America has a lot of misconceptions about hijab wearers and Muslim women in general. Recently a news story has been making the rounds regarding how one young Muslim girl had to defend herself from islamophobia by proving that her father supported her if she ever wanted to stop wearing the hijab. Unfortunately, events like this are all too common and many falsely believe that the hijab and other head coverings oppress women. Additionally many are unaware of the differences in head coverings.
This is a Hijab.
The hijab generally covers the head and neck and leaves the face open. It can be worn many different ways depending on the country and there are different customs of how much hair is allowed to show under the scarf. This is more popular in western countries and they can come in a variety of colors.
This is a niqab.
Niqabs cover the face as well as the hair but they leave the eyes bare. They often, but not always, come in more sedate colors such as black, grey, brown and blue.
This is a burqa or burka.
They cover the whole face with mesh or a thin veil over the eyes. Burqas often come in black, brown, and blue. Many people mistakenly misattribute the term burqa to niqabs.
In American and many western countries, there isn’t a whole lot known about hijabs and other head coverings. There is a lot of misinformation baked in with islamophobia when it comes to Muslim women. The first misconception is that women in the Muslim faith are forced to wear the hijab. We often confuse the cultural standards of a few Muslim countries with the beliefs of a global religion. While there are some Muslim theocratic countries that do require head coverings, Islam does not mandate that all women wear it to follow their faith. It is up to the woman to decide if she wants to wear it. Wearing the hijab doesn’t have to limit a person’s fashion choices either. Recently there’s been a rise in “modest fashion”. You can scroll through the #modestfashion tag on instagram to see beautiful outfits worn by hijabis.
So next time you hang out with a hijabi, don’t ask her if she was coerced into wearing a hijab. Not only is it disrespectful to her and her religion, it’s also a microaggression. If you wouldn’t question a nun for covering their head, why would you question a Muslim woman for doing the same? If you believe that women should be able to wear whatever they choose then you should support Hijabis’ choice to cover up.
Many also mistakenly believe that Islam is an inherently sexist religion, however, our views on Islam come almost exclusively from cultural practices Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan. This ignores the wide variety of practicing Muslims in the rest of the world, especially in North Africa and South Asia. Sexism is ingrained in other religions and even secular countries. For example, the Catholic church still doesn’t allow women to be clergy members. Also, according to The World Bank, both Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have more women in their national parliament than the U.S. does.
So instead of trying to “free” Muslim women from their head coverings, respect their choice to practice their religion how they choose.