On this International Women’s Day
I call for my right not to be considered less open-minded, less sophisticated, and less beautiful because I wear the Hijab (veil).
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Related Posts
- Veiled Women and Religion
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- Hijabi Or Not: Here’s What I Think
- On This International Women’s Day
March 8th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Happy women day ya sitti… may god bless our mothers, sisters, grandmothers, wifes, daughter, and girlfriends ;) in this day…
I hope a day will come when no woman feels that she has rights to call for…
March 8th, 2006 at 9:46 am
Happy shoppers day! I mean women
March 8th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Well said, Tololy. Well said.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:01 am
Amen.
Tololy, you and I should have an intense discussion about that one day.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:35 am
God Bless you T.
March 8th, 2006 at 10:39 am
I was wished a happy holiday twice this morning when I bought my coffee. I’m ashamed to admit that I had to ask what holiday. :-( One of the well-wishers was a woman, and the other was a man, and they both meant it. I was very impressed!
March 8th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Its daring that u braught this up: since im no muslim, im not in the position to discuss the why and where for of Hijab; Being a practical person, i think (at least) your blog provides evidence against the three accusations….
March 8th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Inti mahajaba?
March 8th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Yes Abu Sinan, I am. I thought you knew.
March 8th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Happy day.
March 8th, 2006 at 8:42 pm
Kudos Toloy! I have seen so many anti-hijab references on Arab blogs as of late, so it is extremely refreshing to come across your quote. Bravo!
Have a happy W day.
March 9th, 2006 at 12:22 am
im not exactly sure what people say to each other on such occasions.. ill just settle for press on! (and a thumbs up).. say, is there a men’s day?
March 9th, 2006 at 1:25 am
if u call for ur rights for this , no u call in the wrong side, So,its a bad day not a happy day :(
why? check this
??????? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ??????
where is ur rights here?
we dont want the Human Rights , we Have ISLAM
March 9th, 2006 at 11:13 am
It is a woman’s right to express herself as she wishes. If the hijab is used as a weapon to subjugate women, that is one thing, but if a woman chooses to wear it on her own, she should certainly be allowed to do so, and should absolutely be respected for her decision.
March 9th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Masha’Allah, I guess I did not. I am always impressed by women who wear hijab.
March 9th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
Tololy: great blog! And happy belated women’s day to you.
anonymous coward: In some European countries they celebrate the fest of the Holy Martyrs on Mrch 10th as men’s day… Then of course, North America has father’s day on the 1st Sunday of June
March 9th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Oh, I guess I should add that it is nice to see another Muslim and mahajaba who gets into punk and goth type music. Sume, a convert to Islam and mahajaba is a former punker/goth like I am.
My wife insists she will put hijab on someday. Of course she wore it in Saudi, but not here. We were just wondering the looks we would get with her in hijab with a big white guy with tonnes of tattoos. She be interesting……
Her site is pretty good. Check it out sometime.
March 9th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
but now seriously: do u really think “not being considered less open-minded” etc etc, is a ‘right’? I mean right to vote… ok; right to do something whatever that is…. ok; but dictating what other people think of you? is that legit? Its like a singer asking for his ‘right’ that people think his songs rock… which is kinda absurd!
March 9th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
You know Devil’s Mind, for one reason or another, your comment brought to my mind the struggle of African Americans to be treated equally. Didn’t the bus operator tell Rosa Parks to stand up and let the “white” man sit because she was thought to be “less” in all aspects? She certainly did not think she was less, and now the whole world knows, even the bits of it that did not want to admit this, that people of African roots are not better or worse than all others.
I think I did your questions right with this answer.
March 9th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Excuse my slow-wittedness, but i dont see how this relates to the point i raised… my point is, all people are equal in front of the law: there is no doubt there; but you cant tell people whowhat to likeappreciate because that their personal opinions….
I am not sure my previous point was correctly perceived…
March 10th, 2006 at 6:07 am
I believe that Tololy’s analogy regarding the African American struggle is definitely relevant to the hijab issue. I would say that just as African Americans did not want to be discriminated against simply because of the color of their skin, Muslim women who wear the hijab also do not want to be discriminated against because of the way they dress. I don’t think we can dictate what people think, but when those thoughts become actions then that is where the rights issue comes in. Personally, and I don’t want to generalize, I believe that women who wear the hijab in Arab countries are increasingly being discriminated against (or just looked down upon) because of their dress, more so than women who do so in the West.
Thank you for bringing up this issue Tololy.
March 10th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
I’ll share with you this real story that happened just yesterday at uni..
One of what i am used to call “lazga” (clingers) people started talking to me, while doing so some Muhajabeh girl walked by n said ‘hi’ to me, and naturally said ‘hi’ back; now the guy asked: “do you talk to Muhajabah?”, “well…. yeah!”, “i am a muslim, and think it is degrading to talk to a Muhajaba, how come u dont?”;
I answered: “i just dont care!”, “well, for me, i know i wouldnt”, so i said: “7agak” (thats justifiable)
Surely, lets remember that almost all people are double standards, later on, talking to the same guy, he said: “You know, that other time a Christian girl really pissed me off: I started talking to her, and then she asked me not to… why i asked her why, she said its because im a Muslim”; so i said: “i know, religious bigotry sucks, but she has the right to chose who she wants to talk to.”
I am totally against discrimination of all kinds; but fighting discrimination should not be done by limiting the freedom of thought of other people… The guy (the lazga), and that christian girl both have the right to form opinions about people around them without limitation wether those reasons are good or not…. and have the right to chose which people they talk to or not!
I am against religious bigotry, and thats one of the reasons i am an atheist; still i have no right to tell others what religion they believe in, right?
And similarly i am against other types of discrimination, but you cant dictate others to have the same views as yours…. But you can at least ask for your legitamate rights…
Thats my whole point….
wish my long post wasnt much of a bore!
March 11th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Happy belated women’s day, thank you for being there :>)
Some women I have spoken to here say they wear the veil to keep them from western contamination ~I can understand how they feel.
I often wrap my veil around my face and would love to go to the market like that, but I would get such a reaction!
I second your call, and hope people stop discriminating because of what others choose to wear.
March 11th, 2006 at 8:22 pm
Indeed one cannot dictate what others think however the perception of women with hijab as being less sophisticated or open-minded is fuelled by media, and thus in that light, one may call for ones right to not be ridiculed as such in media.
It is, I presume, common knowledge that media in many ways dictate the way people perceive the foreign and unknown.
In Sweden this month, a debate will be held on Swedish national television with 8 muslim women discussing such similar issues.
I cannot force anyone to view me as open-minded or less sophisticated but I can demand a media that is not islamophobic or racist or anti-semitic.
November 27th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Tololy regarding the dispute few comments above, please read my blog entry titled "<a href="http://zeidspex.blogspot.com/2006/11/right-to-discriminate.html">The Right To Discriminate</a>"