5
But for us, the hijab unified us to a community of faith, and at the
same time separated us from it.
We were talking with Asmaa about this issue this Saturday
afternoon we walked on the cobblestones of Bordeaux town. Asmaa
said,
“In Morocco, girls in high school are forbidden to wear the
modest Islamic dress. People are afraid that children would become
uncontrollable. But this is slowly changing. ”
I said, “Incredible! So this problem is worldwide?”
“Yes, even the most faithful people in Saudi Arabia are kept in
prison and schooling restricted for fear of a nation wide awareness.
Islam is powerful! The fear of the Muslim brotherhood, originated
from Egypt, has for a long time spread around the globe. Now,
women in the world began claiming that the hijab condemned them
to be the slave of the men. They did it for personal reasons, not to be
fair. They were only a minority among Muslim women but the
medias and books made money from their stories. People like to
read about persecuted women. I do not know why! Even the Muslim
men, influenced by the Western medias and traditions, refused to
employ any veiled woman in the place of work! They did it to
interest Westerners to their countries and businesses! We were lost
and confused by all the attacks from outside. It was our way of
defending ourselves, of saying: ‘We are good people like you!’ But
people did not understand Islam anymore!”
“Yes, there is no real Muslim state, a state where Islamic laws
would be followed, good laws, tolerant laws, wise laws, in brief, the
best! I heard something last time on the radio. Somebody was
comparing the hijab to the yellow star that the Jews had to wear
during World War II. I am inclined to think that it is what Muslims
and non-Muslims have made true a decade ago after the bombings
and terrorism attacks upon France.”
“The hijab problem is not only a religious problem, ma soeur.
What about the issue on women? In this country, they fought so
much for the acceptance of the abortion laws, the right to vote or to
work, equal salary, rights to inheritance, and so on, that when we
prefer to stay home, we are seen like opposing reason. When we
show respect to our family and ourselves by veiling ourselves, we
are thought stupid. When we express tenderness and admiration for
our husbands, we are called crazy or submissive. Everything we do
differently has become dubious. No wonder, in a world where
women have been so abused and still are so wildly abused, they can
come to beat their men!”
6
“Abuses against women unfortunately still exist in France. If it
exists sometimes among Muslims, it is not only the fact of the
Muslim society, it is also the fact of the Christian society today, and
the fact of manhood. In America, a woman is safer outside her
home! And even among Muslims only a minority is practicing the
true Islam. Some men think women are worth nothing. They sure
did not give a good image of us in this country. Think of it: upon
four or five millions of Muslims people in this country, about 15% of
the Ummah is really orthodox, and in the world half of the Muslims
practice the religion, as they should, the other part as they should
not.”
“That ‘s because most Arab people feel Muslim only by
affiliation.
One day I came to an Arab shop to buy fresh mint and egg rolls
before going home. A doubt still lingered in my mind; I wanted to
be clear on this point, so I addressed the only possible person who
would know: a native Muslim. So to speak, I cautiously ventured,
‘Is it mandatory for the women in Islam to cover their hair?’ He
replied, ‘No! Absolutely not! The ones who still do it nowadays are
backward, or they just want to be one of the media stars.’ I replied,
‘But I have some friends who just want to be modest.’ He concluded,
‘Those women are always exceptions!’
Old fashioned, eh?! My morale sank for a few minutes. From then
on, I believed that even some Arabs do not know about their own
religious culture.”
We continued to walk on the streets, chatting about all the
burning subjects that haunted us at the time. The disappearance of
the sun was a good time to walk in the streets, because nobody
looked at us so much. We felt free and unnoticed.
2000-20001 arttoday.com
As I trodded along the street, I recalled to Asmaa the first day when I
struggled to put my first hijab on. I was not good at it, making it stay
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