Salam.

I’ve always felt that I should say something for this post from our esteemed Taufik, but so far hadn’t found the right contents to deliver. Alhamdulillah, I guess watching a video and later discussing it with another friend has provided me with enough inspiration to write here. To save me from constantly making reminders in the following text, until I denounce the association, I emphasize here that by HIJAB I’m talking about the headscarf per se, not the demand to cover the awrah in general. After all it is the regions above the neck that are most subject to disputes, right?

I often wondered how give an explanation to non-Muslims (especially) and even Muslims (well, there are times) about hijab, and more complicated, the niqab, with arguments that would convince both of us. Yes, you read it right, even I am not convinced with a lot of the general pro-hijab discourses, especially among the lay public. The pro-niqab ones are MORE convincing, sometimes. Allow me to play the devil’s advocate for a few paragraphs.

As people commented, it makes sense to cover the bosom and thighs and the other ‘red light’ regions - but what sense does it make to cover the head? Still more puzzling, why is the face - the most attractive part of a person - not obligatory to be covered (according to most Islamic scholars)? It doesn’t make complete sense, if ‘to prevent lust’ and ‘to render the woman unattractive’ is the argument. In other words, modesty in terms of discouraging distracting and lustful attention, is just part of the idea, not the main one, when discussing hijab. Men - especially men who advocate hijab - would vouch by their masculinity that females in hijab can be a lot more attractive and endearing than the ones without. Wearing the niqab (which is not obligatory) would be more reasonable to hide attractiveness, although I think the only way to completely eradicate attraction would be to envelope a woman in the Afghan burqa which is so impractical in today’s affairs (and not obligatory as well). Even then, an Afghan man accustomed to see women in burqa might even find these faceless ladies in flowing garments attractive!

Talking about attention and attractiveness, a lot of women would also vow that there are men out there who are just so “wow” they couldn’t take their eyes off them. Dumb though the question may sound, it makes perfect sense when it is asked, “Why men are not required to cover their heads and face as well?” In the olden days we can say that it is because the men have to go out and work and it wouldn’t be practical, but today we know that women with hijab and niqab and long loose dresses go out to work and do practically everything men can do without difficulty. Yes, it was proven that men do have higher sex drive and higher sensitivity to ’stimulants’ as compared to women, but it doesn’t mean women don’t feel, uhm, edgy. Another point against the wholesomeness of the ‘attractiveness’ argument.

A lot would also say that it indicates respectability, that the woman who covers herself is honorable and dignified. In the worldly sense of it, in the eyes of human beings, as judged by most sociocultural etiquettes today, a woman with an honest and well-mannered bearings and dressing in “their own self-defined boundaries of ‘awrah” - modest loose dress, say, Malay baju kurung, but not covering the head - would not look any less respectable than the lady who adds a headscarf to her attire! With all due respect, a woman who wears hijab normally looks respectable, but NOT wearing it doesn’t instantly affect a woman’s honor in itself. Putting on a headscarf does not necessarily mean the lady has suddenly obtained and increment in her respectability and dignity. And no one - only Allah - knows how worthy of heavenly respectability a particular person is, regardless of the person’s attire. Get it? It makes sense to dress modestly to be dignified (no one would advise skin-tight blouse and minis to work unless one works as ..uhm..), but wearing a headscarf to be dignified is very culturally-related thing, depends on what the culture appreciates, and is not a strong argument to use. Indeed, it is very out of place - even arrogant - to walk around in the West wearing hijab and expecting people to shower you with more respect than they would give to the blonde Maths-grad girl beside you who wears a Puma tee and a pair of Levi’s.

It is not about “…to be judged for who I am, not how beautiful or sexy I am, to be seen as a person with my own intellect and opinions”. So you mean women who don’t wear hijab don’t have their own intellect and opinions? You mean women who don’t cover their heads are regarded as sexual beings? Face it, if you’re a woman, you’re a woman. You’d still be subject to sexual stereotypes, even unwanted attention, especially if you’re particularly beautiful, even if you wear the hijab. Refer to my earlier points about wearing hijab not making you less attractive. For niqabis this might be at least partially true, the face is an integral part of one’s identity conventionally, and covering it would render the other parts of the personality to gain a high prominence, such as intellectuality and opinions, to replace the face as a determiner of identity.

I often found myself not being able to convince my own self, hence suffering a nasty feeling of being a weak “da’ie”, for I felt there is little hope that the person I’m giving all these explanations to would accept it if I myself am not. The only argument that satisfied me was “It’s God’s will. He told us to do it, so we abide.” But as anyone would vehemently point out, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to those who don’t believe in God, those who couldn’t understand why must we listen to God, those who believe in their understanding of a God who doesn’t ask the believers to wear hijab. Anyway, I often conclude my arguments by saying exactly that, I do it because I believe in God.

I’ve ceased looking for reason behind religious practices for quite a time ago. I didn’t really get awed by all the scientific proofs in the al-Quran, miracle stories, or such glories. Hikmah is different, it is the wisdom behind the command, the worldly positives that you can get if you obey, but it is not something that you can’t live without. It is not the WHY a particular command is given. Relying on the ’scientific proofs’ and ‘miracle stories’, as a lot of persons would agree, is quite dangerous, for should ’something’ that might counter the aforesaid ‘proofs’ and ‘miracles’ appear, would it discredit the Truth of the Faith? Looking for a reason means seeking justifications that would completely explain a particular practice, and it is a completely fallacious move. Faith can be partly explained by Logic, but it cannot be justified by such. Those who learn Epistemology or Theory of Knowledge would know that Faith is also a Way of Knowing equal side-by-side with Logic.

As the previous commenters had said, it has to begin with Faith in Allah who commanded the believing women to cover, for hijab is about SUBMISSION.

One thing that I realised about the hijab - I’m referring to headscarf, remember - is about restriction and control. Its essence is not about attraction, gender segregation or respectability. It is about controlling the self from what it wants to do, so that it doesn’t get to do as it pleases, regardless whether the deed is disastrous or not, for there is a bigger aim behind all the restrictions, that doesn’t have much to do with the commands themselves. The commands provide the means to reach the end.

Human beings have the innate inclination towards goodness, hence the effective argument by the Atheists that we do not need Faith to be good people and make the world a good place. Superficially, yes. However we should not forget that there is also the ‘animal instinct’ also innate in us, sitting side-by-side with the aforesaid goodness. A simple example : one can easily make extramarital love with a daughter whose parents refuse the union, with all the pure justifications of Love and Happiness, while simultaneously breaking the hearts of the family. Homosexuality doesn’t hurt anyone else, except the whole society (which is often labeled conservative and close-minded) who views it as an insult to the family institution and jeopardizes the children’s normal development. As Taufik had stated, we tend to embark upon a cognitive mission to justify what we do as right, and fending ignorance for the darker sides of it.

The religious restriction is a way for human beings to purify their hearts and get rid of the ‘animal’ instincts which, if obeyed, would be pleasing and emancipating, but the human being would not go any higher on their plane of existence (oh I love this phrase). Restraint and obedience taught the soul to be submissive to its Lord, just as a tiger held in captivity learns to obey its trainer. Allah does not obtain any gains or losses from what He commands us to do or to leave. What we do, we do it for Him, to gain our own salvation. That is the reason WHY we do things. From His Mercy, it is not only in the afterlife that we shall gain reward, in this Earth also we can reap the sweetness of our effort. See As-Saff, 61: 12-13.

He will forgive you your sins and will admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. He will lodge you in excellent mansions in the Gardens of eternity. That is the supreme triumph.

He will also grant you the other favour that you desire : help from Allah and a victory that will come soon. Give glad tidings of this to the believers.

It is His Mercy that there is hikmah behind His commands that we can instantly see, although even if they’re not there, even if a girl wears full hijab and still get raped (na’udzubillahi min zaalik), it is not a reason to discredit the virtues of hijab.

I remember reading a Malaysian Nobel Laureate, Abdullah Hussain’s work, the novel IMAM. In a particular chapter, the main character, the Imam, explains to a young novice about how fasting is not about compassion to the poor or cherishing the health. It is about breaking the norm, pushing the physical out of its comfort zone, rendering it less susceptible to complacence that will weaken the spiritual, and strengthening the soul’s submission to the Lord.

Today, the aim of restriction for the soul by wearing hijab is quite losing its strength. For one thing, the hijabi is not a ghuraba’ (stranger) anymore. Not as it was like in Malaysia in the sixties or seventies, where wearing the hijab is a real test, restricting oneself from enjoying the pleasure of conformity and enjoying societal approval. It is now a trendy thing to do! Even in the UK, the hijab is greatly losing its innate ‘test’ quality. For a lot of hijabis - including me - wearing the hijab feels like second nature. Couldn’t bear the thought of going out without it. This might be the reason why some women took to wearing niqab as a further step of soul purification, opting for more restriction to remind the soul of the Lord, and to train the soul into complete submission. “I wear it to please Allah, to get closer to Him…” is a perfectly concise way of putting it, whatever Jack Straw may say. People can tolerate and respect homosexuals, socialize with HIV patients, even the blind and wheelchair-bound people are given their due share in the society with all the empathy and aid they need to minimize the difference of their quality of life from other people, why should a veiled face be treated as a freakshow to be gaped at speechlessly? It doesn’t make sense, unless the spectator is an imbecile.

Back to what I said about hijabis not being ghuraba’ anymore and it is not difficult to do, at least for a number of persons, I don’t mean that I grieve at how easy things has became. Nevertheless, when a test is easy, one tend to wonder, are we really following all the rules? OK, OK, of course it is possible to follow all the rules and still find it easy, but it won’t hurt to wonder. We might have missed some things.

Now I’m expanding my usage of the term hijab. It is not merely the headscarf that would bring the desired aim of restriction, it is also the other acts and attire that constitute the complete hijab. Hijab in its completeness constitute modesty of attire, lowering of gaze, prudence and care in intergender relationship, and - pay attention fellow sisters - avoidance of tabarruj. All these terms are more conceptual than concrete and would need scholarly explanation that goes far beyond what I’m capable of, but well, let us all refresh what our religious teachers once taught us or run to the nearest trustworthy scholar for clarification. Do not be cradled in the illusion of faithfulness when we are not!

Let us just remember, succumbing to every exciting, fiery and bright whim of the physical would render the individual not able to appreciate the silent beauty of tranquility, the tender severity of spirituality. Freedom is but an illusion, falling prey to it traps the prisoner forever in its grips until death comes. Confounding the illusion by realising it for what it actually is, is not easy. It is by these restrictions that the person learns to appreciate true freedom that is in the life to come. Death should come as liberation, for the true Muslim would find the Earth a suffocating prison.

Insha-Allah, I have said all that I wish to say. I hope this article would be a cause of Rahmah and Hidayah for everyone, especially my own reckless self.

meow~

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