Page 316 - Bigotry: The Dark Danger
P. 316

Bigotry:
                                       The Dark Danger




                  choice. Yet when they have to, it is essential for Muslim women

                to show that they are Muslims and chaste if they are to avoid
              unwelcome consequences. The jilbab worn by Muslim women in
              such environments is just such a measure.

                   This is of course something a woman will decide on for herself.
              The democratic and modern societies today generally do not meet
              this description of "unsafe places." Therefore, women in Western
              societies do not generally feel the need to cover themselves up; that

              being said, there may also be people in such societies that do indeed
                                  pose a threat to women. So if a woman does not
                                       think she is safe she may well choose to
                                          cover herself up, even in a Western soci-

                                           ety, because the essential condition
                                             mentioned in the verse is to prevent
                                             Muslim woman from being mis-
                                              judged and oppressed according to
                                              the way she dresses.













                                            If she so wishes, a woman can say,
                                            "The practice of head-covering does
                                            appear in the Qur'an and I can see it in
                                            verse 59 of Surat al-Ahzab," and
                                            choose to cover her head. She may
                                            prefer the headscarf to covering the
                                            whole body and interpret covering up
                                            in that way. However, it is untrue to say
                                            that this is what verse 31 of Surat al-
                                            Ahzab commands because the Qur'an
                                            says nothing about the headscarf.



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