Hijab: How to wear the Niqab

Hijab Tutorial Video: Kuwaiti Style

Hijab Option for London Policewomen

Hijab Option for London Policewomen

 

London: The Metropolitan Police in London has accepted Hijab as a uniform option for Muslim women serving in the force. The announcement was made  at a conference on the theme of “Protect and Respect: Everybody’s Benefit”. The move is seen as a further sign of official acceptance of Britain as a religiously diverse society where faith-related accommodations should be made for all individuals.

The Muslim media in Britain had argued for accepting Hijab as a uniform option just as the turban was accepted as a part of the uniform for Sikh policemen. Sikh motorcyclists are also allowed to wear a turban in place of a crash helmet. Muslim policewomen will now be allowed to wear headscarf and the ankle length gown. Muslim police officers will now be allowed to pray on duty, demand halal food and have altered meal schedules during Ramadan.

In the above picture two models Shahnaz Shashudin and Syria Hussain are modeling hijab uniform for women police constables in front of New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police.

U.S. School District Changes Dress Code To Allow Hijab

U.S. School District Changes Dress Code To Allow Hijab

 

 

 

Nashala can now attend classes with her Hijab

 

WASHINGTON , May 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Muskogee Public School District in Oklahoma will change its dress code to allow a 12-year-old Muslim girl to wear Hijab after a settlement announced by the Justice Department on Wednesday, May 20.

“This settlement reaffirms the principle that public schools cannot require students to check their faith at the schoolhouse door,” Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for civil rights, was quoted as saying by the CNN.

The government had filed a court complaint in March on behalf of Nashala Hearn, a sixth-grade student in Muskogee ‘s Benjamin Franklin Science Academy .

The girl was suspended twice by the Muskogee Public School District for wearing Hijab twice last year.

The girl and her family said she wore the Hijab as part of her observance of Islam.

Muslim scholars maintain that Hijab is definitely established as obligatory dress code in the Islamic Shariaa.

The school officials claimed the girl’s clothing violated a dress code banning hats and other head coverings.

The justice department charged the district with religious discrimination.

“Such intolerance is un-American, and it is morally despicable,” Acosta countered.

Training Program

“This goes to a broader concern where instances of bias or hate against Muslim Americans will not be tolerated,” said Acosta

The agreement requires the district to implement a training program for all teachers and administrators regarding the amended dress code, publicize the revised policy to students and parents and certify its compliance.

Initial objections were raised by school officials on September 11, 2003 ; exactly two years after the 9-11 attacks, even though Hearn had worn the Hijab for several weeks, Acosta told reporters.

The officials, he said, told her that other students were “frightened” by the Hijab.

“This goes to a broader concern where instances of bias or hate against Muslim Americans will not be tolerated,” Reuters quoted Acosta as saying.

“Fear does not justify violating someone’s religious liberties,” he averred.

The Justice Department received complains for discrimination and hate crimes brought by Arab-Americans and other Muslims after September 11 attacks.

The ninth annual Muslim civil rights report “Unpatriotic Acts,” issued on May 2004 by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), showed an unprecedented increase of 70 percent of anti-Muslim violence over the previous year.

The controversy over the issue of Hijab wearing has not been restricted to the United States .

The French Senate approved on Wednesday, March 3, by a large majority a bill banning hijab in state schools despite mass protests by the five-million-estimated Muslims and human rights groups.

The U.S. officials objected, with one Congressman threatening in February that he would draft resolution condemning the law.

Some 50 other senators signed a letter sent to the French ambassador to express their concerns over the ban.

 

(http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-05/20/article07.shtml)

THE HIJAB: MISCONCIEVED, MISTAKEN, MISUNDERSTOOD

	PART 2So then, why would Muslim women choose to wear the hijab if it is understood to be so oppressive by so many people? What does the hijab represent, what does it mean, and what are the responsibilities that a Muslim woman has in wearing the hijab? Have Islam and the hijab, a simple piece of cloth, liberated or oppressed women? And could there possibly be any benefits in wearing the hijab in today’s modern consumer loving society? Well we spoke to some young Muslim girls who shared their views on the hijab, their experiences and how they feel in the Australian society. But to get the answers to the most important questions asked by so many, all we have to do is look at the basic Islamic sources: the Quran, Holy Book and the Sunnah, traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The hijab is a piece of cloth or material that covers a woman’s head, hair and chest area. A woman with the hijab on must cover her whole body excluding her face and hands. Aisha, the wife of the Muhammad, reported that Asmaa, the daughter of Abu Bakr, came to the Messenger of Allah while wearing thin clothing. He approached her and said: ‘O Asmaa! When a girl reaches the menstrual age, it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this. He pointed to the face and hands.” (Abu Dawood) The word HIJAB means to veil, cover, screen, protect, seclude and obscure. But most importantly, it means ‘barrier’. It can be a barrier that protects and screens off a woman’s body and beauty from men and the public. Why do Muslim women have to wear the hijab? This is the question that everyone asks, and, the answer is simple: because Allah has asked Muslim women to do so. “O people, tell your wives and daughters and the believing women to draw their outer garments around them (when they go out or are among men). That is better in order that they may be known to be Muslims and not annoyed…” (Quran 33:59) Muslim women wear the hijab for modesty, for respect and to fulfill their way of life: Islam. The hijab allows women to be judged on their intellect rather than their appearance. The hijab helps Muslim women to make a statement about their identity, feel dignified, modest and confident. The hijab also limits the way men treat women as ‘sex objects’ and allows them to be treated as ‘equals’. The requirement of wearing the hijab is to cover ones beauty, the hijab covers ones hair, neck and bosom (chest area). The whole body is to be covered except for the face and hands, clothing should be loose, not to show ones body shape; clothes must be thick, not see through; and they should not attract a man’s attention. A Muslim woman’s dress should not imitate that of a man it should be modest: not too fancy, not to ragged, just right. More importantly though, the hijab is not merely the external dress code, it also has an internal facet. The hijab also involves the behaviour, manners, speech, and appearance of a woman in public. The external appearance is just one part of the total being. The hijab is not a restriction, but it is seen as a way in which society will function in a proper, Islamic manner. The hijab has liberated women not oppressed them. It gives women their rights and freedom in society to be treated like a human being not a sex object or a man’s slave. In the past, before Islam and the hijab were introduced to women, women had no rights; they were owned by men for sexual enjoyment and seen as a factory that produces offspring and a devil in human form. When Islam came, women felt liberated and were treated with dignity and respect. Through Islam, women were given equal rights as men and were no longer obliged to the injustices and torture laid on them by the Pre-Islamic world. Why is the hijab so important in today’s society? The hijab allows women to be judged on their personality and mind, as opposed to their looks and appearance. This is an important moral in our society today. The ‘West’ say they give freedom to women, yet why do they have to throw in a women in every commercial and advertisement that has nothing to do with women? In today’s world women are being encouraged to show off their bodies and be proud of their femininity. And yet we know that the majority of designers behind the most dominant fashion names are men. So, women are still being controlled by men and are not apparently equal in today’s society. Today, getting dressed half- naked is seen as ‘girl power’. Is it really, or is it sexism? The ‘West’ argues that women should wear what they please; so then why do they find it so hard to understand why Muslim women choose to wear the hijab? The absurd things people say to girls that wear the hijab… • “Do you go to sleep with it on?” • “Do you take a shower with it on?” • “Does that mean that you are bald underneath?” • “Are you engaged now?” one girl was asked when she put it on in year 7 • “Can your Dad or your brother see your hair?” • “Do you know Osama Bin Laden?” • “Are you a Terrorist?” These are just some of the remarks young Muslim women get from people. Such negative ideas and ignorance on the hijab only alienates Muslim women in the wider society and destroys the willingness to accept and respect each other. It is important for every person to understand the reasons Muslim women choose to wear the hijab and how they feel in the Australian society. By the way, the answers to the above questions would most probably be: no, no, no, no, yes, no, and no! By Fatma Youssef and Amna Elghoul
Click here for Part 1

© Copyright 2003 – Reflections / United Muslim Women Association Inc. – All Rights Reserved

PART 1

The single most controversial issue facing young Muslim women everywhere is the ‘hijab’. The issue of the hijab is surrounded by many myths, misunderstandings and misconceptions, and no doubt this means everyone has an opinion on it.

For some the hijab is considered an act of faith, to others simply an inconvenience. So…what is it about the hijab that makes some smile and others frown and shake their heads with disapproval? How do you feel about the hijab and how much do you really know?

We interviewed a group of twenty 13-18 year olds (male and female) and found out how much they knew and what they really thought, and no doubt some were surprised to find out they really didn’t know much about this greatly misunderstood act of faith.

About the only thing we all agreed upon in the discussion room was that “Muslim women” wear the hijab. For a discussion that lasted an entire hour that really doesn’t say much for our so-called “multi-cultural” society. A sixteen year old female from Sydney says “If people want to look at Australia as being only for white Anglo Saxon Australians, then maybe you should look into it a little more closely and you’ll realise that we white Anglo Saxon “Australians” shouldn’t be here anyway, considering this land belongs to the founders and we should follow their customs and beliefs and not those of Europeans. This would mean that we’d be living as the Indigenous Australians did hunting and gathering and taking from the land only what we needed. The whites took the land unjustly from the Aboriginals anyway. So to put it plainly, we’ve got double standards and it’s not fair to those involved.”

Others had very different views and didn’t think that there was a place for Muslim women in today’s society. A 17 year old male from Sydney says “…I feel it is not appropriate in Australian society and culture (to wear the hijaab). If it is not necessary to wear it, why separate yourself from the community you’re trying to fit into….”

But my fellow Australians, if you remember, we do live in a multi-cultural society and we did decide to abolish the White Australia Policy sometime last century. Remember the Whitlam era. So in fact what you’re saying is that you should not openly express your religion because in this multi-cultural society, where one should be accepted regardless of their skin colour, religion or cultural background, they aren’t going to be because people don’t like the fact that they’re covering their body from undesired attention. I think it is a bit hard to exclude certain people from our society due to their religion and still call ourselves a multi-cultural society, don’t you?

Although there was some negativity towards the hijab there were also some positive attitudes, and I recall a few people saying how they admired a girl who wore the hijab and saw her as being strong for doing so.

Many also said that one of the reasons people disapproved of young women wearing the hijab was because they felt threatened by it, as this is alien to them: “…There are some people in today’s society that feel threatened by difference and this feeling makes them uncomfortable, and so they don’t want to ask questions and find out the truth, they just want to be as far from it (the hijab) as possible….”

This feeling that makes a person uncomfortable is creating a division in our society. Everyone that was asked agreed that the best way to re-unite parts of our community would be to educate them about the hijab and the Islamic religion in general.

The next step however wasn’t such an easy one. We found it was a lot harder to come up with ways to educate people in our society because there are so many people who don’t want to know. There are those arrogant and ignorant members of society who aren’t going to listen to you no matter what you say, and they’re only ever going to hear what they want to hear.

Many also agreed that the media could be deemed responsible for the creation and spreading of some of the misconceptions of the hijab. They thought that certain documentaries, current affair programmes or articles written about the hijab were misleading and this had a negative effect on the girls wearing the hijab, as people don’t understand the reasons behind it.

During our discussion it was suggested that often people saw the wearing of the hijab as a sign of oppression. They said that this was mainly due to the stereotypical images of Muslim women created by the media. However, I don’t want you to mistake what I am saying. Don’t think that I’m saying that every single Muslim woman out there is free. No, certainly not, there is no way I could say this, just like I couldn’t say that every single Christian, Catholic, Jewish or Buddhist woman is free.

The question then came up: ‘is your first impression of a Muslim girl wearing the hijab different to that of a girl not wearing the hijab?’ There were a wide variety of answers, but the one that was said with the most negativity is that a girl wearing the hijab is instantly recognised as being different from everyone else. This then allows people to sub-consciously label her as Muslim, not Black, or White, or Yellow, but Muslim.

But now think about that. Obviously the woman is proud to be a Muslim, for she is wearing the hijab. So maybe it’s not really such a negative thing. In fact for a girl wearing the hijab it’s certainly not a bad thing; it’s probably the biggest compliment you could give her.

Hopefully after reading this article you are now more open to the complexity of the world and the way we human beings think, but also the simplicity of the hijab. This hijab is a simple piece of cloth that a woman wears on her head to show how strong her faith and dedication to God is. Yet, this simple and often very beautiful piece of material would have the ability to cause so much controversy and misunderstanding. Still after all that’s happened, Muslim women continue to wear the hijab which shows that their faith is still strong and their dedication, even stronger. I think that’s saying something, don’t you?

By Mehal Krayem

THE WAY I AM DRESSED

The Way I am Dressed
Posted byAdministrator on Sunday, January 14 @ 12:58:25 EET
Contributed by Anonymous

You look at me and call me oppressed,
Simply because of the way I’m dressed,
You know me not for what’s inside,
You judge the clothing I wear with pride,

My body’s not for your eyes to hold,
You must speak to my mind, not my feminine mold,

I’m an individual, I’m no mans slave,
It’s Allah’s pleasure that I only crave,
I have a voice so I will be heard,
For in my heart I carry His word,

“O ye women, wrap close your cloak,
So you won’t be bothered by ignorant folk”,
Man doesn’t tell me to dress this way,
It’s a Law from God that I obey,

Oppressed is something I’m truly NOT,
For liberation is what I’ve got,
It was given to me many years ago,
With the right to prosper, the right to grow,

I can climb mountains or cross the seas,
Expand my mind in all degrees,
For God Himself gave us LIB-ER-TY,
When He sent Islam,
To You and Me!

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE