The names we call ourselves has been on my mind a lot lately. It started when I read a fellow blogger’s post that about an alleged hejabi- and niqabi-only cafe. In it, she implied that right-wing conservatives used the term “hijabi” and “niqabi”. Since I don’t consider myself a Muslim version of Michelle Malkin, I gave my perspective on the issue: I use the terms “hejabi,” “bihejabi,” and “niqabi” because of their easy accessibility to both Muslim and non-Muslim readers, because of these words’ proximity to Farsi, and because I don’t speak Arabic and thus find the term “muhajabah” and “munaqabah” a little cumbersome. I don’t find anything inherently offensive or derogatory about these terms, and assumed that they were neutral.
After searching around the blogs a bit, I found that there are people who disagree. Sugar Cubes has a post entitled “Don’t Call Me Hijabi,” which is about this very subject; though the comments make up the bulk of the discussion, it’s a great manifesto about self-identification.
I confess, I didn’t get much further than that—it’s difficult to wade through the thousands of posts with the term “hijabi” or “muhajabah”. But this got me thinking about the terms I use. I use the term “hejabi” in all of the relevant posts, the term is used on MMW’s statement of inclusion, and all our contributors use this term in relevant posts, as well.
This also made me realize that, in the statement of inclusion, I refer to my Muslim sisters by their form of dress: “bihejabis, niqabis, etc.” And since I’m always bitching about how offensive it is to reduce a Muslim woman to what she wears (or doesn’t) on her head, I came face to face with my own hypocrisy, however unintentional it was, and felt ashamed. So I began to think about how we, as Muslim women, refer to ourselves.
There are number of Muslimah bloggers out there who identify themselves by what they wear on their head/face: Confessions of a Funky Ghetto Hijabi, The Happy Hijabi, Digital Niqabi, Munaqabah Writes, etc. So some Muslim women not only think it’s acceptable to be referred to in this manner, but they prefer it.
I’d like to know your thoughts on this, as Muslim women. Do you find it acceptable to be categorized to by what you wear (or don’t)? Is there another type of categorization that you would find acceptable? What do you preferred to be called, and why? Also, which terms do you find acceptable/unacceptable, and why? I want to know your thoughts on this.
Salaam Alaikum,I identify as a Muslim sister first and foremost. Yes I wear hijab and I’m happy to be referred to as a hijabi or a muhijabat. However, I didn’t wear hijab until I’d been Muslim for nearly a year, so while I love wearing it, I don’t see it as the big key to my identity.
i reckon people are making a big deal over nothing. i, too, sometimes refer to other covering sisters as “hijabis” or “niqabis” and never found it degrading or humiliating, it’s just a matter of fact, like one of my friends proudly calls herself a Pashtun and I proudly call myself an Indian Muslim.Hijabis and Niqabis have nothing to feel ashamed about, rather they should take pride and stand on atop of a hill and announce to the world that they are a proud hijabi/niqabi. this reminds me of the LGBTQ community, who have reclaimed the words “dyke,” “faggot,” and “queer” and now they are popularly used with pride. So why not the same goes for Muslim sisters?there are way too many negative portrayals of Muslims in the western media. so let’s not start another fight about whether or not “hijabi” is degrading.
Dirtymoon, I wasn’t trying to start a fight about whether or not “hijabi” is degrading. I am only asking other people’s viewpoints on this; I like to hear what other people think and why. Perhaps I need to clarify: I want to know, for example, whether the term niqabi is preferable to munaqabah and why. In people’s personal viewpoints.
nice blog.
Interesting post!From what I’ve seen, the people who usually use the terms ‘hijabi’ and ‘niqabi’ are those who don’t speak Arabic, simply because it’s easier for them, and more people will understand what they mean, e.g. most non-muslims know what a hijab is, but not what a muhajaba is. I totally agree that we shouldn’t judge Muslimahs by what they wear, many of my friends who don’t wear hijab are the politest, most well behaved girls I know. I do realise however, that in our community people assume if you wear hijab you are more religious or whatever. Men especially are guilty of this.I have also read Sugar Cube’s article, and to be honest, if people want to judge us because of what we wear, they will do so anyway, even if they don’t specifically use the word ‘hijabi’. They could simply say ‘the girl who wears hijab’ or whatever.Long post short, I don’t mind the terms ‘hijabi’ and ‘niqabi’ (one girl I know even refers to herself as a ‘scarf-o’ lol).
why, you ask, do i regard the arabic terms “muhajaba” and “munaqaba” as the proper ones? why not find something more accessible to non-Arabic speakers? because whenever i have inquired as to why non-Arab Muslims nevertheless feel obliged to learn the Quran in Arabic, even if they don’t understand it, and use a large host of eminently translatable Arabic terms in describing their faith (“fitna” “fiqh” “sharia’a” “salam aleikum”) etc., i am always told that Arabic is itself a sacred language and was chosen for the delivery of Islam intentionally, and it is thus holier and more precise to use it than to translate it. of course, neither the words “hijab” nor “niqab” are used in any of the sources of Islamic law, but i assumed that the same people who valued Arabic so highly would be better pleased to use Arabic words for these features of Islam. maybe not. but if not then why not find terms that haven’t come from haters and ridiculers?as for not judging a woman by what she wears: a ridiculous notion. much as we would like that to be the case, women all over the world dress to make a statement. less clothing means she wants to be perceived as sexually attractive (but not, as is popularly believed, that she is therefore more receptive to the attentions of all and sundry). more clothing means she would prefer not to have her charms on display, and this is obviously the idea behind veiling in the first place. i.e. those women who have chosen to veil themselves in whatever way may not actually be better believers, but clearly they have chosen to at least comply with this one requirement of a woman of faith, insofar as they believe it to be a requirement.
Salamo Alaikom,”easy accessibility to both Muslim and non-Muslim readers”What does that mean? for all the Arabs from Morocco to Iraq- Iranian language sounds very strange and a bit bizarre. So Mohajabat and monaquabat make more sense to us- the Arabs.Would like to learn about your perspectives on the issueKind regardsAmre
Waleykum salam, Amre. When I say “easy accessibility to both Muslims and non-Muslims,” I’m referring to our readers. MMW has both Muslim and non-Muslim readers of different ethnicities: an Arab might think that the term “hejabi” sounds funny, but s/he’ll understand what I’m talking about, whereas if I use the term “muhajabah,” an most Middle Eastern people (Arab or not) will understand, but non-Muslim readers or Muslims who are not Arab will have a harder time understanding who/what I’m referring to. We must remember that this isn’t a Arab/Iranian issue; I was trying to give my personal perspective on why I use terms like “bihejabi”, etc. There are many Muslims who do not speak either Arab or Farsi; a Filipino Muslim, for example, might be confused by both the terms “hejabi” and “muhajabat.” But what we’re trying to do is facilitate understanding to as many people as possible.