After reading a long arguments I read in <a href=”Mahmood Yousef’s Blog thats discussing if a person can be judged for not wearing Hijab .. these thoughts came to me..
Before I start my thoughts, I would like to point one thing .. I am aginst a person being judged .. however, as a realist I beleive its impossible .. if you live in a society and choose to go aginst it, wether you like it or not ..you will be judged ..
another thing, this is not a disucssion wetther Hijab is fardh in Islam or not .. coz to me thats not a question, to others it is I know but its up to them ..
Any way, why a person is judged when they do something out of the norm of that certain society? its basicly because the person decided to differ than that society .. and in every society no matter how advanced it is, people are judged with different things .. for example, in our society (I mean the gulf one in general) a girl might be judged for not wearing Hijab .. while if the same girl went to USA or UK and wore the Hijab she might get judged for wearing it this time!!
every human being want everyone to be like them .. the people of a certain society would feel more comfortable if everyone decided to follow the same way of life they follow .. it makes it less easier for them to raise thier kids the way they want, and mingle with people who think simmiler to them ..
In the past, that perfect society where everyone lived to think the same way exsited .. now, because the world is getting simmiler and every person have access to what other people do and how they live .. it became easier to adopt other ways of life .. however, the same people of the society still existed .. and they still want to live in the area where everyone thinks and lives like them .. so they start judging those who decided to be different .. in order to outcast them from the society and they continue to live thier perfect one ..
from the point of view of the other party, who decided to go on thier life differently, they realise that its thier right to be different .. they have thier own will and they want to practice it ..
But then, they should understand that they cant change the society in one night .. people have been thinking this way for long, and to change them it takes time!!
So, if they decided to pick a way different than the society, they should expect to be judged .. unfair I know but its not something easily changed .. and if you have the courage to go a different way than the society then you have the courage to expect the reaction that comes from it.
Um 3azzan's Thoughts 
BUT, the only way that you can change a society is to challenge its norms and what they regard as taboos.
The hijab itself has not made an entrance into our societies before 1980 to be specific, and it was a Lebanese invention! So the hijab “heritage” if you can call it that is only 25 years old, hardly a heritage in the normal sense of the word.
Before that, I do remember most girls in miniskirts in Bahrain and other places in the Gulf!
I believe that society now is in a flux, it is a dangerous but exciting time as well. Things are changing and mostly for the better as far as I’m concerned. It is good to see for instance women demonstrating in Najaf – a bastion of Islam and Islamists – demanding their rights and opposing the Shari’a laws to be included in the Iraqi constitution.
I am proud of the likes of Ghada Jamsheer and Badria Rabea and Dr. Najjar in Bahrain for vociferously fighting for their rights, all 3 of which have been victimised because they don’t wear the hijab.
I personally believe that the hijab is not a religious duty, it is an invention to subjugate and control women and put them in their place by men.
It is a shame really that women themselves are inforcing and propogating this custom, rather than fight tooth and nail to eradicate it.
I dont know about Bahrain Mohammed, but in Oman covering the head with a sort of scarf was there ages back .. our traditional cloth is never complete without a scarf (a big one actually)!!
and as I see it, its an essential part of Islam.
Anyway, I said I am not discussing Hijab but the fact that being judged for challenging a social norm..
I know change wouldnt happen without someone standing up for it, thats right .. but what I am saying, the first people to challange society should expect to be judged .. no one said its easy to go aginst a social norm .. if you are willing to do it, then expect the consequences .. dont come angry and questioning why you are judged or why the society is aginst you?!
Very refreshing I’m sure.
1. My name is Mahmood. Mohammed is my cousin.
2. How far in history are you looking at in Oman for women’s dress code? What were they doing before Islam? Oman is an ancient country, and with its interaction with both the Indus civilisations and Eastern Africa, I doubt very much that you lived in isolation.
3. I have no problem of being judged. It’s water off a duck’s back. It’s my duty however to question, rather than just follow like a sheep.
Sorry Mahmood for the mistake 🙂
– you said that Hijab was only in Bahrain in the 80s .. so, I told you that was not the case in Oman .. covering the head was always the case .. at lease I am sure that it was during the 1800 centuray .. coz there is the picture of princess salma the daughter of the sultan said bin sultan al busaidi wearing it. Before Islam, I dont know.
– I didnt say you should follow like sheep, I am just explaining the situation.
I don’t think a woman should be harassed or vandalalized for not wearing hijab, that is between her and god and no one else!
Speaking of society’s “judgment” I think its a lot to ask when you request that they don’t do so. A huge part of Islam is represented by the hijab, and there are a lot of little rules that bring light to the reason its required. I wouldn’t jugde someone for not wearing it but I wouldn’t approve of what they’re doing either and I might even be dissapointed.
Aside from that, society’s judgment is like a kiss on the cheek compared to the woman’s punishment from allah! I’d say she’s got bigger things to worry about.
I get a kick out of this claim that the hijab is a Lebanese invention! I cannot believe people are so thick as to have bought into that claim.
My wife’s family is from Saudi, part of it from Yemen. I have seen pictures of both sides of the family, pictures from about the 1940s on. The women from both countries are wearing hijab. It is very clear that whomever is selling this lie that the hijab is a Lebanese invention from the 1980s doesnt have the first clue.
My mother in law is 1/4 Indonesian and there is a picture of her Indonesian mother on the mantle at their home, circa 1950. She is wearing the hijab. How did a 1980s Lebanese invention get to a 1950s Indonesian lady? When my wifes family moved to the US from the Middle East in the mid 1970s my father in law requested that my mother in law not wear the hijab here. This is a family story I have heard often. But how could this be if the hijab was only created in the 1980s by the Lebanese?
Pictures speak a thousand words, and every picture I saw of my wife’s family pre-1980 is calling the “Lebanese hijab invention” a lie.
This story and idea is nothing more than propaganda for those who are against the hijab. What is startling is the amount of people who should know better who buy into this nonsense. In their rush to be western many have left their common sense behind.
I also get a kick out of those “fighting” for women to have equal rights, and the right to not wear hijab. They are just as bigoted against the women who wear hijab as are those who discriminate against women for not wearing it.
To one side you are immoral, to the other side you are blindly following sheep who are too stupid to think for themselves. Both sides are just as equally wrong.
The choice to wear hijab or not is up to the women in question and NO ONE has the right to judge the woman, on either side. The anti-hijab posters are hypocrites because they are branding women who wear hijab in the very same fashion that the extremists do. Either you agree with their arguement or you are stupid and following like a sheep.
Either way it is MEN, AGAIN, who are trying to control women and tell them what to do.
To all of you women out there, with hijab or not, it is YOUR choice! Ignore ANY man who claims to tell you otherwise or who tries to make a blanket claim about you based on YOUR choice.
To the hypocrites who label women who wear hijab as sheep and stupid, I say look in the mirror, you are becoming what you are fighting against, extremists who label everyone who doesnt agree with you. You are stereotpying women and coming off as you are in a better position to judge what is right for a woman. Stop-it is THEIR choice!
To the hypocrites who label women who DONT wear hijab, pay more attention to The Qur’an and Hadith and lower your gaze and you wont notice. Worry about yourself.