Hijabs are true freedom

[MrsD820]

I'm a christian woman, and my days are very hectic.  I must wake very early in the morning to get ready for work.  I'm a receptionist and as the first person people see in the office.  I must be presentable.  I wake shower and get dressed.  Then I put on my makeup and then begins the task of doing my hair.  I have very fine straight hair that never wants to cooperate.  I fight with it, get it into place and only a few hours later, I have wisps of hair falling down.  When I'm home, I don't even bother.  I have ancestry that is Russian and as many of the Eastern European women, I own and regularly wear a headscarf.  The only difference is that mine does not cover my neck. 

I hear my fellow americans saying that the Hijab is an oppression on women and I disagree.  The mini skirt is an oppression on a woman.  Look how many of our sisters and daughters are suffering from eating disorders or having children at young ages.  Look at the drug use, depression and disease.  Are our women better off now after the "sexual revolution" than they were before hand?  No, Satan has tricked them into thinking that this is freedom, but he's shackled them. 

The Hijab frees women from those shackles, teaches her to respect her body and to obey God our Lord.  The Hijab expresses modesty but it also protects from pressures of sex and lewd behavior.  A man knows the calibur of a woman wearing a hijab, where he would have to question a woman wearing shorts and a bikini top. 

Does this mean that all women who do not hijab are immoral?  No of course not, but its far easier to conform to society than it is to stay firm in ones belief.  God Bless the women who chose the right path dispite all the hardship.  Their personal jihads will bring them rewards in the afterlife.

Allah Hafiz,

MrsD820

[Sara]

Salams...
       You speak like a true Muslim... I really find it great to know that non-muslims seeing the truth and the wisdom behind Islamic Laws. Heck, Muslims these days don't get it. I just feel that these woman are becoming more like puppets more than human. Thank God he has made rules that value women and takes good care of their dignity...

May God, bless you and he always guide you to the path that you find love and peace, heart, mind and soul.

Fi aman Allah.
  Sara

[AzimScot]

Asalamolkum and Peace,

MrsD is spot on with her view on hijab. Many people forget that only 100 years ago in the victorian times everyone was wearing a hijab, in the western world as it was a modest nation rather than the sexual revolution, and no one said they were a bunch of terrorists hijabees during victorian time god!

Many people including muslim fail to understand what Hijab actually means. Yes its a scarf but has a deeper meaning as its an arabic word there's a hijab for men as well which is lowering the gaze, and preventing temptation into matter which god disapproves for the benifit of that individual.

I hope hope that secular goverments in France and Turkey wake up, and smell the coffee and lift the ban which is a disgrace.

[MrsD820]

I totally agree.  I have several Hijab and non Hijab friends.  For women it should be about the right to express herself and to protect herself.  So many young girls are being taught that wanting to dress modestly and cover your hair makes them less.  What makes them less is men telling them they must show themselves in order to get respect.

Another thing I do see though is a double standard.  It upsets me to see a sister dressed in full Hijab out with her husband and he's wearing shorts and a polo.  Now, double standards are bad.  If I can't see her knees, don't you show me yours.    Men are supposed to cover too. 

[vescud]

esselamun aleykum ve rahmetullahi ve barakatuhu

[Egil]

I am a middle aged christian man and I think hijab/headscarf is a good thing also for christian woman, because it takes away the sexual obsession in our western society which reduce women to objects of mens lust instead of individals created by God. Also I think it is very beautiful, it highlights both the outer appearance of the  woman as well as the inner appearance of decency and worship of god. If my teenage daughters wanted to wear hijabs I would be very pleased.

[Mr Sar]

I am a British male and have no objections to women wearing scarves..what I (and most people I know)do object to is the wearing full face coverings. In the UK we take pride in our openness. Full face or eye slits are sinister and give the impression that someone is hiding. If motor cyclists can be banned from being served in shops unless they take off their helmet for obvious security reasons, and teens are told they cannot wear baseball caps in shopping malls then I don't think it's unreasonable for full face coverings to be banned.  How would you know there is not a man under there (as has happened on several occasions..Michael Jackson even wore one!)?  I have heard from several Muslims that it is a cultural thing and not a religious thing so people cannot use religion as an excuse.  As I say, no problems with the  veil at all but showing faces is a must..as Jack Straw has just commented. For God's sake we're not lviing in the Middle ages or Victorian era.. Islam needs to be dragged into the 21st century...

[Rabbit]

As a non religious young woman I have to admit I am totally baffled by the hijab & veils. If I was a believer in a god, I think I'd really struggle with understanding why, in all the grand decisions he made, he also decided there has to be a dress code. I also really struggle with the notion that completely covering yourself up protects a woman from men, it's the 21st century, a self defence class & a rape alarm should do the trick. I think it's degrading to men to suggest that they all go mad with lust at the flash of a bit of ankle. If you don't want men to think of you as a sex object don't wear make up & don't brush your hair! I doubt the site of an average Jane in normal clothes & no make up drives men wild with desire. Most of the posts in this forum seem to be anti-sex, I'd like to point out that it is because of people having sex that we're all here. I don't know of any religion that promotes the demise of the species!

If a woman is wearing a full veil how does she smile at someone? If you don't speak the language of a country & your face is covered how do you express emotion? How can you drive a car when your field of vision is limited? I think communicating with young children & babies must also be difficult, as a great part of bonding with a child is through facial expressions.

If someone could answer my questions I would be willing to listen to the alternative argument.

[blodwyn]

I feel totally confused with all of this, I believe that we are all created as equals, so why should women be made to feel like possesions of their husbands. I cannot believe that in the 21st century we still treat women like 2nd class citizens. If you subscribe to the theory that the hijab reduces the lust element you may well be right, if you think that all men think of nothing else.
So how do you think a muslim man thinks when he looks at a woman, that was after all created by GOD that dresses in western clothing? I see plenty of examples of very leary muslim young men that need to be told to back off, when the majority of western guys know when to leave off!!!!

[Pauline]

As a Christian woman who spent a year studying in Yemen where all women wear some form of hijab and many wear the niqab including eye covering, initially I found it strange and yet over the course of months I found myself the balto (coat) and hijab on a regular basis.  I found it to be very practical and comfortable and when I returned to England continued to wear it for a while.  I have a lot of respect for women who do wear the niqab/hijab, especially in the face of criticism from people such as Jack Straw, who, as a Labour politician, frankly should know better.  As a feminist my view is that if a woman choses to cover herself, that is her right, much as, at the other end of the scale, my daughter who is at University, choses to wear a mini-skirt for nights out.  It is just a case of doing what ever you feel comfortable with.  Incidentally, there is an arguement for Christian women covering their heads - see 1 Corinthians 11:5 and 6.
Pauline

[adrianjs]

We are a Christian couple who totally disagree with Jack Straw's remarks. We feel that he is totally wrong and that his comments are un-Christian, racist and against human rights. If a Muslim woman wishes to wear a Hijab or a Niqab then that is okay by us. We do not find it offensive or disturbing. We can surely live together without imposing our views and expectations on others. We have no right to do this. We are to love our neighbours, not try and force them to go against their conscience and incite ill feelings. My wife is totally blind and she has never been able to make eye contact or read facial expressions. What gives Jack Straw the right to demand this, when hundreds of  thousands of blind and visually impaired people have never had this privilage. It seems to us that he is concerned only for his own hang-ups and not for why the veil is worn in the first place.

Adrian and Eve Smyth

[hannah_curious]

I agree that there are circumstances when the niqab constitutes a serious impediement either to the wearers (or others) health and safety or to doing the job/task in hand. Driving is one example of the former, and teaching English is another topical example.

BUT, attending an MP's surgery is scary enough for many people without having to put oneself in position where you feel uncomfortable. Th emajority of time is shoudl be upto the individual to decide if they to unveil or not.

I am of no religion, but I can see many advantages to having a lifestyle that is more modest, well mannered and where the sexes can easily separate if they so wish.

As for terrorist suspects hiding behind the veil there are several flaws in this argument:

1. the terrorists of 9/11, and 7/7 did not hide, it did not stop them.

2. suppressing the veil will merely fan the flames of mistrust and division

3. Bonnie Prince Charlie disguised himself as a woman whilst on the run from the government, are all Scottish Roman Catholic Women terrorist suspects as a result? No of course they are not. Wearing a veil does not make one a terrorist

I would be horrified if there is any attempt to outlaw either the hijab or the niqab/veil. I would certainly protest against that, and probably I would start to wear a niqab myself as a personal protest.

Hannah

[ugo]

I agree with MrsD820.

Try telling a muslim guy his mother or grandmother in hijab is inferior to him...

Reading this article 'In the Motions of the Winds', online at: http://inthemotions.tripod.com , I could sense the feeling that most of the criticisms against the hijab might actually stem from men (no offense guys, I'm a guy too).
The author of the article 'In the Motions of the Winds' looked at verses from the muslim Holy Book which declared both men and women to be equal creations in the sight of their Creator even with their physical differences. They both were equally 'covered' at some time (didn't know about their 'nakedness') until events affected them both exposing their nakedness. He supports the hijab because

- even without Islam, many cultures around the world tend to respect women who dress well-covered (even with the images of bare-chested African girls in people's minds, one has to think about the older respected women in such communities)

- people find hairy men okay, but hairy women are not and don't appear to share the same 'equality' with less hairy women (who determines women's equality with men - men?!)

I began to wonder, why is it when we talk about women being equal to men the image of women in trousers and so on pops into our minds as a form of women's liberation? Women RAISING themslves to the same level as men.
Do men set the standards even for clothing? Why doesn't equality involve men wearing the clothes women put on (and I'm not talking about kilts!)? Could it be that would mean LOWERING themselves to the same level as women?

I got so interested I decided to look for a scientifc explanation to why men tend to be hairier than women.
I had already read that millions of years ago women were also hairy, so what happened? Quite a difficult question to find an answer to online, here's some of what I found though:
http://evolution-101.blogspot.com/
http://www.serpentfd.org/b/darwin.html
http://www.riinsrants.info/culture/girls.htm

I remember hearing that scientists had a theory that women evolved to be less hairy than men because men found less hairy women more attractive than the hairy ones and began breeding only with the less hairy ones. So male offspring would still have the 'hairy genes' while the female ones gradually lost it.
So men bred more naked women for their own purposes? Men determine what women should look like?
Is this a man's world?

In conclusion, I say
- hey, all you muslim in hijabs, YOU'RE NOT INFERIOR TO MEN (some men are just upset that you're covered up)

- the hijab is okay

- you guys should read that article on http://inthemotions.tripod.com

[SteveD]

I�m not going to be popular, but I think MrsD820 is being hypocritical.

You close by saying how easy it is to conform to society and how hard yet worthwhile it is to stand firm in ones beliefs, yet you open by mentioning how much you admire the Hijab for making your day easier.

You�re not alone in this sort of philosophy. Take Goths for example (kids who dress up in black cloths and makeup). They flatter themselves by thinking they are better for setting themselves apart from the masses (when all they really want is attention). Ultimately it�s weak thinking because it�s the sort of philosophy that only exists to make us feel good about ourselves.

The question you have to ask yourself is this; why do you need to hide behind a headscarf to stand up for your principals? Why can�t you ware normal plain cloths, little makeup and adopt a less fashionable haircut that takes less time?

Ego is never as far away as you might think.

I must admit I�ve never read the parts of the Koran that speak of the woman�s need to ware a headscarf, but I�m fairly certain fashion isn�t mentioned.