Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The ban on Burqa

http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/opinion/the-burqa-ban-debate/20100520-vm3h.html

Australia is the latest country to join in the western outcry of ban against Burqa. Burqa is the attire conservative/staunch Muslim women wear when they go out in public. The idea is to protect themselves from unwanted attention and let them feel secure in the outside world. This may seem ridiculous to many people but that is their cultural value. Unlike the popular misconception that it is a means of oppressing women, it is actually something that dignifies a woman in the Islamic society.

I agree with the lawyer in the video, that if the real concern is about the oppression of women then the concern has to be shown in a manner that shows intention of understanding the values behind it. In Islam, women are considered precious. A woman is allowed to dress as she pleases, adorn herself and satisfy her vanity but only in front of people that matter- her husband and her family. While the Burqa is more of a cultural significance, the colour, shape, cut varying in different countries the basic ruling is to dress modestly. The idea is that a woman should value her own dignity and present herself in a manner that befits a lady of high morale and character. By adorning the burqa, the Muslim woman exercises her right to dress according to her religious and cultural values. She feels safe and protected. Not to mention the convenience of a Burqa. A quick  slip-in and she is ready to go anywhere without much worry of how her hair look like or what kind of dress or shoes she is wearing.

For the clarity of my non-Muslim readers I would just like to mention that while Islam specifies modest, loose clothing that covers a woman's body and hides her curves.  There is no specification of the need to cover the face.  This is something that has evolved with time by religious groups who feel they want to prevent any kind of interaction with males and decide to cover their face as well. This is again a cultural and social phenomenon. Although a headcover is recommended as hair are seen to be the most attractive feature of a woman. Mostly, burqas, veils and hijaabs are also an emulation of the way the prophet's wives dressed and it is a way to show their love for these ladies.

Also, many modern Muslim women adorn the head scarf with western clothing as it is symbolic of their religion. Hence, even in the Islamic world you will find variations. There are also many Muslim women like me who neither wear the hijaab or the burqa, because I feel I dress modestly and can carry myself with dignity without these accessories. Although as a Muslim, I feel it would be better if I start the 'purdah'. Purdah is the concept of totally hiding yourself from the view of other Males. But, so far I have not felt that need to exclude myself in this way and find it more practical to dress like an average person who draws no attention.

Maybe the black burqas stir some kind of fear in the mind of the ignorant, but just remember this woman is only exercising her right to dress as she feels like it. It's not fair to judge anyone by your own moral standards. If the west believe in 'Flaunting it if you have got it' most of the Muslim women believe flaunting only leads to more social evils and they are happy to maintain their decorum and only share their beauty with people who matter. I actually find it quite ironic that the 'headscarf' draws so much criticism and outcry. I wonder why these people do not point fingers at the attire of nuns in the Catholic church, whose attire is very much like a burqa- A nuns dress is also loose clothing that covers them from head to toe.

The burqa should not be seen as a symbol of Islamic extremism. I feel Islam is becoming synonymous with paranoi in the western minds. For this, I take some responsibility and apologize for the heinous acts performed by a small group of morons in the name of Islam. These people are not only enemies of non-muslims but also a big scar on the face of Islam.

I would also like to plead to the western media to stop exploiting issues by presenting only half truths. Its important to see both sides of the coin before passing any judgements.

For any other clarifications, feel free to post your questions here. Although I am no Muslim cleric I will try to give you a balanced view of the peaceful Muslim majority.

9 comments:

  1. Well Written, As a Muslim woman myself, I could not have penned it better. I always fill I have to defend or justify myself (being a muslim)

    Believe it or not, I also have to defend and justify myself to muslims why I don't wear the Hijab, especially to women. You just can't win.

    Religion is a personal relationship between you and God,I have god planted in my heart. I don't need to wear a hijab to prove that.

    Women who do wear a Hijab, dont need to justify why they wear it either.

    I just wish, people of races and religion can realise that at the end of the day, we are all creations of God to do good to eachother, to nature and to God himself.

    Susie

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  2. Thanks for your comment Susie. Yes, I agree religion is a personal thing.

    The problem is that 'Islamophobia' seems to have taken over the western world and it has become increasingly difficult to keep your stance in a world that holds 'Freedom of speech' and 'Freedom of Expression' so dear. I find this attitude discriminatory and judgemental.

    We need to learn to co-exist with mutual respect and tolerance. To a large extent, we are all products of social conditioning. Hence, we may not necessarily see things eye to eye..but we can learn to be respectful and learn to live and let live.

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  3. Hi Sha,

    What an excellent piece. As a white, western male, I've felt conflicted about burqas for a long time and it's only recently that I've been able to begin to articulate my own stance on them and this blog has really helped to confirm my own attitude.
    Before I go on sounding too judgemental, my opinion is just that: my own opinion. It's only good for me individually and useless and unwanted elsewhere. If someone wants to wear something (say something, believe something, etc), that's their own business, not mine. Again, this piece has definitely helped to clarify my thinking - thanks.

    I wrote a small piece on my own blog a few weeks ago on this (http://franzy-writing.blogspot.com/2010/05/burqas-priests-collars-skull-caps-and.html)

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  4. Thanks for visiting my blog Franzy. I am pleased to know you found it useful. If I can reach out to a few people I feel I have met the objective of this write-up.

    I feel we all have a right to have opinions, we should infact be opinionated as that reflects we have a thinking mind and a feeling heart. For me, opinion of each individual is valuable. I may not agree, but that's alright I only endeavour to understand if I can and if I can't understand it I choose to respect the view as long as it does not cause harm to anyone.

    I visited your blog and found your article interesting. I can see you may not like the veil, but you stand up for principle- the basic right to express oneself. dress oneself as you choose. That is exactly what we all need.

    Keep visiting Sha's place :)

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  5. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/blogs/ask-sam/what-has-happened-to-female-empowerment/20100721-10kbi.html?posted=sucessful

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  6. Thank you so much for your post!
    I learned a lot.
    Yes, I think the issue is mainly cultural. Here in the US, I can walk down the street alone and will not be forced into conversations with strangers. I once posted a photo on Facebook, where I was wearing a floor-length dress on my way to a Christmas party.

    Oh my goodness! While my American friends posted comments like "Nice dress!" or "You look so pretty!" some of my international friends took things a bit too far. I do not like being told I am "sexy" or "hot" by some guy who barely knows me. I think one or two poor misguided souls even offered to marry me -- based on one photo!

    After this experience, I understood why women might want to wear a burqa. "Don't judge me by what I look like, treat me like a PERSON!" For about 3 weeks, I made my profile pic one of my drawings -- it was a way to protect myself, and to go inside myself and reclaim who I am. (By the way, I deleted every person who made a disrespectful comment.)

    Like many people in Europe and the US, I have been taught that the burqa is "oppressive" and it is "forced upon women". Thank you Sha for sharing your valuable perspective with us all. You have opened my mind!

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  7. Thanks for your comments Sadia.

    It really is all about cultural conditioning. We grow up with a certain mindset and form natural biases based on our own observations and generally lack of understanding. Discourse and Dialogue is very important.

    I totally understand what you mean by comments from 'misguided souls'. Such people only show their lack of civilised interaction with the opposite sex and many times are testing their own negative biases.

    Burqa was introduced as a means to protect women, nothing to do with oppression.

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  8. I think even religion needs to move with the time, those who want to wear this can and those who do not want to in today's world be allowed to and not be viewed unislamic. It might be your culture , in your country and we respect that. However this is our country and you need to adapt to what we do here. We really do think that the way we Australians accept everyone here, you should accept certain things as a norm of this society. Now don't get me wrong ,I am not against Muslims or burqa my point is about adaptation.

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  9. Definitely Australia is a very accepting society and I pesonally believe one needs to adapt and change according to the place you live in. But this adaptation can only be to a certain extent. Covering yourself decently is a very important part of the Muslim faith. As you said people should be allowed to wear what they like, I think that is the stance we need to take as long as it does not cause any harm to anyone or impede in the execution of justice.

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