Modesty and chastity, very important ideologies with Islam, are achieved by
prescribing standards on behavior and the dress of a Muslim. A woman who adheres
to the tenements of Islam is required to follow the dress code called Hijab,
other synonyms are Veil, Purdah, or just Covering. It is an act of faith and
establishes a Muslim's life with honor, respect and dignity. The Hijab is viewed
as a liberation for women, in that the covering brings about "an aura of
respect" and women are recognized as individuals who are admired for their mind
and personality, "not for their beauty or lack of it" and not as sex objects.
Contrary to popular belief, the covering of the Muslim woman is not oppression
but a liberation from the shackles of male scrutiny and the standards of
attractiveness. In Islam, a woman is free to be who she is inside, and immuned
from being portrayed as sex symbol and lusted after. Islam exalts the status of
a woman by commanding that she "enjoys equal rights to those of man in
everything, she stands on an equal footing with man" and both share mutual
rights and obligations in all aspects of life.
Men and women though equal are not identical, and each compliments the other in
the different roles and functions that they are responsible to. "From an Islamic
perspective, to view a woman as a sex symbol is to denigrate her. Islam believes
that a woman is to be judged by her [virtuous] character and actions rather than
by her looks or physical features". In the article, "My Body Is My Own
Business", Ms. Naheed Mustafa , a young Canadian born and raised,
university-educated Muslim woman writes, "The Quran [which is the Holy Book for
Muslims] teaches us that men and women are equal, that individuals should not be
judged according to gender, beauty, wealth or privilege. The only thing that
makes one person better than another is his or her character." She goes on to
say, "In the Western world, the hijab has come to symbolize either forced
silence or radical, unconscionable militancy. Actually, it’s neither. It is
simply a woman's assertion that judgement of her physical person is to play no
role whatsoever in social interaction."
Muslims believe that God gave beauty to all women, but that her beauty is not be
seen by the world, as if the women are meat on the shelf to be picked and looked
over. When she covers herself she puts herself on a higher level and men will
look at her with respect and she is noticed for her intellect, faith and
personality, not for her beauty. In many societies, especially in the West,
women are taught from early childhood that their worth is proportional to their
attractiveness and are compelled to follow the male standards of beauty and
abstract notions of what is attractive, half realizing that such pursuit is
futile and often humiliating.
Chastity, modesty, and piety are promoted by the institution of veiling. "The
hijab in no way prevents a woman from playing her role as an important
individual in a society nor does it make her inferior."
A Muslim woman may wear whatever she pleases in the presence of her husband and
family or among women friends. But when she goes out or when men other than her
husband or close family are present she is expected to wear a dress which will
cover [her hair and] all parts of her body, and not reveal her figure. What a
contrast with Western fashions which every year concentrate quite intentionally
on exposing yet another erogenous zone to the public gaze! The intention of
Western dress is to reveal the figure, while the intention of Muslim dress is to
conceal [and cover] it, at least in public.
The Muslim woman does not feel the pressures to be beautiful or attractive,
which is so apparent in the Western and Eastern cultures. She does not have to
live up to expectations of what is desirable and what is not. Superficial beauty
is not the Muslim woman's concern, her main goal is inner spiritual beauty. She
does not have to use her body and charms to get recognition or acceptance in
society. It is very different from the cruel methods that other societies
subject women, in that their worth is always judged by their physical
appearance. There are numerous examples of discrimination at the workplace where
women are either accepted or rejected, because of their attractiveness and sex
appeal.
Another benefit of adorning the veil is that it is a protection for women.
Muslims believe that when women display their beauty to everybody, they degrade
themselves by becoming objects of sexual desire and become vulnerable to men,
who look at them as "gratification for the sexual urge". The Hijab makes them
out as women belonging to the class of modest chaste women, so that
transgressors and sensual men may recognize them as such and dare not tease them
out of mischief". Hijab solves the problem of sexual harassment and unwanted
sexual advances, which is so demeaning for women, when men get mixed signals and
believe that women want their advances by the way they reveal their bodies.
The western ideology of, ‘if you have it, you should flash it!’ is quite
opposite to the Islamic principle, where the purpose is not to bring attention
to ones self, but to be modest. Women in so many societies are just treated as
sex symbols and nothing more than just a body who "display themselves to get
attention". A good example is in advertising, where a woman's body is used to
sell products. Women are constantly degraded, and subjected to reveal more and
more of themselves.
The Covering sanctifies her and forces society to hold her in high esteem. Far
from humiliating the woman, Hijab actually grants the woman an aura of respect,
and bestows upon her a separate and unique identity. According to the Qu'ran,
the same high standards of moral conduct are for men as it is for women. Modesty
is essential in a man's life, as well, whether it be in action, morals or
speech. Islam also commands proper behavior and dress of men, in that they are
not allowed to make a wanton show of their bodies to attract attention onto
themselves, and they too must dress modestly. They have a special commandment to
lower their eyes, and not to brazenly stare at women.
In Sura Nur of the Holy Qu'ran it says, "Say to the believing men that they
should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater
purity for them, and God is well acquainted with what they do". Many of the
misconceptions of the Muslim woman in the west, particularly her veil stems from
Arab and Muslim countries that have deviated from the true doctrines of Islam,
and have " mixed up Islamic principles with pre-Islamic pagan traditions"
In this present period of decline from Islam, many Muslim women are alienated ,
isolated from social life, and are oppressed by Muslim men and rulers who use
the name of religion for their injustices. In this instance, the Hijab is used
as a means of keeping many Muslim women away from society, with the
misconception that it signifies isolation and weakness. But as many Muslim women
come back into the fold of the untainted and true Islam, they are able to
recognize the injustice of men who have for so long stripped them of their
rights to be an integral part of society and "deserving the same dignity, honor,
progress and prosperity as the men". Women regaining their true identity and
role in society, are now wearing Hijab and embracing its concept of liberation
for women, and are taking their rightful places that Islam had endowed upon them
fourteen hundred years ago.
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