Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Canada: Je Suis Hijabi, in Bradford


The scarf is only worn in public, in mixed company, Shah explained, noting that the wearing of a head covering has been common in many cultures and religions, throughout the ages.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Bradford Times
By Miriam King | December 22, 2015

In the wake of the terrorist attacks by ISIL and its supporters, a number of muslim women wearing Hijab – the head scarf or covering – found themselves the targets of slurs and even violence.

It led the Ahmadiyya Muslim women to launch a national campaign, #JeSuisHijabi.

It was a deliberate reference to #JeSuisCharlie, which brought the world together in solidarity with the victims of terrorism at the offices of Charlie Hebdo weekly in Paris. The new campaign was an invitation to Canadian women to show solidarity with their Muslim sisters who choose to wear Hijab, as an expression of their faith or their self.

And it is a choice, says Mona Shah. While the Holy Qu'ran contains an exhortation to women to dress modestly, it also includes instructions to men, to control their eyes and their thoughts – and there is no punishment in Islam for a woman who doesn't wear a head scarf, she said.

The scarf is only worn in public, in mixed company, Shah explained, noting that the wearing of a head covering has been common in many cultures and religions, throughout the ages.

Shah and other women of the AMJ community set up a display at the Bradford West Gwillimbury Leisure Centre on Saturday, and Library on Sunday. They handedd out pamphlets explaining Hijab, Islam and the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, founded in 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, acknowledged by followers as the promised Messiah. The group believes in “Love for All, Hatred for None.”

The AMJ women also brought a selection of Hijab, and encouraged non-Muslim women to try on the head covering – to see how it feels.

“You're as Canadian wearing a Hijab,” Shah said. “It doesn't inhibit me in any way. Hijab is my choice.”

“A lot of women, when they look at a Muslim woman – and of course this isn't everyone – might think she's oppressed or she 's being forced, or she isn't empowered, or she doesn't have a voice,” said Amatul Mujeeb Saquib, President of the Women's Auxiliary of the AMJ in Bradford. “The hijab is basically for modesty, but it goes much deeper than just a cloth on your head. It's a symbolic form of our worship. Modesty is a very key part of the Islamic faith.

“It's the essence of our faith, so we're wearing (Hijab) on our heads to represent that worship.”


Read original post here: Je Suis Hijabi, in Bradford


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