Unveiling the Myth of the Muslim Woman

I`m not a ``sir`` dear angry girl. And I`m far from being a ``mullah``. With your interpretation, you`ve completely taken the word out. Tell me what the word ``khimar`` means to you? I`m not telling you to wear the hijab. I have not put it on for my own reasons, but that doesn` t mean I`m going to deny or reinterpret what the Quran says.

I said you were wrong about stating that ``daily living has nothing to do with religion``. Which is completely false. How can you say Islam doesn`t govern every aspect of a followers life?

#43 Bina_Shah
You see, how these Mullahs or so, called theologians change the whole Quran through mis interpretations. This is the tragedy with Islam and progressive muslims(the real muslims) , that their religion has had been BLUNTED and hijacked by these MULLAHS, who convolute whole theme (essence ) of Islam based on their own regressive ideology, which focus on nothing ,but, to enslave women just to serve their selfish motives.

#40

``but basically, the word is ``khimar`` and that means headcovering.
The Qur’anic verse, “Say to believing women, that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them drape their headcoverings over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment . . .” (Qur’an 24:31) is a specific requirement for Muslim women to cover their hair. ``

Actually, this verse is intepreted by some Muslim theologians (male and female) to mean that women were specifically directed to cover their breasts, which were often left bare in the days of pre-Islamic Arabia. However, they did cover their hair, so the verse was revealed so that they would just take that same bit of cloth and cover their breasts with it. ``Adornment`` in this case given that it follows the word ``private parts`` is taken to mean the bosom, as opposed to the entire body.

The instances where the word ``hijab`` is used in the Quran are used for men and women and used in the spiritual sense, i.e. a curtain covering various things (none of which is specified as women`s hair in the Quran).

Hope this helps.

#40 morning dew
You see, i was just waiting for a reply from a mullah like you. Very typical outdated ideology. that i have been hearing.
I don`t seem to be angry, sir. It is you who seem to be very angry and bluntly telling me, I am WRONG. Based on what , that I challenged your out dated ideology???
That I stepped on your tail? That I touched the oversensitive mullah`s nerve?

Now, I will say, sir, you`re not right in saying that veil is must for muslim women and it is written in Quran. You`re MIS INTERPRETING Quran in your own way. Well, the actual verse is, like this,``“Say to believing men and women, that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward.``
There is not even a single verse that says veil or hijab. Thanks

talking of veils - here is a Ghzal by Aurangzeb`s daughter Zaibunniss translted by some one from Persian:

`` I will not lift my veil

For if I did, who knows?
The bulbul might forget the rose,
The Brahman worshipper
Adoring Lakshmi`s face
Might turn, forsaking her,
To see my face;
My beauty might prevail.

Think how within the flower
Hidden as in a bower
Her fragrant soul must be,
And none can look on it;
So me the world can see
Only within the verses I have writ

I will not lift the veil.

No Muslim I,
But an idolater,
I bow before the image of my Love,
And worship Her.

No Brahman I,
My sacred thread
I cast away, for round my neck I wear
Her plaited hair instead.

``Men see it not, so dull they are and blind.`` (indeed! indeed!)

RE: #4 Zeena
``All this wearing veil or not and doing this or that in your daily living has absolutely nothing to do with religion. ``

You are wrong here. Islam governs every aspect of your life. It is not separate, or only practised 5 times a day, or only on fridays...there are rules to show you the way for everything. Social, economical, the family life, etc.

Also, you stated that ``Veil has got nothing to do with Islam or with being Muslims. If, they refer to Quran. Then, there is not even one surrah or verse that uses this word veil.``

Now that is absurd. Are you fluent in arabic? See http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=3&ID=4834&CATE=368 for a concise answer.

but basically, the word is ``khimar`` and that means headcovering.
The Qur’anic verse, “Say to believing women, that they cast down their eyes and guard their private parts, and reveal not their adornment save such as is outward; and let them drape their headcoverings over their bosoms, and not reveal their adornment . . .” (Qur’an 24:31) is a specific requirement for Muslim women to cover their hair.

You seem to have a lot of anger in you, and feel that women wearing it are trying to look more pious than one who does not. Why should it bother you? Your relationship with God is your own, why do you have to judge someone else`s motives for wearing it?

I think the most spectacular discoveries of this century, so far, have been the bird flu virus and Muslim women. Both of them probably are equally fatal for western civilization.

#30 Malik
[There are Indian women who wear saree that makes their walk appear laborious and their hands busy in keeping that saree on their bodies. ]

What an impressive observation! Even the westerners are dying to get their hands on the heavy jamavar and light silk to emulate that ``strange`` gait. Wait for another 10 years and you will find all blacks and whites in glamorous garbs.

#27
Howdy!

Anniqua:

Charming!

[Scheherazade, according to Mernissi, has to master three skills: control over a vast intellectual knowledge, the ability to understand a criminal’s mind and the resolve to act in cold blood. She has to control her fears, to be able to control her fate using her intellect. If she had acted like a Hollywood vamp, she would have been beheaded the same night. Mernissi further argues that this presentation of a sensual woman is probably based on the idea that an intellectual woman might seem less feminine to a Western man, and she bases this claim on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.]

This is good stuff :)

[Laborious learning, even if a woman should succeed in it, destroys the merits that are proper to her sex…and weaken the charms with which she exercises her great power over the other sex. ]

This is beautiful and quite true in many cases :)

[Women worldwide face discrimination in the workplace by being paid less than men; they face a glass ceiling in the corporate world; they are kept out of politics; they are abused and raped more often than men regardless of their race, religion or culture. ]

Please stay away from generalizations.

Last but not least, `Minaret` by Leila Aboulela has a cover with deep and seductive eyes with a thin rust veil vs. an awkward colored burqah. See, the media ain`t that bad after all.

[Some believe it is to honor themselves in the presence of men, while others believe it is to honor the men around them. ]

Chowk has quite a few gems who will love this.

Again, i have observed and interviewed hundreds of women who wear veil or hijab. I asked them, why they choose to wear this piece of cloth?
Almost all of them replied, b/c , we are muslims and b/c our men do not allow us with out hijab.

Then, I asked them, what if, they are given a fair chance NOT to wear hijab or veil? What will they choose.

Majority of them, told me, they WON`T. It is a symbol of patriarchy in Eastern culture .

I asked why would they NOT choose to?
Their reply was, b/c then they won`t have to be scared from their males.

by Salim,``Forcing them behind burkas, hijabs, and veils, just handicaps them``...

how so?

Yes, it does handicap them, b/c it is the symbol of female suppression, oppression and regression. Yes, it does handicap their real personas to grow their full bloom characteristics. If, some women wear wear veil or hijab , not, using Islam , just out of her own freedom of choice, I will not disagree with her. Let her choose, do not FORCE. In Islam, men force them to wear this piece of cloth just to make them feel mentaly controlled by males, which is a clear handicap to have full opportunity to grow.

Look at Salim`s sentence, he wrote(FORCING). That is the whole point.

And, not only that, take my example, suppose I wear hijab, and I am a runner. Tell me with all honesty. Can I run in burqa? No, absolutely NOT. This is just a small example of some old discarded Islamic regressed ideology, which we need to update for women progression. It is NOT the piece of burqa, it is , SYMBOL of slavery, if, is implemented by so, called mullahs.
Yes, again, if, you choose with all your freedom of choice to wear this piece of cloth with out labelling it as an IDENTITY for muslim women. I don`t have any objection or problem with that. Go, wear hijab, if, you wish to, but, do not claim that this has got anything to do with being great, pious muslima or not.

#33 Salim
EXACTLY.

malik99 #30 {``Women in Iran have conquered Mt. Everest in hijab, literally. They would much rather have the opportunities of education, health care, child care, and jobs than whether or not to wear an additional piece of cloth on their heads.``}

Malik Sahib,
Exactly. So why put the requirement for an additional burden, expense, time, and effort of putting a stupid little piece of cloth over their heads? Now, if they want to wear one as a fashion statement, like a scarf around the neck, or a sweater for cold weather, I don`t have a problem with that. But, to prove piety or to enforce morality by requiring hijab, burkas, veils, or segregation, in my opinion, is immoral, extravagant, expensive, illogical, condescending, assinine, and very pitiful.

And, this has got nothing to do with American insurgence . Yes, they did use it as an excuse, but, again it is a fact that muslims are stuck with this recessed ideology which is a big obstacle in their way.

#30 malik99
Yes, you`re right. But, what we`re emphasising here is, muslim males should stop suppressing their female counterparts , if, they wish to progress. This is the whole point.

Women`s hijab is an artificial / superficial issue, raised to the premimum level because of the expediency of our times. The US wanted to attack Afghanistan, Iraq and target other muslim countries. One way to prep american population into buying these wars was to cloak these issues in the garb of ``women`s liberation``. You no longer hear about burka clad afghan women anymore like you used to before American occupation. It is not because Afghan women have shed burka, it is because it no longer has the propganda value for american government.

People should really reflect on whether the fact that a woman covers her head, or not covers her head, is indeed the primary issue facing the women of our region. There are tribes in Africa where women walk bare breasted. There are Indian women who wear saree that makes their walk appear laborious and their hands busy in keeping that saree on their bodies. These are all cultural aspects and have little value in terms of real issues.

Women in Iran have conquered Mt. Everest in hijab, literally. They would much rather have the opportunities of education, health care, child care, and jobs than whether or not to wear an additional piece of cloth on their heads.