Truth And Commonsense From A Muslim Woman Professional.

Note: Iqbal Baraka is the editor of an Egyptian womens magazine.





Interviewer: "How do you view the phenomenon of celebrities taking up the veil, Iqbal Baraka?"

Iqbal Baraka: "In my personal view, this phenomenon has less to do with religion than with social, economic and political factors. Women are intimidated and terrorized. The Arab woman is subjected to continuous pressure to wear the hijab. The Arab man tries to gain control and hegemony in any sphere, to compensate for his utter failure in the political sphere. So he puts pressure on the woman. Some say that the hijab is a religious duty - as if Allah had ordered men to observe five religious duties, and ordered women to observe six. This completely contradicts the equality between all human beings in Islam."

[...]

"This phenomenon began to spread with the Arab defeat of 1967, when some Muslim scholars alleged that the reason for the defeat was that Muslims were distancing themselves from their religion. Women going out to work and women's liberation were the main reasons for the defeat, in their view.

"Consequently, there began to be tremendous pressure on the weak and wretched element - the woman. This was a way of compensating for the shortcomings of the Arab man, who was repeatedly defeated in the political sphere.

"This is a social, political, and psychological phenomenon, more than a religious one."


Comment: The veil is worn by muslim women as part of their political uniform. Australia gets no benefit from people wearing political uniforms, even those uniforms which pretend to be based on 'religion'.