OUR STATEMENT OF POSITION ON HIJAB
URL- http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2014/07/hijab-is-cultural-and-not-religious_19.html
The following statement is in reference to the “Burqa ban movement” in United Kingdom, it sounds more like a political movement to appease someone. Burqa Ban is brutish and driven by men’s primal instinct to control women. No one should have the right to impose what a woman wears or not wears. However, we should seek acknowledgements and endorsements from Muslims that Burqa in it is form is cultural and not Islamic. Over a generation or two, either the practice will continue or fade for a sizable population, but it should never be forced.
Our position on Hijab
Islam is about freedom and not compulsion, Q 2:256, “Let there be no compulsion in religion”. We recognize that culture is deeply ingrained into each one of us, and a full Hijab wearing woman will not go cold turkey and quit wearing the Hijab the very next day. She will not be comfortable with it and none of us have the right to tell her to wear or quit wearing it. The change should come out of her own volition as it is a part of her cultural life. It is like forcing a vegetarian to eat meat or ordering a meat eating person to quit eating meat.
As Muslims we should be pro-choice based on Quran and Prophet’s teaching, the prophet had said, if the husband compels her to believe (in matters of faith) other than what she believed, she does not have to obey him. Meaning a woman should have the freedom to wear full Hijab, partial Hijab or just the head covering or not wear the covering at all, but never forced. That is the genuine freedom, a critical value of Islam.
Mike Ghouse,
World Muslim Congress.
A think tank committed to nurturing the pluralistic values of Islam.
# # #
AA
This statement is in reference to the “Burqa ban movement” in United Kingdom, it sounds more like a political movement to appease the secular government. Burqa Ban is an useless and losing battle. However, we should seek acknowledgements and endorsements from Muslims that Burqa in it is form is cultural and not Islamic. Over a generation or two, either the practice will continue or fade for a sizable population, but it should never be forced.
Go for the winning battles, small ones and gradually big ones. You will create enemies out of average Muslims and then it becomes a fight…. is it necessary? What is the need to employ so much energy on this issue?
Several articles are referenced below, and two versions of the stories, both from Egypt, one affirms that Hijab is not a part of the religion, and another Zealot Shaykh Tantawi compels a woman to take the Niqab off. He is wrong, however big he is to compel and take advantage of his position of a scholar. Islam is about freedom and not compulsion.
A good guideline for discussion would be resisting the temptation to reject a presentation by others as propaganda.
A few Muslims have been threatened, frightened and reduced to meekness with no guts to question the veracity of the scholars. With the unprecedented availability of knowledge, two generations down the road, you will see that new breed of Muslims will have stronger faith in God to question everything. They will be Allah fearing and not Mullah fearing, and they will question the authenticity of Imam Bukhari, Hanbali, Shafii, Jaffari and others without batting an eye. That is when Islam will be re-realized to its fullest extent. Right now our fear to question has put layers of dust over Islam…
There is nothing wrong in wearing the Hijab, if one is used to, and no one should compel the woman not to wear or to wear. It should be her choice. However, to force on as religious duty is wrong, because it is not religious. Who am I to say this? An ordinary Muslim, whom Prophet told to read and understand the book , as I am responsible for my acts on the day of judgment .
RE: MuslimsTogether :: al Azhar confirms HIJAB is not a part of the religion
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 9:44 PM
Subject: MuslimsTogether :: al Azhar confirms HIJAB is not a part of the religion
Finally al Azhar clarifies its position and announces that hijab has nothing to do with religion
al Azhar’s endorsed Sheikh Mustafa Mohamed Rashid’s PhD thesis on Sharia and Law for which he obtained a grade of excellent, where he stated that hijab is not an Islamic requirement (fard), and that the interpretation (tafseer) of the verses (ayat) and the circumstances during which they appeared has led to the widespread misunderstanding about the so-called ‘Islamic Hijab’ denoting covering the head, of which there is absolutely no mention in the Quran.
Yet some have misconstrued the intent and correct interpretation of the Sharia, refusing the logic and sequence of its appearance, abandoning the proper methods of citing and interpreting of the verses (ayat), their historical background and reason for them. They have done so either intentionally, or with good intention but with lack of the essential analytical savvy.
This hijab issue imposed itself on the Islamic and non-Islamic psyche, and thus becoming the defining factor, meaning, and nature of the Islamic faith to non-Muslims, which led some non-Islamic nations to consider it a divisive political statement. In consequence to the resulting friction, some female students have been expelled from universities and jobs, only due to their adherence to this false belief, thereby attaching to Islam a non existent requirement.
So inconsistent and misguided have the proofs of the supporters of the hijab theory been, that it would sometimes take the form of khimar or jalabeeb, which distanced them from what they meant by head cover, which is indicative of their restrictive set of mind.
‘Hijab’ was mentioned in verse (ayah) 53 of al AHzab, where it signifies ‘wall’ or ‘what prevents view’ and it was in regards to pure “ummuhat al mo’mineen” where a “hajib” is to be placed between them and any men.
As for verse (ayah) 31 of Al Khimar – Sourrat al Noor, that is also a redundant claim, as the intent here is the cover of the breast and neck – the background here is the covering of the breast whose exposure is un-Islamic, and not what is now understood by hijab for the head.
And in regards to the historical background of verse (ayah) 59 of Sourrat al AHzab was to distinguish between the pure and the promiscuous whores and slaves.
Finally, in the mis-use of the Hadith about Asma’a, daughter of Abu Bakr, when she walked in on the prophet (pbuh)s gathering, and he ordered her to not expose her face or palms – this Hadith is not a binding Hadith, as it is one of al AHaad and not one of the consistent, or the connected confirmed.
TRANSLATION BY GEHAN A F D SABRY
2. Shaykh Tantawi eventually tells even a teacher to remove her niqab!!
A FEW ARTICLES ON BURQA ON THIS SITE