For the love of all that is good and holy you can at least wear hijab in a mosque. I was shocked when I walked into the mosque for the first time to not only see women without scarves but in short sleeved shirts as well. One or two were heavily made up and wore tight clothing. Now, ok, if you don't want to wear hijab in your daily life that is your choice, but have some respect when you go to the mosque. It will not kill you to wear a long sleeved shirt and scarf. If I, a non-muslim, can walk into a mosque in an abaya and scarf a muslim woman certainly can. Yes, I know that I went to a lecture but when I arrived they were praying Du'a and some of these women still did not cover their heads. To me this is disrespectful. It's like the people that go to church in their pajamas or in mini-skirts and t-shirts. It is a house of God after all, show some respect.
I will continue to wear appropriate hijab when going to the mosque. And I refuse to have "convertible hijab". You know, the kind that you can pull up as you are going in and pull down immediately as you exit. Not for me. Not now, not later. It is disrespectful to the religion and to a house of God. A person can handle wearing a scarf for the short period they are at the mosque and at least wait till you are not in front of the mosque to remove your scarf.
*Sigh* So much lack of respect everywhere. Sometimes what you wear in life is not appropriate for a house of God. I always had Church Clothes and now I will also have Mosque Clothes.
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Amen. When I was a teenager, a lot of the girls at the church I went to wore boots/heels that were very high, and skirts that were obviously very short. Combine that with the "baby doll sleeve" blouses, etc, and...ummm, NO! You DO NOT go walking into a church/mosque/place of worship in clothes that you wouldn't even be allowed to wear in school! *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThat always bothered me, but the youth minister never said anything about it, which bothered me just as much. Some of these girls, whose parents were very involved in the church and its activities, especially should have known better. I still find it hard to believe that their parents never saw any of those outfits as inappropriate for church.
I think parents don't notice because it is so common place you know? And the respect for the church isn't what it use to be. I miss the days when women had to wear hats or veils in church. The church (at least in America) has lost a lot of its tradition and ritual.
ReplyDeleteI always think that when a girl dresses like that at church she is probably one of those who is looking to pick up a man in the process. I know SO MANY girls who go to church to pick up men. That is why my friends went to youth group in high school. Makes me so happy the mosque is separated LOL. Although the mothers will try to hunt down prospects for their children afterwards in both situations :).
I know what you mean; that's one of the things I enjoy about the mosque here. We're in a separate room, and when it's time for the Imam's sermon and salat, the ladies turn off the overhead lights, switch on a floor lamp on one side of the room, and pull back the curtains. That way, the women can see the imam while he speaks, but the men can't see into the room where the women are. It's a great arrangement.
ReplyDeleteGoing to church to Pick Up Men? Seriously? That's horrible! Priorities are seriously messed up in that case.
LOL! Mothers are always match-making, I think. My own mom doesn't do that, thankfully. : )
I really don't get it..
ReplyDeleteI know sometimes non-Muslim women do this, but most of them don't do it on purpose as some of them don't know whether they're supposed to cover their hair and bodies or not, but if a Muslim woman does it, that's something else because she has the knowledge.
Sometimes I'd like to ask these women why do they even bother going to the mosque if they're going to be wearing something they can't pray in and even if they weren't praying, they should still show some respect to the mosque or the church.
It's very easy to just throw an abaya over your clothes when going to the mosque or at least cover your hair with a scarf - no big deal.
Heather: Teenage Girls have a one track mind and that is pick up boys, even at the church. Sad, but true.
ReplyDeleteOooo your mosque sounds even better than the one I went to! We had a big screen TV with a powerpoint translation for Du'a (which was nice for me). I really want to go to one of the evenly split mosques sometime so I can actually SEE the speaker.
Hijab Chic - Yeah I was a bit miffed about the women not even wearing scarves! And then they scrambled around to pull something over their heads when the Ramadan Du'a started. Most had dupattas (Pakistani mosque) so at least they had something to use. I would NEVER go to a mosque without a scarf. I might go without an abaya but I would at least have a coat for outside before I got into the women's section if we aren't doing prayer. Its laziness or something. And most likely these women don't wear hijab in their regular lives either. So sad, its so easy to do you know?
Some of the women at my small local mosque seem to feel free not to wear the hijab there... Most of them are dressed quite appropriately, but a couple walk in without their hijab and slap one on right before prayer starts. When I went to teraweeh, one woman actually took it off during the 5 or so minute break between prayers.
ReplyDeleteA couple of the women obviously don't wear hijab outside the mosque, and I feel they are mostly just being what they are when they come in the mosque without their hijab and put it on. They keep it on the whole time, and then take it off... Instead of seeing it as weird that they go to mosque without it on already, I see that they at least had the respect (or traditional habit) of putting it on for their time there. I can see they are there for spiritual reasons.
Yeah I mean thats ok I guess. I just don't like the whole throw it on, rip it off the minute you leave. Some of the women at the mosque I went to didn't even bring scarves with them. I just don't see what the big deal is to put on a scarf while going to the mosque. Take it off when you are away from the building. It just seems disrespectful.
ReplyDeleteThat is one reason I am in love w/ the AMish/Mennonites. I love their head coverings, plus also their dresses! I would LOVE to wear a cape dress but hubby thinks tey are ugly. Before I converted I was seriously considerig becoming conservative mennonite; so much of teir lifestyle makes sense to me; just not all their belifs (trinity, being born again to go to Heaven, etc.; I like their morals (they also do not touch before marriage (even gf/bf) or even hug, but yes, they can shake hands). I am always wondering if there is a way I can be a "mennonite" Muslim. Live the plain life; dress plain, u know? Ah! I wish!
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