Hijab or no hijab, her very own flag of freedom: Islam

Twelve by 22 inches of fabric stitches, 100 percent pashmina.

She winds spools of lustrous, white cloth dutifully around her head: highlighting the overlooked beauty of her rugged features. Longing to secure personal liberty in a world that objectifies women – her hijab is a visual religious marker, it is a way of life in a society that has long forgotten the concept of faith and twisted the ideas of feminist expression.

The hijab. An Islamically prescribed garment worn by many Muslim women. It is a principle of modesty that includes females covering their head. By practicing the hijab and concealing what is considered to be the most attractive parts of a women – hair, body – women take complete physical and spiritual control over their lives.

In Islam, the primary goal is complete submission to God. To follow Islam is one thing, but to live it is another. When Allah breathed life into his creation, into both men and women: his words gave pulse to the desolate hearts of his believers.

So when he said, “O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful,” hearts were racing.

With just a few words, modesty quickly became an important component of the faith for both men and women. The hijab became a facilitator for women’s modesty. A garment that engendered respect for women, celebrating the idea that men should not be drawn to a woman for her beauty but for her personality and religious character.

“[The hijab] allows me to show that I deserve a sense of respect,” Coppell High School junior Aisha Salman said. “It’s a symbol of modesty showing that I won’t deal with things like catcalling or anything of oppressive manner.”

Contrary from western perceptions, the hijab allows women to take complete individual authority over her spirituality, femininity and body. The false perception of female equality, as the right to bare our breasts in public, is not equality: but our own objectification. Whether she chooses to wear the hijab, or chooses not to, she is in control.

Right about now, your mind is probably racing with extremely flawed generalizations about the garment. Control? How can a female be in control, if she chooses to cover herself? If she chooses modesty over your conventions of fashion? If she chooses to wrap herself with the delicate verses of the Quran, carefully sewing the words into her soul, as she clothes herself carefully with her flag of freedom: Islam.

Because the female who chooses to wear the hijab is also a woman. And a woman like herself cannot be contained. She cannot be threatened by a single fabric or by your words. For the only entity who has the power to define her is Allah. She is freed by her faith.

The hijab is not a testament to deceptive feminist movements who are quick to victimize, to fashion industries who excoticize themselves with $200 religiously appropriated “head scarves”, or even fallacious associations of the garment with 9/11.

Rather, it is a testament to pure, unadulterated faith. To Islam.

Faith. The question of faith is often pondered in our society. What makes a good Muslim? What makes a good Hindu? Christian? We have restricted the beauty of faith by limiting it solely to one’s outer appearance.

In the question of the Hijab, women who chose to wear the headscarf are readily identified as proud followers of Islam. But when I approached the tradition further, another question came into my mind: what about the women who do not?

Even within Coppell High School, we see a large community of very diverse Muslim girls. Although historically, in other countries the hijab has been forced upon some females by demanding cultural standards and varying ideals of beauty, the collective communities of women who wear, and do not wear the hijab are common worldwide. As the garment has always been a choice.

Because non-Muslim communities are so uneducated about the religion, let alone the garment – it is surprising to many – to learn that Muslim women are not all Arab, hijabis or oppressed. It is true that the garment is a very strong expression of faith, however, it is not to say women who choose not to wear it are any less faithful.

While exploring the tradition, it was necessary for me to develop a solid background on the faith, as it was unfamiliar to me. What intrigued me the most was the personal connection a follower has with his/her God. For example, in many other religions there is a middle man who believers intercept God through, such as a priest. However, in Islam it is purely an individual connection with God, or Allah. This deeply personal connection allows for complete individual interpretation of the faith.

“It’s (the Hijab) not compulsory. It’s just between you and your God, nobody can force you to wear the hijab or take it off,” junior Soha Asif said.

To let your curls flow freely, or to wear the hijab – is established as a completely personal choice by Islam, for Muslim women.

“Even without the hijab, I do focus on dressing in a modest fashion,” Asif said.

There are many different approaches on “modest dressing” in the Muslim community of women. For some, it could mean a full burqa. For others, loose clothing and a head covering. Or for a few, no head covering and loose clothing. Regardless of which a female decides, her faith is not compromised if she is still works to be remain pure at heart.

However, tensions and misinterpretations from females and males who do not embrace such variations, still exist. Rooted from the prongs of strict historical interpretation. The main pressure to wear it comes mostly from the older generation.

“I guess there’s definitely a sense of judgment in the older generation, like our mothers or our grandmothers, just because they had this firm belief in their cultures and they haven’t really come into consideration with like the modern world and all the changes that we’re facing – after all, there wasn’t a Beyonce back then,” Salman said.

Various interpretations of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, also factor into the idea of having to wear the hijab.

“It’s pretty straightforward, but, I think before the hijab – the concern with the Quran was that you just have to be modest. Like its better not to wear provocative clothing before you put on the hijab. With or without wearing it, you should be modest in your physical clothing, as well as, your mental state,” Salman said.

The older and younger generation of some Muslims both add pressure to the necessity of the hijab, to girls who choose not to. Differing cultural beliefs, and social media also propagate the idea that wearing it is the only true way of religious expression. However today, there is no question of another’s faith or how they practice it – only respect.

Because before anything, “We are all sisters in Islam,” Asif said.

It is very important that our generation, and generations to come are aware of the many different faces of faith and religion. By understanding the different interpretations of faith, within a religion as popularly criticized as Islam, we gain a whole new perception on the way we look at religion and one’s character in a world that is constantly trying to define who we are for us.

My interest in such issues made me realize just how much I desire to come in contact with various umbrellas of faith; to experience different beliefs firsthand. It is important that we recognize faith, and spiritual practices in all their many forms and learn to find beauty in them.

Because with or without the hijab, and regardless of your religion, you form your own path to salvation – inspiring those in your surroundings to strengthen their faith through their own individualistic expression.