Although I derive great pleasure from bemoaning the world’s obsession with – (cue sinister music) – THE VEIL, I have agreed to contribute my own two cents to this never-ending discussion. Between the “Aren’t you hot under that thingâ€, the “Babe if you took that veil off you would be soooo hot, like I would totally date youâ€, the “Do you wear the veil like all the time? Like even in the shower?â€, and the “You’re oppressed, let me save you†I have no grandiose ambitions of ending this obsession. The world will continue to marvel over women’s bodies and the various ways in which we dare to exercise our own personal autonomy over them. I do not intend to discount the fact that many women are deprived of the right to free choice when it comes to what they wear. This applies to women who are forced to cover, those who are forced to uncover, and the many other atrocities we continue to hear about around the world. I am in no way making light of these atrocities. The below piece does not intend to end this debate (although I can’t say it wouldn’t be nice if that happened), but rather it is solely to provide a personal answer to a personal question I have received many times: Why do you choose to wear the hijab? An Act of Pride I was once told that the greatest women in the Christian tradition are Lady Mary (peace be upon her) and Mother Theresa. In the Islamic tradition the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) tells us that the four greatest women to have walked this earth are Mary mother of Jesus, Khadija (the Prophet’s wife), Fatima (his daughter), and Asiyah wife of Pharaoh (who took care of the Prophet Moses peace be upon him), and that Lady Mary is the best of all of them. This is consistent with what the Qur’an says about Lady Mary: And when the angels said: O Maryum [Mary]! Surely Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the world. (Qur’an 3:42). Muslims believe that all these women covered. This is corroborated by contemporary Christian visual representations of Lady Mary. Muslims believe that everybody should strive to be as great as those women by following their example in every way. Surely, this does not mean covering, as we believe they did, while abandoning their strength, devotion, piety and intellect. But on a personal note, every time I put on the hijab I feel honoured and proud to be performing an act that these great women once did, and it is a constant reminder throughout my day to try to follow their example in everything I do. Something I wish I was more successful at. An Act of Empowerment I don’t need to go into a long diatribe about the ridiculous lengths that men have gone to in order to take advantage of women’s bodies – whether for their own personal satisfaction or to capitalize them for their own personal gain. These phenomena are well-known, and to anybody who denies this I officially pronounce you: “delusional and/or living under a rockâ€. My choice to wear the hijab is me taking the remote control: my body belongs to me, and I control who gets to see what. The idea that covering is empowering may seem counter-intuitive to some people, but my historical context – Islamic history from 1400 years ago – is filled with covered women who were warriors, intellects, poets, and respected teachers among other things. For me, by wearing the hijab I can pursue my ambitions while protecting myself from having to sacrifice, devalue, or make for public consumption any of my femininity in the process. An Act of Submission (to God, not to any man) The reasons I stated above are strictly my own personal reasons. Although I can safely say that these reasons reflect those of many Muslim women, I am in no way stating that they reflect those of all Muslim women, for the Muslim world is anything but monolithic. In the end, each woman who covers (or uncovers) does it for her own reasons depending on various factors including religious beliefs, social context, familial upbringing, and that may or may not involve a long thought process on the merits of the hijab. These reasons aside, ultimately I wear the hijab because I believe that it pleases my Creator. The Qur’an gives two purposes for covering: i) Modesty: “Tell the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts; that is purer for them; surely Allah is aware of what they do. And tell the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their private parts, and that they should not display their beauty except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof, and that they should draw their head-coverings over their bosoms.†(Qur’an 24:30-31) ii) Protection: “Oh Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the believing women to draw over themselves their outer garments [when in public]. This makes it more likely that they will be known and not be harmed.†(Qur’an 33:59) The command in the Qur’an is clear. And I believe the Qur’an is the word of God. For me that is enough. What men (or women) have to say about this is really irrelevant. For me hijab embodies the essence of Islam: Submitting to God and God alone means that you never submit to any of His creations. BM The beliefs and statements of all Bikya Masr blogumnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect our editorial views.
