An insider's view on niqab
Technorati Tags: hijab, islam, jilbab, niqab, jack+straw
What follows is an account of the experiences of a young sister in Canada who has been wearing the niqab since she was 17 and at school. Her name is Ardo; she is of Somali origin and lives in Ottawa, and is presently in her fourth year at university. I wanted to present a real sister's experience and perhaps defence of the niqab, because although I strongly defend the right of Muslim women to wear it (and, insha Allah, I may post a more comprehensive defence either here or at the Sharpener either today or tomorrow), I am not best-placed to do so as a man, so I sought Ardo's experiences. What she told me was both enlightening and sometimes depressing.
What Jack Straw said was extremely offensive and disturbing, particularly to those who wear the Niqab. I have been wearing the niqab for the past five years and when I decided to wear the niqab I did so for three reasons. First, I wanted to create a barrier between me and those who were disobedient to Allah and the niqab without doubt does create that barrier. Second, I wanted to become closer to Allah and this was act not of order but rather out of choice, so I figured for example if I did the extra homework for my physics class I would get extra bonus points, thus why not do an act of obedience not because I have to but because I want to increase my taqawa, surely a great reward does come with this. Third, I wanted to make a point to Westerners because when I decided to wear the niqab it few months after the September the 11th, there was a lot of negativity about Islam. Muslim women where portrayed as oppressed, abused, uneducated, powerless and far most dehumanized, because of Islam and its teachings, but anyone who understands the true teachings of Islam would understand the status that Muslim women are given in Islam. The point I wanted to make was the fact I lived in a so called democratic country, where I was given the freedom to address others anyway that I wanted, and I choose to wear the niqab. Some of the girls in my school began to take off their hijabs, either out of fear or because they did not want to separated from the norm.If I was honestly dealing with Jack Straw I could care less what he demanded or how the niqab made him feel. I was created to please my Creator, not a man who thinks highly of himself.
Alhumdulilah my experience with the niqab has been a pleasant one. I had barely had any obstacles, I was well treated in society, I felt welcome anywhere I went, I traveled to US and it was a pleasant trip, I lived there for a year and it was great. I’m in my forth year of university studies and I was well treated throughout my studies by both my professors and colleagues. I have worked for a marketing research company and I was hired with my niqab, as well as gas marketing company.
So if the niqab is Banned in UK, sure this will have some implications that might or might not influence Canadian politicians, but believe me the Muslim community in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is one of the strongest communities in the world, at least in my opinion and we as communities of different faiths will not tolerate any discrimination against the identity and rights of collective groups. I would advise my Muslim sister to remember Allah, we wear the niqab because its an act that is pleasing to Allah, who cares if the Politian’s in the UK or elsewhere don’t like it, that’s too bad. Remember that there is no might nor power except that of Allah and no matter what they do or say we have the protection of Allah above all else.
After she wrote this, I asked the sister a number of questions:
What age exactly were you when you started wearing the niqab?I turned 17 in December 2001 and I started wearing the Niqab in February right after Eid.
What type of school were you at?
I attended public school that was extremely multicultural, 70 different nationalities with 70 different languages. This was a very diverse school in terms of class, race, and religion. Although I would say roughly about 70 % or more of the student populations were Muslims, then followed Christians of different sects, and then few Jewish students, not many.
Did you discuss it with anyone else, Muslim or otherwise, before taking the decision, or did you simply turn up for school one day in it?
I always wanted to wear the niqab because I extremely shy around men and my father was always going to the Mosque and I often I went with him. So this was one of the elements that pushed me to wear the niqab. I did consult with my best friend and we wrote a list of the benefits of the wearing niqab and the hardships that might arise from it. I did do research in terms of what the scholars said about it, whether it was mandatory or not. After I deicide that it was something that I wanted sincerely to do, then I consulted my parents. My parent’s advised me to wait until the fusses about September the 11th diminished, and then perhaps wear it. But I told them I really wanted to wear it at the moment I decided and they were fine with it.
Did anyone else do the same?
Not at the school which I attended. However, there were sisters attending other high schools that where close by that also wore it, perhaps a year later.
What did your family and sisters think at the time?
My sisters are younger than me, so they didn’t really understand why I wanted to cover my face and what significance it had. As for my brothers, parents and relatives they were very proud of me, as well encouraging and supportive.
Have any of your sisters expressed an interest in taking it up?
Yes and no! My 17 year old sister who is graduating high school this year wanted to wear it a while ago, but I think she changed her mind at the moment because she wants to pursue university education and she thinks wearing the niqab might limit her opportunities; and I understand where she is coming from. One of the things that I did not take into account before wearing the niqab was the fact that niqab is not meant to be worn outside all the time, it creates unnecessary attention. So if one wants to purse university studies or career interests I would advise them not wear the niqab.
Did anyone else take it up following your example?
I would not say I was the example for them, but I know two sisters that decided to wear the niqab at the university I was attending. Also there was a sister before me that was attending the school that was wearing the niqab. She was my example and she very much motivated me throughout studies.
Have you always worn the same type of niqab, i.e. the Saudi three-layer type you told me about, or have you experimented with others?
I like to be consistent with the niqab I wear, it’s always black and it’s the Saudi kind. However, I often wear it with different colours of hijab and dresses.
Do you wear mostly dark colours when you are out?
No; not always. I noticed people feel more comfortable around me when I wear less dark colours and very distanced when I wear dark colors.
Do you know many other women who wear niqab, and if so, what have they said to you about their motivations for wearing it?
There are a lot of sisters who wear the niqab in Ottawa and Toronto, most of them believe that it’s a mandatory act that every Muslim woman should fulfill and that is why they wear it, and few of them believe that’s it an optional act of obedience and that is why they wear it.
Have their experiences been as pleasant as yours?
I would say so or even better because most of them are married and they either wore the niqab after their studies or after they got married, therefore they are not in the public eye that much, they only go out for necessity.
What are their intentions in life; do they plan to follow professional careers or to be primarily wives and mothers?
Most of the sisters I know are very educated women, with either one or two university degrees, very educated about Islam as well. They understand the importance of motherhood and the responsibility of being a wife, so they try very hard to fulfill their duties to Allah accordingly, and they told me that they will make use of the university degrees once their children mature.
What is your own intention in this area?
I want to be independent person, meaning I want a career. I’m specializing in International Development and Globalization for a reason. I want to school for a purpose that is to obtain education that will allow me to make a difference in the world, in particular Somalia which is the country of my origin.
What would you do if it became clear that you would not get a job in your chosen area without removing it?Subhan Allah, this is a hard question. I know for sure wanting to do development work and wearing the niqab is simply not well-matched, I have learnt this from my experience. The niqab creates a barrier and if your intention is to help people, you want people to relate to you and feel comfortable around you, even if they are women. So what would I do in this situation, I honestly would weight the benefits of each element. If the development work will benefit the people, society and the Muslim community and that work cannot be done by me because I’m wearing a niqab, I would most definitely remove the niqab, because this itself is an act of worship, and that does not make one less of a Muslim.
But, I would never remove the niqab, because I want to obtain the highest job in development work and to get that job it was necessary for me to remove the niqab.
What did you mean by "a barrier between you and those who were disobedient to Allah"? Do you mean putting up a barrier to those disobedient to Allah ta'ala because you didn't want their company and they would leave you alone, or because you wanted to distinguish and disassociate yourself from them? I ask this because this distinction is one of the excuses anti-hijabists use to ban the headscarf, never mind the niqab, in places like France.
What I meant was I did not want my classmates inviting me to perform inappropriate activities, such as dating, going to dances, smoking, and slacking off school. I was a lot more respected when I did not give into the pressures of my peers. I had no intention to demean non Muslims in anyway what’s so ever, I wore the niqab to better my self and I assumed if I was dressed this way they would not invite me to perform these activities, and this tactic absolutely worked; and when they asked me why I simply told them they were inappropriate acts according to my religion.
I asked the sister to clarify why she would advise sisters not to take up the niqab if they intended to go to university if her experiences had been generally positive. Her reply shocked and disappointed me:
I would not advise sisters to wear the niqab if they wanted to purse university studies or career oriented work for the following reasons:(1) Wearing the niqab in public creates unnecessary attention and tension. My experience with the niqab has been a positive one in terms of internal growth. It is extremely difficult to bear the burden of being the only one on the bus wearing the niqab, the only one at the mall with a niqab, and the only one who can’t eat in the cafeteria. If we look back at the history of the righteous Muslim women, their interaction with the public was far less then our interaction with the pub lic today.
(2) The niqab creates a barrier between the individual and society or the public. The people you want to work for want to relate to you and feel comfortable around you, but when one has the niqab on they get intimidated or threaten by it. I know for a fact that there are sister who never approach me because they feel intimidiated by me, it’s always the person who is wearing the niqab who has to make an effort so others feel comfortable. When people smile at me, I honestly smile back and I greet them with a hello or hi since they cannot see my smile.
Although my experience with the niqab has been a positive one in general, there were days I went home and cried the whole night, there were days when I was attacked on the on the bus or downtown, there numerous days when I was insulted and there were days in the summer when I fainted because of the heat. Nonetheless, after each incident I became a stronger person. I went from being defensive all the time to a person who is more patient, calmer, and more tolerant to things. Wearing niqab is not easy; there are expectations to meet and pressures to deal with, but the expectations set by Allah are the only ones to fulfill. Wearing the niqab is constant reminder of why I was created, to worship Allah, and because of this I continue to wear the niqab day after day.
I asked the sister if she knew of women in hijab, without the niqab, experiencing the same problems as she sometimes had:
Some sisters who wear the hijab have told they have been mistreated, but to what extent I don’t know. My best friend, who is also Somali, is specializing in Biochemistry and she is always complaining about how she is treated by her peers and professors. She says she has experienced discrimination on three accounts; first she’s discriminated against because she’s Muslim as she wears the hijab, second; because she’s not white, and third because she’s a woman. These are everyday racism and systematic forms of racism, and they are very difficult to cope with or combat.
The most important lesson I take from sister Ardo's experience is that we should not be pressuring sisters in the west to wear the niqab, especially as we Muslim males often don't make much concession to Islamic dress beyond growing our beards longer than average (sometimes not even that). When I first came to Islam, I was in contact with a group of brothers in Croydon who followed Shaikh Asif Hussain Farooqui, and he insisted that all the brothers wear the shalwar-kameez or other sunnah dress with a turban, and their wives often wore niqab even though the shaikh himself did not regard this as compulsory. This is not what we find in many universities in the UK, however; we often find brothers in western clothes, while the sisters wear long dresses and hijab, and often niqab as well.
Ardo is not alone in having been attacked on account of her niqab; there has been at least one in the UK since the present controversy arose, but even in the 1990s such things were happening in the UK; Q-News printed an article about a sister who said she had been pulled off a London bus when she was with her young daughter. There are those who would say that such experiences are no excuse, and that the more sisters wear it and the longer people see it, the easier it would get. A lot of scholars of Islam would disagree; for example, Shaikh Nuh Keller said a few years ago that he did not advise sisters in the west to wear it, because while a headscarf was an easy thing for non-Muslim westerners to accept, niqab was rather less so, although he insists on it for his female students visiting Syria or Jordan and attending the suhba meetings.
More recently, he appeared to have softened his position, giving a speech (which is available at the suhba.org website, although probably not to non-members) in which he said that the wearing of niqab anywhere outside the aforementioned situations was entirely the women's choice, and that husbands should tell anyone who had a problem with it that the wife is religious; the impression being that husbands should not pressure their wives either to wear it or to remove it. He mentioned that his shaikh, Abdul-Rahman al-Shaghouri, had been furious when the Muslim Brotherhood circulated a poster of a beautiful young Syrian girl with a hijab, but no niqab, in Damascus with a slogan that "this is how a Muslima should look"; he had said that anyone who campaigns for women to unveil their faces is a shaytaan (devil).
Ardo's experience notwithstanding, I was aware that there were many sisters wearing niqab at Kingston university in south-west London when I was there in 2003 and 2004; I was briefly in contact with one of them who did not tell me she had been having any such encounters. Perhaps when there is a supportive group of Muslim sisters and a relatively open-minded academic community with a robust anti-discrimination policy, women will find the going somewhat easier. Still, while I personally approve of the niqab and support any sister who decides to wear it, I believe us brothers should not pressure any sister who is wary of it to adopt it unless they spend most of their time in places with a big Muslim presence. They have, after all, been at the front-line of Muslim visibility for the past twenty years, wearing their hijabs and long dresses while we men stick to our trousers and suits. It's unfair of us to push them even further over the parapet.
Comments
Assalamu'alaykum,
I've met this sister; we were both involved in the organization of a conference earlier this year. I've always been amazed by sisters who wear niqaab; there was another in my university who I was in class with for most of my studies. We can't really appreciate the effort and sacrifice of sisters who make this decision. I don't believe it's a religious requirement, but if others do and practice it, I think it's a wonderful thing that they have that dedication in this part of the world.
Posted by: Faraz | October 15, 2006 1:33 AM
Great work, Yusuf. An insight that is difficult for most people to get.
"Anyone who campaigns for women to unveil their faces is a shaytaan" - but is it not more likely that the MB were campaigning for Syrian sisters to cover their heads?
Posted by: Sohaib | October 15, 2006 8:00 AM
"First, I wanted to create a barrier between me and those who were disobedient to Allah and the niqab without doubt does create that barrier. "
So why do preople with this attitude approach "those who were disobedient to Allah" for assistance?
Posted by: Thersites | October 15, 2006 11:14 AM
Thersites: if you had bothered to read further down the article, you will have seen that I asked Ardo to clarify what she meant by that. You'll find it in the bit with the bold type. Have fun.
Posted by: Yusuf Smith
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October 15, 2006 12:33 PM
Isn’t there enough ugliness in the world without donning such sack-like costumes? I too live in Ottawa and consider myself a Church of England type of Muslim, or if you will a Muslim for identification purposes only, and my experience with the Niqab is that many of the sisters who wear it are usually (how to put it nicely) not Aishwarya Rai look-a-likes. Moreover, most women who wear the Niqab are severe, bossy types who endlessly hector their more liberal (and invariably better looking) sisters on the benefits of looking like a Ninja and scaring small children.
We recently had a terrorist scare here in our rapidly disintegrating Dominion, 17 Muslims were planning a terror outrage in downtown Toronto and one (A Hindu convert to Islam) was even planning to saw the head off our Prime Minister a-la Zarquawi. Practically every female relative of the suspects who showed up at the Toronto Court house dressed in the same shapeless garb as our Somali sister in Ottawa. Is it just a coincidence that Niqabis are attracted to bearded types who wear short pants and crave Jihad?
Posted by: Aziz | October 15, 2006 5:10 PM
Assalamu alaikum, I don't think it's fair to associate niqab or hijab for that matter, with terrorism or extremism! Because this association is the reasons why hijab and niqab are banned in places like France and Tunisia, and what this does is, for women who want to wear hijab and niqab, for religious reasons, and not for anything extremist, this ban denies them access to education and other public services, unless they want to remove their scarves and niqabis. And isn't this just as oppressive as forcing women to wear these kinds of clothes?
I don't know if niqabis are more prone to extremism than other Muslim women, but given that I do not know many women who wear the niqab, I really couldn't answer this question. And while I personally don't wear niqab myself, I respect women who do. However, for me, in the "Western" context, I think that more harm than good would come out of it. Wearing a head scarf is one thing, I think most people can deal with that, but wearing a niqab ontop of that, I think that would just draw more attention to me, and more wariness of some people, as I'm blind and that tends to make some people nervous in and of itself. So wearing the niqab I just think would just make things worse.
Posted by: Ginny Quick
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October 15, 2006 9:40 PM
Aziz:
How on earth would you know how attractive, or otherwise, the sisters in niqab are? Perhaps you have several ugly sisters who wear niqab, because unless they are that closely related to you, they won't lift their niqab unless it's absolutely necessary. Oh, and I'm sure they (and sister Ardo) are devastated that they don't look like a Bollywood star! By the way, I have been approached by niqabis for matrimonial purposes and seen their faces, and a lot of them are more attractive than Ms Rai.
Posted by: Yusuf Smith
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October 15, 2006 10:18 PM
assalamu alikeum
[Abdul-Aziz: my experience with the Niqab is that many of the sisters who wear it are usually (how to put it nicely) not Aishwarya Rai look-a-likes.]
I'd be right in assuming that your a brother (with a name like 'Aziz') Anyhow, that statement of yours couldnt be further from the truth. Beauty is a subjective term but as a sister, who has far greater interaction with niqabi sisters then yourself i imagine, many of the niqabi sisters i've seen are very facially blessed. Actually a number of them wore niqab for that very reason (as to get rid of unwarrented male attention)
If anything though, theres actually alot of pressure from other sisters to wear niqab. Some sisters privately complain that they feel that they are sometimes belittled (made to feel less muslim) or chastised for not wearing a niqab, by niqabi sisters. Im not saying that all niqabi sisters are like this but this has been the exprience for some. In additon, they feel that their thoughts/views on islamic matters as muslims are unvalued compared to a niqabi sis as they're deemed to be less pious, so its not always coming from brothers.
In general though, I hate this whole obsession though about what muslim women wear by muslims and non muslims alike and we've been reduced to nothing more then the clothes we wear (or should wear). You'd think they'd be more important things to discuss about in the world. I mean some imams and speakers at masjids go on and on about what muslim women should be wearing but nothing on the brothers. Come summertime, a large number of muslim brothers under 30 will be walking around in shorts, tight t-shirts, vest tops, no tops etc, but the imam says nothing on that. One sister told me how the imam at her local masjid done a khuthbah on women wearing trousers on Eid! On one of the most important times of the year, where he has half the cities attention, he mumbles about what women's clothes! What happened to talking about how to be good muslims? how to increase taqwa? or how about making du'a for our brothers and sisters suffering?
And the non muslims, some of them are just can't over the fact that some women actually like dressing modestly out of their free will and dont wish walk around in public dressed like they're going on the front of a Victoria's Secret bilboard. Get over it please! My body, my buisness. If you dont like that, then tough!
Posted by: muslim_gal | October 15, 2006 10:24 PM
"a Church of England type of Muslim." What a crock. Aziz ol' boy, sit down and shut up before you trip over your own tongue and hurt yourself.
Posted by: DrM | October 15, 2006 11:48 PM
Muslim gal: I actually visited several of the niqabi boards and websites which sprung up around 1999, and a lot of them were very forceful and unforgiving of women who wear hijab but don't wear niqab. That movement seems to have petered out since then, partly because a lot of women got sick of the internal bitchery (and I suspect that the death of Amina Hassani, who ran one of the best-known of those sites, in a car crash had something to do with its decline). Also, some of them were infiltrated by various fetishists who were encouraging women to do stupid things like wear gags. And then of course there was 9/11. Have you noticed any up-turn or down-turn of niqab uptake since then? My impression is that there are fewer of them on the streets of London now outside "our" areas.
Posted by: Yusuf Smith
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October 16, 2006 12:00 AM
Assalamu alikeum
Yusuf: Well, at 1999, i was 14 and i'll be honest, islam was not much of a priorty as whatever dud boyband i was shamefully into lol (may allah forgive me), so I have no idea who Amina Hassani was (maybe you could shed some light?) and the niqaabi movements/websites that were going on that you mention. I can only comment on though what i've noticed since 2001, especially after 9/11. Niqab before that was rare sight for me and the only women i ever knew who wore niqab were either wives of shieks (aka 'holy women'), islamic women teachers/alimahs or foriegn born women, who came to the U.K at adult age. I remember reading an article in The Indie or Guardie (cant remember which one exact) which quoted Q-News Editor Fareenha Alam about 6months ago and she said that most niqabis today were forgien born women. Now that might have been true 10 years ago, but i would say that the demographics of the niqabi wearer in U.K today has changed dramatically.
Has the niqab uptake gone up or down post 9/11? Definatly up in the U.K. You said that they're are fewer outside of the muslim areas, but you'd be suprised. i've met niqabi sisters in areas which i didnt think that muslims lived in lol. You gotta bear in mind though, the older niqabi sisters are more likely to be indoors. Most sisters who i meet now who wear the niqab are 4/5th generation girls who were either born in this country or raised here from a young age, gone through the british education system and wearing niqab not because of any husband (they're mainly unmarried)/father/male relative, but because they want to- many doing so against their parents wishes. Theres alot more younger girls wearing niqab too and its not uncommon for me to meet a 14/15 year old sister donning a jilbab+niqab+gloves outfit and the age is dropping lower. I know some sisters who a few years ago werent wearing hijab and within a year, they went full 'ninja' style (no offense sisters). With the niqab though, comes part and parcel of particular take on islamic fiqh. It isnt just about wearing niqab, theres a whole loads of issues which come hand in hand. One example, the colours of their outfits consist of black only (because they believe that they should only wear black clothing for women is either sunnah or obligotary. The prophet s.a.w stated in bukhari hadith that women could wear pretty much any colour they wanted, whilst men were prohibitied red. Another example, many of the sisters view their voice as awrah and so some of them dont reply salams to other sisters in public when greeted(which alot of sisters complain about in private)
Theres proabably a several main factors which have contribitied to this. 9/11 was one. It resurged some form of social and political islamic idenity into people, who before might have not been too bothered before. Also, the digital fatwa age we're living in now contributes too. Much of the influence of this has come from the e-scholars of the east and the accesiability for young people to get islamic rulings from the net (namely islam q&a, which is pretty rigid in some parts of its islamic thought). I dont want to turn this into a Saudi bashing topic, but many of them have started to adopt the strigent Saudi ways and try to apply that into British life, which doesnt work in a society like this, unless you wish to live in compleate isolation- which is how it would be for a woman. I wont bore you with examples, because im sure you know what i mean.
And the 'internal bitchery' as you called it, is around in masjids or sisters groups. The sisterhood aint always how its cracked up to be. There is an unwritten hireachy in some masjids or groups. Anyhow, I want to make clear though, i havent got anything against niqabi sisters who wish to cover their faces. I wear my hijab, some sisters wear niqab, thats fine. My issue is when other sisters who dont nesscarly share standpoints on certain issues like niqab with some sisters are told (in often a conisending and patronising fashion) to toe in line as well.
Posted by: muslim_gal | October 16, 2006 2:46 AM
"if you had bothered to read further down the article, you will have seen that I asked Ardo to clarify what she meant by that. You'll find it in the bit with the bold type. Have fun." She doesn't clarify it however. She wants both to "create a barrier between me and those who were disobedient to Allah" and to remove it when it's convenient and seems annoyed she can't. The same applies to her complaint that "Wearing the niqab in public creates unnecessary attention and tension". Of course it does- it's like going round with an enormous placard saying "Don't Look at Me" in fluourescent paint.
Posted by: Thersites | October 16, 2006 3:43 PM
Bro Aziz, I really disagree with what you have to say. Actually, I found it somewhat shocking.
My mother wears niqaab, as do many of our friends. They are all beautiful women, masha'Allah, they are extremely kind and gentle women, not 'bossy' in the least, and do not treat non-niqaabis as inferior in Deen or whatever.
For you to equate the niqaab with terrorism is something I'd expect to hear from a non-Muslim, not a Muslim - and the same with the comment about 'sack-like' clothing.
But perhaps I should chalk that up to your being "a Muslim for identification purposes only" (which I personally think is ridiculous, because either you're a Muslim, or you aren't. You can't be a sort-of-but-not-really Muslim).
As for the niqaab causing tension and making things difficult - there is some truth to that claim, but I think it's not so much about the niqaab as the attitude of the sisters who wear it. As I said above, my mum wears niqaab, but because of her attitude, people are rarely ever uncomfortable around her. When they speak to her, she immediately puts them at ease. Not that she's overly friendly or anything (that'd sort of ruin the whole point of niqaab), but it's the way you talk to and act around people. If you're curt and abrupt, or just silent, they'll most likely develop a negative impression of niqab and niqaabis; if you're polite and amiable, they'll realize that niqaabis are not oppressed or voiceless, and are actually real people.
Anyway, yeah. It's all about the attitude.
May Allah forgive us all and guide us and keep us upon as-Siraatul-Mustaqeem, ameen!
Posted by: AnonyMouse | October 16, 2006 9:03 PM
Assalaamu alaikum,
I really admire this young woman; she must have a lot of strength - masha'allah - to deal with the kinds of reactions she sometimes gets.
Posted by: Ann | October 17, 2006 4:16 AM
Assalaamu 'alaikum
Brother, I refer to your comment: "When I first came to Islam, I was in contact with a group of brothers in Croydon who followed Shaikh Asif Hussain Farooqui, and he insisted that all the brothers wear the shalwar-kameez or other sunnah dress with a turban, and their wives often wore niqab even though the shaikh himself did not regard this as compulsory. This is not what we find in many universities in the UK, however; we often find brothers in western clothes, while the sisters wear long dresses and hijab, and often niqab as well."
On what basis do you say that the Shaykh does not view the niqaab to be compulsory?
I would appreciate if you did not post the comment and just replied via email.
JazakAllahu khairan.
Wassalaamu 'alaikum
Posted by: Nisa | October 17, 2006 10:12 PM
If I may share another perspective as to why someone like Jack Straw (who indeed is not the person anyone is here on the planet to please) might feel called upon to address the subject of the scarving of females in British society: There is another reason why this is a problem. It has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims. It has nothing to do with conforming, or fashion. It has nothing to do with freedom of expression. It has nothing to do with the individual wishing to live separately from the prevailing customs in observation of their religious beliefs - for example, the Amish in America are deeply respected, though they deliberately reject dress norms, electricity, telephones, conveniences. Here's what the problem REALLY is:
It is deeply offensive to the most fundamental feeling of people in free societies to see other people openly oppressed. Though we know it happens in various ways to many people in many places, including our own, when that happens it saddens us. To see degradation of another human being worn publicly and held up as a virtue of some sort is simply sickening to us.
It may be a cultural norm elsewhere to mutilate the genitals of little girls, and considered a virtue; that is not the case here. The custom must be observed elsewhere, not in this society. It may be a cultural virtue to sell off daughters in marriage to strangers, but that is not the case here, and it becomes something that people must do in private -not on the street. It may be a cultural norm for men to have four wives but women to have a single husband - but polygamy is unlawful here, and disgusting to the majority of citizens. People may freely engage in this sort of arrangement elsewhere. It may be perfectly acceptable to beat one's wife (wives) or kill one's daughters ("Honor" killing, I believe the term is) but here these things are crimes - assault and murder. They may not be practised, accepted and applauded here.
Imagine if you will some reversal of experience regarding the scarving of females: what if it was the custom for men to wear clothing that exposed the testicles, that women's clothing bare the breasts? Would we not all find this appalling? If you were forced to see it on the streets or in public transportation or to know your children were exposed to it in schoolrooms from their teachers, would you not, finally, no matter how much you wish to be sympathetic and tolerant, say something?
The degradation of women is an obscenity to us. To deliberately throw it in the faces of one's neighbors does more than separate - it's offensive. If you are in our countries, you are free to act as you wish in your homes - something that is not the case, I believe, in many of the countries that promote the subjugation of women as a virtue. If people are going to emigrate to free societies, they must understand that they are guests and conduct themselves accordingly, at least in shared public life. Or, live elsewhere. I cannot help but wonder what it is that attracts immigrants to places for which they have such contempt. Please, be happy, perhaps somewhere else.
Jack Straw finally said something. It's worth listening to. If it is unacceptable, perhaps it would be better, and you would be happier, occupying some country whose customs towards females are more in keeping with your comfort zone.
Posted by: Maggie | October 19, 2006 4:32 AM
Maggie, I'm sorry, but you're very misinformed. I realize that you believe that you need to explain British (or Western) culture to us, but in fact many - if not most of us - who read this blog are Western. Many of us are from non-Muslim, Western families and chose to become Muslims.
(As for myself, I was a mid-30s, feminist, liberal, career-woman type when I came to Kuwait on a computer contract with all the same kinds of stereotypes that you have. Gradually, I realized that those stereotypes were all wrong - especially the ones about Muslim women - and became curious about Islam. I do choose to live in a Muslim country, which I do find more comfortable.)
Anyway, I don't know if it's worth the effort to address each of your tired stereotypes, but...
I do understand that the niqab is strange for a lot of people, and that it might make them uncomfortable. It's not a bad thing that there's a discussion about it, and that women who wear it are allowed to speak for themselves. But I suspect that no matter what we say, you "know" that it's a sign of oppression, and you're not going to let the reality change your opinions.
It's too bad you can't be with me when I'm sitting with so many intelligent, educated, confident, wonderful women who wear niqab. It's too bad you have such contempt for them.
Its deeply offensive to me to see people degraded or oppressed, too. And it's clearly prohibited in Islam.
It's deeply offensive to me, and prohibited in Islam, to sell off daughters in marriage to strangers (although it might happen in some cultures, including non-Muslim ones). Beating one's wife and murder are also called "assault" and "murder" where I live, and they are not acceptable. (And are you going to tell us that there's no domestic violence in the UK among non-Muslims? Among native-born Britons? )
Polygamy is allowed; it's not the norm. This means that if a man wants to have a relationship with another woman, he has to legalize it and give her and their children their rights. I know that the UK has very high rates of children born outside of marriage, but Islam (and Christianity, of course) tells us that sexual relationships are allowed inside marriage only. You're not going to tell us that men in the UK don't have mistresses, are you? Those mistresses have no rights, and some of them become bitter and cause a lot of problems, as we know from all the scandals with politicians. (I assume you're not French, but I might just point out that in France, it is the norm - at least for politicians - to have all kinds of extramarital affairs. It's expected and accepted. In the case of their president Miterrand, he had a long-term relationship and a daughter with another woman, and she and his wife both stood at the casket at his funeral. What is that if not polygamy?)
"what if it was the custom for... men to wear clothing that exposed the testicles, that women's clothing bare the breasts? Would we not all find this appalling?"
Well I would find it appalling. But it's considered acceptable in much of Europe for women to go topless at the beach, and the Dutch government is forcing prospective immigrants to see a film which shows a topless woman walking out of the water, among other things. It's used an example of the "Dutch values" that immigrants are required to accept.
"If you were forced to see it on the streets or in public transportation or to know your children were exposed to it in schoolrooms from their teachers, would you not, finally, no matter how much you wish to be sympathetic and tolerant, say something?"
Do you live in the UK? Have you missed all the billboards and ads which have nearly naked women on them? Don't they still have the "Page 3 girl" or whatever she's called, in the newspaper? Don't they still use half-naked women to sell everything from beer to cars? Aren't children exposed to this all the time?
You equate the niqab (and maybe the hijab, too?) with degradation and oppression? But on what basis? I was pleasantly surprised that I felt very liberated when I started wearing Islamic dress, which is comfortable and modest.
"If people are going to emigrate to free societies, they must understand that they are guests and conduct themselves accordingly, at least in shared public life."
So in other words, if someone wants to come to your "free" country, they have to understand that they can't be free there?
But what about the women who aren't immigrants - who are citizens and have as much right as you to be there? And why do you assume that a woman's wearing of niqab equates to contempt for you?
And how did Jack Straw get elevated to such a position that if someone disagrees with him, she should have to leave the country?
Posted by: Ann | October 19, 2006 1:12 PM
This the correct view according to consisement of the Ummah of Rasoolullah {saw} & Shaykh Asif Hussain Farooqui is one who shows the moderate path.
Posted by: Adeel | October 25, 2006 8:40 PM
Wearing a head scarf is one thing, I think most people can deal with that, but wearing a niqab ontop of that, I think that would just draw more attention to me, and more wariness of some people, as I'm blind and that tends to make some people nervous in and of itself. So wearing the niqab I just think would just make things worse.
I'm sorry to hear that you are blind. I have a blind friend who is also a Muslim. She says that she feels at a disadvantage not being able to see people's expression. She wears a headscarf but not the niqab, which makes sense.
Actually, for me this isn't about oppression or terrorism - it's about the inconsistency. If women - and men, though as has been pointed out, you never hear about men - must dress modestly, then surely that means not drawing attention to yourself. Well, a woman in a niqab does draw attention to herself, so how can that be modest?
Posted by: Old Pickler | October 25, 2006 9:30 PM
Oh, so now the argument against niqab is "inconsistency"!
Even if you were right about that argument, Old Pickler, how would it be bothering you if a woman was being "inconsistent" in that way?
"Well, a woman in a niqab does draw attention to herself, so how can that be modest?"
Even a hijab or long clothes might draw attention to her. But if she's wearing a niqab, then even if people look at her, they can't see anything.
Posted by: Ann | October 26, 2006 8:06 AM
It bothers me because the inconsistency smacks of hypocrisy. The motive is political not religious.
Posted by: Old Pickler | October 27, 2006 9:08 PM
Assalamualaikum, I admire sister ardo's strength and conviction with which she deals with everyday life wearing the niqab but i have to say i differ with her in some ways. Her advice to other sisters who are considering wearing the niqab while wanting to pursue a career isn't the best one. While i understand opportunities for a woman wearing niqab are limited at best, her priority isn't working outside. SubhanAllah Allah has made such provisions where he's placed woman in the comfort of her home and from there she is responsible for her ummah. Think about it her domain is her family and most mothers will tell you rearing children in the world and society today is no joke. Especially islamically. Ardo wants to make a difference in the world like many other woman, but what she seems not to understand is she can make a difference from her home and yet remain like the pious woman of days past. Think about it, you have luminaries like Imam bukhari whose mother toiled after him who attained one of the highest positions in the world and in the here after. Additionally while she may not belive it is wajib for a woman to veil she cannot deny the fact that it strengthens her iman. Also i do not see how denying a command of Allah so that you can benefit a peoples also for the cause of Allah but which is not mandatory, how that is beneficial. Wearing the niqab is not hard. I wear it and i go to a state university. There are about three niqabi's where i attend. I commute about three hours everyday by public transportation, both the subway and the bus. Those people who make comments i glare down, and at times ask up front what the reason for their obvious hate crime is. And i ask it loud enough for people around to hear so that they understand that 1) i have a mouth and a mind and 2) i am a person and their profiling will put them in a negative light. Most times people are amazing about the niqab. Once, this old white gentleman standing beside me in a store line looked at me and said that kid that just entered is weird ( that kid had multiple piercings and a huge mohawk.) imagine my surprise. The world has to get used to us. The fact that i do niqab gets attention to be yes but not sexually charged attention. If anything it causes a person to restrain themselves, both the person wearing it and those people who don't. i guess i am done ranting. I don't know if it made any sense.
Posted by: R.Hussain | November 11, 2006 12:25 AM
i dnt hu da guy is dat said sheikh asif hussain farroqi dsnt think niqaab is nessacery coz alot of his speaches do tell us dat it is compulsory especially nowadays plus if any of u heard his dua on the 27th night wud clearly agree with the fact that he thinks its a definate
Posted by: yahya patel | December 8, 2006 9:27 PM
however, for the haj women in ihram should have face and hands uncovered.... for praying also hands and face may be uncovered. many (direct) hadith record that women's faces were seen in the presence of the Prophet and he did not ask them to cover it. ulama consensus is that niqab is not mandatory. look it up, it's pretty easy to look up. at most, exemplary. not mandatory. i never met a niqabi sister with whom you can actually talk - they're nearly always in the company of a male family member and hardly say anything and always look down on the floor. not conducive to convincing people you're not oppressed or brainwashed. and when there was one who was on her own at her job as a librarian, she was really grouchy and harsh to everyone. plus, weird pseudo-muslim sects that deify teachers claiming to be prophets and having magical powers always have wives and female family members that are niqabi. or rather, men who follow these deviant sects and/or extremist interpretations like it's ok to kill women who hold hands with a man, always make their women wear niqab. by comparison, the hijab is very much less used as a means of control. i'm not saying that all niqabi are like this, but it seems a high proportion seem to be susceptible to all sorts of strange things. it's just weird and must make some kind of interesting psychological study. hijab-wearing women, on the other hand, are just like other people. exception that i've seen is niqabi tourists from the mid-east. they seem much more confident in their walk and interaction with their family etc. still, i feel quite sorry for them when their whole family eats at a restaurant and they're the only ones who can't. surely they must be hungry too after walking all day at the mall.
Posted by: Kira | February 8, 2007 1:22 PM