A NON MUSLIM MANS VIEW ON THE HIJAB

I recently put up a blog post about the Hijab..part 3. In response I received an email from a gentleman called Derek Wood....I found the email insightful and interesting. It is exactly what I was hoping for, open dialogue on the Hijab. Please find the email below

What is my view on women who wear hijab and dress moderately? Do I think they are treated as lesser beings for doing so? Or are they generally passionate about their role as Muslimahs in respect to their faith?

Read on and I will put forward my own unique western view on this rather, at times, over-debated topic.

I suppose like most westerners, I didn’t really think a great deal about Muslim women who wore the veil prior to the events of 9/11. Then Islam became front page news for all of the wrong type of reasons. As Sabiha has mentioned previously, she was attacked on a bus as strangers kicked and punched her whilst trying to remove her veil. To hear about this more than 10 years later still sickens me as we are all humans regardless of colour, religion or sex. The western media made a big fuss following the Twin Towers attack about Muslim women being oppressed and forced to wear the hijab, niqab and even the burqa.

However, my experience since then is that hijabi wearing women are some of the nicest people I have ever met. At this point I would like to make a few side observations. If we see a nun wearing a habit we do not take a second look, but think that she is a devoted servant of God. If we see a Sikh man wearing a turban we know he is being loyal to his religion and is certainly not oppressed. Even my mother used to wear a scarf when we used to go out when I was a young boy. Even then, no one thought anything about that. However, at that time of my life, I was more embarrassed to be wearing short trousers in the middle of winter than to worry about my mother!

In my working life I have come across a few hijabi wearing co-workers and can confidently say that the veil was not a barrier to them being able to perform their role. After all, what hindrance can a hijab be if you are, say, working as an accountant, fashion designer or even driving a bus? The answer is it is not a hindrance. Work is all down to your ability and not what you wear. I can easily work at the same level if I am in a t shirt and shorts in comparison to wearing a three piece suit! It is my ability that is important.

As a result of the GFC I started doing some part time evening work in a local call centre. I can easily say wearing headphones on a hijab was not a problem for my co-workers. Again, it was their mannerisms in dealing with irate customers that was important. Maybe Islam made them even better prepared to deal with customer complaints. As fellow workers they were the nicest people to talk to.

My optician is a hijab wearing professional. When she checks my ageing eyes she does so in a friendly and easy going way. Again, I can’t remember her hijab getting in the way of the optical equipment. Oh, I should add that she also wears an abaya. Does this change my view of my optician? No, in fact, it cements my opinion of her.

At my daughters Catholic school, I met a mother who is Muslim and wears a hijab but in a different style to most other hijabis. Over the past few years I have got to know her very well. She is now a really good friend to me and my family. She is a very hard working mother who wants the best for her family. She dresses moderately, prays 5 times a day and gives her time to help others when possible. When my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer she sent me a text message telling me she was praying for her recovery. Did I see her headscarf as being a sign of her oppression? No, I saw her as a truly wonderful giving human being.

The Quran states that women should dress moderately. Now I am sure there are many interpretations of what modesty means and how it should be interpreted. I am not going to make judgement on this as I am the last person to suggest how women should dress. However, I have seen young Muslim women wearing hijab, short skirt and leggings. I am not sure in my humble opinion that is what you would call dressing moderately.

As I have gotten older, but still young at heart I hasten to add, I have a greater respect for women who do not reveal their bodies to the public. I can’t say I respect women nowadays who show lots of cleavage and wear clothes so short that a barbie doll would struggle to fit into them! The fact that men will comment on scantily clad women is surely a sign that the wearer does not respect herself. To have a woman dress conservatively is surely a better way to go.

Interestingly, the majority of western female reverts to Islam dress more conservatively than those females born into Islam. Maybe they have seen that wearing revealing clothing is not the best option.

Finally, all of the Muslimahs that I know cover up because they want to, rather than being forced to. It is out of their respect to their religion and also their family as to why they do so.

As westerners we must stop looking at the material that a Muslim woman puts on her head but look at THE person beneath it. If we can do that then I am sure a lot of barriers will be broken down and we can all get on much more harmoniously than at present.