...THESIS: “Should the obligation for women in Iran to wear a hijab in public be abandonned?” At present women in Iran are forced to cover themselves up whenever they leave their private zone, but that is truly a restriction to their freedom. Therefore I have asked myself if it should be optional for women in Iran to choose for themselves whether and how much they want to cover their bodies and faces in public. In the following I am going to state my opinion on that: The hijab discussion in Iran is very closely linked to some other delicate issues that the Iranian people have to deal with for some decades now. Mainly the lack of keeping human rights and other basic political and/or religious concepts which we in our modern western society take for granted. In my conceit the hijab obligation is a deprivation of freedom. For example freedom of self-fulfillment . In a multiethnic state like Iran with about 78 million inhabitants, in which the youth captures 2/3 of the total population, it is very likely that the Iranian governance which is based on conservative, shiitic muslim sharia law does NOT represent the minds of all Iranian people. These people should have the opportunity to pursue self-development after their own values and beliefs. That is preconditioned that their environment is not physically or mentally injured/insulted by that. Wearing a hijab is an example for such a value/rule. As I am a German citizen with persian/Iranian background I can say that in Iran (even...
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...Hijab, niqab and burqa The hijab, niqab and burqa are head and full body dresses that are traditional to Islam. While these accessories and clothes have some similarities, there are some differences to be highlighted. The hijab is a veil that mainly covers the head, but also covers the chest. This veil is worn mostly by women who have reached the age of puberty. The veil is usually worn in public or in the presence of males that are not a part of the immediate family. The hijab represents a sense of modesty and it is said in Islam that the hijab also separates the world from God, thus, a divine accessory. While the above is a metaphorical separation, the hijab also has a physical separation, which is said to separate women from men in the public realm. Other than the hijab representing modesty, it also represents morality and privacy. To go even further a little, some women who wear the hijab see this accessory as a part of their identity, connected to their culture and religious beliefs. The wearing of the hijab for many women is a sign of respect and devotion to God as well as their religious belief system. The burqa, also called chadri, is a dress that covers the entire body and it is predominantly worn by women. In some Islamic beliefs, the burqa is suitable for women when in public, because it is a garment that covers their entire body. Differently than the hijab, where hands and the face can be exposed, the burqa includes the veiling of the...
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...schools from the perspective of a current student who is enrolled in a private school. The mini tour question that was asked was as follows: In the previous interview, you have stated that you had recently gone to a field trip to the University of Jordan to explore the topic of chastity by interviewing women without hijabs. What are some other extracurricular activities that your school offers? At International Pioneers Academy, there are various activities that go on in order to raise awareness of the environment as well as societal issues present in Jordan. There are a couple of projects that are going within the school. Every class is assigned to an Islamic value system, and each year, the entire class learns more about the Islam values. Miriam’s class is chastity. The way that she defined this value was “wearing hijab and covering themselves fully for the women, and for men, respecting women on the streets”. Miriam and her class often go to University of Jordan in order to survey the women not wearing hijab in order to spread the awareness of the importance of wearing the hijab. After the women participate in the questionnaire, the students gift the women with a hijab. Another important project that the entire school undergoes is regarding the environmental issues. The different grades undergo a competition against each other in order to win the title of “The Green Class”. Other activities (such as making a song, drawing, or other creative...
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...Participants 30 Materials 30 Procedure 30 Analysis 31 Potential applications 33 Limitations and future directions 34 Conclusion 36 References 37 Abstract This research study will aim to measure the Islamophobic beliefs in non-Muslim people living in the West in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-faith societies such as London. To conduct this study, I will be replicating a study that has been produced by Everett et al (2015) called ‘Covered in Stigma? I will be conducting this research project to test Non-Muslim responses towards Muslim appearing people such as men in traditional clothes, beards and women in head coverings. I will use quantitative analysis to test my hypothesis, using two questionnaires, the Islamophobia scale and the Communication Scale as well as images of Muslim men and women in Islamic clothing depicted in an affirmative light or a poorly to prime participants beforehand. Introduction Prejudice and inequity towards the Muslim community has risen largely over the last few years. There is great proof indicating that Muslims are experiencing different categories of prejudice and discrimination (Pew Research Centre, 2007). Also, this pattern has increased greatly particularly after the terrorist attack of 9/11 in America and the 7/7 attack in the United Kingdom (Pew Research Centre, 2007). Straback & Listhaug (2008) examined...
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...Sociology 4/16/2013 Research Paper Islamic Women in Society “Common Perceptions of Muslim Women” Islam is one of the three most popular monotheistic religions in the world. It has both its positive and negative images in the media. Commonly, in society Islam is looked upon as an extreme and radical religion. This paper will take a close look into the reactions to the "Muslim Women" in both American and Muslim American societies in the U.S. Whether it’s the clothing, occupations, marriages, or inequality, the women in this religion seem to be under a magnify glass in society. Islam is the second largest religion and the world and is still increasing in number. Statistics show that estimates of the total number of Muslims range from 0.7 to 1.8 billion worldwide and 1.1 to 7 million in the U.S alone (B.A Robinson). These numbers show that not only is Islam present is everyday society but it is here to stay. The history of Islam started way before America, in the Arabian Peninsula. Before Islam, or Al-Jahiliyah the people of the Arabian plate lived in tribes and the customs were much different to those in present day. Some of the customs that were present before Islam was arranged marriages, the killing of infant girls, and very few rights for women and slaves. All of these pre- Islamic customs were abolished when Islam was brought forth to the people of Arabia. Islam is a religion that not only respects its women but in fact cherishes their very existence...
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...HIJAB: The meaning of hijab is not just a piece of cloth on your head. Hijab is to cover, to hide from view or conceal. A woman who wears hijab protects her from harm, injury and mischief. She wears it knowing it gives her dignity, beauty and respect. From the hijab you know what religion she is from. The hijab gives you strong personality and a strong faith that you're more connected to Allah. hijab is not only covering your hair but also covering your body. HIJAB: The meaning of hijab is not just a piece of cloth on your head. Hijab is to cover, to hide from view or conceal. A woman who wears hijab protects her from harm, injury and mischief. She wears it knowing it gives her dignity, beauty and respect. From the hijab you know what religion she is from. The hijab gives you strong personality and a strong faith that you're more connected to Allah. hijab is not only covering your hair but also covering your body. Women of Islam Women of Islam “Hijab is beautiful, so make it look beautiful, wear it with love, wear it with pride and most of all wear it Right. “Hijab is not merely a covering dress but more importantly, it is behavior, manners, speech and appearance in public. And it’s not just a hijab it’s our key to Jannah. “Hijab is beautiful, so make it look beautiful, wear it with love, wear it with pride and most of all wear it Right. “Hijab is not merely a covering dress but more importantly, it is behavior, manners, speech and appearance in public. And...
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...Why Hijab? One of the many questions that I have been asked is why does Islam make hijab mandatory for women? Islam has introduced hijab as part of the decency and modesty in interaction between members of the opposite sex. Verse 59 of chapter 33 quoted previously gives a very good reason; it says, “This is more appropriate so that they may be known [as Muslim women] and thus not be harassed [or molested].” Men, whether they confess it or not, are slaves of lust and desire. • Hijab protects women from such men; it symbolizes that she has been sanctified to one man only and is off-limit to all others. • Hijab contributes to the stability and preservation of marriage and family by eliminating the chances of extramarital affairs. • Finally, it compels men to focus on the real personality of the woman and de-emphasizes her physical beauty. It puts the woman in control of strangers’ reaction to her. Commenting on the attire of women in North Africa and South East Asia, Germaine Greer, one of the pioneers of the women’s liberation movement, wrote: “Women who wear cortes or huipiles or saris or jellabas or salwar kameez or any other ample garments can swell and diminish inside them without embarrassment or discomfort. Women with shawls and veils can breastfeed anywhere without calling attention to themselves, while baby is protected from dust and flies. In most non-Western societies, the dress and ornaments of women celebrate the mothering function. Ours deny...
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...culture in past few years. Islamic culture such as wearing veil for the women is a very common view in universities. In Universitas Gadjah Mada, there are 3 types of women who wear jilbab or veil. The first type is the one whose body, face, legs are fully covered except for their eyes. They basically can be called as cadar women. These veiled-women are known to not interact with boys and hangout after classes, but going home immediately. They are usually closed and don’t listen to music at all or watch television, and only read from paper. They usually focus on their study. And most people sometimes referred the cadar women as terrorist wife or family. The second type is the student with long veils, long skirts and socks. These women wearing long veil is usually very active in religious activity and organization. They don’t interact with boys if they don’t need it. But their view to the girls who are not wearing hijab or wearing it in a trendy way still stiff. They think that by not wearing it properly it gives Islam a bad image. These people only hang around with oens who are wearing long veils. And their ways (women) for finding a husband is very weird. The women usually received a CV from the men who want to marry her. The women can select and choose the men they want. Most parents are afraid when their daughter started wearing long veil they become too fanatic. The third one is the girls who are wearing hijab in a trendy way. They usually are very stylish and fashionable and sometimes...
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...Muslim Women and the Veil For this critical review analysis paper, I have chosen to do set four of the project. I will begin to analyze and break down the fundamental themes in each of the articles from the sources provided by the professor. My examination of the texts, Islamic and Body Politics by Asma Barlas and Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil by Katherine Bullock, will be purely academic. Both these articles share similar views of the concept of veiling and portrayal of the female body by opposing the monolithic and secular views given to the veil by the majority of the world. The view given to the veil is simple and is explicitly cited in Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil, it is that "the popular Western notion that the veil is a symbol of Muslim women's oppression is a constructed image that does not represent the experience of all those who wear it." My stance on the subject of veiling will be in support of: those who wear the Veil (or as I will interchangeably mention it in this paper, "Hjiab" - Arabic term for head scarf) do it so by their own will and not to represent the view of oppression that has been deemed on it, also, to reiterate that the Qur'an or any other Islamic text do not support the views of oppression of women. Through my investigation of the two given articles, I will support my view with the help of three different articles that share the same type of commentary on the issue of Veiling. My inclusion of the article Eastern Veiling, Western Freedom...
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...Modesty for women is an imperative component of the Muslim society. This component is stressed by the Qur’an; which governs the way in which all Muslims are to live their lives. As such, in order to adhere to the words of the Qur’an, Muslim women wear a veil which covers their head; known as a hijab. The hijab is worn by Muslim women beyond the age of puberty in the presence of non-related adult males. The hijab also goes much deeper than merely being a covering for Muslim women to wear; in that the veil embodies a metaphysical dimension, whereby the veil represents the separation of man/the world from God. Such is the depth to which Muslim women regard the wearing of the hijab. However, despite their zeal to obey the central religious text of Islam, a myriad of Muslim women around the world are presently undergoing or have in the past undergone much prejudice and discrimination with regard to the wearing of the hijab. Several countries have taken drastic measures with regard to the hijab; one of the countries in question is Tunisia. Despite being a Muslim-majority country (98% of the country is Muslim), Tunisia has not always looked kindly on the wearing of the hijab by Muslim women. For many years the hijab has been an issue within Tunisia; dating back to 1981 when the wearing of the hijab was banned. Tunisian authorities defended their actions by encouraging women, instead, to wear modest dress in line with Tunisian traditions, as opposed to wearing the hijab. Women who wore...
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...Two views on Hijab Hijab: that is, wearing a headscarf as a sign of modesty, a common (but not required) act among Muslim women. What do women who observe hijab really think about hijab in America? This essay will compare two women’s views. The first woman, a blogger identified by the moniker Scarf Ace, expresses her personal struggles with hijab in a blog post titled “Miss or Diss?” The second woman, Fatemah Fakhraie, is a Muslim-American activist for the rights of women. Her article “Scarfing it Down,” originally published in Bitch magazine--a feminist news publication--examines hijab bans and the way they effect Muslim women’s rights. While both women participate in hijab, their opinions differ on the view society takes: One woman wishes that society would accept her choice to observe hijab, the other demands it. Scarf Ace speaks out about her decision to start hijab. She begins by stating the difficulties with wearing the headscarf: it’s hot, people look at her, she can’t have a ‘good hair day’, etc. She continues because of her “husband’s high regard for hijab” and because, as a stay-at-home mother, she can choose when to leave the house, thus not having to wear it constantly (488). Her blog is an outlet for dealing with her decision to start hijab; she has very mixed emotions about it, and she wants people to hear her voice – she wants her decision to be understood and...
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...Sikh and Islamic Challenges of Living in a Secular Society A secular society is a society strictly separated from religious institutions, which means there is no assigned state religion. Canada is a multicultural society, very accepting of all religious and cultural beliefs. Despite this, Canada is a secular society. There are many different religions in Canada, including Sikhism and Islam. While Canada is welcoming of these religions, each religion has its own battle with secular society. Accommodating everyone’s religion can be difficult, as seen through conflicts about Sikh males wearing the Kirpan (ceremonial dagger), and Muslim women wearing the Hijab. Sikhs and Muslims have conflicts with secular society. The Kirpan is a ceremonial dagger worn by baptized Sikhs. It is a requirement of Sikhism to wear the dagger at all times. This has caused controversy in Canada, because the Kirpan can be viewed as a weapon. The Kirpan was made into a mandatory article of faith for self-defense against oppression (not to be used with bad intentions of causing bodily harm). Despite this, there have been various instances in which the legality of the Kirpan has been questioned and disputed. One such event took place in Brampton in 2013. A grade three student at Copeland Public School wanted to wear the Kirpan during gym class. Administration was worried that “the Sikh ceremonial dagger could pose a safety risk during physical activity” (Brampton Guardian, 2013). Years before, in the...
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...France is not justified in banning the hijab. I agree with Hebah Ahmed that women should not be limited in their clothing choices based on other people's beliefs. Both Hebah and Mona share the belief that woman should be able to wear what they want; they are both fighting for woman's rights! The real debate is whether or not woman are choosing to wear hijab or if they are forced to. Mona describes many woman who are forced to wear hijabs and believes that it equates piety with the disappearance of women and women's rights. On the other hand, Hebah makes it clear that there are many woman, such as herself, who do not see the hijab as oppressive, but rather as a path to empowerment. The reality is that both of these situations exist. Banning...
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...The Hijab Republic “The meaning of subculture is always in dispute, and style is the area in which the opposing definitions clash with most dramatic force” (Hebdige, 1979: 3). Throughout this essay I would draw and analyse the Hijab republic subculture. Further referencing on the theories of; Semiology by Gillian Rose (2001), The Meaning of Style by Dick Hebdige (1979), and Dress and Globalization by Margaret Maynard (2004). The purpose of this essay is to further dissect the Hijab republic as a subculture, the reasons behind it and semiotically decode their dress as intentional communication. In order to do this, I will firstly, conduct a semiotic analysis to an image, thereafter apply Hepdige’s theories on subculture lastly, I will further discuss and apply Maynard’s theory on the relationship between style and communication. Mieke Bal and Norman Bryson (1991:174) cited in (Rose 2001) explains that human culture is made up of signs, each of which stands for something other than itself. This statement makes you want to understand and make sense of those signs. Observing Yuna in figure01 who wears the hijab along western trends as a form of self-expression and her Islamic identity. Yuna’s iconic and idexcical sign is the head-scarf (hijab) as it is a performative agent through which the sense of common sociality is being achieved by practicing a dress code that is a visible identity maker, and that sends a message to outsiders...
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...Preference: In a 21st century explosion of the media is the greatest revolution in fashion. Fashion is an indicator of class status, and monopolized by the aristocracy. A lower status group sought to acquire status by adopting the standards of the higher status. Media can be considered as a first medium to disseminate the fashion in public. In this assignment, we will study about the role of the modern media in shaping current fashion. The various elements of media involved in spreading of fashion information in the audience. What a person chose to carry reflects his personality or interest. A person’s choice more or less gets influenced by trend. Fashion is a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, home decoration etc. History: Fashion has been in the society since the human started with the clothes themselves. Back in the late 16th century and the early 17th century fashion denoted to the class. In ancient times Fashion Plates were engraved and colored with watercolors. In 1880 color printing and a method for making multi colors prints become stylish. In the same period of time magazines were published that played an important role in popularity of news about fashion. With the development of half tone printing process, which enables photographs to be printed on the same page as text without affecting the image clarity, fashion photograph has generated the most widely recognizable and enduring imagery of the time. Fashion television emerged...
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