Muslim Women: Hijab, Niqab or Nothing

[eots]

western fashion and body image brainwash and control woman more than a head scarf alone does..

 

[Anguille]

Men in Islamic countries respect a woman who is covered.

Is that why in Turkey it is against the law for a woman to wear a head scarf in government buildings, including till last Feb, universities?

Such crap about scarves and respect.

 

[Sunni Man]

Is that why in Turkey it is against the law for a woman to wear a head scarf in government buildings, including till last Feb, universities?

Turkey is a secular country trying to imitate the West.

The government and the Army hate Islam.

The people want Islam. So there is a contest of wills going on in Turkey.

 

[Sunni Man]

Such crap about scarves and respect.

Why do you say that?

 

[catzmeow]

I have a question for the women who have posted on this thread...do you ever have an anger response when you see women in the hijab?

I do. I wonder why women would allow someone else to put them into a position where they must hide their hair, face, arms from the world, and believe that God wants this from them.

I have a hard time understanding why people believe God is so inhumane.

 

[Sunni Man]

I have a question for the women who have posted on this thread...do you ever have an anger response when you see women in the hijab?

I do. I wonder why women would allow someone else to put them into a position where they must hide their hair, face, arms from the world, and believe that God wants this from them.

I have a hard time understanding why people believe God is so inhumane.

Wearing a scarf is inhumane??

 

[Smilebong]

SunniMan, Thank you for building a bridge to the 7th century.

That's how Mooslems roll.

 

[Esmeralda]

Do you prefer that your women make themselves as plain as possible by not wearing makeup or pretty eye glasses or contacts, too? I don't get that.

Whatever the video is, I'm not getting it, so I don't know what it says. However, I have spent nearly 7 years of my life living and working in Muslim countries and have traveled in others and know and have worked with women from quite a few Muslim countries.

One thing to understand is that covering is very much a cultural issue, that is, it varies from country to country; it also varies from family to family, depending on how religious or strict your family is. I have known many Muslim women who do not cover at all but dress just like Western women and pride themselves on being very fashionable. I have known women who cover completely in the general public but do not do so in private and in the company of only women. It varies considerably from one end of the spectrum to the other depending on the country, the family, or the individual woman's very personal choice.

 

[Esmeralda]

Also, I would like to take up a collection to get that first woman's brows waxed. She looks like caterpillars are eating her face.

There are also women in Western countries who have heavy eyebrows. This has nothing to do with being Muslim. Nearly all of the Muslim women I have known were very particular about how they took care of themselves and were careful about makeup and hair, even if their hair was covered.

 

[Esmeralda]

I have a question for the women who have posted on this thread...do you ever have an anger response when you see women in the hijab?

I do. I wonder why women would allow someone else to put them into a position where they must hide their hair, face, arms from the world, and believe that God wants this from them.

I have a hard time understanding why people believe God is so inhumane.

I used to think they were stupid, before I lived amongst them, now I understand it quite differently. Let me make it clear, I have worked directly and for long periods of time with Muslim women, those who cover and those who don't. The variation in dress is substantial because they come from a variety of Muslim countries. Those who cover completely are ver strict religiously, but not all Muslim women are so strict. Also, those who cover completely are from Middle Eastern countries. It is very much a cultural issue of dress as much as a religious issue. It is their belief and they have a right to their beliefs, just as you do. They have a right to their choice of dress, just as much as you do.

 

[Esmeralda]

Is that why in Turkey it is against the law for a woman to wear a head scarf in government buildings, including till last Feb, universities?

Turkey is a secular country trying to imitate the West.

The government and the Army hate Islam.

The people want Islam. So there is a contest of wills going on in Turkey.

I lived in Turkey for 2 years and worked with Turkish women and men. Turkey is a secular country. They are not trying to imitate the West. The Turkish people I knew were proud to have a secular government and to be modern and democratic. The women were especially happy to be modern women with an equal place in society and the right to vote, etc. (Women in other Muslim countries also vote.) It is against the law for anyone to wear religious clothing or insignia in any government building in Turkey. Or it was when I was there. Some things may have changed (it's been 9 years since I lived there) because the government is leaning toward a less secular approach, but the majority of Turks are not in favor of it being a religious country. I would strongly disagree with the statement that "the people want Islam." My experience is that they want to retain Ataturk's vision of a secular country. He is the founder and original leader of modern day Turkey.

In Turkey, most women don't cover, or only in part. I rarely saw such a thing as an abaya, but I didn't visit Eastern Turkey. I understand they are more fundamental and strict in the East. I was on the west coast and in Istanbul. Istanbul is very mixed and there are women who cover completely to women who don't cover at all. If you had seen the news footage of the protests last winter, you would see that all the women in the protests were dressed like Western women. In all the areas I traveled in Western Turkey, most women did not cover. The women I worked with and knew as friends did not cover. Again, it is a cultural thing, a personal thing, a family thing...the choice for each Muslim woman to cover or not or how much she covers. Maybe just a long skirt and a scarf, maybe the abaya and a scarf, or maybe the abaya, scarf and veil.

 

[Gracie]

I miss Sunni. He and I did not agree on many things, but Sunni the man, I liked a lot.

 

[Smilebong]

I miss Sunni. He and I did not agree on many things, but Sunni the man, I liked a lot.

He is back.

 

[Esmeralda]

western fashion and body image brainwash and control woman more than a head scarf alone does..

This is very, very true. I find it incredibly sad that women in the West feel the need to do so much cosmetic surgery, to disfigure their bodies with tatoos, etc. Western women are very much brainwashed about how they should look and do incredibly dangerous and invasive things to their bodies in order to look a certain way and fit in with what they perceive to be the Western ideal of beauty.

 

[Sunni Man]

 

[Esmeralda]

It is a matter of perspective.

 

[Sunni Man]

That's the way I see it......

 

[Gracie]

Actually, there is a point in that cartoon. Just don't know if I can express it intelligently enough. So I won't bother. Except to say yeah...the perspective is there is nothing to the imagination in some western apparel and those that wear less ARE doing it for the eye candy of others, otherwise...no attention.
So yeah. Perspective.

 

[Tresha91203]

I have a question for the women who have posted on this thread...do you ever have an anger response when you see women in the hijab?

I do. I wonder why women would allow someone else to put them into a position where they must hide their hair, face, arms from the world, and believe that God wants this from them.

I have a hard time understanding why people believe God is so inhumane.

Meh. I prefer modest dress to miniskirts, vulgar cutouts and stripper shoes as normal everyday clothes, including courthouses. I find it disrespectful and demeaning unless you are actually a stripper or out clubbing looking to score.

This is America, though, and they have the right to show as much skin as they can get away with as long as they remain within the law. Likewise, they have the right to wear hijabs or headscarves ... or even burkas if they choose in America.

The moment they choose NOT to cover their hair, they have that right in America. Anyone who harms her or threatens harm to her should be met with our law enforcement officers. Threats, intimidation and violence are illegal here, even if one uses them for what they perceive to be the right reasons. Those who intend to control a woman (who has equal protection under our laws) by those means should choose a destination more suitable to their desires.

 

[Esmeralda]

Sunni Man Wrote:

Men in Islamic countries respect a woman who is covered.

An uncovered woman is basically advertizing herself.

And herein lies the truth...and the myth behind the statement "its just between a woman and God."

A woman in Muslim areas MUST be covered or she will not be respected by the men around her, who believe her to be "advertising herself." Therefore...a woman does not cover herself for God - although that might be what she tells herself to keep herself from becoming scared or angry about the culture in which she lives...she covers herself so that men - who have set themselves up as above women in this culture...do not hurt or malign her.

You may feel that this is ok, or proper. That is your right - just so long as your beliefs do not end up hurting other people or giving others an excuse to hurt other people. And it is my right to take issue with this, and other parts of your religion...just as I take part with the Christians who hold beliefs that I feel are damaging or harmful to others.

It is not true that a Muslim woman who is not covered is not respected by men. I have lived in 3 different Muslim countries, working with and socializing with Muslim women and men. It depends on the country whether or not a women who covers is respected. It is a cultural thing, not an Islamic thing. Most of the women I've associated with do not cover or only wear a scarf. They were universally treated with respect by the men in those countries. It depends on what country it is. Not all Muslim countries have the same values. This is a cultural thing, not an Islamic thing.

The same type of thing applies in Christianity. In some countries, even today, a woman being a virgin when she marries is highly prized. In most other Christian countries it is not important. In some Muslim countries, covering is highly important, in most other Muslim countries it is not important.