By Aazeen F. Kirmani
On Feb 9th 2022, the Times of India published an article by Zeenat Shaukat Ali, titled : Is wearing of hijab mandated by religion? Since the writer is the Director-General of Wisdom Foundation and has found mention in other places as a scholar of Islam one expected that the article would be a wisely written scholarly piece. Upon focused reading however it turned out that the article is not just ridden with factual errors , it also contains forty nine words directly copy pasted from Wikipedia. That our esteemed scholar was able to pull this day light robbery and the equally esteemed newspaper serving it on a platter (along with factual errors) to its readers speaks volumes about the credibility and validity of both.
The very first allegation made by Zeenat Shaukat Ali in the article is that ” Muslim scholarship has been negligent in setting the record straight on whether the Quran stipulates this form of dress or not.”
The difference of opinion among Islamic jurists is only in regard to the covering of face and hands. Some jurists include hands and face in a woman’s awra (parts that need to be covered) while some jurists do not include face and hand in awra. As for covering of the rest of the female body along with the head there is complete unanimity among the jurists and the record has been set straight centuries ago. Therefore, to allege Islamic scholars’ negligence in this area proves that the writer has never undertaken a detailed study of the topic she chooses to write about in a national level newspaper.
Further in the article Zeenat Shaukat Ali asks if ” a battle needs to be at all fought on the hijab issue where young, impressionable women are hostages to the dictation of clerics on the one hand and pawns to facilitate male patriarchy on the other?”
This I must say is the narrowest and possibly the most dishonest way of presenting the situation. Here the writer is suggesting that the protesting hijabi girls are victims to dictations of clerics and pawns in the hands of patriarchy. To put the blame on clerics and patriarchy is audacious. These students are victims of a fascist regime which is ruthlessly waging a battle against the Muslim identity. Covering up is the command of God ( remember, there is complete consensus of jurists on this) and the girls are fighting for the right to practice what they believe their God has commanded them to practice – a perfectly legitimate demand to make in a secular country. I would ask the self appointed saviours of Muslim women to sit down and take a deep breath. Terms like ‘hostages’ and ‘pawn’ do not suit young women who have refused to so much as flinch from their position even when their personal safety and educational future are both at stake.
Later in the article Zeenat Shaukat Ali has argued that “Prophet Mohammad recommended modesty and decency in appearance and dress. But to suppose that his recommendations enjoined a cloistered uniform for women in the present, is wholly opposed to the spirit of his reforms”
The above paragraph suggests that the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) brought about the reforms in a personal capacity and made the recommendations about the modesty and decency in his personal capacity. A clever selection of words seems to be the most remarkable talent the scholar of Islam Zeeenat Shaukat Ali has.
She has conveniently overlooked the fact that for believing and practising Muslims the recommendations of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) are the recommendations of God Himself. I am not a scholar and I depend on authentic Islamic scholars and jurists for my understanding and practice of Islam. One of the greatest authorities of Islamic jurisprudence is Hazrat Aisha (RA). If one truly cares about what the Holy Quran says about modesty and how the female companions of the Prophet (PBUH) brought the Quranic injunctions into practice one only needs to look at the life of Hazrat Aisha (RA).
In the final lap of her article Zeenat Shaukat Ali has written about the Muslim – majority countries that have banned hijab. In doing so she has copy pasted full forty-nine words from Wikipedia. To top it she changed the word niqab to hijab and ended up making her scholarly piece factually incorrect. About Tunisia her article says that it is “among the Muslim majority countries which have banned the hijab in public schools and universities or government buildings.”
However, Tunisia does not have a ban on Hijab but only on niqab – the face veil.
Zeenat Shaukat Ali has not only sought to undermine the struggle of the brave young female students of Karnataka she has also done a great disservice to the cause of Muslim women and Islam both.
However I as a hijabi Muslim woman remain confident that we are too many and too headstrong to be defeated at the hands of a fascist regime or pseudo scholars.
Tunisia has passed this law to appease its former colonial French government. Which forces condition for Tunisia to receive the French aid in return for passing the controversial laws that have never been approved by the religious section of the society.
While the discussion is about “Hijab”, what we see are pictures of fully veiled women creating ruckus around the country giving an ambience of Islamic state. Is there an agenda to justify and introduce more face veils by Wahabi ideologues using Hijab as a backdoor? Indian Muslims are now paying the price for being silent on extremist tendencies like face veils, which is not part of the original madhabs which came to the country, and if this continues it will be the route to Myanmar for them. Indian Muslims will be doing themselves a disservice if they dont categorically reject extremist tendencies like face veils and stay away from ideological elements promoting them, which has already landed scores of young women out of their schools being denied the right to wear even headscarves, with no power under the sun to help them, and risk to further alienate them from other communities. The face veilers should be considered a new different sect different from the mainstream, and the mainstream have to wash their hands off them, and let them fend for themselves instead of hiding behind Hijab controversy to justify and introduce more of face veil ideologies, which I can assure you, is not going to work out in India.
Come out with real username: ‘Sanskrit Student’. Preach about extremism’s consequences to your fellow Hindus who have democratically elected religious fundamentalists. Who deny education to Muslim women, only because they are wearing hijab.
And what does naked sadhus walking around showing their middle tools to you Hindu women give you the ambience of? Hindu Rashtra?
Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein , King of Jordon 41st Generation are direct decendents of Prophet Mohammed, all the women in his family wear western clothing none of them wear burqa or hijab. But the 3rd generation converts from Karnataka who say Hijab is madatory part of religion, cannot prove to us which verse in the quran makes the burqa mantatory for followers of Quran. So now the conversts are more muslims than the direct decendents of prophet mohammed family. lol.
Meanwhile in Pakistan which claims it is a Islamic state has not made it mandatory to wear burqa why
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/in-pakistans-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-girls-education-still-suffering-1.61683674
Recently Saudi Arabia has started to morderize, the Women watching football match in Saudi Arabia given choice not to wear Abhaya or wear other modest clothing of choice. Women were seen without Abhaya in concerts in Saudi.
In Afghanistan women are fighting against the burqa even challenging taliban.
But now women in India are becoming regressive. haha …lol
“But the 3rd generation converts from Karnataka who say Hijab is madatory part of religion”
Why is your name Mushtaq? Are you ashamed of your two mile Hindu name, or did your Hindu mother conduct Love-Jihad with Khan?
Women there wish to wear whatever they want to wear. In Hindu rashtra which claims to be secular and largest democracy and also claims that it treats non Hindu minority with full rights, it is radical Hindu men and women who are deciding what non Hindus should wear, eat and how to celebrate their festivals, and how to lead their married lives.
You radical are ruled by backward and savage Hindu priests and you are talking about regressive? Who burn your Hindu brides for dowry, gang-rape women and girls in public-buses, temples, public parks. You are talking about regressiveness? You Hindus curse western culture, kill girls who wear jeans and western dreesses, and demonise Valentine Days. Yet you are talking about modernity and westernism?
Since when have you Hindus become fond of Muslim countries to give their examples? According to you al radical Hindus, all Muslim nations are supposed to be backward.
Who are you calling converts to? Do you Hindus also call Sikhs as converts from Hinduism? Is that why you Hindus hate Muslims because they are converts from Hinduism? Muslims in South Asia are born Muslims. Converts are not considered impure or inferior. In fact the converts are considered jewel and brave who fought their backward religion of Hinduism to accept Islam.
Can you Hindus show references from Bhagvad Gita about not eating meat? The Holy Quran recommends slaughtering of cow? Would you Hindus accept that verse from the holy Quran if a case is filed in the court for allowing Muslims to slaughter cows on Eid-ul-Azha?
The typical shameless Hindu extremists. Who whole day cry about minority persecution in Muslim countries. But look at their hatred for Muslims in India. These Indian Muslims do not slaughter cows unlike Muslims in the same countries this Hindu extremist has named here from his fake Muslim username. Yet look at their hatred for Indian Muslims.
Pakistan which you claim is Islamic state which is supposedly according to you good with Muslims and India which as per your claim is killing Muslims than why so many as 7,306 Pakistani muslims just in 1 year applied for Indian citizenship till December 14, 2021, Union minister of state for home affairs (MoS home) Nityanand Rai informed the Indian Parliament. And since according to Pakistan is heaven for Muslims then why no Indian muslims are applying for passport of Pakistan. Why there is no mass migration of Muslims to Pakistan from India similar to the migration of Hindus and Sikhs coming to India from Pakistan even today. What is the love you are showering to Minorities in Pakistan that is is become like diabetis and they cannot even bare the love that you claim given to minorities. Statistics never lie and Pakistan statistics are all suggesting that there is huge intolerance not only with non muslims but also with Muslims. Now in India few muslims are bent on making India into Pakistan. There are muslims like me who reject radical Islam and fake propaganda of Muslims.
Why are you using a fake Muslim name? Are you ashamed of your two mile Hindu name? Lying is in gene of Hindu extremists as their entire religion is based on falsehood of mythology.
No Muslim would ever call his religion as ‘radical’. You Hindu bigots are obvious from your dharmic language. If I had used a Hindu name, and used similar language for Hindus and Hinduism, this very bigot would have called me ‘Jihadi spotted’. But this Hindu fundamentalist use Islamophobic hate for minority, but still expects from others to believe that minority is suffering in Pakistan, not under Hindu majority India. Where they are facing genocidal threats, pogroms, everyday calls for rape and abduction of Muslim women by Hindu priests.
It is only in habit of you Hindus who flock to Muslim countries for finding cheap jobs in Malaysia, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Indonesia, Bahrain etc. Stop lying about Pakistani Muslims coming to India. Your radical Hindu PM has banned Pakistani artists for years, not even a Pakistani channel is allowed in India. Neither are Sikhs and Hindus coming to India from Pakistan. Sometime you bigots claim there are no Hindus and Sikhs left in Pakistan, sometime you bigots claim they are still suffering. Are you Hindu extremists born abnormal?
If you see the video of college Hijab girl everything is pre planned she is talking to camera and the camera from start to end recording this , this never happens if this is spontaneous. Both orange flag holders and muslims girl are staged actors to defame hindus. This protest is funded by muslims/muslim countries. The existing uniform prior to protest allowed hijab already but now this will lead to ban of hijab because of this protest. Thank you for uniting hindus. Pakistan and Muslims sponsoring such videos can spread more and more hatred this will only unite Hindus. Nothing more you can achieve. Pakistan has lost it and so it only sees all things from religious angle. You see what is in your dirty mind but mis out what the video is not saying but screaming out facts silently still. Thank you Pakistani channel NDTV n for uniting India. Pervez Musharaf had once said that the population of Muslims in India is Pakistan’s biggest weapon today we know what he really meant.
Population of Muslims in India is Pakistan’s biggest weapon. Yet radical Hindus are chopping and lynching Muslim minority in India.
Check out this Hindu’s hatred for Muslims and neighboring Muslim majority Pakistan. Yet these Hindus claim that they are peaceful and tolerant of the minority. They have come here masquerading as Muslims, with fake Muslim names, and lying about others. Everyday these radical Hindus’ priests give genocidal and rape threats to Muslim minority in India. Are those Hindus also sponsored by Pakistan and Muslims? Hindu extremists are curse for thsi world. Lying is their favourite tool and hating Muslims is no big deal for Hindu fundamentalists.
[…] her rebuttal published in Muslim Mirror of Zeenat Shaukatali’s article in The Times of India, Aazeen F. Kirmani argues that Shaukatali […]
[…] F. Kirmani in her rebuttal published in Muslim Mirror of Zeenat Shaukatali’s piece in The Times of India, argues that the writer (Shaukat Ali) is not […]