Islamic law (Sharia) requires women to cover themselves. The practical application in modern Muslim countries varies with a combination of individual taste and social expectation. The Taliban actually require full burqas (covering everything including a mesh for the eyes), while the formerly secular governments of Turkey and Tunisia actually banned headscarves in public buildings (the bans have since been lifted following the Islamist ascension). The head covering is interpreted as a symbol of male domination by most critics and by many Muslim women who fight for the right to dress as they please. In December of 2007, a father in Canada beat his 16-year-old daughter to death for refusing to wear the hijab (headscarf). Some insist that the veil is not mandated by the religion, although they do not have anything within the sacred texts to counter the passages in which Muhammad instructed its use. In fact, verse 24:60 says that the veil is only optional for unmarried women who are too old to have children, and even then the freedom to uncover the head is discouraged. CAIRs Jamal Badawi, often held up as a moderate Muslim scholar, insists that the hijab is a command of Allah to Muslim women and should be the duty of the state to enforce it. Some women do wear the hijab by choice, but it is impossible to say what percentage, since the pressure to cover ones head can be either subtle or pronounced. In 2011, an imam at a supposedly moderate mosque in Sammamish, Washington claimed that Muslim wives wear the hijab because they want to, but then stated that they may be punished if they refuse. In Pakistan, uncovered women are routinely attacked with acid. In Iran, Basij fundamentalists have raped and killed dress code violators. Clerics, such as Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, have said that unveiled victims of public rape invited their attackers: If I came across a rape crime – kidnap and violation of honour – I would discipline the man and order that the woman be arrested and jailed for life. Why would you do this, Rafihi? He says because if she had not left the meat uncovered, the cat wouldnt have snatched it... If you take uncovered meat and put it on the street, on the pavement, in a garden, in a park or in the backyard, without a cover and the cats eat it, is it the fault of the cat or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem. In keeping with this theme, Muslim rapists in the West have been known to credit their motivation to the victims choice of dress (one such example being from Australia in 2011). It is somewhat obvious that many women rely on the veil for for protection against unwanted male attention. Even non-Muslim residents and Western visitors to the Islamic world often find it necessary to cover themselves so as to avoid the harassment of Muslim men on the street. Veils and burqas are becoming more common in Muslim countries with the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism. In the West, they are gradually becoming a chic statement of political protest or a symbol of distinction.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:00:00 +0000
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