Internationally, there is often a misconception on why Islamic women wear the hijab. The hijab which is the head cover for Islam women is often associated with oppression of Muslim women. However, this is not the case. Many Islamic women feel that the hijab promotes respect towards Allah (God) and often forces people to see them for their personality rather than their appearance.
Why do you wear it? Are you bald? Do you sleep with it? Do you shower with it? Does your husband make you wear it? Do you feel hot? These unnecessary comments come from people who do not understand the religion of Islam. First of all let it be clear that if you would like to you would like to know how a Muslim woman feels about wearing the veil, ask a Muslim woman. Do not ask The New York Times, The Daily News, or even the highly acclaimed reporter Meredith Vieira. Instead, ask your questions to someone who lives, breathes, and worships in Islam. Wearing the hijab is a woman’s choice. It is not something that they are forced to do, or will be hurt if they don’t. Islam does not require that a woman wears a veil, but Qur’an does say that Muslim women should dress modestly to represent themselves. In no way does it limit who they are, or cast them as outsiders. On the contrary many Muslim women feel that it gives them a greater chance to show the world who they really are, and more room to express themselves.
While some people think that the hijab promotes a woman’s choice, others believe it limits a woman’s freedom. This is because people will believe what they are exposed to. The media too often greets the general population with horrid images of women in the Middle East being brutalized for showing their hair, or not wearing their veil. Books such as Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban by Latifa both show the extreme conditions as to what woman had to suffer under the Islamic Regime of the Taliban in Iran and Afghanistan respectively. But, why should we allow what happens in two oppressed countries influence our opinion of the entire Muslim population? If the population does decide to that then we’re no better than the Taliban themselves.
~Stephanie Harris
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