So the Hijaab and the Niqaab- the topic that always seems to be on the spotlight when it comes to Muslim woman and is seen as a worldwide symbol of subjugation, oppression and backwardness. A piece of cloth that screams "I'm oppressing the one who is wearing me!". The cloth that that says "I'm uneducated, limited, forced into wearing it by my male-dominated religion".
So yes, this is the Hijab and Niqab in the eyes of many non-Muslims. But are they the ones who are wearing it? Do they know for a minute how it feels to be wearing it? Do they understand how it feels when you want to wear it but people who you know nothing about and who know nothing about you suddenly feel like they have all the rights to demand you to wear what they want?
Let me show you what it's like to be a Hijabi/Niqabi. No, no, no, no... Don't freak out. I know you might be disgusted with the very idea of even putting on Hijab/Niqab *virtually* but just step into our shoes for a moment. You might just begin to understand us.
In the shoes of a Hijabi/Niqabi
You choose to wear the Hijab/Niqab because it is a personal choice and yet, people think you are forced into wearing it.
Each time you step outside, you have to endure taunts and insults and you are constantly being jeered at for doing something you want to do.
You wear the Hijab/Niqab and they claim that it subjugates you and you know that it's only a form of freedom for you.
They say you are oppressed and yet, they oppress you by questioning your rights to wear what you want.
And on top of that, they claim that you are accepting slavery when you know that by wearing the Hijab/Niqab, you have never felt more free.
You feel free by wearing your tank top and shorts. We feel free by wearing the Hijab/Niqab. I mean just think about it- how would you feel if a person suddenly comes out of the blue and decides that he/she has all the rights in the world to tell you what is freedom and what is oppression. We all have a brain of our own and we are capable of thinking on our own, thank you very much. So yeah, what you think is oppression is my freedom and what you think is freedom is my oppression. This is how humans are. We are different, we have different ideas and we have different opinions. Be mature enough to embrace that.
But please, keep your opinions to yourself. What makes you think you have the right to force people to thinking in your way? Turn the tables around and a bit and give people their own freedom. Don't claim to be liberating them by forcing them to remove what they want to wear and then clap yourself on the back and say "Hey, I liberated that oh so poor oppressed soul by just forcing her to remove what she loves to wear which by the way is oppressive and I'm only doing her a favour by liberating her of that creepy piece of oppressive material".
Does is make sense? Of course not. I'm as baffled as you.
Think from a Hijabi's/Niqabi's perspective for just a moment. She has a heart and she has a voice. Let that be heard as well. If wearing the Hijab/Niqab is her form of freedom, then please, have the simple decency of giving her the freedom she wants.
