Today I read that people actually feel sorry for those of us that choose to wear the Hijaab. Let me enlighten you to the reasons why I wear the Hijaab in rain, sun, snow. Hot or cold weather. I wrote this article a few years ago. When I wrote this article it made me also reflect on my own life and made me renew my intentions for wearing the hijaab correctly.
Hijaab – A women’s security blanket
The past few weeks there has been controversy in the local chronicle whether a muslim girl should be allowed to wear her hijaab(dress modestly) at school. Mainly opposing the idea. When you read something opposing your belief, never react harshly, trying to prove a point. Explain to the people in a good way what you stand for. Here is Nanima’s response to the whole situation – I am a muslim woman. I write this letter from peace and to inform your readers why Islam is so beautiful and practical. Muslim woman do not wear hijaab(headscarf and modest clothing) for men but for themselves. It is their choice to wear hijaab to follow what God has instructed them to do, not their husbands, fathers or anyone else but God. My favourite story about modest dress was: One day a school girl asked a religious leader . Why are muslim women oppressed and wear a head scarf and dress like that and why do men have beards and wear robes? His answer was: “the same reason the mother of Jesus, Mary wears the head scarf in all your portraits and the same reason Jesus has a beard, for the love of God.” Why has God instructed women to dress modestly? At the time when Islam started women were treated the worst buried alive, etc. Islam came and liberated women. Many examples to numerous to mention here. A woman wears hijaab the same reason you lock away all your valuables in a safe. If you had the most precious stone in the world wouldn’t you want to hide it from everyone and wrap it up safely. Hijaab is a women’s security blanket. With her modest dress she feels safe to walk the streets without even being noticed and maybe even being respected for it. In these times where women are being sexually abused left, right and centre the hijaab is one of the best safety mechanisms she has, almost a shield of protection. With the hijaab all women are the same equal to each other and in retrospect equal to man. Fat, thin, tall, short. Woman are talking to each other, the person, not getting distracted by their assets or liabilities. The same goes with man communicating with woman. With the hijaab you are talking to HER not her looks. God is the most wise and knows best. I admire the father who is inculcating such beliefs in his children at such a young age. Religious freedom is a democratic right and one of the reasons I love South Africa and wouldn’t choose to live in France wear the headscarf is banned. My only regret is I didn’t ask permission to wear hijaab when I was the first muslim girl to attend my model c school in the eastern Transvaal way back then. Article published in Sisterhood, The Criterion and Sandton Chronicle
Response to the recent debate regarding wearing hijaab in the summer heat I say, in winter, the hijaab keeps me warm. In summer the hijaab protects me from the heat of the sun and keeps me cool. I don’t have to spend hours and hours getting ready in the morning when I leave the house, I save time. I save lots of money on trying to keep up with the latest fashion. I never have to worry about having a bad hair day. I personally feel more sympathy for those that are exposed. Not only do they have a risk of being sunburnt in summer, they have a risk of getting terrible frost bite in winter. God protect all our woman, but unfortunately the ladies that do not dress modestly are more vulnerable to being attacked by predators.
In conclusion, I personally wear the hijaab
1. God has instructed me to do so. I do it for the love of God.
2. I want to be identified as a muslim and when another muslim person see’s me I want to be greeted appropriately with the Islamic greeting.
3. I was fed up of deciding what hair style to wear in the mornings when I went to work.
4. I was even more tired to decide what to wear in the morning and trying to keep up with the latest fashion trends.
5. I feel a little bit more safe and secure
6. I feel liberated and free to be myself
7. Not only do I respect myself, I feel others respect me as well when I wear the hijaab.
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Anger Management tip: when you feeling angry, especially if someone said something about you or someone you love. Stop, breathe, reflect upon the Prophet’s supplication in Taif. This is the dua he recited with shoes full of blood, wounds all over his body and after having been insulted, ridiculed and abused by the people of Taif. Read this dua first before you do anything.
“O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favor is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”
http://nuradeen.com/archives/CurrentIssues/PrayerOfTaif.htm
seems like every week someone or someone is trying to boil our blood and get a reaction from us. people when responding to such things be calm and remember you need to show them the truth..
Hi,
I’m not a Muslim and don’t wear hijab, but have been researching hijab recently. I’m troubled by the amount of stuff on the internet about hijab: it’s like it’s the sixth pillar of Islam. There also seems to be this assumption about hijab in some places on the web that if you’re not wearing hijab, then you’re dressing like a prostitute.
Honestly, I dress fairly conservatively (plain loose jeans and loose shirts), and my main criteria when picking out my clothes for the day are “sensible” and “practical.” Admittedly, I’m a college student at a school full of nerds, so I don’t spend much time on my appearance. Quite frankly, I dress pretty similarly to my mother (who is in her sixties). It takes me about ten minutes to get dressed and to fix my hair in the morning. My clothing expenditures are fairly minimal. My hairstyle is very simple, so all I need to do is quickly brush my hair in the morning, and shower every few days.
It is possible to dress sensibly without being a sex symbol. I may not dress like the Madonna (don’t wear skirts too often), but that doesn’t make me a whore either. Most women don’t cover everything but their hands and face is loose clothing, and most women don’t wear little but what’s covered by a bikini. Most of them wear something in between. I’m one of them.
If men are turned on because they can see my hair or my forearms, then that’s their problem and they need to exercise more self-control. If they don’t want to exercise that self-control, if they want to blame me for wearing clothing that’s comfortable and fairly modest by American standards, that that’s why I took a physical defense class for women a few years ago. It is not my responsibility to cover everything but my face in 90 degree weather because they want to blame me for their lack of self-control. Sexual abuse happens because men don’t respect women, because they see them as convenient vaginas without the same personhood and rights that men have. If I have children, I will not tell my daughters that they must dress like nuns. I will tell my sons to respect women, to not rape women, and then I will send my daughters to anti-rape self-defense classes and talk to them about healthy relationships.
Thankfully, I’ve never had to use that class that I took. I don’t get catcalls. The men around me don’t seem that distracted by my forearms, or my hair, or my kneecaps. They’re used to see people’s forearms, so they’re pretty desensitized to them. Were I in a more conservative country, I would probably dress more conservatively.
You say that you “personally feel more sympathy for those that are exposed. Not only do they have a risk of being sunburnt in summer, they have a risk of getting terrible frost bite in winter.” I am sorry for you, if you live in a place where people aren’t smart enough to dress for winter weather. I’m a very practical person and I don’t care much what other people think of my clothes or my body. Most people, I’ve recognized, are a little more fixated on their appearance. Yet wandering around the city in the winter, I see women wearing pants and coats. They’re not baring their flesh, because they’re more interested in staying warm than in impressing people. During the summer, they usually put on sunscreen and wide-brimmed hats. Depending on how vain they are, they might also tend to stay in the shade to avoid a tan.
thank you for your response. The whole point of hijaab is to dress modestly. I was discussing with someone by no means can we blame a woman for a man’s lack of self control. unfortunately in this world there are real predators out there. Why is it that we take so much care to protect our properties from thieves. At least here where I stay where crime is high. We will pay insurance, we will put state of the art security. We are so cautious when it comes to the material things. why not take the same precautions when dressing. If you leave your car wide open and it get’s stolen, what will you think. I should have been more cautious. I should have locked my car, i should have parked it in a safer area etc.. the way we dress is cautious. No one is asking you to cover your hair. My God in infinite wisdom has asked us to cover our hair and for the love of Him, we listen, we obey. about the frost bite, i was being sarcastic, obviously no sane woman would dress half naked in 0 degree temperatures..