My Dear Sisters, who have accepted Hijaab as their way of living, we often face many questions on Hijaab from non-Muslims, be it our friends, neighbors, classmates, colleagues or just co-travelers. Questions like- "Why do you wear this?", "Is it compulsory?", "How can you wear that in such a hot weather?", "You have got such nice and beautiful hair, what's the point hiding it?", "Why don't you remove it?", "Come on! It’s not like everyone is going to look at you!", "Why so much restrictions to women only?"
I bet you must have faced one or many such questions in your daily life! They have opinions, questions, criticism, confusion and much more regarding us practicing Hijaab. And why wouldn't they have as the world around is quite opposite. Girls are admired when they flaunt their beauty. Women spend much time and money to look beautiful. Fashion is at its peak! And in such an environment, a practice of Hijaab is something weird and even looked down upon! Sometimes they just mean to say- why in modern times you behave like someone from pre-historic era? It’s not their mistake, because this is the MISCONCEPTION that has been installed in their minds since beginning. Have you ever heard people encouraging the concept of Hijaab? NO! Neither in news nor on any main stream shows. So it is obvious that people will look at "exposure" as freedom and "covering" as degradation!
For us, their opinion or criticism is not a problem, because what we feel with our Hijaab, they cannot even perceive it! But at the same time, it should be our concern to reply to them in the best way we can. We must try to remove their misconceptions about Hijaab and help them understand its Awesomeness!
How do we respond?
Mostly they just give us a minute or half to reply to them. It’s like answering to a 20 marks question in one single line. And because of their attitude of NOT listening, a hijaabi girl often fails to give a proper reply. And this probably leaves an impression that there is nothing much about it or it’s just a cultural practice, or maybe she is forced to wear it!
Similar cases have happened with me and many of my friends, and I always used to reply them with- "I wear it because I love GOD", "Because it’s a Commandment of Almighty GOD" or "Because it is written in Quran".
Though such replies are not wrong at all, but this won't really help them understand the concept of Hijaab. They probably already know that it is written in Quran or it is a part of our faith. And when we confirm, they don’t feel like listening further. But what we need to address is their perception about us that "we are restricted and degraded because we are women". So, don’t start with "because I love GOD and it’s the commandment of GOD" (it will be very difficult for them to understand this relation of Creator and creations)!
So... How should we respond???
Start with- "Hijaab for men"!! This is something which they must have NEVER heard of and therefore it will gain their attention and interest, Insha’Allah! Tell them- Do you know that Quran first commands men to lower their gaze and guard their modesty? Yes!! It is a sin for men if they do not wear modest clothes or if they stare at women. A man will be PUNISHED for his intentional gaze at a woman!! Then secondly, Islam being the Religion of Equality and Justice, it commands women to cover her beauty, so that if accidently a man looks at her, he doesn’t get attracted towards her, or looks at her with evil thoughts. So you see, it’s just protecting us from evil gaze of men, for God knows the nature of both men and women. Islam values my beauty so much that it gives me guidelines to preserve it and protect it. Moreover, it helps me to keep control on my own desires. It helps me build a good character by not getting into unwanted and personal relationships with men. God knows that we are attracted towards opposite gender; therefore Hijaab for men and women is a perfect solution for building a modest and moral society. And last but not the least, I am NOT controlled by the creations, rather I obey God, our Creator.
Hence, I enjoy the complete freedom in Hijaab without any disturbances from rowdy-teasers! You actually cannot free the liberated, you see! And like this, it will give you further chance to discuss about the CREATOR because “Oneness of God” is the most important thing that one must believe in.
You can ask - “Who do you think God is?” or “What do you think is the nature of God?” Do not discuss over any particular deity which they worship, because they may take it personally.Just talk in general about the “unique” and “perfect” nature that God must have, as He is the Creator of all. Because, only when one understands about this life and their Creator, only then they can understand the importance of following the Creator's rules!
My Sisters in Islam, I hope these advices turn out to be helpful to you all.
Remember, we must not forget to practice what we preach, because actions speak louder than words!
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