Article: Why Do Muslim Women Wear Hijab

One thing that have always been amazing is the lack of apathy when it comes to any issue related to Muslim women. One of these is the issue of Hijab. What we hear all the time in the news media is the anti-hijab bias. What is even more interesting is that nobody ever, ever asks a woman the simple question: Why does she wear hijab.

This is a series or articles with that question posed to random women who were seen wearing hijab. Why does she wear hijab. Here is one post verbatim. There are no changes made from the original response. The goal here is to present multiple responses over period of time and as the entries trickle in they will be presented with minimal change. Any change will be strictly for the purpose of brevity and/or severe grammatical problems. (if any)

This is a beautifully written response and I found it to be genuine and representative of thousands of women that practice wearing Hijab despite the hatred and negative connotation attached to it. This piece makes it very obvious that the distorted view given to us by the media is nowhere close to reality. Read for yourself and leave your comments.


This is the response in full without any changes:

I started wearing the Islamic headscarf --the "hijab," as it's transliterated from Arabic-- about a year and a half ago, as an act of modesty for my religion, Islam. The hijab is a symbol of modesty. Women have complained that they would rather be appreciated for reasons other than their physical appearance; Islam has a solution for that: modesty. The hijab is not directly mandated by Islam; it's merely choice. In the Qur'an, it is stated that no Islamic belief should be forced on an individual. The hijab does not make women inferior; it's a solution for women who want their minds to be stronger than their appearance. The head scarf wasn't even something new introduced by Islam. You're forgetting that, a few centuries ago, women covered their heads when they went outside. True, in this day and age, common people don't cover their heads anymore. In Islam, if something is hard to do, you don't have to do it. If a woman feels inferior wearing the headscarf, or has been assaulted for it, they don't have to wear it. By wearing the hijab you're not succumbing to anything except God's teaching; in fact, when wearing the hijab, you're not succumbing to the desire to show off yourself to everybody. The way I see it, men don't have to show off their looks to get things they want, but some women do. In that case, whose inferior there? The hijab is not a foreign influence. You've probably seen several Americans wearing the headscarf too; they just look Arab (I know this for sure, since my uncle married an American woman who wears the hijab now; she is often mistaken for an Arab).

I was born and raised in the United States, and almost none of my relatives --even the ones who live in Pakistan-- wear the hijab, apart from my mother, who actually started wearing it when she came the U.S. thirty years ago. None of my relatives really supported my decision to wear the headscarf. My own parents were almost shocked when I started wearing it. They've constantly reminded me that I don't have to do it. Even though they're happy with it, they think --and in this case, I hope they're wrong-- that I might stop in a few years. They know it's probably hard to wear it in America, but honestly it hasn't been that hard. I've been able to talk to people as easily as before. It's like I get to choose who to speak to now; most people who approach me are open-minded, kind, and non-judgmental: the type of people I'd like to be friends with. Generally, people don't initially approach me as often as before, but now I get to choose who approaches me by talking with them first. I do get glared at by strangers sometimes, and most people don't look at me in the eye anymore. However, I know they've been ill-informed by the media. Sometimes I do feel a pressure to always do the right thing. If I'm not constantly behaved at all times, or if I accidentally say something rude or offensive, there are people who would have a bad impression of Muslims because they saw one who wasn't perfect. After all, they have a bad impression from the "Muslims" they see on TV who do explicitly forbidden things. Extremism is forbidden in Islam...but that's another topic. The constant, reasonably good behavior has made me, undeniably, a much better person.

The hijab isn't a sign of extremism; it's really just an item of clothing to put, but on your head. And by the way, I've never, ever heard of someone getting heat stroke because of wearing the hijab (though if you get to that state, you really should take it off). In Saudi Arabia, men also cover their head to keep them safe from heat when they go out, and Saudi Arabia is mostly desert. Wearing the hijab does not signify extremism. Islam doesn't call for women who wear the hijab to necessarily be as religious or even as modest as nuns are. True, there are ways to be modest and restrain themselves from wrong things without wearing the headscarf, and I commend people who can do that. For me, the hijab is a reminder to act appropriately, and it's definitely saved me from making many wrong decisions I would definitely regret. I don't mind others --my friends included-- being immodest or immoral, because I would have been like that if I didn't really know about Islam. Every person I meet who treats me with respect --like a normal person-- surprises me, because I generally expect people to have the bad image of Muslims that the media and extreme "Islamic" groups feed them. Neither do I have any deference for people who glare at me, because I know they don't really know what I --and other Muslims-- believe in. And I know, that if I wasn't Muslim, I would probably treat Muslims like they do.

Suppporting I$rael Weakens America

I$rael has been on the forefront of the news everyday since its inception. Never a day goes by when we do not hear a new atrocity attributed to I$rael. The killing of people, land disputes, land grab by IDF, border friction with all its neighbors, humiliations at the UN, the barbed attack on world leaders, and untold toxification of the political landscape.

Through all of this turmoil America as a nation has supported I$rael. We have supported I$rael unconditionally without reservations.

Have you ever stopped and reflected upon the cost that America as a country is paying for supporting I$rael?

When it comes to Human Rights abuses I$rael stands apart. The rights of millions of people are being taken away at the hands of one of the most oppressive regime in the Middle East. The oppressors are I$raelis, the country that we support for committing hundred and thousands of atrocities every day. How so? Please consider this:

• New born babies to Palestinian Arabs and those living in Jerusalem are not automatically granted I$raeli citizenship. As soon as they are born they become illegal residents through no fault of their own. The citizenship of parents does not matter. Even if the parents have I$raeli citizenship thier kids do not get I$raeli citizenship. They are stateless people forced out of their country of birth, the country of their parents
• People that have lived in Jerusalem for more than 50 years and outright own the land/dwellings are being evicted from their homes forcefully to make way for other development as lofty as public parks while these people have no where to go
• The deportation of Arab-I$raelis continues every day. Only few years ago there were 450,000 Arabs in East Jerusalem, now there are only 250,000 remaining. This is through the stated policy of ethnic cleansing and it continues at the behest of I$raeli government, supported by the state controlled judiciary, and funded by Jewish owned and controlled corporations that are based around the world, mainly in US, Britain and South Africa
• Targeted killing of civilians and religious leaders, also part of the ethnic cleansing, continues under the watchful eyes of the world community in the disguise of fighting terrorism
• Human Organ trafficking is a widespread problem committed at the hands of I$raeli doctors, medical personnel and the IDF. People that are captured for any reason are liable to have their kidney and other organs removed, without consent, and the dead are harvested for organs and these organs are trafficked around the world to the highest bidder
• Kids as young as 5 years old are in state custody for supporting "terrorism." These kids are used as ransom to capture other members of the family
• Underage kids are being kept incommunicado, in solitary confinements, and without the benefits of visitation rights from family and loved ones. Many of these kids are kept under arrest without them knowing what they are being held for in prison. Many end up dead by what is now known as "Palestinian hanging" which happens when you are hung by chains with your arms behind your back, causing them to come out of their sockets, and killing because of the internal blood clots that eventually make their way to the heart causing seizure and heart attack
• Women and girls are raped and tortured as material witnesses
• Land with Olive groves and animals are torched on regular basis to prevent anybody coming too close to the border area
• I$raeli forces have used illegal ammunitions, prohibited by Geneva convention, against civilian population
• I$raeli defense forces have killed civilians without provocation, and in cold blood. They have killed unarmed civilians including infants, children, young girls, and women
• I$rael has directly attacked designated shelter areas, hospitals, and places of worship
• I$rael has bombarded UN missions that are clearly marked and for which the location coordinates were provided to I$raeli forces and civilian management

How long must all this continue? How long must we continue to support this tragedy?

What are the costs of all this human tragedy to the US? We are having to protect the murderous government of I$rael every step of the way. When we turn a blind eye to these atrocities we are telling the world that it is OK for others to do the same. When we turn the other cheek we are unable to face up to anybody else in the world and ask them to obey the rule of law. Every time we tell somebody to respect life and obey rule of law they point to our unabated support of I$rael. That shuts us down. We are unable to hold China responsible for their human rights abuses. We are unable to tell the Russians they are not to engage in extra judicial killings. We are unable to hold those responsible who caused genocide in Darfur.

Political decent is not anti-Semitism. It is in fact almost a crime not to speak up. In fact those who don’t speak up or don’t take action against the I$raeli atrocities around the world are equally complicit in the crimes committed against humanity. They are equally complicit of ethnic cleansing at the behest of I$raeli government. They have blood on their hands.

When we support I$rael we weaken America. We do irreparable damage to our country. We essentially tell people of the world we don’t support justice, we don’t support human rights, we allow the tyranny to prevail against the weak even though the weak party is in the right. It weakens America by having to defend bloodshed of the innocent, the taking of land by the oppressors, and waging war against civilians and the unarmed.

Call for Action:

Please don’t stand still shocked at these atrocities because the time for action is now. Time for action has come. Please help stop these killings, ethnic cleansing, war against innocent civilians, land grab, and forced removal of people from their homes and homeland. Here is how you can help:
Please take immediate action and call/write/contact your

• Local representative
• Stat Representative
• State Senator
  

Tell them you do not support their unequivocal support of I$rael. Tell them I$rael must be held accountable for the crimes against humanity, they must be stopped from engaging in crimes against humanity with the support of the US government and the press, that they must be held accountable for what they have done.

Write to your local newspaper, write to any and all newspapers that you read and tell them you do not support I$raeli atrocities

Go to your favorite website and join the discussion/blog and tell the world you have had enough of this one sided policy of unabated support of I$rael and this must stop now

Discuss politics with your family and friends and tell them political decent is not anti-Semitism. Tell them you will not support I$rael and I$raelis without holding them responsible for their actions. Tell them that fighting for freedom, self determination, and democracy does not make anybody a terrorist

Support those organizations that are doing legitimate work to prevent untold human catastrophe in the Palestinian occupied territories including Gaza.

We need your help. We need everybody’s help now and for a long time to come. We don’t want money, we don’t want riots, and we don’t want demonstrations. We want lawful action to tell people that I$rael is wrong in what they are doing and must be held accountable for what they are doing and most importantly I$rael must be prevented from continuing the murder of innocent people, the ethnic cleansing, and torture.