We always hear stories and phrases about how a woman should cover up. Some of these stories and phrases are really outraging and disrespectful to both men and women. And the problem is, many Muslims use these phrases, share it with others, and even use it in campaigns to show how covering up is great, without realizing that these ideas are suggesting the exact opposite and are not in anyway showing the real treatment of women in Islam.
"A guy asked a Muslim: Why do your women cover up their body and hair? The Muslim guy smiled and got two sweets, he opened the first one and kept the other one closed. He threw them both on the dusty floor and asked the guy: If I asked you to take one of the sweets which one you will choose? The guy replied: The covered one. Then the Muslim said that's how we treat and see our women."
The story above is just totally the wrong way to tell a non-Muslim how women are treated in Islam. In fact, if anything it only shows that Muslim men are very disrespectful to Muslim women. The story suggests that Muslim men think of women as an object, candy, just a 'treat' to be enjoyed. I really don't understand how the story shows the point of Hijab. Women aren't things that are used or consumed by men, and they certainly shouldn't be thrown on dusty floor! I honestly think that trying to explain the point of Hijab by talking about throwing candy in the dirt is exactly why the rest of the world thinks that Islam is disrespectful to women! That is really unfortunate, we need to use better analogies when trying to explain something about Islam if we really want non-Muslims to truly understand how great our religion is.
Another phrase that has totally outraged me is: "A woman is like candy, if you remove the wrapper the flies will swarm around her."
I am not candy, and men aren't flies. This analogy suggests that a woman is candy, and an uncovered woman is candy that will attract filthy flies around her. I think this is very disrespectful to both men and women! I am not candy, because the only use of candy is to be consumed and enjoyed. I am a human being and Allah didn't create me just for the man's pleasure. And men aren't flies, flies are insects for god's sake! I don't understand how, to many people, these kinds of phrases aren't insulting. How can a man describe himself as an insect and describe women as objects and be proud of it?
I wear the Hijab and I am very proud of that. But I don't think that an uncovered woman is 'unclean'! And I refuse to be referred to as candy! And I certainly refuse that men are referred to as flies or insects!
Hey Ala'a,
ReplyDeleteI really like your blog. You've pretty much summed up all the stuff I've been saying all along. It amazes me how people dont think about these things. I'm especially more surprised when women are the ones to say such things! People need to be aware of the things they insinuate in their speech! Objectifying people is the first step to dehumanize them!
Someone who believes in the same cause
Yousra
(P.S I Think I might know you! Did you at some point go to Sanaa's Turkish school? Around 7th or 8th grade? If so, we were in the same class! If not, haha ignore this :P)
MashaAllah, can't agree more :) .
ReplyDeleteThank you both for your comments :)
ReplyDeleteYousra, I couldn't agree more! And no I've never been to the Turkish school but I do have lots of friends who have! Maybe you and I have met before hehe :P
Haha I swear there was a girl in my class with the same name! Huh, growing old...er...older sucks! :P
ReplyDeleteOn another note (I LOVE talking as you can see :P), I got into a Facebook fight with a friend of mine when he posted the following:
ﺍﻟﺒﻨﺖ ﺍﻟﻠﻲ ﺗﺒﻮﺱ ﺣﺒﻴﺒﻬﺎ ﻭ ﺗﺤﻀﻨﻪ
ﻉ ﺍﺃﺳﺎﺱ ﺃﻧﻪ ﺑـ ﻳﺘﺰﻭﺟﻬﺎ ...
ﺃﺣﺐ ﺃﻗﻮﻟﻚ ;
ﻣﺎ ﺩﺍﻡ ﺍﻟﺸﺨﺺ ﻳﺸﺮﺏ ﺣﻠﻴﺐ ﺑﺒﻼﺵ ﻋﻤﺮﻩ ﻣﺎ ﺭﺡ
ﻳﻔﻜﺮ ﻳﺸﺘﺮﻱ ﺑﻘﺮﺓ !!!
Too many things wrong with that! Whats up with people and such analogies?
I argued with him, however, he still didnt get my point!
When people (women in this case) are referred to as objects/animals/things that can be bought and sold, they start being treated that way in real life. Basic human psychology! Apparently many people dont get that!
I mean, I wouldnt expect much knowledge because of the lack of education/awareness (sadly), however, this comes from highly educated people living abroad. This makes me wonder if some things are just a lost cause!
However, I'll be more optimistic and will not SHUT UP as many people would like me to! May the force be with us :D
Your new best friend :D
Yousra
OMG!! Not only did he refer to a woman as a cow, he only suggested that she can be bought!! Seriously ya Yousra some people are just unbelievable! And Like you said, it is indeed very often that these kinds of analogies come from very educated people! And sometimes educated women! And that really just makes me outraged!
ReplyDeleteWallah I have had so many debates on Facebook about these things, I have been accused of being a sinner, of wanting to corrupt the Muslim women, and of being part of a conspiracy to westernize the Muslim women and make them go astray!! Can you believe that?! Only because I dare to speak about my rights that I am now looked at as a corrupted person. It's very frustrating! But like you, I will not SHUT UP :D We can do it! ;)
P.S Add me on Facebook, I don't know your full name to find you there hehe :D
he also* suggested that she can be bought
ReplyDeletesorry I think I haven't really waken up yet :P
Good morning how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately it’s impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Yemen? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Yemen in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Calle Valencia, 39
28903 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez
Hello Emilio, I think what you're doing is so cool! I admire your love for travel and for different cultures. However, I have seen in your blog that you have already received two letters from Yemen? Please correct me if I'm mistaken.
DeleteHi Alaa.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting point of view, and I cannot even more agree with you. I once read a similar article on this from an article of my homecountry online media. Here's the link : http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/talkback/why-some-muslim-women-dont-wear-hijab/538417
This is continuously debated in every Muslim countries, and as a muslim woman, I found this perception totally sickening.
Btw, nice communicating with you again, we shared some classes in university. If you have spare time, visit my blog too http://www.adjoemoetia.blogspot.com although I just write some personal thought, and some light-writings....
With regards from the Southeast,
Ayu
Hiii Ayu! Yes I have read this article before as well. The way that muslim women are sometimes looked at is truly sickening.
DeleteBTW, I love your blog! Thanks for sharing! And please keep in touch!
Lots of love,
Alaa
Interesting blog, but some of what you say does not make much sense to me. You are a Muslim and a Hijabi but also a feminist. Obviously there is nothing wrong with wearing hijab as it is a personal choice and a cultural practice that predates Islam.
ReplyDeleteBut how can you be a Muslim and a feminist at the same time? Doesn’t the Quran say in 4:34 that a man may beat his wife if she is disobedient? How can you reconcile these two seemingly conflicting ideologies?
(Y)
ReplyDeleteYour knowledge is so weak,the fact that he threw them both on the ground means that he didn't give value to anyone of them because in his heart they are candies and not Muslim women when someone insults you that you're an animal does that really mean you're an animal? No, they say that to to tell you that you behave like an animal, so similarly candy is used to demonstrate the importance of hijab. I haven't seen anything which has glorified a woman as hijab has done. If you do not agree with hijab its okay don't do it but don't try to publish useless things about it
ReplyDelete