Dan’s thinking box….

A
convesation for Muslim sisters:

"I’m so
tired."

"Tired
of what?"

"Of all
these people judging me."

"Who
judged you?"

"Like
that woman, every time I sit with her, she tells me to wear hijab."

"Oh,
hijab and music! The mother of all topics!"

"Yeah!
I listen to music without hijab…haha!"

"Maybe
she was just giving you advice."

"I
don’t need her advice. I know my religion. Can`t she mind her own
business?"

"Maybe
you misunderstood. She was just being nice."

"Keeping
out of my business, that would be nice…"

"But
it’s her duty to encourage you do to good."

"Trust
me. That was no encouragement. And what do you mean `good` ?"

"Well,
wearing hijab, that would be a good thing to do."

"Says
who?"

"It’s
in the Qur’an, isn’t it?"

"Yes.
She did quote me something."

"She
said Surah Nur, and other places of the Qur’an."

"Yes,
but it’s not a big sin anyway. Helping people and praying is more
important."

"True.
But big things start with small things."

"That’s
a good point, but what you wear is not important. What’s important
is to have a good healthy heart."

"What
you wear is not important?"

"That’s
what I said."

"Then
why do you spend an hour every morning fixing up?"

"What
do you mean?"

"You
spend money on cosmetics, not to mention all the time you spend on
fixing your hair and
low-carb dieting."

"So?"

"So,
your appearance IS important."

"No. I
said wearing hijab is not an important thing in religion."

"If
it’s not an important thing in religion, why is it mentioned in the Holy
Qur’an?"

"You
know I can’t follow all that’s in Qur’an."

"You
mean God tells you something to do, you disobey and then it’s OK?"

"Yes.
God is forgiving."

"God
is forgiving to those who repent and do not repeat their mistakes."

"Says
who?"

"Says
the same book that tells you to cover."

"But I
don’t like hijab, it limits my freedom."

"But
the lotions, lipsticks, mascara and other cosmetics set you free?!
What`s your definition of
freedom anyway?"

"Freedom
is in doing whatever you like to do."

"No.
Freedom is in doing the right thing, not in doing whatever we wish to do."

"Look!
I’ve seen so many people who don’t wear hijab and are nice people, and so many
who wear hijab and are bad people."

"So
what? There are people who are nice to you but are alcoholic. Should we all be
alcoholics? You made a stupid point."

"I
don’t want to be an extremist or a fanatic. I’m OK the way I am without
hijab."

"Then
you are a secular fanatic. An extremist in disobeying God."

"You
don’t get it, if I wear hijab, who would marry me?!"

"So
all these people with hijab never get married?!"

"Okay!
What if I get married and my husband doesn’t like it? And wants me to remove
it?"

"What
if your husband wants you to go out with him on a bank robbery?!"

"That’s
irrelevant, bank robbery is a crime."

"Disobeying
your Creator is not a crime?"

"But
then who would hire me?"

"A
company that respects people for who they are."

"Not
after 9-11"

"Yes.
After 9-11. Don’t you know about Hanan who just got into med school?
And the other one, what was
her name, the girl who always wore a white hijab…ummm…"

"Yasmeen?"

"Yes.
Yasmeen. She just finished her MBA and is now interning for GE."

"Why do
you reduce religion to a piece of cloth anyway?"

"Why
do you reduce womanhood to high heals and lipstick colors?"

"You
didn’t answer my question."

"In
fact, I did. Hijab is not just a piece of cloth. It is obeying God in a
difficult environment. It is courage, faith in action, and true womanhood.
But your short sleeves,
tight pants…"

"That’s
called `fashion`, you live in a cave or
something? First of all, hijab was founded by men who wanted to control
women."

"Really?
I did not know men could control women by hijab."

"Yes.
That’s what it is."

"What
about the women who fight their husbands to wear hijab? And women in France who
are forced to remove their hijab by men? What do you say about that?"

"Well,
that’s different."

"What
difference? The woman who asked you to wear hijab…she was a woman, right?"

"Right,
but…"

"But
fashions that are designed and promoted by male-dominated corporations, set you
free? Men have no control on exposing women and using them as a commodity?!
Give me a break!"

"Wait,
let me finish, I was saying…"

"Saying
what? You think that men control women by hijab?"

"Yes."

"Specifically
how?"

"By
telling women how and what to wear, dummy!"

"Doesn’t
TV, magazines and movies tell you what to wear, and how to be
`attractive’?"

"Of
course, it’s fashion."

"Isn’t
that control? Pressuring you to wear what they want you to wear?"

[Silence]

"Not
just controlling you, but also controlling the market."

"What
do you mean?"

"I
mean, you are told to look skinny and anorexic like that woman on the cover of
the magazine, by men who design those magazines and sell those products."

"I
don’t get it. What does hijab have to do with products."

"It
has everything to do with that. Don’t you see? Hijab is a threat to
consumerism, women who spend billions of dollars to look skinny and live by
standards of fashion designed by men…and then here is Islam, saying trash all that
nonsense and focus on your soul, not on your looks, and do not worry what men
think of your looks."

"Like I
don’t have to buy hijab? Isn’t hijab a product?"

"Yes,
it is. It is a product that sets you free from male-dominated
consumerism."

"Stop
lecturing me! I WILL NOT
WEAR HIJAB!
It is awkward, outdated, and totally not suitable for this society …
Moreover, I am only 20 and too young to wear hijab!"

"Fine.
Say that to your Lord, when you face Him on Judgment Day."

"Fine."

"Fine."

[Silence]

"Shut
up and I don’t want to hear more about hijab niqab schmijab Punjab!"

[Silence]

She
stared at the mirror, tired of arguing with herself all this time.

Successful
enough, she managed to shut the voices in her head, with her own opinions
triumphant in victory on the matter, and a final modern decision accepted by
the society - but rejected by the Faith:

"Yes!" - to curls on the
hair - "No!"
- to hijab!

"And
he (/she) is indeed a failure who corrupts it [the soul]!"
[Holy Quran 91:10]

Subhana’Allah!!!

"Nay!
You prefer the life of this world; While the hereafter is better and more
lasting."
[Holy Quran: 87:16-17]

"You are the best community (Ummah)
raised up for (the benefit of) humanity; enjoining what is right and forbidding
what is wrong and believing in Allah."
[Holy Quran: 3:110]

Author: A.Q. Alidost

This entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.