Eradicating The Veil Controversy

Eradicating the veil has been part of the agenda of some secular countries like France. In 1989, controversy broke out over the veiling of French female students which led to the suspension of Muslim girls. The justification of such action was that the act of hijab was unacceptable for French public schools which had a long history of secularism. Such political moves against the hijab have only intensified, according to Leila Ahmed, “relevance to the issues being debated in Muslim societies today” (Ahmed, 1992, p. 101). Many of the women I met at Abu Bakr Masjid left their countries precisely because of such political moves. As a result, American Muslim women re-embraced the act of hijab as a resurgent fervor for religious identity. Many Muslim women feel that wearing the hijab empowers …show more content…
It is a religious and political performance of their religious identity. Other Muslim women advocate that wearing moderate religious attire is an important move towards feminism, and believe that they are valued solely on the basis of merit and not on appearance. In fact, Imam Taha Hassane kindly explained that “to others, maintaining hijab is an act of resistance against Western politicians, scholars and activists. Why? Because they are demonstrating that feminism can be defined in various ways in different cultural and religious contexts” (Hassane). In light of this belief, women who choose to wear the hijab out free will is an act of personal liberation. In concordance with Leila Ahmed, Muslim women are not simply following traditional Islamic norms and customs but are also manifesting an emphatic ‘NO!’ to anything that deprives their religious, cultural, and political