Hijab is Modesty Personified

                                                                            

Some years ago, Layla was a free spirited girl who made and broke her own rules like any other teenager with the only exception being her choice of dressing. Again, there was no patriarchal dictatorship involved here; it was of course her own decision and there was nothing in the world, not even the stares of women folk (yeah, not men!)that could stop her. The recognition earned by her attire didn’t go unnoticed when a semi clad female acquaintance walked up to her and asked, “Don’t you feel suffocated wearing all this?” It was rather rude for someone to pinpoint a person’s choice when that’s thoroughly fair for one to be comfortable in the skin she’s in. At first, layla couldn’t understand how can someone feel choked up in a loose knee length overcoat and a scarf that conceals her crowning glory. It was hijab, her pride. She tried explaining that being a Muslimah, she has been chosen by God as the flag bearer of her religion because her attire is an indication of the tenets of her faith. It uplifts the womankind to heights of human perfection because it’s only the woman who has been honoured by the responsibility of making a generation succeed the other, to be accepted for the person she is and is too outstanding to be reduced as a mere plaything. The one meter cloth that is tied around her head is what, according to her, distinguishes her from the hypocrites who believe that Islam has transformed the women into slaves or animals. The fact is that these very people are to be blamed for the ruthless portrayal of women as objects of desire, who believe that a woman’s greatness must be defined by the amount of skin exposure and not by the supremacy of her thoughts, character or behaviour. They’re of the opinion that Islam treats its women like animals; she wondered if these very people ever visited a zoo and saw any dressed up mammalian-nudity obviously symbolizes the beast and it’s definitely human to preserve her modesty. 

Again, hijab isn't something that must make the woman feel less fortunate or retrograding than her other non-hijabi counterparts. It allows a woman to dress modestly in a manner that doesn’t call for unwanted attention from strangers, and walk down the road with utmost dignity otherwise it doesn’t make much sense to come out in public wearing a long, black Halloween like super loose or tight costume with loud make up and come across as a blabbermouth. To be precise, good behaviour and humility are a prerequisite for fulfilling the rights of hijab. Layla says that she has always admired The Queen of England as she is impeccably dressed from head to toe and comes across as a very sophisticated lady; but wonders what makes them victimize the religion of Islam alone-perhaps it is the quality of an insecure, ill raised community that aims to achieve glory by suppressing their women in the name of liberation. When you’re free to wear whatever you want, what makes you question our decision to cover up?