Salam,
Can everyone please stop using the term 'hojabi' or 'hoejabi'- it's really really getting on my nerves. Is there ever an appropriate situation to refer to your sister in Islam as a 'hoe'? Even if she behaves and dresses in an inappropriate way- is using derogatory names the Islamically correct way of dealing with the problem? On top of that, take a moment to think of the word 'hijab'. It's the general term people resort to when referring to sisters who cover (at least cover their heads but also people who wear jilbab and niqab are often referred to with the same terminology).
This post is not concerning how non Muslims perceive hijab or covering but more specifically aimed at Muslims. Knowing full well that within the Ummah, the term 'hijab' is a term of respect for those sisters who adhere to the Islamic rules of covering- is there any justification in the deen at all for coupling the term 'hoe' with it?
Some of you may respond with anecdotes; "Oh so and so's daughter covers her head but still wears skin tight jeans and goes clubbing", "Oh that guy's sister covers her head when she leaves the house but then sneaks off secretly with her boyfriend". Yes I know this stuff goes on, but that's not really my point. My point is regarding why an Islamic term of respect for women is manipulated into something so disgusting?
As for the stories of women who cover their heads and get up to bad things... well first of all, those who cover their heads but continue to wear skin tight or revealing clothes- that doesn't really count as 'hijab' anyway as hijab really is a lot more than just a headcovering. Secondly, even if a girl does cover properly and gets up to haraam like sneaking off with a boyfriend etc- why are you blaming her clothes for that? Shouldn't you be taking issue with her unislamic behaviour rather than her Islamic clothing? The sin she commits is in doing the haraam act, the clothes she wears are not responsible for her sin. Aside from which, if your best response is "you can't respect the headscarf so you shouldn't wear it"... in that case, you are advising her to commit more sins! If she's committing one sin by (for example) having a boyfriend she's committing two sins by resorting to dress in an unIslamic way as well! Would you like to face Allah (swt) on the day of judgement with the knowledge that you assisted a Muslimah in committing more haraam than she was already involved in?
And finally; why is it that whenever people discuss inappropriate behaviour by Muslimahs- they always pick on the hijabis? Aren't uncovered Muslim women bound by the same rules of Islam as the rest of us? Aren't they required to practise any faraid themselves? What makes you think they're absolved of responsibility? The headcovering is a fard (duty/obligation according to the rules of Islam) for all Muslim women (yes I know there are other rules such as avoiding tabaruj, wearing loose clothing, covering all the awrah etc etc that's a whole other discussion)- it is not our place to discourage other Muslim women from fulfilling a fard, even if they are committing haraam or neglecting other fards.
One consequence of putting all the focus on hijabis, is that i've seen many times when non hijabi Muslimahs sincerely take an interest in the deen and in hijab- but they feel scared, intimidated and put off (by other Muslims). They say things like "I'm not Islamically ready yet"- as if there needs to be some certification of religious knowledge and purity before a person can just get on with fulfilling a fard that should've begun since they became women anyway. In ramadan, pretty much everyone fasts with no questions asked (even a lot of non practising Muslims)- no one asks them "Are you Islamically ready yet?", everyone just gets on with it. Why isn't the same said about covering the head? They feel that they're held up to a higher standard and more rigorous scrutiny if they cover and don't know if they can handle that level of pressure. I think all Muslimahs (and Muslim brothers when it comes to other Islamic issues) need to be held accountable and placed under scrutiny- not just save all the attention for the ones who wear religious attire.
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