Hijab

Others have commented on his narrow minded and prejudiced views but that has only increased his stubbornness. In his original letter of Sept 17, he declares that Hijab locks and subjugates the minds of women among other things. He is undermining the intelligence of such women. Perhaps he does not realise that there are hundreds of Hijab wearing women in the West who hold Ph.D degrees. Dr. Mamoon has only succeeded in demonstrating his poor knowledge and understanding of Hijab in Islam. People forget that modern western dress is a relatively new invention. If we look at the clothing of women as recently as sixty to seventy years ago, we see clothing similar to Hijab. These active and hard-working women of the West were not inhibited by their clothing which consisted of long, full dresses and various types of head covering. It certainly did not subjugate their minds as Dr. Mammon would like to suggest.

A Muslim woman who covers her head is making a statement about her identity. They are filled with dignity and self esteem. Wearing the Hijab does give a woman freedom from constant attention to her physical self. Since her appearance is not subjected to public scrutiny, her beauty, or perhaps lack of it, has been removed from the realm of what can legitimately be discussed.

Sadly, western women have become a party to their own objectification. This is a slow yet inexorable process. From early childhood a girl sees her worth as proportional to her physical attractiveness. Somehow she feels compelled to pursue abstract notions of beauty realising too late how futile such a pursuit really is. Feeling that one has to meet the impossible male standards of beauty is tiring and often humiliating. Subsequently, when women reject this form of oppression they are subject to contempt and ridicule by Mr. Mamoon and people like him.