Islam and women’s hijab

By: Ibrahim Baydoun 

In every era,they were raising suspicions that took advantage of the ignorance of the common people, especially the youth.

One of the doubts regarding Islam in our time is the issue of the women’s hijab (Islamic dress for women). They say in this regard: hijab authorized man’s possession of woman, for it is a type of repressionpracticed by men against women. They also say that Islam calls for the caging of women at home and preventing them from going out. They make these claims whileadhering to resonant mottos such as freedom, equality between men andwomen, renewal, and openness.
I believe that they want nothing from those mottos butonly to deceive the people, corruptthe youth, and spread the culture of nudity and sexual freedom that destroys the power of the society and its high objectives. They want to instillintellectual and political dependency, and the doubts about issues such as hijab is one of the methods used by them to freeze the development of human societies and to forcethem to consumer oriented societies with no spiritual or intellectual progress. They believe that the Muslim women, under the pretext of freedom, renewal, and progress, should expose themselvesevery day, every hour, with a new ornament so as that they too become consumers of Western factories.
The question we must ask is: Doeshuman freedom mean that women should be a good displayed in front of the eyes of famished men, and should wear the clothes that say to the man ‘look at me I’m here?’ Does femininity requires that women spend long hours in beauty salons with male or female hairdressers,something that wastes their time and corrupts their morals!
The reality is that Islam does not consider women any less than men and considers men and women as equal human beings. No one was created to have power over the other, but to complete the other. As a human being, each oneis permitted to participate in serving the community provided they show up in the community as a human being and nothing more or less. Not allowingwomen to show their femininity does not mean that Islam wants to keep them away from the society. Women and men are treated equally based on their unique needs in Islam. While itis a need for the women to be covered, it is also a need for men. Men are not allowed to show their masculinity in society. The same goes for women who have to live in society as human beings that depend on their character and worthiness only, not appearance or other superficial attributes. If women maintained their purity and chastity,then they would completethe components of a successful society.
Therefore,we find that Islam assigned to womenthe task of serving the community from inside the home and assigned to men the task of servingthe community from outside it. This comes because women are inherently feminine and thus they are worthy of managing the house affairs, which are based on love, kindness and compassion. Islam allowed women to go out and participate in building the society and did not tell them to sit behind the curtains and/or called for confining them, and the same goes for men. Islam says that both man and woman should cover their bodies.However, because the women are more beautiful and alluring than men, the need for wearing the veil (hijab) was more comprehensive. God ordered women to be covered more than men because showmanship, cosmetics and the desire to capture men and make them fall in the nets of love and lust are the characteristics of women. That is why we find women prefer finery and nudity in order to achieve these purposes.
They were ordered to cover their heads (towear the veil) in order to close the door of corruption, sedition, and adultery that is hated rationally and legally. Evidently, hijab has lots of benefits for the nation. It limits nudity and sexual enjoyment to marriage only and this increases the bondof marriage between the couple and makes them more intimate and harmonious. The legal marriage offers happiness and comfort to the couple. In cases where there are no sexual constraints and men and women are free to follow each and every whim and lust that occurs to them, couples become competitors. Marriage becomes a kind of jail, preventing husband and wife from ‘freedom’ and from choosing what he or she ‘wants.’ Lack of modesty and nudity and sexual freedom harm society and paralyze the power of work and activity in it.
Have a look at the Western women and those who are following them, those who were told that they are free in their actions. In fact, theyare less free than the women whose religion dictates covering one’s body and exercising self-control. The Western women do not depend on their character but on their femininity,femaleness and appearance. They spend most of their time beautifying and dressing up so that they can become wares to be displayed to attract men and to meet their unquenchable desires. That is why owners of banks, shops and even hospitals employ only women and require that they show their hair and wear short skirts that are at least an inch above the knee etc. Women there do not get jobs because of their efficiency, but because they represent platforms to increase the numbers of customers.
On the other hand, the Muslim women that are present in society are regarded as human beings, not as walking talking advertisement signs. They do not depend on their femininity for success, but instead rely on their character, experience and the rank they have attained by performing well. That is how they are equal to men in Islam. All the monotheistic religions have ordered women to wear the veil. The veil is in fact a source of honour for women. Hence, hijab maintains and preserves women, through which they choose to bechaste, pure, and virtuous.