ByMariam
Khan
The start
of February marked World Hijab Day, (WHD) but it was met with an array of mixed
feelings from many. Founded by American Muslim woman Nazma Khan in 2013, WHD
aims to "foster religious tolerance and understanding by inviting women,
including non-hijabi Muslims as well as non-Muslims, to experience wearing the
hijab for one day." For some, it gives them the chance to experience what
it's like to be a Muslim woman for one single day.
"I'm
excited that there's a day for women to wear a hijab with pure pride because I
am wearing mine for my first time," one Twitter user, who recently started
wearing the hijab, said.
Thought
out, well-intentioned and with a deep focus on attempting to dismantle
prejudice around the Muslim female identity, the simplicity and easiness with
which WHD bends to treat the hijab – as only a prop worn by Muslim women –
encourages a sense of uneasiness among many.
WHD
advocates the idea that someone should have to step into an identity, as if
it's a costume, for just a single day to understand racism, Islamophobia,
prejudice, and the micro-aggressions Muslim women face.
This
process leads us to believe that Muslim women are too much of 'the other' and
can't be believed, empathised with or acknowledged without non-Muslims playing
dress up for a day with their clothes.
The day
acts as a feel-good exercise for all those who participate as if their singular
day of allyship somehow now gives them immunity or an excuse to be blind to the
daily struggles of Muslim women.
The main
controversy is that the gaze is removed from Muslims once again, and instead
allows others to centre their understanding of who Muslim women are, and how
they perceive the way Muslim women dress and practice.
WHD
intended to visibly showcase Muslim sisters around the world by centring the
non-Muslim and non-hijabi voices. Bur Muslim women's identity and choices are
yet again being vetted and approved by those who don't necessarily understand
their hijab or faith.
"I
think the day, while obviously well-intentioned, might cause more harm than
good to Muslim women... The idea of understanding the experiences of a Muslim
woman through wearing the headscarf erases the identity of Muslim women,"
says Fatima, who wears the hijab.
"Wearing
the headscarf for the day would not allow any person to experience the
complexity of being a Muslim person, rather it reinforces harmful ideas of
Muslim women [only being viewed through] what they wear."
The World
Hijab Day website says: "World Hijab Day [is] in recognition of millions
of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab and live a life of modesty."
Growing up, the definition of what it meant to be a Muslim woman for many was
limited to women who only wear the hijab – but this understanding has since
evolved.
The words
hijab and headscarf are conflated. Hijab in Arabic means barrier, it can be
practiced in many ways outside of wearing a headscarf and is part of the wider
context of modesty in Islam. Hijab in Islam considers the wider concept of the
way you walk, talk, think and conduct yourself with integrity and dignity in
this world.
The words
hijab and headscarf have become intertwined in the West in the modern-day
commercial and monolithic understanding of who Muslim women are because by
defining Muslim women in a set way, they can be controlled and stereotyped.
These
hollow narratives have become so prominent and impressed upon society that they
have arguably affected the way Muslim women talk about their identity.
"There's
so much that the hijab represents in our communities that isn't necessarily
properly explored," one passionate Muslim female tells.
"The
binary of forced hijab vs chosen hijab is so reductive. The discussion we
should be having (certainly ones driven and led by Muslim women) are so much
more complex than this."
Those who
don't wear a hijab often feel rejected by the Muslim female identity, because
this identity has been created in the reflection and dominated mostly by women
who wear a headscarf, and this is important to acknowledge on such a day.
Hijab for
many is an important aspect of faith, but it is not the sixth pillar of Islam
even if the patriarchy would like to believe it is.
Many
visibly Muslim women in the West face gendered Islamophobia because of their
choice to wear the hijab. The WHD website mentions examples of discrimination
against hijabi women including; the hijabi pregnant woman attacked in Australia , the Muslim teenager disqualified from
a race in Ohio , USA
and a woman who had her ribs broken in an attack in the UK
How can
someone know the plight of being a visibly Muslim woman by adopting an identity
for a day and then walking away from it? Why can't empathy and understanding be
built without co-opting an identity or by simply listening to Muslim women who
have faced this abuse? Where were all the women who wore headscarves in support
of World Hijab Day when the pregnant woman was being attacked or the teenage
Muslim girl was being removed from her race? Did they speak up then, because
their allyship would have meant more in those moments than on a day like WHD?
In the
fight against racism, Islamophobia and abuse against Muslim women, instead of
demanding we be accepted as we are, we are yet again asking for approval and
acceptance through non-Muslims and non-hijabis, making this entire notion
flawed.
Within the
celebration of the hijab, we should not overlook the women who are told they
have no choice in wearing the hijab, like those women in Iran Belgium ,
the UK
Both
wearing the hijab and not wearing the hijab should be the singular choice of
women, and understanding this without being reductive of the Muslim female
identity or centring those outside of this identity to seek acceptance is
degrading.
The
intention of the WHD movement, in it's generosity towards non-Muslims and
non-hijabs, has oversimplified the Muslim female identity and reduced it to a
gimmick and a garment – something the mainstream media constantly already does.
World Hijab
Day is a wonderful concept but it needs to adopt more nuanced intentions and
goals for WHD 2021.