Under the hijab in Canada
by JOSIPA PETRUNIC
Charlatan Staff
Being both a feminist and a friend of numerous Muslim students, I often see worlds collide. A constant battle that has raged in the back of my mind was whether Islamic women in western society are truly oppressed or simply misunderstood.
Though born a Catholic, my personal spirituality has more to do with yoga and the energy of trees than it does with Catholic ideals -- or the ideals of any other religion, for that matter. Nonetheless, I still came to the Muslim Women's Circle, at the Islamic Information and Education Centre, with an innate prejudice against Islam and the suppression of women's rights -- which I mistakenly imagined it advocated.

In western society, misperceptions have added fuel to an already heated debate between the ideals of female liberation and Islam. Believing claims that a Muslim woman must walk behind her husband and is subject to his every will and command, or that fundamentalist Taliban forces portray true Islamic beliefs, are only two of an infinite list of perceptions that leave Islam and feminism unreconciled.


MIND OVER BODY: THE HIJAB AND COVERING UP
Locke's idea of liberty -- where no individual is subject to the demands of another -- has been branded on my brain by one too many political science classes. But I still saw liberty-of-choice as an option that did not apply to Muslim women in western society.
Though some female Muslims choose to cover from head-to-toe, while others do not follow their faith to that extent, the common belief that Islam is oppressive and forces total body covering, as Fatiha Rochelle of the Education Centre explained, is completely off- target.

"First, it is a choice to coverup, and not a forced decision," Rochelle said. "Allah says in the Koran that you can't force anybody to do anything against their will. The most we can do is encourage each other.

"The hijab (head-covering scarf) is by no means restrictive. Women choose to wear it because it gives them more respect."

An underlying belief in Islam is the idea of modesty, and that women should not bear all for the wandering eyes of men. Though this may set off feminist warning bells, the Women's Circle resoundingly protests the idea that this is oppression.

The hijab's purpose, the women explained, is to eliminate all other distractions. It allows people to focus on a Muslim woman's intellect, mind and soul instead of her clothing and lipstick.

As Nafisa Ally, a member of the Women's Circle, explained, "Men run after you for your mind in Islam, not for your hair, your curls or your makeup. They wonder, 'What is she like inside?'" In this way, Muslim women feel more respected for what they are "inside," and less judged on their appearance -- an aspect of western society that is often idealised and glorified.

"You see how important appearance is in (western) society. It scares western women that Muslims choose not to join in on this idea of 'beauty,'" Fatma Sheibani said. "And so the only explanation they can think of to explain why we choose not to glorify our appearances is that we are 'oppressed.'

"On the flip-side, you can wear a hijab and not really understand it in your heart. That is why young girls are not allowed to wear it -- it is a statement, not a punishment."

Making the average Joe understand that the hijab is a choice is of utmost importance to Muslim women. Rania Chabayta chose to wear the hijab even though her mother does not wear one -- the same choice her siblings also made.

"People would give me weird looks, and always ask 'Why do you wear one and your mother doesn't?'" Chabayta said.

For Fatiha Rochelle, the decision to cover herself was made when she was 17.

"Even though I could have worn it earlier, I wasn't ready to," she said. "I didn't understand it in my heart until I was that age. Then I decided to wear it of my own free will."

In fact, with criticisms rising from past studies that link eating disorders to societal perceptions of beauty, and more recent studies showing that waif models are making a comeback in North American advertising, the women in this group make a strong case for Islam's ideals of advocating a woman's mind and not her body.


WHAT IS FREEDOM?

When feminist voices say, "You need to be liberated, you are not free," Muslim women often question, "What do I need to be liberated from?"
As Baiyina Samad, a convert to Islam, explained, "To us, (liberation) means making it to paradise and not having to live in a world restricted by superficiality. Wearing makeup and covering ourselves up with a false face is not what we consider freedom."

In Islam, the female is on par with the male, in both marriage and other relationships. She is not restricted in terms of how far her abilities can get her within an Islamic society. As well, the Koran -- the Islamic holy book -- emphasises equality and non-superiority of the genders.

Where is the oppression when nations of predominantly Islamic faith have already seen female prime ministers (like Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in 1993), the women asked, when the United States isn't even on the road to having a female president?

When I brought up the case of Afghanistan and the Taliban -- a regime that restricts women to full-body dress and forces them to remain indoors for most hours of sunlight -- the women shook their heads in response.


THE MEDIA'S ROLE:

I suddenly felt ill at ease with seven heads shaking in disapproval -- was it something I said?
After gathering her thoughts, Rochelle tried to explain.

"It's not that the media can't be trusted, but the common perception is that Islam is oppressive. So, what society thinks, the media will portray whether it's true or not."

The message coming through loud and clear was that although the Taliban's actions may in fact be oppressive, as the media have shown, Muslim women in western society have difficulty taking media reports at face value.

"What happens is that the media report events concerning Muslims, without understanding the mentality behind it," Rochelle said.

"Islam reveres women like precious crystals. Perhaps the Taliban's restrictions are there to greater protect the women from violence on the streets in Afghanistan."

This group of women admitted that though this might not be the case, and the Taliban could in fact be a sexist regime, media reports that are skewed by a western bias are not completely reliable.


SKEWING PERCEPTIONS

"I feel as though there is a movement in the media to keep Islam degenerated," Rochelle finally said.
The basic concerns on behalf of the Muslim women are that prejudice, misunderstanding of the fundamental ideals of the religion, and the misconception that only women must maintain modesty still exist.

Thus, many Muslim women still experience the prejudicial expressions of "go back to where you come from," even though Islam is the major religion in more than 10 countries around the world -- spanning central Africa to the far Middle East -- and is steadily gaining strength in North America. In Ottawa alone, the community has expanded to over 30,000 in recent years.

Unfounded accusations also rile these women's feathers. Muslims often bear the brunt of media speculation, the women said. Mariam Albarakaty cited the Oklahoma bombing example when, only 20 minutes into the coverage, CNN falsely attributed the bombing to Muslim terrorists -- a claim that was eventually disproved.

As well, Muslim women are often perceived as being the only instruments of modesty in the Islamic faith. In reality, the weight of modesty is on the shoulders of men as well. Loose clothing and beards are the norm for Muslim men who wish to follow the faith to its depths. But again, the women re-emphasized, it is always their choice to comply or not.


MEN ARE THE WEAKER

The separation of men and women within mosques -- Islamic holy institutions -- raises a few people's eyebrows as to why men and women, if equal in Islam, can not even intermingle.
"In the mosque, there is a lot of bowing and standing and movements. Men are weak in their urges, and if we were in front of them they might be distracted from praying," said Rania Chabayta, with a smile on her face.

In fact, even in wearing the scarves, women are helping the "weaker" men. Muslim women believe that by not showing their features, men will be less distracted, and their minds will not wonder into the sexual realm.

"Men have the same obligations as women. When they see a woman with a tight shirt for example, they should lower their eyes. That is not oppression -- it's modesty," Chabayta said.


AFTER THOUGHTS

When a Muslim women gets on the 118 next to you, or you see a group of covered women walking down the halls of Southam, how often have you thought, "If I was that woman, I wouldn't let anyone force me into covering myself."
Well, Muslim women are in the same boat -- being forced to coverup is not the first item on their agenda. But choosing to wear the hijab and to be noticed for their inner beauty is.

In a modern society where prejudice is equated to ignorance, where sexism and racism is so looked-down on, and where the constitution guarantees the rights of all religions, shouldn't we at least stop to talk to those covered women on the bus before we mindlessly declare them to be oppressed?

Though some feminists are still quick to criticize, let us muffle the sound of our oppression-signals with the knowledge that if Islam does as Islam says, Muslim women are at the height of personal liberation.


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