Why do Muslim ladies put on a hijab?
Nazma Khan, who immigrated to the USA from Bangladesh at age 11, confronted years of shaming over sporting a scarf in New York.
So, in 2013, she began World Hijab Day – a day for each Muslim and non-Muslim ladies to expertise sporting a scarf.
Celebrated on Feb. 1, the day is an expression of solidarity and assist for spiritual freedom.
As a scholar of Muslim immigrants, I’ve additionally lengthy argued for ladies’s proper to spiritual expression of their clothes selections. The hijab isn’t merely about faith – ladies put on it for quite a lot of causes that may change, relying on the time and social context.
Is the veil an Islamic requirement?
Muslim spiritual writings will not be fully clear on the query of veiling.
Varied passages within the Quran, the Muslim holy e book, and the Hadiths, statements attributed to the Prophet Mohammad, make reference to veiling by the prophet’s wives. However students disagree about whether or not these statements apply solely to the prophet’s wives or to all Muslim ladies.
In accordance with some, the veil has been used as a means of curbing male sexual need. But overlaying the pinnacle and physique predated Islam.
Jewish, Christian and Hindu ladies have additionally coated their head at varied instances in historical past and in several components of the world.
Definitely, the scarf is tied to faith. Many ladies who cowl discuss it as a means demonstrating their submission to God and a continuing reminder to carry quick to Islamic beliefs similar to being trustworthy and beneficiant to these in want.
Asserting identification
Nonetheless, there are different causes for adopting the hijab.
French and British colonizers inspired Muslim ladies to take away the veil and emulate European ladies.
Consequently, in North African and Center Jap nations, the veil turned a logo of nationwide identification and opposition to the West throughout independence and nationalist actions.
At present, some ladies put on the hijab to sign satisfaction of their ethnic identification. That is extra so for immigrants in Europe and the USA, the place there was a rise in Islamophobia.
In a Fb submit for World Hijab Day 2018 that went viral, Columbia School pupil Toqa Badran wrote,
“I put on this scarf as a result of once I was a toddler I used to be socialized to be embarrassed, even ashamed, of my faith and my tradition. I used to be instructed that to be a Muslim was to be a terrorist and that to be outwardly Muslim was to endorse violence and oppression … I understood that I might be unwelcome so long as I wore symbols of my heritage and selected to, in nonetheless trendy a means, embrace my ancestors.”
Muslim African-American ladies within the U.S. generally put on a hijab to sign their spiritual affiliation. In addition they need to dispel the belief that each one African-People are Christians, and that solely individuals with origins overseas may be Muslim. In reality, 13 p.c of grownup Muslims in the usare black People born within the nation.
Totally different causes for sporting a hijab
AP Picture/Carolyn Kaster)
For a lot of different ladies, the scarf has turn out to be a method of resistance to requirements of female magnificence that demand extra publicity. Proponents of this view argue that eradicating clothes for the advantage of the male gaze doesn’t equal liberation.
In accordance with researchers, ladies in hijabs be aware that employers should work together with them based mostly on their {qualifications} somewhat than their look and that, subsequently, the hijab ranges the taking part in area. In Western nations, nonetheless, ladies discover that sporting a head overlaying makes it tougher to get employed.
Lastly, for some ladies, the scarf is a comfort. It might probably scale back feedback from others about ladies being out in public and reduce incidents of harassment on the road and at work.
Regardless of the a number of, sophisticated causes behind sporting a hijab, there are those that routinely assert that ladies who put on a scarf are essentially oppressed.
Examples of hijab-wearing ladies within the authorities, similar to newly elected Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, or athletes similar to Olympian fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, might assist dispel these stereotypes.