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The Islamic Bulletin
Volume XX No. 26
Page 11
Business Suit
There is an excessive, almost irritating concentration or focus
on the issue of Muslim women’s dress particularly by men
(both Muslim and non-Muslim).
Yes, it is an obligation for Muslim women to dress modestly
but, in addition, there are many other important issues which
concern Muslim women today.
And yet everyone obsesses over the hijab. Look, it is part of
my business suit. This tells you I am a Muslim and therefore I
expect to be treated with respect. Can you imagine if some-
one told a Wall Street executive or Washington banker to put
on a t-shirt and jeans? He would tell you his business suit
defines him during work hours, marks him out to be treated
seriously.
And yet in Britain we have had the former Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw describing the nikab — the face veil revealing only
the eyes — as an unwelcome barrier. When, oh when, will
men learn to keep their mouths shut over a woman’s ward-
robe?
We also had Government Ministers Gordon Brown and John
Reid express disparaging remarks about the nikab — both
these men come from over the Scottish Borders where men
wear skirts!!
Then we had a series of other parliamentarians enter the fray
describing the nikab as a barrier for communication. What a
load of nonsense. If this was the case can anyone explain to
me why cell phones, landlines, e-mails, text messaging, and
fax machines are in daily use? Who listens to the radio? No
one switches off the wireless because they cannot see the face
of the presenter.
The majority of sisters I know who choose to wear the nikab
are actually white, Western reverts who no longer want the
unwelcome attention of those few leering men who will try and
confront females and launch into inappropriate behavior.
Mind you, there are a couple of London sisters I know who say
they wear the nikab at anti-war marches because they can’t
stand the smell of spliffs.
Last Refuge
I am afraid Islamophobia has become the last refuge of the
racist scoundrel. But the cowardly, chauvinistic attacks
launched — largely by men — are unacceptable to Muslimahs
as well as their secular, female sisters from the left.
I was a feminist for many years and now, as an Islamic
feminist, I still promote women’s rights. The only difference is
Muslim feminists are more radical than their secular counter-
parts. We all hate those ghastly beauty pageants, and tried to
stop laughing when the emergence of Miss Afghanistan in
bikini was hailed as a giant leap for women’s liberation in
Afghanistan.
I’ve been back to Afghanistan many times and I can tell you
there are no career women emerging from the rubble in
Kabul. My Afghan sisters say they wish the West would drop
its obsession with the bhurka. “Don’t try turning me into a
career woman, get my husband a job first. Show me how I can
send my children to school without fear of them being kid-
napped. Give me security and bread on the table,” one sister
told me.
Young feminist Muslimahs see the hijab and the nikab as
political symbols as well as a religious requirement. Some
say it is their way of showing the world they reject the excesses
of Western lifestyles such as binge drinking, casual sex, drug-
taking, etc.
Superiority in Islam is accomplished through piety, not
beauty, wealth, power, position or sex.
Liberation of Islam
Now you tell me what is more liberating. Being judged on the
length of your skirt and the size of your cosmetically enhanced
breasts, or being judged on your character, mind, and intelli-
gence?
Glossy magazines tell us as women that unless we are tall,
slim, and beautiful we will be unloved and unwanted. The
pressure on teenage magazine readers to have a boyfriend is
almost obscene.
Islam tells me that I have a right to an education and it is my
duty to go out and seek knowledge whether I am single or
married.
Nowhere in the framework of Islam are we told as women that
we must do washing, cleaning, or cooking for men — but it is
not just Muslim men who need to re-evaluate women in their
home. Check out this 1992 exerpt from a Pat Robertson
speech revealing his views on empowered women. And then
you tell me who is civilized and who is not. He said, “FEMI-
NISM ENCOURAGES WOMEN TO LEAVE THEIR HUSBANDS,
KILL THEIR CHILDREN, PRACTICE WITCHCRAFT, DESTROY
CAPITALISM AND BECOME LESBIANS.”
Here is an American man living in a pre-Islamic age who
needs to modernize and civilize. People like him are wearing
a veil and we need to tear that veil of bigotry away so people
can see Islam for what it is.
Money can buy a lot of things, but it cannot buy the most
important things…
Money can buy hair dye..................................but not youth.
Money can buy medicine ..............................but not health.
Money can buy entertainment...................but not happiness.
Money can buy a watch....................................but not time.
Money can buy food..............................but not satisfaction.
Money can buy a soft bed...........but not sleep and comfort.
Money can buy spectacles.................................but not sight.
Money can buy books..............................but not knowledge.
Money can buy many
things of the world .
But in the Hereafter…
it will be of no value.
Wealth and children are [but] adornment
of the worldly life. But the enduring good
deeds are better to your Lord for reward
and better for
[
ONE
’
S
]
HOPE
.
(Q
URAN
18:46)