http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/blogs/why-some-muslim-women-dont-wear-hijab/538417
August 15, 2012 | by Dian Kuswandini
Why Some Muslim Women Don't Wear Hijab
A cleric takes out two candies; unwraps one of them and throws them both onto
the floor. He asks: “If you have to choose, which candy will you pick? Of
course, you’ll take the wrapped one because it’s the clean one. In Islam, we
protect our women through hijab.”
First of all, I'm a believer: I'm a practicing Muslim. Second, I don’t wear
hijab. And from here my story starts.
One day, a male friend tagged me on a note in Facebook; it's about a
conversation between a non-Muslim man and an Islamic cleric.
The man asks: “Why does Islam oblige Muslim women to wear hijab?”
In answering the question, the cleric takes out two candies; unwraps one of
them and throws them both onto the floor. He asks: “If you have to choose,
which candy will you pick?”
The man answers: “Of course I’ll take the wrapped one, because it’s the clean
one.”
The cleric goes, “Indeed. In Islam, we protect our women through hijab.”
Feeling disturbed with that degrading analogy, I sent him a message.
“Do you suggest that non-hijabi Muslim women are dirty? And how come you
compare women with candies?”
This guy replied, “Don't take it to your heart. Just understand that wearing
hijab is an obligation in Islam, and shouldn't be compromised.”
It wasn't the first time I engaged in that kind of conversation with Muslim
men like him — those with the "I'm more Muslim than you" syndrome. They thought
they knew Islam better just because my appearance doesn't “represent” Islam.
In between our debates over Qur'anic verses and hadiths (saying of the Prophet
Muhammad), they always slapped me a hadith telling that non-hijabi women would
be burned in hell. “Remember that,” one of them warned as if he has secured
himself a place in heaven.
They even called me a follower of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL), just because
I refused to be forced into wearing hijab. Never in my life I've joined JIL nor
attended its events — I don't even agree with many of JIL's ideas. Yet one guy
easily condemned: "You can deny you're a JIL follower, but you act just like
them, so you're one of them."
At least I'm not the only one to receive such a condemnation. Respected ulema
and former Indonesia's religious affairs minister Quraish Shihab was once
called an agent of liberal Islam and was slew with harsh words when he released
his book on hijab, which argues that Islam never strictly determines the limits
of women's awrah (body parts to be covered).
Many accused him of writing the book in favor of his non-hijabi daughter, TV
presenter Najwa Shihab. In his book, “Jilbab: Pakaian Wanita Muslimah”
("Jilbab: Muslim Women Attire"), Shihab presents different views of ulemas in
the past and the present on hijab, encouraging readers to analyze this issue
from many perspectives instead of following something blindly. He says Muslims
should realize that there are other “menus” offered in Islam, and it's
important to note that Islam never intends to complicate its followers.
In fact, it's Muslims themselves who complicate things by opting for the
strictest views. On hijab, Shihab quotes Imam al-Syafi'i, one of the founders
of Islamic jurisprudence, who said: "I cannot say — and even others with great
knowledge will never say — that this (the hijab law) has been mujma' 'alaihi
(universally agreed)."
Many Indonesian Islamic figures in the past, Shihab says, were very relaxed
toward hijab. Although he didn't precisely identify them, I can name famous
figures like Buya Hamka, Mohammad Natsir and Agus Salim. Today, however, it
seems like hijab is everything that counts in an Indonesian Muslim woman.
In 2007, I went undercover and lived for few days among prostitutes in a famous
red light district in Jakarta for my investigative report. Several prostitutes
there — mostly the senior ones — wore hijab. When I told this to those same
friends, they said I shouldn't link hijab with one's piety and profession.
Muslim women must wear hijab; their professions would be another case. So I
asked, "In which part then hijab can protect women when they work as
prostitutes?”
I'm not against hijab — who knows that someday I might wear it? But it's the
harsh judgments on one's personal choices of religious practices that have made
me swallow aspirins now and then. I can't agree if some Muslims force something
into others, like it's God's unquestionable truth. Even Prophet Muhammad (peace
be upon him) couldn't force his beloved uncle to embrace Islam.
Remember, something that's forced will create nothing but hatred and antipathy.
Do you realize that your silly hijab campaigns might be counter-productive and
make non-hijabi women view hijab negatively?
You, Mr. "I'm more Muslim than you," are angry if someone calls you a terrorist
because you wear Arabic attire. And you say, “Don't judge me from my clothes.”
Now dear brothers, please apply your words as well to your non-hijabi sisters —
don't hold double standards
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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