Non-Muslim Attitudes / Hijaab 5/5

Non-Muslim Attitudes Towards Islamic Codes of Behaviour

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Many non-Muslims do not understand the rules of modesty and dress
between men and women in Islam, and think that Islam is too strict.
They believe that these kinds of rules take away people's freedom and
the right to do what they want. They often imagine a woman who wears a
headscarf must be oppressed or a 'slave' of her husband, that she
cannot read or write, and is probably not very smart - as if a scarf
prevents the brain from working! The international media is full of
negative images and propaganda against Islam, and it can be difficult
to change people's minds about something once they have heard another
opinion about it over and over again.

Muslims do believe in the principle of freedom of choice; God created
us with a free will to choose good or evil, and He is the final Judge
of every action and the intentions behind them. However, the freedom
of one individual should not come above the needs of a large group of
people. Unlimited freedom can cause great harm and destruction to
society. What would life be like if everyone was free to murder and
steal? What if dangerous wild animals were allowed to roam free on the
streets? Every freedom must have its limit. A believer accepts the
rules and guidelines of Islam with pleasure, because he is confident
that God has made them for our benefit. The only things which are
forbidden in the Law are those things which can be harmful to a person
himself, to his society, or to the environment and its creatures.

The Qur'an says that God has honoured the Children of Adam. We have a
special position above other creatures in the universe, and He wants
us to behave in a worthy way. It is not honourable for people to do
things in public which are supposed to be done in private. It is part
of the honour of being human that we wear clothing to cover our private
parts, that we do not use the street as a toilet as animals do, that we
do not need to kiss each other or engage in sexual acts out in the open
as animals do, and that we do not need to watch other people do these
things either. There is no honour in a woman flaunting her body for a
perfume commercial, or in order to sell designer jeans or cars. The
companies who make these kinds of advertisements and commercials are
misusing women in order to make more money. Islam gives the most
honour to women and girls by protecting them from misuse, by giving
them a highly respected and natural position as mothers and homemakers,
as caretakers of the family. This is vitally important because the
family is the basic unit of society; where the family is strong, the
society is strong.

A Muslim woman is respected for her manners and character, abilities
and knowledge; she does not have to show off her body or behave in a
humiliating way in order to get the attention or approval of men. She
does not have to lose or gain weight, pluck her eyebrows, straighten
her hair or change its colour simply in order to be more desirable to
men. The most beautiful thing about a Muslim woman is her faith.

By taking attention away from a person's looks, Islam puts a higher
value on a person's inner qualities. We are proud of Islam and grateful
that God has blessed us with His guidance. We do not have to be ashamed
of ourselves or our traditions, our clothing, the colour of our skin or


The Question of Hijab

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Some Muslim women and girls who live in a non-Muslim environment have a
difficult time keeping up to the Islamic dress code, especially in
wearing a head covering (hijab). It can be very hard to have people
stare at you or make fun of you just because of how you look or dress.
In some countries, women who wear hijab are discriminated against; they
may not be allowed to work and their daughters may not even be able to
go to school unless they take off their scarves. Fighting against this
discrimination is a kind of jihad; the women and girls who have the
courage to continue wearing Islamic dress despite all the forces
against them will be rewarded by God for their efforts.

However, not everyone is strong enough to be able to resist that
pressure. Some women and girls, who are otherwise proud to be Muslim,
decide not to wear hijab for one reason or another. Some simply find
the peer pressure from family, friends and work and school relations
too difficult. They are shy or afraid to stand out in the crowd or look
different. In some areas of the world where Muslims are in a minority,
the feeling against Muslims or foreigners in general is so strong that
women may not feel safe if they walk in the street wearing Islamic
dress. They might be attacked by people who hate others simply because
of how they look or where they come from. Women and girls who live in
such places - and the men who are responsible for them - must find a
solution so that they feel safe and protected.

Then, there are many women who grew up in Muslim countries during a
time when it was considered unpopular or backwards to dress in a
traditional way. It was considered more advanced and modern to imitate
European and American styles of dress - and in some countries this is
still the case. There are other countries in which it is still the
custom for women to wear hijab only if they are very religious, or if
they have been to Makkah for Hajj (Pilgrimage). These customs are
actually not Islamic, but a woman may become unpopular in her community
or be labelled a fanatic if she goes against them.

There are also people who have been misled into believing that Muslim
women do not really have to wear hijab - that it is actually just an
Arab custom, or that it is not mentioned anywhere in the Qur'an. This
is not correct. In the Qur'an 24:30-31, God tells us:

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 all that they do.

And say to the believing women that they should lower their
gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display
their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily)
appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their
bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands,
their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their
husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or
their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their
right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs,
or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and
that they should not strike their feet in order to draw
attention to their hidden ornaments...

According to a famous saying of the Prophet, it is not permissible for
a girl, once she reaches the age of puberty, to show any of her body
except her face and hands while in the presence of strange / unrelated
men. All early Muslim women covered their entire bodies except their
faces and hands, and the wives of the Prophet (all very religious
women, very beautiful ladies, all city women from a high social class)
were in the habit of covering their faces as well.

Finally, there are people who exaggerate the importance of hijab. It is
true that a woman who has faith in God will wish to try to please Him
in every way including dressing according to the rules, it is not true
that any woman who does not do so is an unbeliever or a bad Muslim. It
is bad manners to criticize or gossip about a fellow Muslim for
something like not wearing hijab. Dressing properly is a part of the
Islamic way of life, but it is not the most important part. If Muslims
- male or female feel that they are not able to do everything which
Islam requires, they must simply try to do as much as they can and ask
God for strength. A woman who is not ready to wear complete hijab may
begin by wearing loose, long clothing which is in style and covers most
of her body. She may tie her hair back neatly, or wear a hat and
sunglasses. Slowly, as her faith increases, she may increase her
practise of Islam, step-by-step, willingly and from her heart. God is
more pleased when we obey Him with love and pleasure than out of fear
or custom.

We must remember that we are not responsible for anyone's actions
except our own. If we give good advice to our brothers and sisters in
Islam, we must do it in a polite and sensitive way, with kindness.
People who spend much of their time being critical of others and trying
to reform them, often simply end up chasing them further away because
of their lack of wisdom. God is the only One Who will judge our actions
and perhaps He will reward the girl who was kind and obedient to her
parents but did not wear hijab, more than the one who was very correct