Comments on: The Guardian: Missing the Point

By: Shakira

Shakira — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:55:00 +0000

Melinda said: In all I’ve read about hijab, I’ve found every testimony by a Muslim woman to be that hijab is her choice; she will always specifically state that it is not forced on her by her father or husband.response – and this is the experience of many women. However, it isn’t the experience of everyone, and by definition those who are experiencing family pressure are much less able to talk about it. I didn’t think that the author was protesting about the hijab (a la Hirsi Ali) – only abuot her lack of choice. And seeing that we Muslims are constantly talking about Hijab as a woman’s choice, well, why should we complain about that?When women are forced to cover (and let’s face it, we’re talking about the entire populations of Saudi Arabia and Iran here, not just a few isolated incidences) then it stops having the positive assoications that it holds for women who embrace it themselves. Most non-hijabis stand up for the rights of hijabis, so I find the hostility to this writer rather disturbing. Isn’t a little reciprocity in order?

By: lilith attack

lilith attack — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:10:00 +0000

This has been a huge issue in Canada of late with, first, the bill introduced that would not require ID to vote, and second, that notwithstanding the foregoing, Islamic women should not be allowed to vote without showing their full faces. My understanding is that the Muslim community had no problem with this, but it was others, including the media who created a controversary around this very rhetoric of veil or no veil. It was a completely unnecessary dialogue that isolated a culture and once again, induced fear mongering action and negative language towards the Muslim community.

By: silent rant

silent rant — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:26:00 +0000

I was shocked actually Safiya, the Guardian are usually very objective with the articles they choose to publish. But yes, totally agree, it’s like the whole race issue again in the UK – keep banging on about “rights” instead of focusing on my abilities / issues as a fellow human being.

By: Najmeh

Najmeh — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:57:00 +0000

Wonderful, wonderful piece!…And I didn’t forget my pink scarf today!

By: Melinda

Melinda — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 04:45:00 +0000

I found the article intriguing and well-written. In all I’ve read about hijab, I’ve found every testimony by a Muslim woman to be that hijab is her choice; she will always specifically state that it is not forced on her by her father or husband. This article, therefore, was something new. A father actually forcing his daughter to wear a hijab? And not written by a neoconservative Islamophobe? Very new. In addition, as someone with a rather controlling father of a different sort, I could understand the author’s struggle with her father to make decisions over her own life, especially with the factor of his financial support. Faqir succeeded in telling her story without portraying her father as pure evil; the reconciliation and her acknowledgments of his efforts to understand his children are commendable.That said, here are the issues with the story: Why doesn’t she talk more about the hijab, and WHY she’s against it? There is no background to the concept of hijab and its significance in Islam. This is where Faqir skips the opportunity to make a stand for non-hijabi Muslim women. I’d agree that the story of her divorce and loss of custody might be interesting to read, but of course it’s up to the author to decide which parts of her life to share with the world. And, most importantly, the article’s main flaw is its potential to add to the general anti-Islamic sentiment in Western society, the idea that Islam is oppressive to women, and the belief that taking off the veil is liberation.(NOTE: To some Muslim women, a disappearance of the veil is seen as liberation, and this is a fact that must be acknowledged, even if it isn’t the opinion one holds. See Fatema Mernissi’s “Dreams of Trespass” as an example.)Does the public of the UK (and greater Europe) need more reasons to oppose Islam and hijab-wearing? Certainly not. But I’m wary of any attempts to censor Muslim women from speaking if they do not fit a prescribed view of Islam or if their experience do not reflect positively on Islam. (This is distinct from vehement Islam-bashing.) This article would be better fit for an audience already familiar and comfortable with and knowledgeable of Islam. Are there fathers who force hijab on their daughters? Yes. That’s a problem, and one for the Muslim community to resolve, not non-Muslim society. It is dangerous to have stories like this one shape non-Muslims’ (or even Muslims’) views of Islam as patriarchal and controlling. But that does not turn Fadia Faqir into an Ayaan Hirsi Ali, or make her story any less legitimate.

By: Safiya

Safiya — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 21:13:00 +0000

You should add to the post title: “- yet again”.My favourite quote is this:”It took seven years for the pin to be removed.”Like it was surgically implanted in her!Classic veil=supression language.