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The Hijab, Uncovered

THe Hijab, Uncovered

One playful morning without much hesitancy
She let fly, unwrapped, unveiled, clothed modesty
What harm it be, to let the world see, how beautifully
The sun makes her hair gleam?
But so her sign came to be;
The sky opened up to cries, thunderous screams.
Let pour to rains and grey shadows unseen,
Casting their disapproval.
She realised the sin of her deed
As if she’d given God a plural
Or a sign she could take from this.
Hijaban empress delicate, let the gentleman miss-
His exposed wills, chains on your wrists
‘Tis only to Allah you submit.
So she guarded her beauty in thankfulness
For what Allah can give He can surely take
Like the beauty from the face
Of the female running through red-lights of disgrace.
You are not of those, your beauty takes to prose
As the purest glow, of noor – yes a light!
What other kind of splendour does He recognise?
There is no other one in sight.

The ‘Hijab’ today is thought to be the head-covering worn by Muslim women. From its actual definition it means ‘to curtain, to veil, to shelter’, and so to observe hijab one must behave accordingly, as well as dressing in the appropriate manner. In doing so, this lends to the wider characteristics a believing woman should uphold such as modesty, dignity and self-honour.

In its concept and purity, it has found the heart of so many women all over the world. This is a sign of the growing spread of the truth, as more and more women – whether they were previously Muslim or not – begin to observe a code of being that did not begin from 610 AD when the Prophet Muhammad (Salallahu Alaiyhi Wasalaam) received the final revelations and spread the last message to mankind. In fact, to really understand hijab, what needs to be known first is that Islam in itself was never a message that came as something completely new to the world. Its message is a continuation, and more accurately, a completion of the previous revelations delivered to the people by each Prophet and Messenger brought to them. Islam has been with us since the beginning for everything submits to the one Creator.

By knowing of this continuation of the truth since the creation of man, and by researching it further, one would find evidence of women observing hijab from the very beginning. It has always been within Christianity and Judaism. The hijab is something that women observed to an extent even in olden-day Britain.

Have we forgotten the codes of behaviour and etiquette in the days before? The modest dress women were expected to wear in the West? I’m talking about before the feminist movement when short skirts were unacceptable and lipstick was a bold statement to say the least. Or am I just being backwards?

To many it may seem I am. To many Muslim women it may have seemed that I am. That is, until the harmful behaviour of those in this era has opened the eyes of so…so many.

We can talk about September 11^thfor one example. The events of which have been the cause of unease among the Muslim population in the West. Something for which a lot Muslims at some point find themselves in a position where they feel suddenly the subject of side-ways glances, feeling to let the on-lookers know that Muslims are not in support of what took place. I hope never to think, never mind say anything, which would point to the idea that Islam had anything to do with the carrying out of such an event. The only reason I can give it importance among a whole world of phenomenally catastrophic events, genocides and poverty is because 9/11 is a turning point for modern-day Muslims. Despite what the September 11^th conspirators were up to and the fitna they wished to bring upon Islam, recent figures show the rise of people accepting Islam. In such statistical data brought to light we can find the estimated number of women who have made the conscious and definite personal choice to follow the code of dress and behaviour that Allah has willed for them to follow. And they did this through their own journey in search of knowledge and truth, and so what they gained was all the sweeter for them – having a complete appreciation for the decision they made themselves.

Continuing with the combined subjects of news and politics, I must ask the question; how is it that on the list of topics the politicians and media like to strike at regarding Islam, the hijab seems to take an oddly high position? The French Parliament has been hectic in discussing this one issue and whether or not to ban the burqa in France. Without a doubt they are putting in a difficult position one of the most vulnerable groups in our society; the Muslim woman.

Quoting the author Na’ima B Roberts from her book ‘From My Sister’s Lips’;

“The woman who covers her face is the most harmless individual in society. She doesn’t drink; she doesn’t smoke and does not cause society any problems.”

I do not feel that this victimization of Muslim women covering themselves is by any means in an effort to ‘improve communication’ or ‘remove cultural segregation’ within society. It is not hard to see that such propaganda lies in other efforts to portray Islam as a misogynist cult. However, whatever response the characters of such a deluded movement were expecting (were they thinking Muslim women would begin to take off their coverings?) they received quite the opposite response. In a particular article on the BBC News website about the case of Aishah Azmi being sacked due to her wearing of the veil (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6117480.stm), it is written about how such a case being brought to the headlines as well as the words of ex-foreign secretary Jack straw, have impacted upon the community of Muslims resulting in even the youngest of girls wishing to find out what this hijab is all about.

If anything, such media coverage has caused the Muslimah to look at herself and at society. The reasons she picked up her salat again, began to read the Quran again and decided to make sure her head was covered before she left her home can range from so many thoughts and realisations. It could be because of the curiosity that arose from all the slandering of Islam that made her want to find out more about this faith that she previously only knew parts of. Maybe it was from the sorrow she felt at seeing how her fellow sisters, and the deen itself has been targeted by people who have no knowledge basis on which to even raise an opinion. Or maybe, she began to observe hijab in a sense of sacrifice, when seeing the hardships of Muslims all around the world and feeling she must strive in something if they have had to sacrifice everything. At the end of the day she has made that decision, forming a closer relationship with her Creator. And no Jack Straw or French Parliament can stand in the way of this.

A woman feels such a freedom with observing hijab that it would be unrealistic to say that it is just the Muslim woman who observes it. Even today, in an age of widespread sin, many non-Muslim women cover themselves. As I mentioned the hijab has always been the right code of behaviour and dress for a woman since the creation of man. The personal discovery that a woman goes through before deciding to observe it holds a revelation of its own for her. This shows that it is the naturally desired way of life that the body and mind are able to comfortably conform towards. It takes away so much pressure attached to social expectations and man-influenced superficial appearances a woman can never reach without Photoshop touch-ups. This is the reason why increasingly more non-Muslim women are also trying hijab, feeling it a natural manifestation of the soul.

And so I would like to say that I wholly encourage any woman who is curious – whether Muslim or non-Muslim – to try observing hijab and feel the positive impact it has upon the mind as well as the physical change in behaviour that naturally comes with it, leading to happiness within.

And there is a beauty…within this modesty…that only the truly guided can see.

-           Roszeen Afsar

December 8, 2009 - Posted by Abu-Tayeb Khairdeen | hijab | feminism, hijab, islam, muslim, Muslim Women, women