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Hijab - Whatever does not come from faith is sin...
06-09-08 I found this article very enlightening for a few reasons. First, it is a personal account of an Iraqi Muslim woman who came to the US to study. She had to wrestle with the decision whether to wear the traditional head covering in America, as she had in Iraq, or not. Her story is actually very similar to some of my own faith struggles growing up in Christianity. As a very conservative faith, for the most part, deciding whether or not it was OK to drink alcohol or maybe watch rated "R" movies was a "soul-searching" experience. There is no universally-correct answer. But the reference I make in the title is the most explicit teaching that I can think of in the Bible. If my conscience says it's wrong, it's wrong. And until my "faith" allows it, it should be considered a sin. "We shouldn't have to hide the fact that we're Muslims in order to be treated like everyone else. In some ways, it's as bad to feel pressure to take off the hijab in the United States as it is to be pressured to keep it on in Baghdad. It's sad that people here do not always accept you for who you are." Like I stated above, I don't think this is an exclusively Muslim or woman experience, as much as a universal faith experience dealing with maturing in the culture one finds themselves. "After the fall of Saddam Hussein, there was a dramatic increase in the number of women wearing the hijab. Since then, as religious groups have gained more power, it has become dangerous to be spotted without one -- so much so that even Christian women now wear the hijab when they go out. To me, that signified that something was wrong with my country." Something to ponder, for sure. When considering that part of Democracy's value is religious freedom, it is interesting that this was the consequence on the ground, albeit unintended. http://ahavafriend.blogspot.com/2008/06/hijab-whatever-does-not-come-from-faith.html |
