Lauren Booth – You have been lied to about Hijab
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the confusion surrounding Islam and how it affects women, particularly those who wear scarves. It also talks about women who wear scarves and how their actions
do not
what they say, but what they do. The segment also touches on the importance of empowerment and bringing out the
the good opinion of Allah Ta'ala.
do not
what they say, but what they do. The segment also touches on the importance of empowerment and bringing out the
the good opinion of Allah Ta'ala.
AI: Summary ©
Dear sister, you know you should wear the
hijab, but you think you have strong reasons
not to, right?
Okay, let's clear away the noise.
Top searches in Google are loaded with content
which exist solely to create confusion about the
beautiful obligation for believing women to cover ourselves
in a specific way.
Who is making all this noise?
And how do we Muslim women cope with
something that will affect all our time outside
the home?
A little bit of digging shows that a
network of academics and organizations committed to secular
democracy are pushing an agenda of confusion relating
to hijab and other elements of our face.
I know it's hard to navigate this online
attack.
It really is a minefield out there.
And this makes it easy to be put
off wearing the scarf and difficult to know
who to ask.
But taking time to understand this way of
life and its expectations and parameters is absolutely
essential.
And you should not be put off.
Why?
For the benefit of your own soul.
So where do we find sound guidance of
the kind which will ultimately lead us to
our desired destination, Allah's pleasure?
Well, let me ask you this.
Would you go to a motor salesman to
buy a bicycle or a butcher's for vegan
ingredients?
Western academia or social media for that matter
are not the spaces to begin your voyage.
The navigators to the great truths of Islam
must be those who have previously or are
currently traveling the route of belief.
Here's an easy exercise to give us some
clarity.
Go to Google now if you like and
type in female scholar of Islam.
Not female lecturers or influencers, please.
Scholars.
Now take a look at the photos.
Here are some of the names that came
up on my search from the list offering
real advice on all aspects of life as
a Muslim woman, including what Allah expects of
us in terms of modesty.
The esteemed learned women on the list include
Ustaza Maryam Amir, Ansar Tamara Gray, Ustaza Yasmin
Mujahid, Sheikha Fatima Bakatullah, Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Sheikha
Aisha Prime.
So how many of these respected female scholars
do not wear hijab?
The answer, unsurprisingly, is zero.
And who do our learned sisters take their
teaching from?
Who are their examples?
Are they guided by Harvard professors or Instagram
influencers?
Their leaders?
Our leaders as Muslim women are Fatima, daughter
of the prophet, peace be upon him, Aisha,
may Allah be pleased with her, his beloved
wife, called mother of the believers and the
righteous women who down the generations of 1400
years since then have all, guess what, covered
themselves for one reason alone, the pleasure of
Allah Ta'ala.
Be careful when asking information on the Holy
Quran and our prophet Muhammad, peace upon him,
from those who are not there to guide
you to success in faith.
Islam is in the doing, the actions, not
merely the thinking.
But you know what?
I hear you.
Hijab is a big commitment.
It's a huge external signpost of what we
believe.
And it's there for everyone to see and
judge.
But know this, being beautiful in the eyes
of others will never feel as good as
being special in the eyes of our Lord.
Allah Ta'ala says, O prophet, tell your
wives and your daughters and the women of
the believers to lower over themselves a portion
of their jilbabs that is more suitable that
they will be known and not be harmed
and ever is Allah forgiving and merciful.
Focus on learning from authentic sources and scholars
of the past and from today.
And my sister on this new path, know
this, because Shaytan will never whisper this to
you.
It is so thrilling to give something up
or to take something on for Allah Ta
'ala.
How empowering it is to subdue the calls
of our lower self because we seek his
pleasure alone.
Looking around for excuses not to wear hijab
is tempting.
Shaytan wants us to go fatwa shopping.
As Muslims, our faith affects our lives far
beyond the walls of the mosque or the
corners of the prayer mat.
Islam is our daily routine from when we
wake up and pray Fajr to the final
prayer before sleep.
It's endorsements affect our interactions, choice of food,
pastimes, social venues, friendship groups.
Modesty is an important part of this beautiful
and complex layering of ethics, which applies to
a way of being very different, yes, different
from social media culture with its Twitter trolls
and TikTok addictions.
Studies show that the less Western women wear,
if the flesh they show is considered appealing
to men in power, of course, the more
they can get paid.
Allah Ta'ala spares us that humiliation.
I wanna read you now something by Ansar
Tamara Gray from her article, Lean In, Our
Feminist Manifesto, and I linked to it below.
She says, like a sports team, we recognize
each other.
Like an ethnic background, we feel comfortable with
each other.
Like a flag held high in the field
of battle, we bravely go out every day
in every country of the world and represent
our prophet, peace upon him, our religion.
We represent our men who too often blend
into the background, and we represent our hurting
women who need our activism.
We represent any woman of faith unsure how
to outwardly express her conviction.
Hijab, like all acts of duty, comes down
to putting the good opinion of Allah Ta
'ala above human beings, seeking his love, asking
for his mercy, thriving because of his pleasure
with us.
My message to you, my dear sister, is
wear the scarf that you may be known.