE no one can agree on it. I personally enjoy reading different opinions about it and formulating my own understanding of it. It is one of the most outward expressions of a Muslim woman’s faith, and young Muslimahs in particular deserve to fully understand hijab and the opinions behind it.
The fact that the largest religion in the world isn’t collectively talking about human rights, gender rights, female genital mutilation, terrorism, ISIS, Syria, Ferguson, Gaza, AIDS, polygamy, arranged marriages or any other millions of issues in the world right now but instead choose to irrationally obsess and fetishize a piece of cloth on a woman’s head is absolutely insane, exhausting, shameful and disgusting.
The above commenter proves my point.
Hijab has gotten held up as such a beacon of “purity” that people are equating it with the 5 Prayers as level of importance. That’s absolutely mind-boggling and horrifying. It’s also a dangerous precedence that shows we are fiddling while Rome burns. Let’s not talk about anything else in the world (climate change, Wahhabism, child marriage, modern day slavery)….nope, gotta focus on the importance of me keeping my hair away from prying eyes.
I seriously have to laugh and cry at the same time or I will just cry.
“That’s what the hijab is – it is a piece of cloth. Our Muslim-ness does not revolve around a scarf.”
I personally don’t wear hijab and think it will never be my place to write about it. But this above sentence is erasing so much. For many Muslim women in my family, reading and discussions it is much more than a piece of cloth, and for those wearing it as a public display in post 9/11 it is Muslimness to them. The hijab is much more than a cloth for so many, this was very reductionist. I can respect other opinions but it kind of erases many hijab wearing women.
“I, personally, am tired of having to listen to my Muslim sisters defend their choices.”
Writing is often a way for many women to rationalize their embodiment, expel feelings and explain their choices, and often they want to and have that autonomy to do so.
“I want my Muslim sisters to write about the other aspects of our faith and our Muslim-ness. I want to see think-pieces about our struggle to fast during Ramadan or our struggle to pray 5 times a day.”
In a way this is good but also some women who wear hijab obviously want to write about it, it is a huge part of their lives. I think those who write about it tend to naturally write about the aforementioned implicitly or explicitly at the same time. This sounds like someone who wants to really homogenize the Muslim experience to not wearing hijab (which is their choice) just to make it more palatable to their life. It is disconcerting. The title was a great lead in, but it seemed to be fixated on an opinion that erased many Muslim women, their choices and writing.
Yawn.
All acts of worship are autonomous and subjectively formulated. Denying individual agency to partake in worship strips away the beauty of our deen and bastardizes our religion into something done for the sake of others, rather than for our own enhancement.
The question ‘is Hijab compulsory?’ is based on the false premise that any act of worship can a) be psychologically enforced and b) that all people attach the same meaning towards this act.
Religion is personal, a supremely autonomous act, and something that ought to be fraught with contested meanings. Not everyone views hijab as spiritually affirming and obligatory — and that’s okay.
Please don’t impose authoritative views on others, because that necessarily denies the agency and aspect of choice in worship; the decision on HOW to worship rests solely in the hands of the individual to determine.
Lastly, please don’t usurp the voice of God in these discussions. It comes off as entirely arrogant and self-righteous.
Leanne: Islam is the second largest religion, but I digress…
Anyway, yes, Muslims should definitely care about those issues. The focus on hijab can be seen as annoying, but hijab is a major topic for our youth and even women in their 20’s. Do you think the average Muslim girl/young woman these days cares about human rights, gender rights, female genital mutilation, or any of the very important global issues you discussed above? Nope. Being part of this demographic myself, I am frustrated with the apathy of most of my peers.
I agree with you that we should be discussing other things. But Muslim girls these days follow hijabi fashionistas, reality TV celebrities, etc on Instagram and Facebook. Muslim women are obsessed with the latest styles, shopping, being popular, and looking cool. Clothes are sometimes the only thing on their minds. I’m as appalled as you are about the sad reality of this. As a consequence, articles must be and should be written condemning the burgeoning superficiality of hijab.
My shaykh says: “if you love someone then you do whatever is in your power to please that person. Our obedience to Allah he says is defined by our love.
And we can chit and chat and make excuses and speak about our choices and society but the bottom line is: how deep is our love.”
And topics of conversation depend very much on your social circle. Where hijab is accepted and not an issue other topics take precedence.
Some things in Islam aren’t meant to be questioned. I’m sorry if you can’t handle the fact that hijab is obligatory. Are you next going to say that prayer isn’t required? Some people don’t pray with the right intentions, or don’t pray on time, or don’t really want to pray at all, but they do it anyway because it’s a tenet of our faith and they must obey. And those who do not pray admit that they should. Allah has given us rules but we humans have a tough time following them. I do too; I’m not claiming to be above anyone, but if I sound arrogant or self-righteous because I’m stating commonly held, orthodox Islamic beliefs, then it’s too bad you interpret it that way.
I’m pretty sure you completely missed my point about how Islam has been clearly laid out for us. Yes, there is still room for diversity in our faith and that should be celebrated, but within reason.
Saima, that was so well said, I wish I could print your comment and paste it on everyone’s face so they can continue to refer it every time they want to transform into white knights and saviours of Muslim women or when they start to spew self-righteous and holier-than-thou online sermons about the etymology of the word ‘Islam’ and speak for God.
If a Muslim cannot understand the point of concepts like ‘There is no compulsion in religion’, ‘Only Allah knows what is inside the heart’ and ‘Worship is between Allah and the worshipper’ then there’s nowhere to go except backwards.
Any religion that only concerns itself with the physical appearance of a person is a very superficial and petty one, and Islam is certainly not that. The reason why so much is written about the hijab is because men have, for aeons, obsessed over female sexuality and body with the sole intent of controlling and exploiting it. Hence, lengthy discussions on what is a relatively unimportant issue. If one were to read the Qur’an and Islamic history without this bias, they would see that education, good governance, political self-determination, rights of the citizenry, corruption and social welfare are the most important aspects of Islam. Many men can only -unfortunately- define themselves in relation to the supposed inferiority of women. Outside of this lopsided relationship, they seem to have no identity, as though it is crucial for them to maintain their self-esteem by imposing on the ‘fairer sex’. If anything it is a parasitic relationship.
It’s disrespectful to such a pluralistic religion to boil it down to beard lengths and hijabs. Physical appearance is a very small part of Islam, and it’s shocking to see so many Muslims turn it into a petty religion whose muballigh are mocked on a routine basis.
I think the point she was trying to make is that even for those women to whom hijab is more than just a piece of cloth, they’re not obsessively thinking about it on a daily basis and their identity does not revolve around just one display of religiosity that is way down on their list of religious priorities – they have work, families, education, friends, family, personal interests, political interests and other religious interests, too. So, whatever justification a Muslim woman uses, it is 1. Not anybody else’s place to judge 2. Not anyone’s business to begin with
The hijab will continue to remain at the forefront of the discussion of the oppression of women within Muslim cultures as long as Islamic scholars refuse to openly discuss the question of whether or not wearing a head scarf should be a RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION for Muslim women.
At present all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and 99.9% of Islamic religious scholars maintain that the headscarf is fard, obligatory. Only a single, brave scholar at al-Azhar University has ventured a dissenting opinion. To date, throughout the entire 1300 year history of Islam, the question has never been openly debated. Needless to say, part of the problem is that until a few years ago, there were no female muftis, scholars qualified to issue religious legal rulings.
Interestingly, even though wearing a turban was part of the sunnah (example) of The Prophet
(peace be upon him), no similar rulings exist regarding male headgear. The arguments put forth to explain why women alone are required to cover their hair (arms, legs, torso, etc.) are based on the premise that a woman’s body (all of it) has the power to incite uncontrollable lust in men, and that the responsibility for controlling lust, rape, adultery, etc., belongs to women.
The Qur’an enjoins women to cover to use their upper garment to cover their breasts when they go out in public so that they will be respected and not harassed. From this, alas, scholars have deduced a requirement. Worse, throughout the MENA region, many Muslim men assume that they are free to harass any woman who does not wear the required attire.
These problems must be publicized and discussed until the ulema permits a thoroughgoing discussion of the issues, and until women everywhere are truly free to make their own choices about what to wear.
Asalamalaikum wa ramatullah wa barakatuh
To date, throughout the entire 1300 year history of Islam, the question of whether or not women’s head scarves should be a religious obligation has never been openly debated. Needless to say, part of the problem is that until a few years ago, there were no female muftis, scholars qualified to issue religious legal rulings. At present all four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and 99.9% of Islamic religious scholars maintain that the headscarf is fard, obligatory. Only a single, brave scholar at al-Azhar University has ventured a dissenting opinion. We need an open discussion and that discussion must include women.
P.S. I urge anyone who is sincerely interested in this topic to read Harvard University Professor Leila Ahmed’s book “A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence from The Middle East to America.”
I am still going to write about hijab. I can’t help it I embraced Islam and am so proud of it! This is a significant peace of clothing which represents my values without even having to speak. Muslim women are individuals, yes. The author said: Muslim women are more than than the hijab. I dare to say: Muslim women are MORE BECAUSE of the hijab.
Ahh, the usual comparing the act of wearing hijaab with prayer. I guess you forget that only one of those things can judge a person’s faith if neglected.
Guess which one it is… it’s not a piece of cloth ^ _ ^