Should there be Restrictions on Women's Wear?
Should there be Restrictions on Women's Wear?
Hot debatehas been going onin Europe on Muslim women's garment and veiling. The following are hotchpotch of some comments. Is Europe biased? Is there not double
standard? Is there anything called ABSOLUTE FREEDOM as such in Europe or anywhere else in the world?
Even in the liberal West, it is an offence for women to go half naked revealing their whole breasts at public places, in educational institutes, at the churches and other places of worship? It is against public decency. There are restrictions on dress even in Europe, is my contention. So it is in Muslim countries. The difference is only in degree.
Absolute freedom is non-existent in any culture. Being social animals, men and women have animal magnetism and sex appeal. One can never deny the fact that when a young man looking at a woman revealing a major part ofa woman'sfirm, round, shapely and bulging breasts gets sexually excited and would have train of quite oftensensual thoughts in his mind.
And in Islam we say, let men and women dress modestly not revealing more than what is necessary. This helps both to restrict their erotica, their sex urge. The following is a verse from the Muslim Holy Book called the QURAN, Quote,
"Tell believing men to lower their look and tell believing women to lower their gaze so that they will guard their modesty" this is a shariah law. Is it too much for Europeans to accept this?
Muslimsare not asking for the moon. As the French have fundamental rights, so do others? As it is the fundamental right of a European non-Muslim woman to reveal as much of her beauty as she likes, a Muslim woman has equal fundamental right to cover as much as she wants to cover.
Why does it bother some? It is simple prejudice and bias and hatred of other people's culture. Islam is the fastest growing religion in Europe as G.B.Shaw said Islam may be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.
A big issue in the world is maintaining family values. Over 60% of the marriages in the US end in divorces. How to make families live more happily and successfully.A good book to read written by a non- Muslim scholar : Karen Armstrong: Title: Muhammad : A Western Approach to Islam
But after all, all religious laws are based on cultures acceptable by God's messengers, or prophets such as David, Solomon, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad ( All these prophets have been named in the Quran). No religious culture propagated, amplified and advocated by a God's messenger allowed women not to cover their breasts or genitals.
If any culture allows (allowed) that, then God-consciously talking, that culture is (was) outside the receivers of the divine messenger or they changed and nullified the teachings of the God chosen messengers. So garments of both men and women are something to do with the Islamic jurisprudence.
I quote two verses from the Quran
Chapter 24: Verse 31:THEY ( WOMEN) SHOULD NOT DISPLAY THEIR
BEAUTY AND ORNAMENTS EXCEPT WHAT MUST ORDINARILY APPEAR THEREOF. THEY SHOULD DRAW THEIR VEILS OVER THEIR BOSOMS ( it does not say faces). AND NOT DISPLAY THEIR BEAUTY EXCEPT TO THEIR HUSBANDS
Chapter 24: Verse 60 " Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage, there is no blame on them if they lay aside their garments provided they make not a wanton display of their beauty. But it is best for them to be modest. And God is one who sees and knows all things"
Every individual has his/her fundamental rights as far as clothing is concerned, of course within the boundaries of decency and laws existing within the country. Being a Muslim, I am certainly not in favour of full face veil. There again, It is not my preference that matters, it is the individuals.
As the French white non-Muslim woman has her fundamental right to reveal as much as she wants to, a Muslim woman has her fundamental right to cover as much as she wants to unless criminal activities initiate from these acts. Why should we force anybody for that matter on garments simply because in a particular Muslim country, non-Muslims are advised to wear in a particular way?
Assuming that one day, a French Govt brings a law that no woman should wear a dress covering her lower thighs, though she may cover her upper thighs. And French citizens belonging to an alien culture oppose this law and feel that it infringes on their personal rights on clothing. What will be the decision of the French Parliament? Will the Parliament and Judiciary force this law on all French women?
Certain aspects of Islamic culture or jurisprudence is not subject to change or interpretation, one example pre-marital and consensual sex is forbidden in Islam and this will remain so even in 31st century. Muslims are not ready to compete with the west in changing their comprehensive and God shown way of life and destroy the moral fibre simply because this world is not the end and there is a hereafter when accountability and answerability will take place.
We prefer to be losers in this world in terms of modernity in order to get our rewards in the hereafter. After all man has been created with a purpose.
Male dominance and women's garments are two different issues. Male dominance is against the shariah law but a Muslim woman's garments fall within the Quranic laws. Islam gave more rights to women 1400 years ago, more rights than any other culture then. It was Islam that gave the women the right to divorce her husband 1400 years ago. There is no need to confuse both.
Forty years ago (1970s) the male domination was greater for instance in South and South East Asia among all religious groups including Muslims. But the 40 years ago fewer educated ladies were using even head scarves. But now in Malaysia alone for instance the University male female ratio is 50:50.
More women get liberated, more educated but at the same time more educated women wear head scarves, far more than 40 years ago. This indicates an Islamic revival, initiated by the organised state terrorist and aggressive policies of the West, supporting the oppressive dictators and monarchs and un-democratic regimes throughout the Muslim world, NOT GREATER MALE DOMINATION AS SOME NON- MUSLIM READERS ASSUME.
"The New Testament in the main offers offers a positive message to women, but in fact over the centuries the gaspel has been anything but good news for the second sex'. Christian misogyny was peculiarly neurotic because it was based on a rejection of sexuality which is unique among the world religions and certainly not found in either Judaism or Islam. It is not fair to blame Muhammad and Islam for their misogyny. If Muslim women today reject some of the freedoms that we feel we have offerred them, this is not due to perversity but because the western view of women and the relation between the sexes is confused. We preach equality and liberation, but at the same time
exploit and degrade women in advertising, pornography, and much popular entertainement in a way that Muslims find alien and offensive" Quotation taken from the book written by Karen Armstrong (Page 239)
Title of the book. "Muhammad : A Western Attempt to Understand Islam: Publisher: Victor Gollancz
Some get confused. They say every foreigner has to follow the Muslim rules in Muslim countries. This is absolutely wrong. Go to Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, Lebanon, Beirut, Turkey, Brunei and Bangladesh. In those countries foreigners wear what they like.
You may find thousands of ladies in mini-skirts. Hundreds swim on the beaches in their bikinis. Muslim countries expect them to dress decently. That is all. But if anyone argues that a Western woman may bare her top and walk in the bazaar simply because that is her freedom. That is wrong. If the West allows their ladies to reveal as much as they wish to sensually reveal, that is their fundamental right.
Exactly the same way a Muslim or a Hindu lady should be allowed to cover as much as she wishes to cover. That is her fundamental right. Why two different sort of fundamentalism. Saudis constitute not even 2% of the worlds Muslim population, they follow a particular sect of Islam. No one in the world should interpret Islam by hypocritical Saudi version of Islam.
To many, knowledge of Islam seem to be limited to the minimal and confused information presented on American TV. Dress code has to do with cultural definitions of modesty. There are cultures where female genitalia must be covered in public, but not necessarily breasts.
There are cultures where female breasts must be covered in public, but not necessarily shoulders. There are cultures where female shoulders must be covered in public, but not necessarily hair. There are cultures where female hair must be covered, but not faces. And there are cultures where female faces must be covered in public. There are cultures ( Indian women are the best example) where female breasts must be covered but not their abdomen and hence too much showing of female belly and navel is a big entertainment in Indian movies and
dances.
Reasonable people can disagree on the point to which a free and open society should enforce cultural norms of modesty, but forbidding people from practicing a greater degree of modesty than the majority culture shows bias. It's just an excuse for ethnic profiling and harassment.
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