The recent decision of the mayor of Nice, France, to ban the burkini — a swimsuit that fully covers the body of a woman — on its beaches is another discriminatory act against Muslims in the name of human rights and freedom.
I have had a heated discussion with a Brazilian friend about it on the Internet, read a Portuguese columnist arguing against the hijab, and recently overheard two men behind me in a supermarket line discussing how the world had to get rid of Muslim extremists in the Middle East and put an end to the hijab that Arab women use, making them look like slaves.
Hijab in Arabic means “cover” and the concept comes from the Holy Qur’an. In it Allah asks women to cover when they leave home to protect themselves from other people’s eyes. “O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters and the women of the believers that when they leave home they cover with their veils; it is more convenient to be distinguished and not molested; Allah is Forgiving, most Merciful.”
It is understandable that people in more promiscuous societies like Brazil and France do not understand the use of the hijab. They see this as a restriction on the freedom of women of how they present themselves to the world, a limitation on their bodies. And in a way, yes, it is a restriction. But a restriction that comes because of the male gaze that wants to devour all of those of the opposite sex. Muslim women who wear the hijab feel protected by it, and more valued, or the exact opposite of what the self-styled “liberators” of the West think.
“People often ignore Muslim women as unable to have power or identity simply because they wear hijab,” said the American photographer Yumna Al-Arashi, who is of Yemeni descent, to the Huffington Post. “I believe that the empowerment of women does not require that women adhere to a certain way of dressing — be it hijab or bikinis. Defining emancipation based on physical appearance is not adhering to the truest form of the word. Emancipation of women allows them to have equal rights in all areas, no matter how they dress.”
Banning the burkini on French beaches will not allow Muslim women who wear the hijab in France the possibility to bathe and swim in the Mediterranean Sea. That to me is a form of violence against women. Every Muslim woman has the right to decide on whether to use the hijab or not.
“Strong societies can deal with different customs and dress. If a Muslim woman wants to go to the beach using a burkini, it does not make her a threat to Western society. The real enemies of freedom are not wearers of burkinis, but the politicians who want to ban them,” wrote Juliet Samuel in the Daily Telegraph.
Here in Brazil there is no official ban on hijab, but there is a lot of discrimination against Brazilian women who wear it. Veiled Muslim women have been verbally attacked on the streets of Brazil, being called terrorists and suicide bombers. And the law student Charlyane de Souza Silva was prevented from taking the bar examination in São Paulo in March 2015 because she is Muslim and covered her hair with a hijab.
Even the United States in the Rio Olympics has a Muslim athlete competing wearing the hijab, namely Ibtihaj Muhammad, who won a bronze medal in fencing. Very cheerful and lively, she said in a television interview that she did not see her veil as an impediment to playing sports. “A lot of people don’t believe that Muslim women have voices or that we participate in sport,” Muhammad said in an interview with USA Today. “And it’s not just to challenge misconceptions outside the Muslim community but within the Muslim community. I want to break cultural norms.”
Veiled, unveiled, the Muslim woman has the right to make her own choices and to be respected. People like the mayor of Nice who attack women who wear the veil are disrespecting the intelligence, free will and freedom of these women. Forcing them to not to wear the veil is not a social advancement, but violence and disrespect of enormous proportions.
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The writer is a Saudi journalist based in Brazil.
I have had a heated discussion with a Brazilian friend about it on the Internet, read a Portuguese columnist arguing against the hijab, and recently overheard two men behind me in a supermarket line discussing how the world had to get rid of Muslim extremists in the Middle East and put an end to the hijab that Arab women use, making them look like slaves.
Hijab in Arabic means “cover” and the concept comes from the Holy Qur’an. In it Allah asks women to cover when they leave home to protect themselves from other people’s eyes. “O Prophet, tell your wives, your daughters and the women of the believers that when they leave home they cover with their veils; it is more convenient to be distinguished and not molested; Allah is Forgiving, most Merciful.”
It is understandable that people in more promiscuous societies like Brazil and France do not understand the use of the hijab. They see this as a restriction on the freedom of women of how they present themselves to the world, a limitation on their bodies. And in a way, yes, it is a restriction. But a restriction that comes because of the male gaze that wants to devour all of those of the opposite sex. Muslim women who wear the hijab feel protected by it, and more valued, or the exact opposite of what the self-styled “liberators” of the West think.
“People often ignore Muslim women as unable to have power or identity simply because they wear hijab,” said the American photographer Yumna Al-Arashi, who is of Yemeni descent, to the Huffington Post. “I believe that the empowerment of women does not require that women adhere to a certain way of dressing — be it hijab or bikinis. Defining emancipation based on physical appearance is not adhering to the truest form of the word. Emancipation of women allows them to have equal rights in all areas, no matter how they dress.”
Banning the burkini on French beaches will not allow Muslim women who wear the hijab in France the possibility to bathe and swim in the Mediterranean Sea. That to me is a form of violence against women. Every Muslim woman has the right to decide on whether to use the hijab or not.
“Strong societies can deal with different customs and dress. If a Muslim woman wants to go to the beach using a burkini, it does not make her a threat to Western society. The real enemies of freedom are not wearers of burkinis, but the politicians who want to ban them,” wrote Juliet Samuel in the Daily Telegraph.
Here in Brazil there is no official ban on hijab, but there is a lot of discrimination against Brazilian women who wear it. Veiled Muslim women have been verbally attacked on the streets of Brazil, being called terrorists and suicide bombers. And the law student Charlyane de Souza Silva was prevented from taking the bar examination in São Paulo in March 2015 because she is Muslim and covered her hair with a hijab.
Even the United States in the Rio Olympics has a Muslim athlete competing wearing the hijab, namely Ibtihaj Muhammad, who won a bronze medal in fencing. Very cheerful and lively, she said in a television interview that she did not see her veil as an impediment to playing sports. “A lot of people don’t believe that Muslim women have voices or that we participate in sport,” Muhammad said in an interview with USA Today. “And it’s not just to challenge misconceptions outside the Muslim community but within the Muslim community. I want to break cultural norms.”
Veiled, unveiled, the Muslim woman has the right to make her own choices and to be respected. People like the mayor of Nice who attack women who wear the veil are disrespecting the intelligence, free will and freedom of these women. Forcing them to not to wear the veil is not a social advancement, but violence and disrespect of enormous proportions.
—
The writer is a Saudi journalist based in Brazil.
