Islam essay
A debated matter in contemporary society, which has evolved overtime, is the mounting question of liberty and freedom of women in Islam, with specific reference to the veil. In saying that, the controversial issue of the covering of the head will be discussed with close reference to the Quran, Authentic hadith, scholarly consensus (ijma^) and scholarly articles, particularly talking about the evolution of the matter as well as political, cultural, social and religious perceptions that associate with the Islamic veil.
The veil is generally classified into two types; the hijab, and the niqab/burqa. To differentiate between the two, the hijab is the veil that covers the head, and the niqab/burqa is the veil that either covers the face excluding the eyes, or covers the complete face. Some claim that the covering of the complete face is an obligation within the Islamic faith, except she who is in the state of Hajj, or Prayer. In a hadith stated by Abu Dawood in his Sunan, about Islamically accepted clothing “^A'ishah, Ummul Mu'minin, (the most knowledgeable woman in the Muslim nation), narrated that when her sister Asma', the daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Messenger of Allah, (peace be upon him), wearing thin clothes, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), turned his attention from her and said which means: “O Asma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, she is not allowed to show of herself except this and this”, and he pointed to her face and hands.” (Hassan, 2004) In this authentic hadith, it is evident that the Muslim female is not obligated to cover the face, as this judgment was not specified by the Prophet for the state of Prayer and hajj only.
Abu Hayyan Al-Ghamati stated in his book Al Ba...
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Professor Leila Ahmed, active Islamic feminist, in her article “Reinventing the veil” published in the Financial Times assumes that there is a connection between “advancement” and veiling, which means that unveiled women are advanced and vice versa. In addition, she supports that it led to increasing rate of violence. She questions why women wear veil, that is considered as “symbol of patriarchy and women’s oppression”. However, research changed her position towards wearing veil. Firstly, she states that wearing veil was essential for women, because it could be beneficial and influence to how people treat women, in terms of job, marriage and free movement in public. Secondly, her assumption was explained while interviewing women, who stated
Fatemeh Fakhraie’s essay “Scarfing it Down,” explains how Muslim women suffer because of what they wear. Fakhraie blogs about Muslim women in her website she explains; “Seeing ourselves portrayed in the media in ways that are one-dimensional and misleading." Several people judge Muslim's by their appearance because they assume they're a bad person. The author of this essay wants the reader to know that Muslim women wearing a hijab are not a threat to the world.
In From Behind the Veil, Siham is forced to cover her body and this causes her to rebel against her family's beliefs. Siham's society in the Middle East wears niqabs to preserve their virginity and honor
The article “My Body Is My Own Business” by Naheed Mustafa is about an Islamic women’s principle that putting on her usual headscarf, or Hijab, actually empowers her as a female, contrary to the popular principle that the hijab represents male oppressiveness. She ex...
For some women wearing a veil is not something that is forced on them but rather a choice of their own. Martha Nussbaum and Maysan Haydar are both authors that try to explain their reasoning that veiling isn't an oppressive tool used against women. Martha Nussbaum's article “Veiled Threats”, is a political and philosophical take on why banning the burqa is a violation of human rights. On the other hand Maysan Haydar’s article “Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering”, is a more humorous and personal take on why veiling shouldn't be as judged or stereotyped. Though Nussbaum and Haydar have equal goals this essay is being used to understand the main argument, claims and whether or not each article has any weaknesses.
Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that women wear a veil or hijab, which is a head scarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture, supports and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). It could be inferred that women wear the burqa and veil willingly because of their geographical location. However, when Muslim women are withdrawn from the Middle East, and are placed within other countries such as France, they become a minority group, which attracts attention because of their uncommon customs.
Muslims, Sikhs, and many other religious affiliations have often been targeted for hate crimes, racial slurs, and misfortunate events. We are all different in our own ways some are good and some are bad yet one event changes everything for everyone affiliated with the group. The book The Politics of the Veil by Joan Scott a renowned pioneer in gender studies gives a detailed and analytical book of about the French views towards the Muslim females in France during 2004. The author talks about why the French governments official embargo of wearing conspicuous signs is mainly towards the headscarves for Muslim girls under the age of eighteen in public schools. The main themes of book are gender inequality, sexism, and cultural inequality historical schools used in the book are history of below, woman’s history, cultural history, and political history. In this essay, I will talk about why Joan Scotts argument on why the French government’s ban on wearing conspicuous signs was
On September 27th, 1996, the extremist militia, the Taliban, seized control of the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul. Up until that day, women and girls in Afghanistan could go to school, work, and walk freely. Then the Taliban issued decrees banning woman and girls from receiving education, entering the workforce or leaving their homes without a close male relative as an escort, wearing a burqa. The Taliban violently plunged the occupied territories of Afghanistan into a brutal state of gender apartheid in which women and girls have been stripped of their basic human rights. The Taliban claims religious reasoning behind this gender apartheid, using the Muslim faith as their backing, though many critics denounce this logic, saying that The Qur'an condones no such thing. Woman in Afghanistan have become but a shadow of real people. Not only can they no longer enter the workforce or attend school, they cannot choose what they wish to wear, or call to friends in public for fear of being beaten, stoned or killed. The female sex has truly been enslaved by the Taliban, however what rarely comes to light, is that males in Afghanistan have also had strictures of dress and conduct imposed on them. These conditions have roused quite a varied response from the Western World. Western-born Muslims who practice Islam identify with some of the Taliban's strictures, even wearing the burqa or hajib in Canada. Others who do not know the Muslim faith, are outraged that woman can be subjugated so completely and that the rest of the world can sit back and watch it happen complacently. Human rights atrocities are committed towards women everyday by the Taliban in the name of their religio...
Muslim women cover themselves by wearing Hijab. Hijab, which is also known as the veil, is the Islamic dress for women consisting the head covering, along with the body covered modestly. In Learning Islam 2, according to historians, the practice of Hijab was “part of [the] everyday dress for women in Ancient Christian and Jewish communities”(D32). Back then, many Christian and Catholic women wore a head covering as a sign of chastity. We can also see that there are references to the practice of wearing the veil in both the Old and New Testaments, “…if a woman does not have her head veiled, she may as well have her hair cut off. But if it is too shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or head shaved, then she should wear a veil” (I Corinthians 11:6). As you can see, the Bible gives the woman the choice of wearing the veil or have her hair cut off.
The constant smear remarks from media headlines are chiseled into the minds of Westerners and no amount of “educated [and] articulate women fulfilling the modest conditions of the hijab can do little to dispel the myths” (Stacey). She writes how even when these women are simply placing their focus on the spiritually constructed values rather than socially constructed ones they still may be labeled as oppressed. Indeed, the majority of the women in the world have the free choice to where a hijab or not. The Gallup Poll mentioned earlier actually concludes that that “most women in the Muslim world are well aware that they have the same capabilities and deserve the same fundamental rights as men”
There are many different views towards Muslim choice of clothing especially wearing the veil. “I wear it believing it is necessary, but someone else can be wearing it believing that she is doing something extra” said Hamna Ahmed. One of the many reasons a Muslim can be wearing the veil are their own personal decisions too. Hamna has been wearing it for seven years now, despite her mother and three of her four sisters staying uncovered. Socially this causes an issue with the meaning of the veil and conflict with other groups. With many different consumptions of religion, what it means, what is considered to be practicing and what is not can lead to negative misunderstandings. Ultimately the decisions are up to the individuals although; there is likely to be misinterpretation between the meaningfulness of religion to family and society. On an even bigger scale of things this could also impact society and it...
Most of these things it is possible to see through the analysis of the situation that exists in practice and analysis of several court cases. In France, for years women with Hijab encounter problems, both in education and in ...
In the Islamic and/or Muslim religion, the veil has become one of the most controversial articles of clothing when it comes to the topic of gender. Surrounded by negative connotations such as terrorism and the repression of women, in many cases the veil has most often sparked fear. With society influenced by the negative connotations of the veil, the fear that is often associated with this article of clothing has lead to society overseeing and/or dismissing the symbolic meaning behind wearing the veil. Although the veil is often interchangeably used to refer to the hijab, which is used as a cover to ensure that moral boundaries are never crossed, the veil symbolizes virginity, innocence, respect for God, and most importantly the woman’s “willingness” to submit to her earthly God – groom. As a social norm in society, the veil has often symbolized the entrance to marriage and/or womanhood i...
Smith, Jane I. “Women’s Issues in American Islam.” The Duncan Black MacDonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. Hartford Seminary, Hartford CT, 2002. http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/smithart1.htm.
Many Muslims believe that women must wear hijab because of scriptural interpretations and cultural law. The Quran and Hadith states that both men and women should dress modestly. This is wear most Muslims start to interpret the text differently. Women and people who believe that you are not required to wear hijab interpret the text as exactly what it says, to dress modest. Technically the Quran does not say that women are required to wear hijab but Muslims who believe that you are required to wear hijab interpret the “dressing modest” as you are required to wear hijab. Hijab was also required in some countries so through legal traditions many people feel as if wearing the veil should be required.