Moonlight, clearly you're an intelligent and rational person, so working off sheer emotion is not going to work with you
I'm a Muslim woman who wears the headscarf, and I'm curious as to why you chose Irshad Manji to represent the views of Muslim women. I'm equally curious as to why you find the headscarf to be repressive.
Irshad Manji presents a warped version of Islam. I'm not alone in this view, as far as the Muslim community is concerned. Her suggestion that Muslim women have been culturally conditioned into wearing the headscarf is absurd. Culture often contradicts religion e.g. female genital mutilation has no bearing at all in Islam. Her being homosexual is also problematic, because someone who has violated a cardinal rule in Islam should not be picked as a voice for Muslim women and youth. I am bewildered by Irshad's 'experiences' with Muslim youth who try to deviate from the Islamic norm....what kind of deviation is she referring to? Islam is a faith for all ages, and it's not there to be reformed by any random person, to suit whatever agenda is on the table. Irshad lacks any scholarly qualifications, as well as the ability to understand classical arabic, to be able to make any sort of comment about Islamic jurisprudence and subsequent reform.
All over the Muslim world, the most important reason as to why a Muslim woman wears the headscarf is because it is part of our faith. Allah has commanded us to, just as He has regulated many other aspects of our lives. If that reasoning is not good enough for you, I can understand why. Without a proper understanding of the deep devotion a Muslim has for Allah, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, such reasoning would seem insufficient.
Take into account that Muslims equate the purpose of their lives with the worship of their Creator, and perhaps wearing the headscarf would make a bit more sense. Our moral and spiritual compasses are aligned with pleasing our Creator in all that we do - from maintaining our five daily prayers to our career choice, as well as the values we instill in our children. Everything in a Muslim's life should be geared into one being the best representative of Allah on this Earth, and the headscarf is part of that.
Have a read of the following article. Amal Awad is by far a much better representative of an educated, articulate Muslim woman than Irshad Manji.
http://smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-type-of...5302563878.html
The type of cover-up freedom lovers need not fear
Muslim dress should be celebrated as a sign of an accepting society, not seen as a threat, writes Amal Awad.
Whenever the spotlight turns on the Muslim community, it is usually in relation to a negative act: terrorism, local crime or accusations of Islamic demagogy. Muslims seem to find themselves at the centre of every problem - the obscure or negative is magnified and, like in some grotesque circus show, Muslims become the "other".
Once again, Muslim women's dress, and in particular the hijab, is under attack. Bronwyn Bishop labelled it an act of defiance, and then in the same breath opined that women who wear the hijab are as free as slaves.
Her wording is interesting, as a little more than a week ago I sat in the audience of Andrew Denton's Enough Rope and listened to one man tell me and my friends that we thought we were better than everyone else because we dressed modestly.
"What exactly is it about my headscarf that offends you, sir?" I asked.
Funnily enough, he didn't have an answer, but he did claim that, of all the migrants to this country, those pesky Muslims just weren't "good Australians".
It bewilders me that Muslims are singled out more than any other religious group. Is religion OK only as long as it's the "Astrayan" way? If so, what constitutes being Australian? More importantly, where does my freedom begin and where does yours end?
So I ask again: what is it about this dress that alarms people? I would ask Bishop how on earth she equates covering one's hair with a form of suffocated freedom. I am not locked in a golden cage and I am especially thankful that I am not imprisoned by prejudices.
Yet, understandably, the climate of fear and uncertainty feeds the prejudice of a minority. It is unfortunate and problematic, then, that the simplest Islamic practices raise the alarm, as though a headscarf can lead to violence.
It is worrying when a multicultural society such as Australia's ushers in an new era of witch-hunts, expecting religious followers to be apologetic for holding beliefs and engaging in practices that neither breach any laws nor offend the rights of others.
If Bishop's statements weren't so damaging in their contribution to a climate of Islamophobia, I would argue that the demonisation of Islam and its followers has taken on cartoonish qualities.
Who cares that a headscarf does not preclude one from having interests and goals, and an intelligent mind to pursue them? These are all minor details on the path to creating a homogenous brand of secularism that promotes a single idea of what it means to be Australian, or even a "moderate" version of Islam that does not offend.
Quite simply, Muslims see the world through a spiritual prism, and it leads us to make lifestyle choices that veer away from the norm at times. While this creates curiosity, there is no need for fear. Therefore, time and again, the ordinariness of Muslims is emphasised in a bid to affirm our normality.
It is deeply disturbing that in 2005 a woman should be criticised for choosing to wear a hijab after the hard work that has gone into fostering stronger community ties. A woman should be free to wear a headscarf without fear of censure or prejudice. That is what freedom in Australia is about.
Yet it would be a questionable kind of freedom that acknowledges a woman's right to wear a bikini but rejects another's right to cover up.
It is heartening to see that in a recent poll in a national newspaper, more than 70 per cent of the 5000-plus respondents said that the hijab should not be banned. Let us keep working, then, so that Australia continues to grow as a society where a well-educated, English-speaking woman wearing a hijab is no longer a novelty, but is as normal as a crucifix-wearing woman in an office.
Amal Awad is an executive member of the Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network.
