“Muslim women in both their real and online lives are frequently put in the position of having to defend their beliefs and actions… and it gets tiring. One hopes that a site run by Muslim women should be a respite from that.”

While I agree that Muslim women are always put on the defensive, I don’t agree that a site for Muslim women by Muslim women is going to automatically be free of women explaining themselves. If you go to other websites for Muslim women, you’ll find just the same thing: sisters agreeing and disagreeing. Support is not the same as complete agreement: we include each other to support each other, but all of us aren’t ever going to agree on anything/everything.

The only thing that changes here is the audience: we’re explaining our positions to each other here (in theory), not to non-Muslims or Muslim men or whoever. Only in a place where everyone thinks the same and diverging opinions are ostracized/not allowed will you find no explanations of opinion or criticism: no one will need to defend themselves because there won’t be anything to defend–differing viewpoints aren’t accepted, period.

Everyone’s criticisms of our viewpoints and articles are accepted here, because this is a site for opinions and exercising the right to have them (within comment moderation guidelines–there is a limit to the hating we will deal with). This isn’t a fan club. This is a site for support, yes, but also for fighting: fighting for unity despite difference, fighting to understanding each other, fighting against representations of us we find offensive and hateful.

Imma have a group discussion with my ladies and hopefully get back to you all on this. Thank you, everyone, for your comments and criticisms. If you want to vent a little more, feel free to email us about this.

In my response I wasn’t thinking only about hijab though, I was thinking about the divergent perspectives that Muslimahs have in general; whether its leaning more conservative to more liberal and everywhere in between. I think I’ve just realized that this is one of those subjects that I’m just going to agree to disagree on. I stand by my feeling that I refuse to speak for other people. I hate/d doing it as an African-American and as a Jamaican and I hate doing it as a Muslim. For me it’s not about a refusal to be inclusive. There are thousands of opinions out there on thousands of Islamic principles. I am willing to state what I believe while in the same breath mentioning that there are those who may agree or disagree but that’s where it ends for me. (And it seems like I’m doing a little bit of what you’re suggesting as it relates to hijab anyway because non-Muslims are constantly asking me questions like ‘Why do you wear the scarf and [insert Muslimah's name] doesn’t?’)

More than anything what I would like to see is a respect for the different perspectives between Muslims. But even as I say that, I admit to feeling like some Muslims are willing to “talk us out of” every Islamic principle. Sometimes I am afraid that Muslims will soon be like some of the Christians I grew up around; bending their religious principles to justify their actions rather than *at least* admitting they are not living up to their religious teachings. AGAIN, I am not speaking about hijab here but Islamic principles in general.

I’m completely lost here.

“I also worry that if we’re so quick to say, well, we have to acknowledge that not everyone feels that the hijab is compulsory, we could be inadvertently giving further ammunition to people who would argue that hijab is oppressive…”

Who are we appeasing the hijab wearing Muslim women or the Islamphobia’s? So the next time a person makes blanket statements about the veil others should be silent about it. People should be silent so veiled woman do not feel hurt and people should be silent so Islamphobia’s don’t use it to hurt us.

Was not this whole article about defending a veiled/hijab woman rights to wear a veil and their rights to representation in Egyptian Media. Yes it was and I think most of the posts on this media watch (at least 75%) stand up for and support veiled/hijab women from all sorts of discrimination they face in the media and it attacks the ill representation that the women.

Was their EVER a post that criticized or analyzed a veiled/hijab woman who gave a “reasonable explanation, and doesn’t automatically necessitate a disclaimer” about not all Muslims? The only time I read criticisms or analyzing was when blanket (exclusive) statements were made. In this post an exclusive statement was made! “But overall, my own feeling is that we don’t need to be questioning the hijab justifications” I agree with Krista but WHO QUESTION IT?

You know what I’m reading from this is that no one should take about the diversity in Muslim women representation especially (the veil/hijab). That people should get away with making exclusive statements about the veil! I’m not surprised it’s the status quo in a few Muslim communities, and no one should dare demand the same respect.

I don’t think it’s about asking for a long explanation about what ever one else thinks, I feel like it’s asking for them to be the ONLY EXPLANATION. And when ever someone states this is not the only explanation, people are offended or hurt. El-Tawil made an exclusive statement and Faith should have been silent about it?

I feel like it’s a disregard for others… that’s a double standard.

Sobia – Please do not patronise me. I do not feel threatened. What I was trying to state in that Muslim women in both their real and online lives are frequently put in the position of having to defend their beliefs and actions… and it gets tiring. One hopes that a site run by Muslim women should be a respite from that.

Also this part:
“It is time we criticize that uni-dimensional image for the sake of Muslim women themselves”.

Really? Do you think if Ghada El-Tawil read this post she would find it at all supportive? Or would she just feel dismayed at being criticised for her choice of words?

Is all the criticism really benefiting anyone? Who decided that Muslim women need this for our own sake?

“Not inclusive enough” seems to have become just like “Not modest enough”, another stick to beat Muslim women with.

I mean, sure, if someone is making statements that are meant to reflect all Muslim women, or if someone is talking about how all Muslim women are wearing hijab, or that kind of thing, then it’s important to question that, and to point out that their statements are leaving out huge chunks of the female Muslim population. On the other hand, if a woman wears hijab because she feels that this is obligatory in Islam, and explains her own choice to wear it out of a sense of religious obligation, I think that’s a reasonable explanation, and doesn’t automatically necessitate a disclaimer that not all Muslims do the same. I also think that if a non-hijab-wearing Muslim woman is asked why she doesn’t wear it, and answers that she doesn’t believe it’s obligatory, that’s also an adequate answer, and doesn’t need a whole explanation that some woman do feel it’s compulsory. If someone on either side then goes on about how their way is the only right way and everyone else is wrong, then we definitely need to call them on it, but if it’s an answer about their personal commitment to wearing it (or not), then I don’t think we should always expect a long explanation about what everyone else thinks, especially if hijab isn’t the main issue being discussed.

I also worry that if we’re so quick to say, well, we have to acknowledge that not everyone feels that the hijab is compulsory, we could be inadvertently giving further ammunition to people who would argue that hijab is oppressive and that Muslim women shouldn’t wear it, or people who would argue for the removal of headscarves in the name of secularism (a la French school system.) Especially in such an Islamophobic society, I think that we have to stand up for the rights of women who wear the scarf as a religious obligation, whether or not we agree with this. I feel like I’m not articulating this properly, I’ll see if I can think of a better way to express it…

I get the feeling that a lot of the comments here are coming from places of pain and frustration… Muslim women seem to face all sorts of hijab-related pressure and judgement (from within Muslim communities and from the outside), whether or not we wear it. This is a tough issue, and I don’t really know what the right balance is. In this particular post, I do agree that saying something like “The rule is…” is somewhat exclusionary. But overall, my own feeling is that we don’t need to be questioning the hijab justifications quite as much as we currently do.

I see what you’re saying but *if* I’ve understood you correctly (which I may not have) then I must say I disagree.

First, from my last comment you can probably tell that my main concern is how we are presented to Muslim women themselves mainly. I do think part of the concern is the non-Muslim community too and how they see us, but if we change the way we present Muslim women *to* Muslim women then the outside community will start to see us differently as well.

Secondly, it sounds to me, like you may be giving me, as someone in the public eye, the green light to say that “the hijab is not compulsory in Islam” *without* saying that “not all Muslim women believe this.” (Because that is what I believe) If those who present the hijab in the public eye as something which is a “rule” should not have to qualify that by saying “many, but not all Muslim women believe…” then why should the same not apply for those Muslim women who believe it is not a “rule”? However, I know that if I were to say this I’d be getting tonnes of complaints. Plus, it would be exclusionary.

“Why must I carry such a tremendous burden?”

Why is it such a burden to be inclusive??

Why do we then complain to White feminists who do not include us? Why should they have to “carry the burden” of women of colour? Why can they not just say “this is how it is for women” without always having to say “but for women of colour it may not be and this is why….”

“*sometimes* it seems as if MMW writers are trying to tell Muslim women how to speak and how to represent Muslim women. Isn’t that the same thing conservative Muslims do?”

MMW is an inclusive space. We have to make sure that we include as many views as we can. As Muslim feminists we support inclusivity and criticize exclusivity as that tries to monopolize power by one group over another. (This will explain why we are often critical of a more conservative viewpoint as they tend to be exclusive by nature) If readers do not want to accept a group, or accept the inclusivity, or accept a representation of a group of Muslim women then that is their choice but I feel that we have a duty to make sure that we include as many views as we can. We present you with an inclusive representation, you take from it what you want. If you feel that we are trying to tell you how to think then, since we are not, I’m not sure how to fix that. But to be clear, we do have a viewpoint and ways of thinking that are not objective – no one can ever be objective about anything. Objectivity is a myth. So our subjectivity will show but it’s *impossible* for us not to.

A huge part of feminism is to state your position clearly – to state your biases, your agendas etc. Being honest and saying that “this is my view only” is important in the feminist discourse and stating that “my experience is every woman’s experience” is very much looked down upon *now* – mainly as a result of the work of feminists of colour. It is feminists of colour who have so objected to these universal truths and as such we as Muslim feminists feel that we need to make sure that we do not make the same mistake. That is why we criticize those who make this mistake – Muslim or non-Muslim. And personally I will continue to do so.

I do hope you find a place for yourself in this space, but I am sure at times you will disagree may not feel to fit. We don’t all have the same experiences and we do not all have the same opinions – even the contributors on MMW don’t always agree with each other. So I believe this feeling is natural since we are all opinionated individuals. But, as you can see, there is an avenue for you to air your grievances (in the respectful manner you always have of course ) and to present your viewpoint. This doesn’t mean someone will not challenge you but we expect that challenge to be presented in a respectful manner.