yesterday i was at this event called "Hijab for a day"..the event was part of the Islam Awareness Week organized by the MSA..well it was disappointing to see not many people come...and even the MC said the number of people present was not up to MSA's expectation. Well...it came to be that they changed it to a sort of a group discussion...so the panels talked and gave their introductory statements..and the first three were fine...views about how I myself feel about wearing hijab...however, the fourth panel said something different. VERY DIFFERENT. At least in my view.
She said she did a lot of research about why we Muslims had to wear the hijab..and somehow for years after doing the research, she felt from her perspective that there is not any any statement to judge and say firmly that it's compulsory to put on a hijab. WHAT? The shout in my heart almost came out from my mouth. But I managed to calm down a bit and tried to view it positively. POSITIVELY? HOW? Isn't what she said contradictory to the real teachings of ISLAM? definitely YES.
Well as she talked and talked about her experiences, it could be understood that it was quite a challenge for her being brought up in the US having to deal with people pulling off her hijab..making people curious about why she had to wear it. BUT, I don't think there's any way people could just make assumptions to whether it is compulsory or not. It is just so clear that wearing a hijab is COMPULSORY. Honestly, i've seen all these things happen. Sometimes, it is for sure a challenging thing to do especially when you are not in a Muslim country. I myself have gone through such episodes where people are curious to know what's inside the hijab and even have experienced drunk people asking me whether I'm bald. To me, every single part of my everyday life doesn't happen for no reason. I'm sure that Allah has given permission for it to happen. If not, it will never happen. So when I think this way, I take it as a challenge for myself, but at the same time, I know it is probably as a test that Allah wants to give me. I know I'm just talking about having to live here for 4 years compared to her experience living in the US for all her life. BUT, wouldn't it be the greatest sacrifice to do something for the sake of Allah and ignoring how other people view you? Isn't Allah's view towards you the most important thing in this world?
I just can't accept the view. I'm not allowing my pessimism to conquer my rational nature. Neither am I being too closed minded about this thing. To put it in simple words, it is just Allah's Command. Full stop.
How can she say that she feels much more comfortable having times where she wears the hijab. And gladly say that sometimes people would see her without the hijab on campus. How can this on-and-off thing show the function of the hijab? Today she covers and people don't know what the covered parts look like. And tomorrow, she uncovers, letting everyone see her supposed-to-be-covered parts. It just doesn't make sense of how the hijab is supposed to function.
Whatever it is, I hope I'm not the only one feeling this way. I did definitely see a few weird faces after listening to what she had to say. And I hope those weird faces did mean "how could she say this?!" And the worst thing is just the views of non-Muslim people present in the event. Wouldn't they feel that how could all these rules be interpreted differently---even contradictorily and especially about wearing hijab. I know that there will always be a khilaf in almost any rules in Islam...but it doesn't come up to the extent to say that the Quran didn't make wearing the hijab something compulsory. I will inshaAllah be firm with my views and not taking all this as something I should accept just because she's the advisor of the MSA! only Allah knows.
She said she did a lot of research about why we Muslims had to wear the hijab..and somehow for years after doing the research, she felt from her perspective that there is not any any statement to judge and say firmly that it's compulsory to put on a hijab. WHAT? The shout in my heart almost came out from my mouth. But I managed to calm down a bit and tried to view it positively. POSITIVELY? HOW? Isn't what she said contradictory to the real teachings of ISLAM? definitely YES.
Well as she talked and talked about her experiences, it could be understood that it was quite a challenge for her being brought up in the US having to deal with people pulling off her hijab..making people curious about why she had to wear it. BUT, I don't think there's any way people could just make assumptions to whether it is compulsory or not. It is just so clear that wearing a hijab is COMPULSORY. Honestly, i've seen all these things happen. Sometimes, it is for sure a challenging thing to do especially when you are not in a Muslim country. I myself have gone through such episodes where people are curious to know what's inside the hijab and even have experienced drunk people asking me whether I'm bald. To me, every single part of my everyday life doesn't happen for no reason. I'm sure that Allah has given permission for it to happen. If not, it will never happen. So when I think this way, I take it as a challenge for myself, but at the same time, I know it is probably as a test that Allah wants to give me. I know I'm just talking about having to live here for 4 years compared to her experience living in the US for all her life. BUT, wouldn't it be the greatest sacrifice to do something for the sake of Allah and ignoring how other people view you? Isn't Allah's view towards you the most important thing in this world?
I just can't accept the view. I'm not allowing my pessimism to conquer my rational nature. Neither am I being too closed minded about this thing. To put it in simple words, it is just Allah's Command. Full stop.
How can she say that she feels much more comfortable having times where she wears the hijab. And gladly say that sometimes people would see her without the hijab on campus. How can this on-and-off thing show the function of the hijab? Today she covers and people don't know what the covered parts look like. And tomorrow, she uncovers, letting everyone see her supposed-to-be-covered parts. It just doesn't make sense of how the hijab is supposed to function.
Whatever it is, I hope I'm not the only one feeling this way. I did definitely see a few weird faces after listening to what she had to say. And I hope those weird faces did mean "how could she say this?!" And the worst thing is just the views of non-Muslim people present in the event. Wouldn't they feel that how could all these rules be interpreted differently---even contradictorily and especially about wearing hijab. I know that there will always be a khilaf in almost any rules in Islam...but it doesn't come up to the extent to say that the Quran didn't make wearing the hijab something compulsory. I will inshaAllah be firm with my views and not taking all this as something I should accept just because she's the advisor of the MSA! only Allah knows.
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