Opinion Discovering Values Within Hijab

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By Yanma

There are some people who view hijab as a kind of limitation or even as an oppression for Muslim women. At some point, it indeed looks like limitations. But as a hijabi, I prefer to call it boundaries.

The meaning of hijab isn’t just portrayed by the headscarf that covers Muslim women’s hair; there are also values and boundaries that Islam teaches through the wearing of hijab.

Personally, getting to know hijab and its meaning made me blown away even more by Islam. I was born into a Muslim family, and they are quite religious but not strict. To be honest, at that time I was doing my duty as a Muslim because my parents told me to, so I followed them, and people in my surroundings did it as well.

So, for me, it wasn’t because of the light. Then, there was the beginning of a period in a difficult time when somehow I started to understand more about Islamic values and their relevance in today’s life.

When I was a kid, I heard the commandment to cover the awrah for Muslim women, and the only reason I get for it is about self-protection. However, as I get older, there is a need to convince myself more so that I can get into the light. So, this is what I discovered regarding hijab:

Forms of Protection​

The main function of hijab is as a form of protection. Women are beautiful creatures, but they are easily sexualized by certain types of people. Also, there have been many stories discovered where women experienced violence, either physically or psychologically.

The commandment of wearing hijab only allows women to show their face and palms, so it will prevent women from receiving inappropriate gazes from the opposite sex.

This will keep women from any kind of harassment to any extent. Hijab says, “You don’t need to feel insecure.“
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Insecurity is the biggest thing that happens to most young women. Especially regarding their physical appearance. Nowadays, we know how bluntly women are demanded to be perfect. Social standards arise and make it worse. Personally, as a woman, I feel it, and so do the women around me.

For a woman, there must be a thought that we will be considered worthy if we look a certain way. Actually, it can bring a lot of burdens that can end up hurting them.

In Surah At-Tin verse 4, we have been reminded that,

“Indeed, we created humans in their best form.“
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We were created in the best form, and there is no need to doubt that because Allah (SWT) already says it in that verse. As a Muslim woman, remembering the preciousness with which Allah has helped me put my focus on the inner aspects is very important.

Hijab comes to this issue not to make women hide their insecurity about their body parts and keep a feeling of shame about it, but to teach women the idea of accepting themselves and being just the way they are. It says that “you don’t need to feel insecure”, because you have been created in the best form.

Leadership Value​

Hijab might look opposite to the idea of how women should look in modern society nowadays. However, Muslim women choose to do so because the hijab has become a symbol of worshipping Allah (SWT) for Muslim women as well.

Furthermore, the dos and don’ts that Islam teaches can help women walk in society. It is because of the boundaries that they know how to control themselves. Living in society and understanding the issues in it makes more sense to me.

The reason women need to get protection emotionally, physically, and mentally is because women play an important role in forming the next generation. If a woman is broken, then the next generation will not develop well and may not even exist.

When women cannot get protection from their surroundings, Allah brings hijab in so that women can also learn about protection itself. What does it feel like in hijab? Metaphorically, hijab became a symbol of how Allah treats women gracefully and respectfully. He bestows crowns on them, like queens and princesses.

Women are special ones that need to be protected. They deserve to feel that way. So, as a hijabi, it feels like a queen or a princess.
 
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So the article is saying "Islam is right about women"?
 
Eddie Riggs said:
By Yanma
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yanma.png

Like I'm going to take religious advice from a pokemon that isn't Arceus. :roll:
 
This is just a way for some people to delude themselves into thinking that women who dress extra modestly won't ever be raped. It's probably less common, especially from stranger rapists, but even burqa durkas get raped. Rapists just need to know you have a vagina hole (though this part isn't always necessary) and can't physically fend them off.
 
Please...the only 'values' the hijab hides are the face, tits and ass.

Once again, just another reason I eschew churches and religion of any kind. God never told anyone to wear a hijab, a yarmulke, or any of that shit. Some person dreamed this stuff up and convinced others to enforce the wearing. No. Just, no.
 
To be fair, wearing a towel on your head is probably more practical in Sand Land. If people told me that I had to wear a knit cap and a scarf for religious reasons or else, I would probably still do so during the winter because I live in Satan's Frozen Asshole (aka: the Midwest.)
 
I travelled to Jakarta for a wedding once for a few days and was pretty shocked at the diversity of clothing worn by muslim women there. Literally some had their heads covered and some wore mini skirts and heels- all in the same banquet hall for one of the strangest ceremonies, wedding or otherwise, I'd ever seen. Strange as in it was like 9 hours long, with the wedding party sitting and singing mic'd up reading of prayers and shit but with everyone in attendance milling around and even eating in the middle of it. And there was a huge spread of food but no tables so people were standing while eating soup. I only stayed for about an hour and then took off to the pool with some others and nobody seemed to notice or care.

We didn't go out much because the traffic there really is the worst in the world and it took about 40 minutes to go a little over a mile to the rehearsal dinner during evening traffic. There was no hard liquor available anywhere that we went, including the airport. But they had beer at the rehearsal dinner and hotel, and the whole "vibe" if you will reminded me more of China than any other country I've ever visited. But I have never gone to an Arab country so I dont have a direct comparison.

I guess what I'm saying is maybe somebody from over there can write about the pros and cons of the Hijab, since it clearly isnt mandatory but some women choose to do it. I guess unlike most muslim countries its extremely humid and being all wrapped up would be a lot more uncomfortable than if it were a dry heat?
 
mister fireworks said:
I guess what I'm saying is maybe somebody from over there can write about the pros and cons of the Hijab, since it clearly isnt mandatory but some women choose to do it. I guess unlike most muslim countries its extremely humid and being all wrapped up would be a lot more uncomfortable than if it were a dry heat?
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The way Islam is practiced in SEA is way different from how it is practiced in the ME, primarily because of its isolation from Sunni caliphates and indian sultanates. One could argue that's closer to the way Islam was done around the 12th century, as many of what one associates with Islam in the West are ottoman traditions (which include the crescent moon as a representative for the faith as well, before them, there was no such thing) that got widespread adoption thanks to the fact that the ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph. Couple that with the fact that wahhabism (who were the ones that started the "women wear all-black dresses" and similar other practices), started during the 18th century, was confined to the central areas of the arabian peninsula until WW1, and only became mainstream thanks to saudi oil money, well, they end up very different from what one thinks Islam is
 
Toji Suzuhara said:
The way Islam is practiced in SEA is way different from how it is practiced in the ME, primarily because of its isolation from Sunni caliphates and indian sultanates. One could argue that's closer to the way Islam was done around the 12th century, as many of what one associates with Islam in the West are ottoman traditions (which include the crescent moon as a representative for the faith as well, before them, there was no such thing) that got widespread adoption thanks to the fact that the ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph. Couple that with the fact that wahhabism (who were the ones that started the "women wear all-black dresses" and similar other practices), started during the 18th century, was confined to the central areas of the arabian peninsula until WW1, and only became mainstream thanks to saudi oil money, well, they end up very different from what one thinks Islam is
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Pre-Wahhabism what were the Sunni dress requirements for women in the region? Saudis spend tons of money to promote Wahhabism in other parts of the world, including European muslim populations (I think?)
 
mister fireworks said:
Pre-Wahhabism what were the Sunni dress requirements for women in the region?
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It depends on the exact region, social class, and time period, but high-class women would, around the time that Wahhabism first appeared, look more or less like this
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Islam, even during this time, wasn't too keen on depicting humans on their paintings, so sadly most of what we have are western reproductions and copies of the style.

mister fireworks said:
Saudis spend tons of money to promote Wahhabism in other parts of the world, including European muslim populations (I think?)
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The European muslim populations are the singlemost place (outside of Saudi Arabia+adjecent countries, jihadist groups like ISIS, and small, isolated cells around the north caucasus) where Wahhabism has a large influence, because the thing is that these are radically different religious interpretations of the same faith, and the established religious doctrine doesn't like getting challenged one bit. Imagine it this way: You have the mormons, who, outside of Utah, aren't very popular, and Christian groups at large don't even consider them Christian. If a mormon missionary were to try and preach in a place where the religious institutions are already set in place, like Italy, he would be laughted at at best, and if you were to convert to mormonism there, you would be looked as the odd man out and your parents could even disown you if they are very devout. That's why mormonism is largest in places who did not have an established religious authority before, like various Pacific islands, as they were able to successfully fill the gap.

Another place where religious institutions are not very strong are migrant populations, as religious leaders tend to like to stay where they are and proselitize at their own pace, not very affected by outside factors. If you were to go to a man on the street in Tunis and start rambling about how his daughter is a tool of Iblis because she isn't dressing in an all-black dress, that man would either call you a retard that hasn't read the Quran, call an imam so that he could tell you why you are wrong reciting the writtings of 50 different walis (basically saints but in Islam) and quoting 200+ sunnahs by memory within 15 minitues, or punching you in the face for disrecpecting his daughter. If you were to say this to a young man whose entire experience with Islam has been nothing but to follow what the imam says in any given moment, hasn't read the Quran in a while, and whose social circle is disproportionately more likely to already be following this line of thinking, regarding what kind of woman would make a good wife, then you almost have him in the bag for Wahhabism
 
Toji Suzuhara said:
Another place where religious institutions are not very strong are migrant populations, as religious leaders tend to like to stay where they are and proselitize at their own pace, not very affected by outside factors.
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would you say its also like christianity in the sense that adult converts tend to be the most deranged/prone to fundamentalism? I grew up pretty "strict" catholic in the sense that we went to mass each week, i did the sacraments, and both sides of my family have nuns/priests from a few generations ago. But I feel like whenever I have met an adult catholic convert they are completely insane and unlike any catholics who i knew in church or school brought up in the church. For catholicism especailly I think that people who come to the church brand new as adults kind of have to be dumb/crazy to get really into it.

When you are a kid and you go to church you learn about everything from a child's perspective and so as you get older you kind of figure out how to manage the cognitive dissonance of having faith in God but not earnestly believing that jesus necessarily turned water into wine. You can parse the meaning from the literal story is i guess what i mean. And the ritualistic nature of mass, the call and response, the low effort group singing, the kneeling, shaking hands, i think all of that is actually very soothing for a lot of people because you can kind of turn your brain off and literally go through the motions and leave feeling good.

I have no idea how an adult not raised in the church can be brought into all that and not feel like they are in a scientology center being told about ancient aliens and told to hold onto that little machine they use.
 
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