التعليقات

1. Jennifer says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   So bottom line, to have a shot at "fairness", I should just "cover (my) beauty"?
   If I didn't know better, I would've thought this was a pro-veil campaign :O

   Reply
2. rabbit says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   I agree with Jennifer.

   I fail to see the logic in Sara's arguments. So some people are comfortable with being nude. It's a choice. There are even people who choose to live in nude communities. Sounds odd to you? What is even more odd is putting on a veil because of a male-invented system of believes.

   Reply
   • clickme says:

     %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

     being nude is a signal from the man or woman of unblance in the personality....why you want to show what is hidden & to whom...when people see you nude to you welcome there comments about your body...can they touch,can they tast...why nude if you cant see what you are exposing..if you are intrested in the beauty of your body why dont you fill your home with your nudity,or is for other to see & enjoy.!!!!

     Reply
     • rabbit says:

       %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

       I don’t think you are properly following the discussion. My issue with Sarah is bringing up hijab in her article about nudity/exploitation of woman’s sexuality. She could’ve done a good job by arguing against exploitation of the woman’s body without the need to try to plug the hijab thing,

       Reply
3. Sara says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   Thanks for your comments. When women become sex objects, this is when women start to be degraded and its usually done by us women, so we are to blame!! Whether people like to live nude or not thats not the point.

   The veil is not "a male-invented system of believes" rather the veil is a Divine command specified in the Qur'an to Muslims. I can understand that this may not suit most non-Muslims, but this is what God has prescribed to Muslims. Women throughout history (in the east and west) have always shown some way of modesty. Similar ideas to the veil were also prescribed in Christinanity and Juadism .... yet the destructions of such values only leads to unhealthy societies..

   Reply
4. Ad Sabry says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   i think what she meant is not to judge women by how she looks
   whatever she choose to wear, but by her accomplished,because even when she very intellectual women first judged by
   their looks
   and i agree with her

   Reply
5. rabbit says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   Nudity is not the norm, neither is hiding behind a veil. You are using one extreme behavior to justify another.

   I happen to be in my office at the moment. There are women around me who are dressed in professional clothing… no veils and no nakedness. I don not know anything about their beliefs and I do not care to know. You seem to suggest that if one of those women happens to be Muslim, then she is wearing the incorrect attire: she is not adhering to what God prescribed to her as a Muslim woman. Is that right?

   Your observation about other religions practice of wearing a veil is very true. This was a custom at the time in the Middle East. The problem is that Islam made this a law by having it in the Qur’an. As a result other religions/cultures were able to evolve and get rid of this practice while Muslim women got the bad end of the stick. To me wearing a veil is a loud statement that one is not willing to leave behind the bronze-age. The veil is at odds with all what secular Europe stands for: enlightenment, equality, liberty, freedom, etc.

   Now exploitation of women's sexuality in advertisement/marketing is another issue. We can discuss this without bringing in the veil as a solution. You don't cure a headache by chopping off the head

   Reply
6. Sara says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   May I clarify first of all that the Hijab being referred to here is the covering of the woman’s hair and body (excluding face and hands).

   We can all read the Quran in the way we wish, however, God in the Qur’an (as has been understood from the early days until today) prescribed the Hijab on Muslim women in the verse (Qur’an 24:31). Muslim women have the choice to accept or not, yet this does not negate the fact that God has made the Hijab obligatory.

   On the origin of the Hijab, veil, modesty or whatever you want to call it, it existed not only in Eastern societies, but rather it existed everywhere. Being bought up in the UK, I am aware that within British society this also existed long ago when modesty was vitally important as in other societies.

   Reply
   • clickme says:

     %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

     to close this issue,why not ask woman from all culture if they like to walk nude in the street of wear dress.....is the woman relly intrested in her nudity,does she like to look at her nude body in the morning...if so when she look at it what does she see.!?

     Reply
7. Sara says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   Cont..
   Before the rise of Islam, there were good customs present within the Prophet Muhammad’s tribe Quraish. Later, Islam emphasised these good customs among which was modesty (to a certain extent), but took it a level higher by prescribing a certain way of covering. I reject the insulting statement to any woman wearing Hijab that the Hijab is a “loud statement that one is not willing to leave behind the bronze-age”. You seem to be mixing between culture and religion as many people do. The Hijab is not a cultural act (if it was it would have either faded or changed in today’s world) but a religious one.

   Don’t get me wrong, I respect all women who choose to dress modestly either with the Hijab or not, but it is important to be stating correct facts especially at a very critical time.

   Reply
   • rabbit says:

     %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

     I see where you are coming from... you are basing your arguments on the Qur'an where as I base them on reason. If you end up taking the Qur'an too seriously then you should also condone beating of women… which is clearly allowed in the Qur’an (I talked about it in my Blog).

     On the issue of mixing culture and religion, you cannot separate religion from the culture it came from. Religion is defined and shaped by it’s cultural environment. Islam is no different than other world religions in that sense.

     Reply
     • peace says:

       %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

       Just a quick note to 'Rabbit'- you are responsible for all that you say and believe. I believe that it is an innate desire for each one of us to search for the truth. There is a right and wrong way of understanding the Quran, and you must always seek to understand knowledge through the best, most authentic and credible sources, otherwise you’re not working within 'reason' which you claim to be doing. The Quran, when read and understood correctly emphasises the equality between men and women, and does not at all encourage the beating of women (you need to read the 'tafseer- explanation' of the Quran from credible sources), but rather, Islam came to give women their rights. Modesty, in all its levels (with hijab or without) is key to womens’ (and to men as well!) freedom to interact within society and in earning them self respect. The form of modesty through the hijab is that which is stated by God to Muslims (and indeed other monotheistic religions) and this belief should be respected as all other religious and righteous beliefs should be. Never should culture and religion be confused with each other, nor should religion be understood by its followers but rather by its true sources.

       Reply
       • Sara says:

         %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

         I totally agree with Peace: Of course Islam does not encourage the beating of women!!!; this is a western/ orientalist understanding of the Quran which reflects lack of understanding of the Quranic text. As this is not the issue here i will just give one comment on this: If you are familiar with the Arabic language, you will be aware that "tapping on the keyboard" is referred to in Arabic with the same word you quoted in your blog- ‘yadrib’. So if you apply your understanding of the word 'daraba' here, then you are referring to the smashing of the keyboard which is clearly nonsense!!!!
         I can understand the feminist approach and understanding of the Quran, but we can’t interpret the Quran in the way we wish.
         On the second issue, some religious practices may have had cultural origins. But again although modesty may have existed to a certain degree before the rise of Islam, however, when Islam prescribed the Hijab, it became a religious practice.

         Reply
         • rabbit says:

           %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

           Though this is not the main topic of this discussion, I am really interested in your interpretation of the word "yadrib" in this contest. This is the first time I hear the argument from a Mulsim woman. If what is meant by "yadrib" is indeed a gentle stroke such as in the tapping of a keyboard, then is this supposed to be a way of disciplining women? How can a feminist accept being disciplined by a man, weather the act involves physical harm or just gentle stroking?
       • rabbit says:

         %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

         Why don't you offer your interpretation of the verse which refers to the beating of women? Why is it that Muslims always refer to the proper "tafseer" and proper "way of understanding the Qu'ran" without actually specifying what the proper way is?

         Reply
8. Steph says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   I actually agree with Sara's logic more, you say "to close this issue,why not ask woman from all culture if they like to walk nude in the street of wear dress." ... I would say rather than ask women from all cultures it is best to ask one young child, simply because the have a much better 'innate' ability to distinguish between right and wrong... have you ever witnessed a child perhaps at a swimming pool for the first time who's parent is trying to undress them in front of others... they will hide and shy away ... this is only natural if we are being totally honest

   Reply
9. abdullah says:

   %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

   very nice artical & subject as well:)
   hope you continue write to show how the right moslem woman think
   looking forward to get more artical of you
   GOD BLESS YOU

   Reply
10. Maher says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    I agree with Sara. I think we need to understand that the issue is not the imposition of the veil on women but simply freedom for women cannot be achieved when a woman decides to take her clothes off and expose her body to others. Well done Sara.

    Reply
11. arab_woman says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    Dressing modestly, with or without veil, has nothing to do with the way you feel about your body. You can be extremely extravagant in the way you dress and still be extremely uncomfortable with the way your body shape is, and vice versa. I know many very close friends who are veiled and feel extremely uncomfortable with the way they look, with the veil and off. In fact, they use it to "hide" from the problem that they are facing--which, imo, is rather of a self-acceptance in the deep sense of the word.

    And for the record, Islam does not make the veil obligatory. This is a tradition inherited from tribal regions where water to wash the hair was scarce, and sand storms, as well invasions and rapes abundant. The tradition has evolved with the years and different interpretations have been given to the veil. And for the record, there are millions of muslims in south east asia (Pakistan, India) who do not wear the veil.

    Reply
    • Sara says:

      %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

      I agree with your first point. The issue of how you feel about your body and the Hijab is unrelated and not our discussion here.
      However, as for your second claim, there are very clear verses in the Quran which yes make the Hijab obligatory on all Muslim women. At the end of the day, we have the choice to cover or not, but to be fair to the Quran, the obligation of the Hijab is very clear in the Quranic verse (Qur’an 24:31).

      Reply
12. Adam x Eve says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    I agree with steph about the fact that children are becoming shy when they are undressed clearly because they act by nature and their minds are yet not infected by how the so called role models like actors or models look or dress like or even undress like.

    I totally agree with Sara.to be more honest,i live in the western world and still can not understand how walking naked makes you feel liberated (liberated from what?! is modesty on the contrary becoming like a cage that needs to be broken and liberated from?).You can see yourself how the senior or eldrly people feel disgusted when they see half naked women walking in the street.

    I think that people s' values are getting poisoned with the media , fasion and size zero obsession i am afraid because they all simply focus on one thing which is the way you look. Furthermore, things which were taboos previously in the past are becoming very normal these days like walking naked which i personally feel is degrading more than liberating because it presents the woman as a sale item,for example: look at any man staring at naked women talking for example and you will clearly see what he is interested in (the talk or the body).

    Reply
13. Adam x Eve says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    This is a note to rabbit.For your information, when Islam came ,it gave women status when they had no rights whatsoever at that time (they used to be sold like slaves,beaten like animals, buried at young age because of fear of shame and had no rights in any will) .Islam condemned all these actions and on the contrary it equalised between men and women and gave the women their rights and status and did not at any time encourage the beating of women (this is a misunderstaning of the text by many people including yourself i am afraid).The problem is not in the Quran but in the way you want to understand its verses to suit what you believe in.

    Reply
14. Adam x Eve says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    It is not logic to find among the Quran (which is the words of God ) verses giving women status and others encouraging to beat them at the same time.I come from a linguistic background where i can assure you that the meaning mentioned in the ward (daraba) does not mean the savaged physical harm you referred to previously.In Arabic language, as you might already know, you can use the same word for different meanings, so if you do not know this fact already, i advice you to read again what scholars wrote in their explanation for this word especially in this verse (and please do not read for amatours or orientalists who have no idea about the knowledge of Quran explanation).

    Reply
15. Adam x Eve says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    One final comment for rabbit.Hijab (I am not referring to the veil where you cover your face ) was one of the good customs that were addressed by Islam (and became prescribed in the Quran very clearly ) in order to preserve women unique status by preserving her modesty.Whether you want to wear it or not it is up to you but please do not mix things up by saying that Hijab takes you back to the bronze age (does this mean that becoming naked makes you more civilised??!), If that is the case, why don't you take the initiative and do the same thing and tell me then how liberated you feel when you become undressed??!.

    Reply
16. dasayy says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    The Quran protects us from Western diseases ( sex, drug, alcohol, materialism and consumerism, dysfunctional family, pornography, homosexuality, mental illness (depression and anxiety) and suicidal thoughts

    Reply
17. bara'a torkmani says:

    %A %B %e%q, %Y at %I:%M %p

    thanks alot sara about this fantaftic article which is clarify what is the islam & how get the muslim women all respect & liberated ..
    done well sara .. i hope to you sucess in all directions of your life ..

    Reply