Because I am a Muslim!

Posted 20 Jul 2010 by Walaa Idris

A few facts – as I know them from growing up in a Muslim nation amongst Muslims – I feel the need to share.

The Burkha predates Islam and neither Al Qur’an nor Al Hadith have forced or recommended wearing it – the proof is that non of the prophet’s wives wore a veil. To most Muslims covering the face isn’t allowed – the proof, women are not required to cover their faces during Al Hajj [the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and one the five pillars of Islam]. Face covering goes against Islamic teachings because it is what the infidels forced their women to do before Islam.

Growing up we were taught to be modest – and modest was defined as blending in, not standing out and attracting undo attention.

That is why I have trouble comprehending the notion of the Burkha outside Saudi Arabia [where it is mandatory for every female local or visiting to cover-up from head to toe].

Muslim women insisting on wearing veils in the West are no different to Western women insisting on wearing hot pants in the Middle East – they don’t blend in and they both attract unwanted attention. Leaving aside that neither Al Qur’an nor Al Hadith dictate or recommend wearing the face veil – the Prophet and his Companions have fought to liberate women from it and from the infidels.

It simply blows my mind how a naturally forward thinking religion like Islam is being hijacked by backward thinking individuals who are rolling back time 1500 plus years!

4 comment(s)

Ean Craigie

Ean Craigie
20 Jul, 21:21

I worked in Saudi for a few years, talking to the locals there, mainly well educated, it was a preventative device in the desert, again the modesty thing and also a protective thing as camels and wives were items in short supply. The weirdest part was having dinner with a Saudi friend and his wife and being so imbued with not looking found it hard to talk to her as she was unvieled. Or in a lift with my wife in Jeddah talking to a local about things in general, the conversation went well until Sue spoke directly to him. End conversation.

Walaa

Walaa
20 Jul, 22:12

I know what you mean Ean!

Paul Ingham

Paul Ingham
20 Jul, 22:45

As you say Walaa, the veil was a fashion from late Hellenistic times through to the Byzantine era in Syria and Persia. The Arabs, as the regions nouveau riche sorte to ape their betters by adopting the total covering and seclusion of women. It is not a requirement of the Koran, which merely instructs women to “dress modestly”.

So it is ironic that the Bengali’s in my borough of Tower Hamlets are now aping their cultural “betters” in Arabia by adopting the niqab and the burka as everyday dress. It’s a third hand affectation, pure and simple.

Walaa

Walaa
20 Jul, 23:03

But it is still important differentiate between religion and the fashion

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