Its intresting, during my university time I saw many muslim girls who wear veil with their own choice and no body has forced them to wear it. As much as i know during hot days(I lived in 35C+)temprature and I saw men also covering their heads and faces to protect their skins from sun and hot winds. This idea only suits to those woman who lived in Air conditioners and do not live in such hot areas. Infact the woman who fear Allah will not show her beauty except those whome she is permited. And those girls who only are muslim by their name will wear only two clothes and it does not matter for them and it does not matter for God if they do not obey HIM. Life is very short and such women will soon see where there are heading. The woman I interviewed regarding veiling has entirely different openion. Even western women commented that they feel comfortable with veiling(Fully covered body). The person who never tried how can he/she comment on such issue. Even all woman of world disobey Allah(God) order it will not do any harm to His Kingdom and soon they will taste what they have done here.Inshallah righteous women will never do things like this.God bless such woman.

MY God, the true God, would never punish a woman for the clothes they wear. Women have the same rights as men, they are just as smart, just as strong, and just as capable. Who are you to judge others, when you are nothing more than another lowly human being. Good for these women, who see that they can dress however they want. God forgives all who are truly sorry, although this may not apply to you.

Thanks for this bro, a sister actually has a blog that talks about that same stuff here.

http://ilovehishmatheblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/dreaded-swimsuit-season-ahhhhhhhhhh.html

As to the ”child of god”

Men and women are different. They have have different bodies, different strengths and different rights.

The ONE true god, who has no son, begets not and was not begotten has laws that he expects all to follow.

To the article poster, your entire site is a sick sham, and you will be judge on the last day for it.

To your bikini revolution crap, women are indeed buying and wearing them, in all female pools, or for their husbands. (see site posted above).

Its a shame you’ll never know what such decency and modesty feels like.

Walli we are all different even men have different bodies, different eyes, different skin colors does that mean we all should have different rights? I mean this is 2009 would you want someone telling you because the color of your skin you should have less rights then someone else? Don’t be so closed minded this is a large world with a lot of different people, maybe the world would be better if we accepted everyone differences and let them be who they want to be. If a woman chooses not to cover then that should be her choice, not yours or anyone elses, your not god you don’t get to decide whats right and wrong in the world.

I have seen Kashmiri muslim females wearing nothing, absolutely nothing under the burqa. That, I felt was their reply to the mullas/maulvis. Recently, I saw designers burqa clad females which show all shape and sticks to the body. I also saw a female wearing burqa upto the waist and portion of hip-showing jeans beneath it. I think, the world is changing.

Not burqa, Ramesh. It is called pheren, a long coat from neck to feet. In fact, Kashmiri Muslim women protested against the visit of M.A. Zinna to Srinagar before partition and did not hasitate in showing their shining bottoms to the unwelcome guest while Kashmiri Male undressed themselves completely. Tariq Ali, a Pakistani, settled in U.K. wrote in an article on Kashmir in 2001 in London Review of Books that some protesting Kashmiri Muslim men opened their front and Kashmiri Muslim women their back when J.l. Nhru visited Srinagar. This prompted Nehru to remark that these Kashmiris were vulgar.
In the recent park, a man undressed himself in a public meeting at Iqbal Park in Srinagar as Mrs. Indira Gandhi,the then Prime Minister of India was addressing a rally. Mrs. Gandhi cooly remarked that she was aware to this extent of poverty in Kashmir as the people did not even have cloth to wear.

sorry to say, but I really dont think you are being honest/know what you are talking about...how did you ”see under the burqa?” (if they are wearing it, how did you see anything unless you were under there with them)....also, its not called a burqa in kashmir.
if i am correct, i believe pheren is the term used for the kashmiri ”burqa” as you put it.

dont misrepresent my brother! be sure before you blog about things! it spreads gross and widespread misconception about a voluntary and beautiful act of piety!

*salaam*

Politics and fatwas on cloth must be banned.Dont forget Muslim women are playing and played ’encouraging’roles in our own Hindi cinema.

Open your eyes my children!

Give women the rights they deserve!

Amen, god bless you all

yehhh dats right give them deserved but not out in ISLAM.....not all who participate in muslim country for MISS....are muslim...

You idiotic Christian! have you even READ ur own scripture? the punishment for immodestly is quite severe even by christian law.

And i m not bluffing. go look it up urself

hey hey hey calm down musa...lets not misrepresent our deen by calling names and things like this....just educate, to berate. things like this make me mad and frustrated too, but let us always remember to be halal and conduct ourselves with grace to represent our deen with dignity.

”Jesus Christ”–i think this is very strange to try to ”immitate” or take the name of Jesus (pbuh)as your own, then to address the people on here as ”my children” as if you are yourself Jesus (pbuh)...what are you trying to do by doing this?

Women in Islam are honored, valued, respected, protected, and praised. We are viewed as beautiful creatures and pricesless posessions to our families and to all who love us. Sure, there are certian areas of the world that are POLITICALLY and SOCIALLY UNSTABLE where the dominant religion is in fact ISLAM. But, as we all have heads to use to deduce this ourselves, this does not mean that ISLAM justifies what certian individuals do, or how they conduct themselves.

Here are some facts for you that may help you understand my point:
Ted Bundy (1970s serial killer)-american–40 murders in the USA-Mormon
David Berkowitz–american
John Wayne Gacy–american
Jeffrey Dahmer–american
Charles Manson–american

Daniel Andreas San Diego–Terrorist–American–accused of bombing two California companies in 2003. Both businesses were connected to Huntingdon Life Sciences, a company that conducts experiments on animals for medical and pharmaceutical industries
Adam Gadahn–Terrorist–american–2006 FBI most wanted list

just google these guys! as you can see, they are all ”american,” but we dont want to say ”americans are killers”...but its easy to say ”muslim women are rights-deprived”...talk to some! I’m one =) Really, go find an actual muslim woman and ask her all the questions you want to know. Go straight to the source! dont speculate! i’m sure you can find one...if not, feel free to email me anytime! katarinastreet@hotmail.com

*salaam*

....sorry, in the second line i meant to say ”just educate, NOT berate”...typo!

islam it’s a anther main religion
and you cant undrestand her

”Rules of Islam say, Muslim women should always wear full length cloths such as ‘traditional black abayas’ and ‘veil’ because according to the religious scholars, ‘it is an order of allah’. ”

where did you get it?
and
how did you catch it?
I wondr how when some body don’t know any thing about Islamic rules allow him/her self to consider Islamic rules????

and some thing elese

could you tell me some benefits of the common ideas of the world about the sex??

let me help you:

AIDS is one of the good benefits of sex and feeling so free with that

how many children do you know that their father are unknown?

how many girls do you know that sacrified and suicided because of sex because of marriage?

miss A, B C

what is the benefit of being a miss A?

by showing the lajed part of the body?

why don’t you speak about sucessful women who spend their time in libraries and labratories to provide and discover a new science.

they will be permamnt in the minds for ever but who will remember miss A after 2 or 3 years?

then it means something wrong is happening.

something that has conflict with dignity of women

dear stefan:AND EVERYONE ELSE!
lets see, you asked a couple of questions. Now lets just go over them. First, you said about the AIDS, now please take a few minutes of your important time, and search the web, and see how many millions of people die every year because of AIDS, how did it started? who did it seperated? and it is not just AIDS, but herpes, cifilis and much more.... media and governments are spending 100s of millions of $$ to stop it. they say use condom. and it is another bissness for condom companies and ETC, but what does ISLAM says about it, JUST DONT DO IT with strangers(men except your husbend)....and again where are you from? plz go and search the population of children who, not just dont know their parents but they are also sleeping in streets like animals. where is civil rights now??? now tell me that it is all not because of SEX SEX SEX...

Islam say’s you can have up to four wives. A wife can seek divorce if the husband has contracted aids. If she has unknowingly picked up the virus before divorce, she could remarry and continue the spread of aids. I agree with what you say, ”JUST DONT DO IT with strangers” And I also say, stay with one person. Not two or three or four. Just one. If each and every single person stayed and was committed with one person, one partner. And this didn’t falter. In three generation’s time, AIDS would no longer exist.

Hi there Virgil.
Im just trying to clear everyones mind. There are limits in every religion and I dont see a ny perfect person today that follows his/her religion to the fullest. I dont understand why people love pointing at Muslims for not keeping up with Islamic limits. What about other ? Do people today actually care what Christians, Judists, Hindus, and other people do ? Ofcourse NOT..The HOT subject every day is TERRORISTS JIHAD & MUSLIMS...Everybody knows a Muslim man can have upto 4 wives but no just like that...only with a reason. ONLY ! Its not like he wishes..and there he goes with another wife..there are conditions...I feel sorry when epople dont actually know the background..Its not you Virgil, its every other person who is tired of boredom and loves to spill their temper of boredom on these subjects...Medical tests can be done regularly to check if anyone contracted a disease..But Virgil what about those drunk adults, teenagers,,...who dont know what they did last night and with whom...prostitutes..late nigght parties and everything..would that not be a cause too ? I appreciate that you are open minded, but just a reminder to others...we are not judging anyone here..I feel sorry about the image that everyone has today about ISLAM..People here wont beleive that I talked to an american lady today that converted to a Muslim 2 months after 9/11 and says that 78,000 more people converted just because when they found out that MEDIA (JUNK) lied to the public about Muslims, and people did research to find out what ISLAM really is...GOD Spreads the light onto people who open there doors of mind...
PEACE..

She is not muslim......
Dia itu bukan muslim......

i am a non muslim and if a publicly half naked woman calls herself a muslim then she is not following all of Islam, as many muslims christians and jews do. also in response to that christian guy who says let women have their rights....if you don’t know anything about a culture or religion then you should not assume that just because what you perceive as a right for your culture is not what another culture perceives as a cage. i personally as a woman bombarded by media, and living in the west feel only sexually valued, and i feel this way because of the men that ive met and been friends with during my life here. when you look at miss whatever do you ever remember what country shes representing or the brilliance of her mind, no. a muslim woman covers because she is called sacred. there is a verse in the quaran that says ”a woman is the closest thing to the heart of God, and the path to Heaven is under a mothers feet.” when you look at a muslim, all you see is her face, the vehicle through which she communicates her mind and heart

Beautifully stated Katy Vaters.

I’d to also add that Muslim women do buy bikinis, probably just as much as any other woman. However it does not mean that we are wearing them in public. Covering is a protection for us and as a woman who covers in public, it has absoulutely nothing to do with my husband, father or any other male in my life forcing me to do so.
Islam is a beautiful religion, and I appreciate Ms Katy acknowledging that as a non-Muslim woman. May God bless you always.

Ahh!! how acurately u have understood and stated the IDEA of hijab (covering).

May allah bless you!

your not muslim ?
shut up !!!
be a muslim and you can undrestand why this woman are not a really muslim

i dont understand

This is a positive sign. While conservatives may hold to old traditions too often in many cultures we have seen them perverted. Inequality and abuse of women is not of Allah. If a woman chooses to wear a veil and her modesty dictates this then let her do so, but let it not be a prison for those women or a brand of enslavement.

As much as i agree wid u, i must add that those who ENFORCE hijab have this concept that it is the LAW and any 1 violating it shud be punished (like public nudity is an offence).

Anyways, what i accept, and is the social norm in my part of the world, is that women should wear MODEST clothes, but not necessarily a burqa. they may wear beautifully colored and patterned clothes, as long as they do not show off her body parts

The roles of women in islam is changing. These days the women hold many high postions in government and civil service. You can readd more here

http://www.confluence.org.uk/2009/01/10/islam-women-and-the-violence-in-kashmir-between-india-and-pakistan/

There’s no restriction for a muslim men/women for ’what clothes they wear’. The role is to cover your ”AURAT” both muslim men and women.

WHAT IS AURAT: The part of human body that will call carnal desire or lust to the opposite sex

for Man, their Aurat is between his navel and his knee

for women, their aurat is the whole body except a face and their hands(palm)
(in some other muslim country, they said that face may call a carnal desire too, so they choose to cover they face too).

Because all muslim fear with Allah, they don’t wanna be cause of other’s people to make a sin (such as dirty thinking, sexual thinking, masturbation or event a rape).

The modest attire of Muslim women has become so commonplace, that hijab, the Arabic word used to refer to the Islamic dress code, is now commonly used in English. One of the most visible aspects of Islam, hijab is often the subject of controversy as well. Some view it as a sign of the subjugation of Muslim women, while some others see it as an obstacle to the integration of Muslims in Western society.

However, to Muslim women who practice hijab, it represents an act of obedience to God. It also represents a step towards freedom, i.e. freedom from being judged by their looks rather than their intellect.

Modesty – Required of both men and women

A common misconception about hijab is that it is mandated only for women. Hijab is actually mandated for both men and women. The difference lies in how they are required to implement it. The Glorious Qur’an says:

“Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands...”
[Al-Qur’an 24:30-31]

Both men and women are required to dress and conduct themselves in a manner that befits their dignity and is not the cause of temptation for others. Hair is considered part of a woman’s physical attractiveness. Therefore, covering of hair for the woman is considered essential to modesty of her attire, even in the Bible. This is the reason that nuns and orthodox Jewish women also cover their hair.

It is the outer dress of Muslim women which includes the head covering that is usually referred to as hijab. Hijab is not merely a covering dress, but more importantly, it is behavior, manners, speech and appearance in public. The headscarf is an outer manifestation of an inner commitment to worshipping Allah – it symbolizes a commitment to piety. Self or inner morality is what gives meaning to the external scarf.

The Face Veil

In the opinion of the majority of Muslim scholars, a woman should cover everything except her face and hands. The face veil however, is worn by some Muslim women, who either consider it a requirement, or wish to adhere to a higher level of modesty.

Hijab – A liberation
A Typical style of Hijab worn by Muslim women

In a society in which women’s beauty has been commoditized, and where women often end up associating their self-worth with their looks, the hijab and its concomitant de-emphasis of physical beauty can be tremendously liberating. Muslim women wear the hijab out of obedience to God, while recognizing the immense wisdom behind His commandment.

guys, when u do speak about something, especially such thing as religion, make sure u understand the whole responsibility, cause for all ur words and thoughts, opinions, and acts there will be a judgement of God and there u wont be able to say smth like it was there culture, and i lived in western part, or smth like this. everyone wil be equal under the God. so be sure u remember it always

I do understand that the author of this article is properly concerned about women, but due to lack of knowledge on why Islam commands both men and women to dress completely, author is unable to sympathize in proper way. Please study the concept of Hijab once again so that you get clear picture. thanks.

Mr ramesh,
I dont know from where you could make out that in kashmir you have seen women wearing nothing under burqas, as being a kashmiri i havent seen it for the past 35 years.
Is it your prejudice or simply your ability to lie

Ignorance is a bliss....especially in this blog.
There are people commenting about ISLAM and muslims , with having absolutely no knowledge about it.
Give your self a break...try looking at your own beliefs...there is a lot to improve.

I agree Anjad but I also see many muslims being just as rude and ignorant in this blog. I think we can look at this blog 2 ways, Yes there are people that don’t understand the Muslim faith but we are all entitled to have our own opinions is that not what a blog is about, if your so concerned maybe you shouldn’t be posting or reading. We all believe what we believe including me and we stick by our beliefs but our beliefs are what make us happy doesn’t always mean there the right way or the only way. I have beliefs and i am sure a lot would disagree with them but that’s ok with me because it makes me happy.

That is Nadine Chandrawinata, Miss Indonesia 2005. Her father is Javanese and her mother is German. They are NOT a moslem family, they’re Christians. Indonesia is NOT a moslem country, although the majority of the population here are moslem (including me).

Being a Muslim woman myself, I must set the record straight about this whole ”veiling” issue. When a woman is veiled, it gives her an opportunity to be treated as an equal. No longer will she be judged on her hair style, her body shape, or other materialistic characteristics. She will be treated more equally and she will be able to share her mind, rather than the size of her breasts. It keeps a woman’s self worth and makes her special. It in fact frees her from the judgement of others and forces people to know her for who she really is. Even Mary, Jesus’ mother, is depicted as veiled. Christianity has long promoted veiling and it’s just in these modern times that it has been discarded (which is sad because man is saying he’s better than god and knows better than god. He is essentially discarding the word of god...very sad). Open your eyes to the truth, read more about Islam on the internet, and reference many sources before forming a judgement. Don’t be ignorant, be smart and learn the facts.

mashallah! very nice my sister...very nicely said!

*salaam*

you think it makes a woman equal, maybe is Islam yes. I think in other countries it would actually bring on more discrimination then equality to be honest. And we all talk about modern times, is modern times really that bad, is some degree yes but change is OK as well its what makes us better people. If things didnt change this world would not be that great of a place to live in. We cant always live in the like ancient times and i doubt God would expect that.

she is non-muslim you know. her name is Nadine Chandrawinata. just search her in google

OHh the hell with that fucking article....and the women who quoted that she cant wait to show her body and wear a bikini..bitch go ahead..aint no1 stopping ya..Islam is not a FORCE!!>..it is a CHOICE..People get that shit straight in your head..and whoever wrote this article saying shit about health concerns and the hejab..you should be worried about your own health concerns..doing plastic surgeries, fake boobs n shyt..whats that..isnt that a health concerns..just like how hejab and islam is a choice..that shyt is a choice for u too..isnt it..? But you white ppl are too stupid to even think far like that

how do you even know who wrote this is ”white”? and what does ”white” mean anyway? middle easterns, hispanics, asians, americans, europeans, even africans can be white as the moon...AND MUSLIM...like me =) be nice my sister and lets not misrepresent our deen by saying bad words and judging groups like this.

*salaam*

Well, firstly Islam tells all Muslims to be modest in behaviour and attire, and that includes men as well. Secondly, apparently there are some Muslims here who have bin using extremely abusive language in their comments, WHICH IS TOTALLY UN-ISLAMIC!!! So please correct yourself before you teach others about Islam, because your religion places greater emphasis on your ethical values and good treatment of others than even your prayers.

mashallah! very nicely said my brother.

the muslim are a good people with his dress
and this girl are not muslim !!!
i am muslim muslim muslim
i love islam and dont thin the islamic girl must wear a good dress

I see a lot of men here saying woman should be clothed, personally i think woman should be able to do what they think is best not what someone else thinks is best, and I am sorry but the exterior of someone does not make them modest, its a mask and just because a woman is covered does not necessarily mean she is all that modest especially if she is doing it because someone is telling her to or family or just to be a part of her society. We all need to realize this is 2009 and times change, society changes and that is not a bad thing. If you ask me a man that insists his wife shoudl wear that maybe should question his own insecurities. I think if a woman is beautiful she should be able to show the world. I mean I am not muslim and i do not want to insult not my intention. Just let people be who they wanna be I think any god would appreciate that more then anything. And buddies comments on the top regarding woman different rights and different bodies, even men have different bodies from each other, different eyes, noses does that mean we all should have different rights?