How a piece of cloth is shaking the world?

Many of you reading this article must be wearing hijab and I am sure not all of you are Muslims. Now, why am I saying this you would know while grasping this piece. Recently in India or I must say in the whole world there is large exploitation of women going on who wear hijab. And now this genocide has taken a different political track.

What does the hijab mean and why it is so important for Muslim women? Is It only associated with Muslims or Islam? And the big question why is it such a big issue?

Don’t worry your all your questions gonna answered here just go with the flow~

What does hijab generally mean?

Hijab is an interpretation of the Arabic word Khimar used to denote a headscarf. In the holy Quran, the word is mentioned for women. However, the word hijab is used to denote a partition, a curtain, or was used generally for the Islamic rules of modesty and dress for females.

Hijab not only means to cover but it’s a sense of identity for many women. The thing which is considered as oppression by many liberals is a sense of liberty for many of those crowning it on their heads. Hijab is worn by Muslim women to preserve their beauty from those who are not meant to see it. They feel free to choose who can see them and who can’t. The veil is also not compulsory and it’s the choice of women to wear it or not. So statements like “Muslim women are being coerced to carry Hijab” are just destroyed here.

The verse in the Qur’an says “there is no compulsion in religion” This clearly states that Islam doesn’t force anything on its followers and their deeds are based on their choices.

The reasons why many Muslim women wear hijab are deep and striking. In an interview taken by the Beacon, girls from UP addressed their different opinions on wearing hijab.

For some it's a sense of freedom, it gives them a choice to cover their body and some just preserve their beauty so that not everybody gets to see it. Some choose to wear it because it allows them to retain their modesty and morals. They choose to cover to avoid harassment.

But one more interesting and beautiful point of view is that this shows equality, how? When all the women cover their beauty the people will not judge them over their looks but over their personalities and in this way those who are unprivileged in beauty could also feel the same and not feel shame for their looks. And I found this one plausible as it gives an impression of equality.

Many of us believe that hijab is a religious attribute and Muslim women wear it just because it’s a command from their God but I hope now you are clear why a Muslim girl is so obsessed with her hijab and if a girl has the right to uncover why she doesn’t have right to cover? Why society is so much intruding on women's dressing?

Does the concept of hijab is only in Islam?

This is a very crucial and mysterious question and when this question arose in my mind, my brain processed and interpreted that the hijab is just another word for veil. Now the veil is not only associated with Islam.

Jewish, Christian, and even Hindu women have covered their heads since Pre Islamic days.

I’ve been watching since my childhood Hindu women and girls covering their heads while going to temples and Christian nuns covering their heads. So how can we define a piece of cloth as a religious gesture? Just think again how far our minds have gone in assuming these stupid hypotheses and how deep the communal grudges have been dug inside our hearts.

The fact that in a Hindu marriage a woman is even required to cover her face makes it oppression, why should she? Can I raise this question? Why isn’t she has given the right to uncover her head and face? it’s totally against her liberal thoughts and hence the Hindu community is oppressing women even on such important occasions. Am I even allowed to ask this silly question or does this make any sense?

No! Right? Then why only hijab is a problem does it in any way stop anyone to exercise their Rights? Now I am certain you’ve got the answer to the question that first arose in your mind at the beginning of this article.

Debates over the years, over the nations

India is not the first or only country where demand has been made to ban the hijab. Through the decade many European countries are also debating on imposing full or partial bans on face veils. It’s been a controversy at a global level.

Turkey introduced secularisation in its constitution in 1924 and discouraged the use of headscarves, however in 2013 this ban was lifted by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “step towards normalization”.

France was the first European country to ban wearing a burqa or niqab in public ( here the burqa or niqab differs from hijab in the sense that hijab is only meant for covering heads and niqab or burqa for the face along with heads and whole body). Despite mass protests by Muslim women, the ban was imposed.

Apart from France, countries like Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, and Russia also banned the use of burqa or niqab at public places, imposing High rates of fine on those breaking the law.

So the situation is not new for India but the fact India is a secular country and several articles enshrined in the constitution dealing with no discrimination on the ground of religion makes it more controversial and unacceptable.

India is the largest diversity and one can see different colors in its rainbow. This is the one thing that makes India different from other countries and it’s a pride for me. But the concept of unity in diversity seems to be diminishing day by day due to various propagandas running against some minor communities.

Hijab is not something new worn by Indian Muslim women but the fact that it’s becoming a controversy now only is itself very controversial. Hijab is a piece of cloth that is connected to the souls of many crowning it. Keeping the current situation in mind we should completely normalize hijab. It is absolutely a choice and comfort for many citizens.

If one can’t respect the religion at least respect the constitution. Dive into it and ask yourself. Do you deserve to roar the slogan “Jai Bhim”? Are you even giving priority to the one who gave his all for this country? As Indians, we all should ask ourselves this question. This country is not based on Qur’an or Geeta or Bible. The country is reputed on the Holy Constitution.