Hijab: Symbolism In Islam And Islam In The World

It is ordinary seeing woman in a veil in countries where the majority of people are Muslims. Even though, the picture of “Hijab” is not strange because it was known in previous cultures before Islam, it is considered as a phenomenon especially in the western societies which it still carries many of misunderstood thoughts. Some People who are non-Muslims in United States view “Hijab” as a fundamentalism, fanatics, barbarism, oppression, retro gradation, and terrorism image. Wearing the veil raises many controversial questions such as: Why do Muslim woman wear the veil? Is wearing the veil a cultural tradition or religious practice! What exactly is “Islamic Dress Code” and is it must be altered in its qualities from periodical time to another in order to be acceptable! Does “Hijab” isolate woman from interacting normally within society? However, all facts behind this issue will be revealed throughout the discussion of its meaning, the purpose of practicing it and seeing Hijab within references and historical context. This would unveil the mystery.

In fact, wearing Hijab was not initiated by Islam; it was familiar in the Judeo-Christian tradition and manuscripts. Yet, Islam is the continuation of the Abrahamitic Messages. Catholic Nuns practice veiling based on several references in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, the Bible represented the veiling as problematic than what in the Qur’an or the Hadith (the sayings of the prophet Muhammad), because the Judeo-Christian sources indicate that women should be covered because of their inherent inferiority (Corinthian, 11:3-10) http://postcolonialstudies.emory.edu/women-islam-and-hijab/#ixzz2vCPAw6nI. On the contrary, Muslim women proudly cover their h...

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...as of Islam’, “Islam gave this oppressed part of humanity, as it did to all other classes and groups, their legitimate place in life. In a world where woman was no more than an object of sexual gratification for men, and at a time when the religious circles and authorities in other cultures argued over whether woman was human or not, has a soul of her own like man, Islam declared “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and female” (Qur’an 49; 13). Thus, men and woman have similar rights and duties; Almighty says “Never will I waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other” (Qur’an 3:195). Islam removed the false idea about woman that she was the sours of evil. Qur’an mentioned that both Adam and Eve are responsible for the first sin. However, both repented, and both were forgiven (Kayani, 1)