Liberation by the Veil

                     Liberation by the Veil

    Modesty and chastity , very important ideologies with Islam,  are
achieved by prescribing standards on behavior and the dress of a Muslim.  A
woman who adheres to the tenements of Islam is required to follow the dress
code  called Hijab, other synonymes are Veil, Purdah, or just Covering.  It
is an act of faith and  establishes a Muslim's life with honor, respect and
dignity. The Hijab is viewed as a liberation for women, in that  the covering
brings about "an aura of respect" (Takim, 22) and women are recognized as
individuals who are  admired for their mind and personality, "not for their
beauty or lack of it" ( Mustafa ) and  not as sex objects.

Contrary to popular belief, the covering of the Muslim woman is not
oppression but a liberation from the shackles of male scrutiny and  the
standards of attractiveness. In Islam, a woman  is free to be who she is
inside, and immuned from being  portrayed as sex symbol and lusted after.
 Islam exalts the status of a woman by commanding that she "enjoys equal
rights to those of man in everything,  she stands on an equal footing with
man " (Nadvi, 11)  and both share mutual rights and obligations in all
aspects of life.

Men and women though equal are not identical, and eachcompliments the
other in the different roles  and functions that they are
responsible to. " From an Islamic perspective, to view a woman as a sex
symbol is to denigrate her.  Islam believes that a woman is to be judged by
her [virtuous] character and actions rather than by her looks or physical
features" (Takim, 22).  In the article, "My Body Is My Own Business", Ms.
Naheed Mustafa , a young Canadian born and raised, university-educated Muslim
woman  writes,  "The Quran [ which is the Holy Book for Muslims] teaches us
that men and women are equal, that individuals should not be judged according
to gender, beauty, wealth or privilege.  The only thing that makes one person
better than another is his or her character."  She goes on to say, "In the
Western world, the hijab has come to symbolize either forced silence or
radical, unconscionable militancy.  Actually, its neither.  It is simply a
woman's assertion that judgement of her physical person is to play no role
whatsoever in social interaction."

Muslims believe that God gave beauty to all women, but that her beauty is
not be seen by the world, as if the women are meat on the shelf to be picked
and looked over. When she covers herself she puts herself on a higher level
and  men will look at her with respect and she is noticed for her intellect ,
faith ,and personality, not for her beauty.  In many societies, especially in
the West, women are  taught from early childhood that their worth is
proportional to their attractiveness  and are compelled to follow the male
standards of beauty and abstract notions of what is attractive, half
realizing that such pursuit is futile and often humiliating (Mustafa).
Chastity , modesty, and piety are promoted  by the institution of veiling.
The hijab in no way prevents a woman from playing her role as an important
individual in a society nor does it make her inferior." (Takim,22)

A Muslim  woman may wear whatever she pleases in the presence of her
husband and family or among women friends.  But when she goes out or when men
other than her husband or close family are present she is expected to wear a
dress which will cover [her hair and] all parts of her body , and not reveal
her figure. What  a contrast with Western fashions which every year
concentrate quite intentionally on exposing yet another erogenous zone to the
public gaze! The intention of Western dress is to reveal the figure, while
the intention of Muslim dress is to conceal [and cover] it, at least in
public (Lemu,25).

The Muslim woman does not feel the pressures to be beautiful or attractive,
which is so apparent in the Western and Eastern cultures.  She does not have
to live up to expectations of what is desirable and what is not.  Superficial
beauty is not the Muslim woman's concern, her main goal is inner spiritual
beauty.  She does not have to use her body and charms to get recognition or
acceptance in society.  It is very different from the cruel methods that
other societies subject women, in that their worth is always judged by their
physical appearance.  The are numerous  examples of discrimination at the
workplace  where women  are either accepted or rejected, because of their
attractiveness and sex appeal.

Another benefit  of adorning the veil is that it is a protection for women.
Muslims believe that when women display their beauty to everybody, they
degrade themselves by becoming objects of sexual desire  and become
vulnerable to men, who look at them as " gratification for the sexual
urge"(Nadvi,8). The Hijab  makes them out as women belonging to the class of
modest chaste women, so that transgressors and sensual men may recognize them
as such and dare not tease them out of mischief" (Nadvi, 20). Hijab solves
the problem of sexual harrassment and unwanted sexual advances,  which is so
demeaning for women,  when men get mixed signals and believe that women want
their advances by the way they reveal their bodies.

The western idiology of, 'if you have it, you should flash it!' is quite
opposite to the Islamic  principle,where the purpose  is not to bring attention
 to
ones self, but to be modest.   Women in so many societies are just treated as s
ex
symbols and nothing more than just a body who "display themselves to get attent
ion"
(Mustafa). A good example is in advertising,  where a woman's body is used
 to sell products. Women are constantly degraded, and subjected to reveal
more and more of themselves. .

The Covering  sanctifies her and forces society to hold her in
high esteem.   Far from humiliating the woman, Hijab actually grants the
woman an aura of respect, and bestows upon her a separate and unique identity
(Takim, 2). According to the Qu'ran,
the same high standards of moral conduct are for men as it is for women.
Modesty is essential in a man's life, as well, whether it be in action,
morals or speech.  Islam also commands  proper behavior and dress of men, in
that they are not allowed to make a wanton show of their bodies to attract
attention onto themselves, and they too must dress modestly.  They have a speci
al
commandment to lower their eyes, and not to brazenly stare at women.

In Sura Nur of the Holy Qu'ran it says, " Say to the believing men
that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for
greater purity for them, and God is well acquainted with what they do".  Many
of the misconceptions  of the Muslim woman in the west, particularly her veil
stems from Arab and Muslim countries that have deviated from the true
doctrines of  Islam, and have " mixed up Islamic principles with pre-Islamic
pagan traditions" (Bahnassawi, 67)

In this present period of decline  from Islam,  many Muslim women
are alienated , isolated from social life, and are oppressed by Muslim men
and  rulers who  use the name of religion for their injustices. (Bahnassawi,
65)   In this instance, the Hijab is used as a means of keeping many Muslim
women away from society, with the misconception that it signifies isolation
and  weakness.   But as many Muslim women  come back into the fold of the
untainted and true Islam, they are able to recognize the injustice of men who
have for so long stripped them of their rights to be  an integral part of
society and "deserving the same dignity, honor, progress and prosperity as
the men" (Nadvi,26). Women regaining their true identity and role in society,
are now wearing  Hijab and embracing its concept of liberation for women,
 and are taking their rightful places that Islam had endowed upon them
fourteen hundred years ago.

Please copy and distribute to whoever can benefit from the above paper.
Thank you, peace and blessings of Allah to all my brothers and sisters in
Islam,

Sehmina Jaffer Chopra

Samichopra@aol.com

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