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The
recent plans to ban the hijab in
schools and other public institutions in France and Germany has provoked the anger of Muslims
across the globe. They have understood that this was not simply an attack
against a piece of cloth, or a solitary Islamic rule, but rather an assault
against Islam as an ideology and way of life. Many have spoken out against the
ant-hijab laws: leaders of the Muslim community,
intellectuals, Muslim organisations, scholars and
even particular rulers in the Muslim world. Demonstrations involving
thousands of Muslims have already been held in France, Britain and many other countries across
the Muslim world.
However, as Muslims it is crucial that we respond to this issue in an Islamic
manner. It is vital that the arguments we present against the tyrannical
plans of the western governments emanate from the Islamic viewpoint alone and
not from non-Islamic ideas that will strengthen the attack against Islam
through our own hands.
Mistakenly, some Muslims have attacked the banning of the hijab
using the non-Islamic standard of personal freedom. They have argued that the
ant-hijab laws are illegitimate because they
violate the personal freedom of the Muslim woman, infringe on her right to
freedom of religion, and abuse her human rights. So for example, the European
Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) commented, ôThe
planned French law to ban hijab and religious
symbols in state-run schools is totally against the principles of the French
Revolution, which came to entrench freedom and human rights, which
distinguished France as the mother of liberties.╜ It
continued, ôLiberal secularism is not an excuse to pass stringent
laws that strip people of their enshrined human rights, basically the freedom
of religion╜.
A Muslim organisation in Britain stated about the
ban, ôThere can be no doubt that such laws
represent a gross breach
of human rights and a contravention of the notions of secularism which uphold
personal freedoms and liberties, including the right to religious _expression
and worship.╜
Some Muslim women have mistakenly defended their right to wear the hijab on the basis of freedom of choice. One example is the member of
the Turkish parliament, Merve Kavakci,
who was forbidden from wearing the hijab in the
parliament. In an interview she explained that her decision to cover in
parliament was a test of democracy; "In the twenty-first century, they
must allow us this freedom." She further stated that her right to wear
the headscarf was guaranteed by the constitution and international law. On
top of this, many Muslim scholars have shirked Islam as a justification, and
chosen instead to use the freedom card to argue against the anti-hijab laws.
The concept of freedom, whether it is personal freedom, freedom of religion,
or freedom of _expression, emanates from the secular belief and not the
Islamic belief. This belief states that God or religion has no place in
deciding the rules and laws of life╝s
affairs, rather man is sovereign over God. Such a belief is abhorrent to
Muslims, so how could they accept or trust any idea that is built upon it,
such as freedom or human rights? The Qur╝an states,
ôSuch is Allah, your Lord. His is the Sovereignty.
None has the right to be worshipped but He. How then
are you turned away?╜ [Az-Zumar: 6]
Furthermore, the one who believes in freedom is the one who believes that it
is his own desires
or mind that should govern how he should live his life rather than his
Creator, Allah (swt). He has made his desires his
god and guidance in life, and they decide what is good and what is bad, what
is right and what is wrong. Allah (swt) says,
ôHave you (oh Muhammad) seen him who has taken as
his ilah (god) his own desire? Would you then be a wakil (disposer of his affairs) over him? Or do you think
that most of them hear or understand? They are only like cattle; nay they are
even farther astray from the Path.╜ [Al-Furqan:
43-44]
In stark contrast, the Muslim is the one who has used his free mind to
determine the true purpose of life. His free mind tells him that this world
has not appeared by chance, but rather it has been created by Allah (swt). His mind also tells him that Islam is the message of Allah (swt) to mankind, and the Quran is His (swt) word. As such, he accepts that he is a slave to the
commandments and prohibitions of Allah (swt). Allah
(swt) states,
ôIt is not fitting for a believer, man or woman, when
a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any option
about their decision. If anyone disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is
indeed on a clearly wrong path╜ [Al-Ahzab:36]
As Muslims, we should therefore understand that our actions are determined by the
Islamic Shariah (the halaal
and the haraam), and not by man made freedoms. Such
secular concepts have no place in Islam and therefore it is haram to use them as a standard in life, or in any
response we give in the ongoing intellectual, verbal and physical attacks
against Islam. Furthermore, we should understand that it is this same concept
of personal freedom that allows a woman to display her nakedness in public,
that makes adultery and fornication acceptable actions in society, and that
allows men and women to engage in homosexual relationships. Would Muslims who
argue for the hijab on the basis of personal
freedom, also defend these other freedoms? Clearly they would not, however,
the idea of freedom comes as a complete package, and Muslims cannot pick and
choose which freedoms they would accept and which they would reject. The
western world is also well aware of this, and would be quick to ensure that
Muslims openly express their complete adherence to the holistic beliefs of
freedom, once they mistakenly tread along that path.
The wearing of hijab is not an action of personal
choice but an Islamic obligation commanded by our Creator, Allah (swt). Allah (swt) says,
ôLet
them draw their head-coverings (khumur) over their
necks and chest╜
[TMQ An-Nur: 31].
As Muslims, our anger towards the banning of the hijab
should not be that it violates our freedoms or takes away our personal choice
in how to dress, but rather that it is an attack against an obligation from
Islam. It is an assault against the true belief defined and chosen by the
Creator of the Universe for the whole of mankind. In the current intellectual
battle between the secular belief of Capitalism and the ideology of Islam we
should not provide ammunition to the western world by embracing its thoughts,
but rather present the distinct Islamic thoughts as a superior and true way
of life for humanity.
Abu Hurairah (ra)
narrated that he said to the Prophet (saw), ôO
Allah's Apostle! Who will be the luckiest person, who will gain your
intercession on the Day of Resurrection?" Allah's Apostle said: ôO Abu Hurairah! I
have thought that none will ask me about it before you as I know your longing
for the (learning of) Hadiths. The luckiest person
who will have my intercession on the Day of Resurrection will be the one who
said sincerely from the bottom of his heart ╗None
has the right to be worshipped but Allah.╝╜
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