Which always brings this to my head since they love to tell us we can't wear Western clothes since it makes us look like an unbeliever. My answer is: you think shalwar kameez is appropriate clothing right? Hindus wear shalwar kameez and they are polytheist. So wouldn't that make you look both like a non-muslim and a polytheist? I certainly think Hindu before Muslim when I see an Indian woman in a Shalwar Kameez.
Seriously though, I think it actually means to not go so far off base that no one would even believe you are Muslim if they looked at you. If you are running around in a mini skirt and tube top with your hair down and lots of makeup then you say to someone "I'm a Muslim" no one will believe you. You don't look like one and the behavior contradicts every hijab ruling of the Qur'an. You look like an "unbeliever". You might not be an unbeliever, but you look like one because you are ignoring every rule laid out for you by the Qur'an. You look like you don't believe in the rulings God gave you. I really think this is what that means. Not "no Western clothing". Because even if you don't wear a scarf but follow all the other modesty requirements you can still look like a believer. Some will obviously disagree (Please no more hadiths or Ayahs Ive seen them all), but if you take hijab into your heart and dress modestly you can still be more a believer than one who walks the walk but does not talk the talk so to speak. Looking like you follow hijab is not enough: you have to follow it with your heart too.
What do you all think?
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I agree. I've said it a million times, and I'll say it again: "Western" clothing can make perfectly appropriate hijab, and "Arab" clothing does not automatically equal "Islamic" clothing. Yes, an Arab-style abaya and shayla does make very good hijab. So does a maxidress from Target and a long cardigan with a pashmina headscarf. Islam is for EVERYONE, and people do not have to completely forsake their culture once adopting Islam, except for the cultural practices that are clearly unIslamic. I will be sticking to my "Western-style" jilbabs and hijab, kthxbai. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, intention is everything. You could be wearing a black abaya with niqab but still not have hijab of the heart, which is definitely something I need to work on Insha'Allah.
I totally agree with you. Like Amina Wadud said, if the message of the Qur'an is modesty, then assigning one expression of modesty (e.g. the hijab) is ridiculous, since it can be expressed in different ways...
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Anne: exactly. And I've actually seen maxi dress cardigan combinations that are more modest than an abaya...b/c the abaya was fitted O_O But in the end, intention matters far more than the clothes you put on your body.
ReplyDeleteCLA: I agree, in the end the main concern in modesty. Thanks :)
I totally agree because it would depend wear you live! I mean it just so happens that if a non muslim went to somewhere under shariah, I dont know Dubai is a good one because it is a tourist hot spot! so a non muslim that goes to dubai is expected to dress modestly and many are advised that in certain areas a scarf is suggested.... so a non muslim is wearing a scarf.... does that mean we should not wear the scarf!? of course it doesnt!
ReplyDeleteI think it was made at the time of the Prophet (saw) in order to distinguish between the muslims and the non muslims. Also it is important to note that in saudi before the great time of the Prophet (saw) ALL women wore scarves, but we as women were told to bring these over our chests to hide our body! this is why Jewish women and the Virgin Mary (and to this day many catholics at least during prayer) cover there hair.
In the Bible:
1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (King James Version)
2Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
4Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
6For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.
7For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
8For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.
9Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
10For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
11Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
12For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
13Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
14Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
16But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
ITs more about distinction from the unbelievers and obviously more so because it fits better what has been laid out to us... more of the nonbelievers are showing a "how not to do hijab" look!
This is interesting to me as I am Christian. Many Christians all over in the world (not just in the West)dress as they please; women with short hair, dyed hair, makeup, jewelry, tight clothes, piercings and tattoos.Men with long hair, dyed hair, tattoos, jewelry and piercings.However this was not so until the 1960's when feminism arrived.Such apparel is condemned in the bible.
ReplyDeleteThe bible requests women to have long hair and to cover their hair, to not wear mens clothes, to be modest & humble and to not wear jewelry or makeup.Men are required to keep their hair short and to not wear womens clothes.Both are required to not have tattoos or piercings.
If you check old photos, old books, old carvings, old statues and old paintings of Westerners from the 10th century onwards you will see that the women have their hair covered with a hat, bonnet, scarf, mantilla, a wimple or a cap.It's worth googling Christian Orthodox nuns or medieval European dress.
I'm always struck at how similar Judaism, Islam and Christianity are. (^_^)
Liz: Well said. And yes its amazing right? Same things perscribed. Yet some of this passage bugs me but you can see why.
ReplyDeleteLucy: Welcome! Yeah its amazing right? Christians really aren't suppose to dress however they please but with modesty and respect. It amazes me too how similar they are when you get past the culture and into the actual religion.
In response to an anon: I am not condeming the scarf. This post is not even about the scarf at all. And all the above comments support the scarf. What I said was that full hijab plus scarf does not make you more religious unless you also have hijab in your heart.
ReplyDeleteThe scarf is beautiful! I wish our world was more accepting so all who wanted to could wear it freely. But there will always be sisters, like myself, who cannot for various circumstances be it family, work, government etc. We must understand both sides to see that often times, given better circumstances, many would choose the scarf. But just because they can't doesn't make them a bad Muslim.
God Willing we can all understand each other some day.
To me, to not dress as an unbeliever is to not dress in a way that is against Islam. To not behave like them is to not do things that are against Islam. I don't think it has anything to do with the West. In fact, I think that this idea that it means to not do like the West is ridiculous and I should laugh!
ReplyDeleteI really don't see it the same way as some Muslims do. I think they need to get a bigger picture of what an unbeliever is. It's a person who doesn't follow Allah; who doesn't follow what they know is right and refrain from what they know is wrong (sometimes this knowledge is hard to reach, but we all have it).
I hate to think we need to be separated from other human beings who are so much like us because we label ourselves Muslim and they don't. I see things in the real sense... There are plenty of believers out there who don't consider themselves Muslim and plenty of people who consider themselves Muslim who are not in the true sense. We can't know. And I'd rather live and interact with people I have beliefs in common with, whether they are Muslim or not. I think God wants us to follow what is right, not create our own culture and label all other cultures unbeliever and avoid things they do and eat and say (unless it's against Islam).
I completely agree with Lucy's point that as women who profess to worship God, we cannot just dress as we d*** well please. I think, however, that the details are not as cut-and-dried as some would make them out to be.
ReplyDeleteSo no one misunderstands, I personally cover all but face and hands, and maybe a little foot if I'm wearing sandals in the summer. No makeup, some jewelry. Exactly how fancy, depends where I'm going to be.
In the company of people who are offended by fancy, or are inclined to speculate about people's financial status or how much they paid for their material possessions, I'll dress plainer.
In the company of people who see fancy as artistic expression and nothing more than that, perhaps fancier - while remaining covered and concealing the details of my figure.
You could say that I have enough of a simplicity testimony (bit of Quaker-speak there) to wear pretty much the same kinds of clothes all the time - to visit a friend, a customer, the grocery store, the opera or a place of worship.
I also view it as part of Christian modesty to dress nicely enough not to be making a public display of one's religious practices (see Matthew 6) - so, it's not immediately obvious just how little flesh you can see, it's not 100% clear whether it's religiously motivated or not. I figure that if people are meant to find out, they'll ask.
Now on to the Scriptural details. First of all, back in New Testament times, especially in Greek and Roman circles, there was very little difference between men's and women's clothing. Basically the only really visible difference was the question of head covering.
And in more modern times, think of this: I am over 6 feet tall and have a quite androgynous-looking face. It is very similar to my dad's, the only qualitative difference being that I don't have a five o'clock shadow. I have been mistaken for a man even with my hair down, or up in a bun, even wearing a dress - even a long evening gown and heels!
Seriously - I was once at a banquet after a theater premiere, wearing a long, obviously feminine but quite modest gown, and someone came up to inquire about my gender. I calmly gave the appropriate answer. But he pressed the issue: Are you a natural woman, or an... unnatural woman? By this time I was getting annoyed, so I replied icily: 'I am a supernatural woman!' Thank God, he got the point and moved on.
So in jeans and sneakers or cowboy boots - you get the idea... And I admit to having made liberal use of this solution for my own personal safety when I was younger and found it necessary on various occasions to be out alone late at night.
That having been said, I think that in light of Scripture, it is indeed inappropriate to purposely attempt to appear as one of the opposite sex by the way one dresses.
Makeup and hair dying. We could ask the truth question here. And in the case of makeup, we could point out that it mimics not only a healthy appearance (without necessarily the actual health to go along with it), but also the effects of sexual arousal.
And here, obviously, we get into questions of sexual morality - this is why I never wear the stuff. I can only see doing it if I had some horrible port wine mark on my face or something that would look even worse after surgery than before - put some foundation on to conceal it, I can see that. Otherwise, I might use some colorless skin lotion to smooth my skin. Or some clear lip gloss to keep my lips from peeling and cracking. But that's it.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the healthy appearance, my take is that if you want that, you can head to the gym. Then the health will be real and not just a semblance thereof, and you won't have the truth problem.
Jewelry and tattoos... The Old Testament in particular mentions such things as earrings, nose rings, necklaces and bracelets for women and they are at very least permissible. One might possibly make a case that other kinds of piercing or tattoos are not permitted, although I do not recall such things actually being mentioned by name in the Scripture, so it is difficult to say for sure. At any rate, I think it is hard to make a case from the Bible that all jewelry is forbidden in all situations.
I know, someone will quote I Peter 3:4 here. The problem here is that if we take this verse really literally, we'd have to view 'putting on over-garments' (the Greek word refers to something like a draped abaya or a sari) as forbidden too. So I think the question here is not necessarily whether to wear braids, pearls, gold or over-garments, but how to wear them if we do.
And here, we would get such guidelines from Scripture as that that these things can't be our primary adornment. That has to remain such things as doing good deeds and possessing a gentle and quiet spirit (I Peter 3:5 - required for men too, by the way - see James 3:13-18, not to mention Galatians 5:22-23).
And elsewhere, we would get the principle that we should not be flaunting our material status. And if we read between the lines in I Corinthians 11 and apply a little cultural knowledge, we would get the principle that we need to look like decent women who are not engaged in sexual immorality or idolatrous religious practices.
Above all, the effect needs to be modest, dignified and appropriate for women who profess to worship God, and backed by the sort of life we live - our thoughts, words and deeds.
Caraboska: I agree that you can't say that something is 100% not allowed. It has a lot to do with "how" we do something. Like, not all makeup promotes sexual arrousal. I personally have to wear it 1) because my office requires it and 2) I am what is called "gray white" which means my skin is somewhat transluscent and the blue shows through causing a grey color. I look ill all the time, it sucks LOL. But all I wear is a sheer natural powder foundation with concealer and masquera (My eyelashes are clear! Im serious LOL).
ReplyDeleteI'll do a post about this at a later date. I have tips for natural makeup (that lets water THROUGH IT! Wooo!) for people like myself who are tired of everyone asking them if they are ill LOL. Plus there is the issue of a lot of offices requiring it. You dont look professional if you look like you are not taking care of your appearance. Some can look great without makeup but a lot of us grey, fair skinned people have trouble hahaa.
Your office requires makeup? By what miracle? That sounds very illegal. I can't believe people are putting up with this. They need to be sued for BILLIONS of dollars. It is a matter of religious conviction. I don't think I'd paint my face even if someone threatened to kill me.
ReplyDeleteCaraboska: Its more my old office. It was part of the dress code at the place I previously worked. Entertainment industry, what can you do? You were basically only asked about it if you had bad skin or really grey skin like myself. We had an african american girl who worked there and a spanish girl and they never had to, but they naturally looked like they had makeup on. Part of looking professional in American society. But it wasn't super sexy makeup. A little foundation and masquera was enough.
ReplyDeleteIf it was a matter of religious conviction Im sure they would not ask a person to wear makeup. But no one had a religious conviction in the office. However, I'm pretty sure they would not have allowed a scarf, but a hat would be acceptable. You wouldn't believe how many offices say the Muslim style headscarf is against office dress code but anything else on your head is fine. Part of policies of making sure the company is never associated with a religion. But we couldn't wear crosses or Stars of David or anything either. Its like France in that office lol JK
Well, I bet that if you affected a 1940s look, you could get away with an amira and a wild '40s hat :D And there's quite a bit of stuff on the runways nowadays that could be used as an unobtrusive form of hijab :)
ReplyDeleteBTW I got my 'bisht abaya' pattern today. Also ordered a loose-fitting dress which I could lengthen into an abaya. And... a men's tux pattern. Just in case I get hitched, so I can make one for hubby to use on our wedding day :D:D:D (What can I say? It was cheap, the shipping charge was the same for up to 3 patterns... :D)