Response with Respect to Dalia Mogahed
What is Hijaab; Why the anti-Muslim Sentiments
I am probably being presumptuous to address Dalia Mogahed, a Muslim studies scholar,
researcher and pollster, an author, advisor and consultant. She has been addressed as “you're giving a TED Talk, you're clearly a deep thinker, you work at a fancy think tank, you're an exception, you're not the rule.” I describe myself as a PPK Muslim (proud, practicing, knowledgeable), So bear with me. I can assure you my aim is to dissect and clarify certain issues. I am confident that the Scholar will appreciate this sort of attitude. I would like to concentrate in this discussion on “us” rather than on “them”; a little bit of soul searching.
I would like to turn your question to yourself, Dalia Mogahed if I may. What do you think of yourself, when you look in the mirror? Do you feel that you are “flying the flag of faith” as you walk about? Certainly not; you are too wise and mature for that. However this is what the symbolism of the scarf has blown into these days. It is actually considered the poster girl for Islam by those who wear it. Whenever the electronic media is talking about Muslims or Islam, an image of ladies in attractive scarves pops up in the background. I would submit this is a very misleading depiction of “hijaab” as recommended in our Shari’ah.
Pick up a textbook on “Fiqh”, the Islamic Jurisprudence anywhere in the world or read and consult any traditional Muslim Scholar of Sunni Islam you will find that the minimum requirement for Shari’ah Hijaab in all the four schools of thought is what the Somali Muslim Sisters wear in Minnesota: a long, loose and plain abaya from shoulders to the feet and a cloth (no fancy headscarf) to cover the head. This is the minimum. Three schools consider a face veil as mandatory. Hanafia regard a veil as optional but strongly recommend it. It is debatable if the female voice should be heard by men. The final and fundamental step in Hijaab is segregation of the genders in all out door activities. This is Classical Sunni Islam on Hijaab as enunciated by the four great Imams and organized and compiled by their students. I do not conform to this view, however. I prefer the Islamic scholarship which maintains that the Quran and Sunnah has not prescribed any dress code for Muslim women and men. Instead it has laid down very clear directions for modesty, decency and shyness (yes, shyness, a cool concept completely rooted out by the liberal Western societies) in the inter action between men and women.
This trend of labelling just the headscarf —colorful, attractive, designer — as hijaab without any other requirements in the dress is a development in the 1970s. It is mainly a geo-political phenomenon; a reaction to Western imperialism. The extreme agony of the Muslim Ummah at the humiliating defeat of three Arab states by Israel within six days gave this trend a great boost. An effort to display and exhibit our Islamic identity in some way became very urgent. The headscarf serves this purpose even though it draws a resemblance to Christian nuns. To label this type of scarf as an Islamic hijaab has no basis in our Shari’ah. The practice of putting a scarf on the head with a short fitting shirt and skinny jeans is a simultaneous mockery of Shari’ah and liberal values. I have nothing against a headscarf. Go ahead and have it if you like it. But this will be a matter of personal taste; Shari’ah does not call for it.
Your comment “One study found that 80 percent of news coverage about Islam and Muslims is negative” is very pertinent. There is another side of the coin. A Pew poll some time back had shown that 65% to 85% of population in most Muslim majority countries have a negative view of America.
The adverse effect on you and so many other Muslims after 9/11 must have caused a lot of sorrow, pain and agony. Without in anyway underestimating its effect, I would like to add that this was a cataclysmic incident for America. A great degree of over reaction by a section of Americans is therefore very natural and expected. We must be generous to appreciate this fact and try to accommodate it.
This would have died down in due course. It did not and the anti-Muslim sentiments continue. This again is a reaction to the continuing deaths and destruction in Europe, Africa and America committed by mis-guided Muslims under their perception of fighting in the cause of Islam. It hurts all of us. How do we respond to these sentiments against us. You have given some valuable suggestions. I would dare a few, realizing that they are not popular:
First, I would start with stressing a very confident and clear statement by American Muslims that America still is one of the best if not the best country for Muslims to live with its freedoms of religion and speech and its strong Rule of Law. We are very happy to be here.This will go a long way to reassure our fellow citizens.
Second, we must realise and confess that the reaction of our non-Muslim fellow citizens is much milder in face of grave provocations like mass shootings of fellow workers as compared to the well known strong and physical reaction of Muslims in face of mild provocations like cartoons.
Third, I have evidence to think that many very good, sincere and practicing Muslims have some sympathy/support/justification for the Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS. Many of them just do not see any evidence to implicate them in any of the atrocities in US and Europe. This certainly complicates the situation.
ISIS is extremely audacious, thorough and persistent in its claim of working for the cause and glory of Islam. It is fiercely ideological and has a global reach. It has declared itself as a Caliphate, its leader has the name of a person who is next to our Holy Prophet, Caliph Abu Bakr Siddique, its flag has our Shahada on it and it embarks on its vicious bloody attacks using our holy slogan of Allah-o-Akbar. In its cruelty and barbarism it does qualify to what the Holy Quran says “asfala safeleen” — the lowest of the lowest. Therefore, I am sorry I cannot applaud when you say “ISIS has as much to do with Islam as the Ku Klux Klan has to do with Christianity.” First, it is not wise or scholarly to refer to another evil while discussing an evil. Second, the first and the main Ku Klux Klan flourished in the Southern United States more than a century ago in the late 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. It worked for, not Christianity but white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration. It was the second group founded in1915 and flourishing nationwide in the early and mid-1920s that had a religious bias and opposed Catholics and Jews. The present KKK is week and mostly irrelevant.
I can sympathize with my fellow non-Muslim citizens when they find it hard to believe us when we just say “they are not one of us”. We have to try harder to convince them; as hard as ISIS tries to convince them that they are Islamic. The major step, I think is a honest, sincere and whole hearted and emphatic denunciation of the Talibaan, Al Qaeda and ISIS without any ifs and buts. Your advice “ Now, as a Muslim, as a mother, as a human being, I think we need to do everything we can to stop a group like ISIS. But we would be giving in to their narrative if we cast them as representatives of a faith of 1.6 billion people” is really fitting and pertinent and must be taken seriously by we Muslims. I am really sorry to say this but I have good reasons to believe it is not so. A very large section of Muslims do not think that Al Qaeda or ISIS has anything to do with the atrocities, death and destruction in New York, Boston, California, Paris, UK and Spain. Most Muslims are able to rationalize/ignore the most horrific crime — a major gunahe kabeera — of parading a young Jordanian Muslim pilot in a locked cage, sprinkling petroleum on him, light it to burn him to death screaming and shouting under video surveillance to be circulated on the internet!!! It beats me how a Muslim can have even a semblance of sympathy for such a hideous organization, more so if they do it under the banner of our Shahada and with our slogan Allah-o-Akbar. By consensus, no Muslim can stoop so low. But many good sincere Muslims do exactly that with a clear conscience. Why and how? They just deny the whole story completely. Consequently, our reaction to these obvious crimes does not go beyond some verbal denunciation from responsible organizations like ISNA. Almost the whole city was out in the streets in Paris after the “jihadi” carnage there. For San Bernardino, reaction of Muslims was opposite. The very next day I received an email suggesting no connection with any Muslim organization. Even today many Muslims state that the “couple” had nothing to do with it. They insist on some conspiracy somewhere. These Muslims may be right and have a right to say so. However they are not being prudent or pragmatic when they do not expect a negative reaction to this from the mainstream who are fully convinced based on facts that “jihadi” organizations are responsible for these atrocities. Deny if we wish; it is our right; but we must be ready for a reaction: equal and opposite; it is their right.
You have said “……somebody else's actions had turned me from a citizen to a suspect…….”. Is this a correct assessment? All of us have a very intense love for the Muslim “Ummah”. Anything distantly Muslim immediately becomes Islamic and therefore dear to us. I used to hate boxing; I did not even regard it as a sport. Enters Mohammed Ali and I developed a liking for the sport. This is the usual style and we all are proud of it. Notwithstanding the facts on the ground, we firmly desire and strongly believe that the whole Muslim world is a family of brothers and sisters. We consider the Muslim world as a “single body; pain in one part, hurts the whole body,” Therefore this “somebody”, you have referred to are in fact your brothers and sisters in Islam. It is not wise nor acceptable to just disown them summarily in the face of mayhem committed by them. We have to try harder, much harder.
You have stated “ Today we hear people actually saying things like, "There's a problem in this country, and it's called Muslims. When are we going to get rid of them?" So, some people want to ban Muslims and close down mosques. They talk about my community kind of like we're a tumor in the body of America. And the only question is, are we malignant or benign? You know, a malignant tumor you extract altogether, and a benign tumor you just keep under surveillance.” VERY TRUE and causing lot of sorrow and pain to many of our brothers and sisters. I cannot and will not belittle those sentiments, sitting comfortably in my arm chair in my office. But this must be kept in proper proportions; there is the other side of the coin. Donald Trump made a wild and vulgar statement that all Muslims should be kept out of our country. The whole political and elite leadership of our country, across the political divide denounced and condemned this statement. This cannot happen anywhere else in the world. Let us clearly remember this when, in times of frustration we tend to descend in the “victim” mode. Your beautiful experience in your first visit to a mosque after 9/11 “The place was completely full. And then the imam made an announcement, thanking and welcoming our guests, because half the congregation were Christians, Jews, Buddhists, atheists, people of faith and no faith, who had come not to attack us, but to stand in solidarity with us” is critical and seminal. This should be very reassuring and heartening to all of us in these days of anti-Muslim sentiments.
