Rilek1Corner

Tag: modesty

  • Commentary: The Problem With ‘Hijab Fashion’

    Commentary: The Problem With ‘Hijab Fashion’

    I’d like to take a minute and speak about this prevalent trend of ‘Hijab fashion’ and ‘Hijabi Fashionistas’. Before anyone gets defensive and feels they’re being attacked, this is not about anyone’s *personal* journey, rather more about *public journeys* and how we are influencing our youth. So no one is judging anyone, nor being holier than thou, this is a bit of food for thought.

    Recently I’ve been seeing fashion shows/cat walks, Muslims women on the runways etc highlighting “modest fashion” where the idea is to cater for Muslim women.

    I completely understand Muslim women fall into many many categories when it comes to implementing the Hijab in its entirety, and by that I do not mean just the headscarf. I understand the difficulties in implementing the hijab (been there, done that). I understand all the thought processes before finally making the decision to implement the hijab outwardly and inwardly. I also understand wanting to look nice and presentable.

    What I do not accept nor understand is the category of women who outright reject the command. Our attire and what we have been commanded to wear is clear cut, stated in the Qur’an and ahadith. It’s fine for you to do business, also fine for you to cater for Muslim women as there is a huge market, but I feel somewhere in all this business and making a name, the true essence and identity of a Muslimah is getting lost behind make up, pouts and excessiveness.

    There are so many problems with the Hijab Fashionista era that we are living in. Here are three:

    1. Our attire is being commercialised and we are condoning it.

    Initially it was just within, now it is also external. We do not need Nike to promote our hijab, we do not need Debenhams to start endorsing our clothes. We do not need approval or validation from any mainstream companies. They are not doing us a favour, they are not “accepting us” they are thinking with their business hat on and how to make a profit. So firstly, it is important we do not fall into that trap of thinking finally the world is starting to accept us.

    2. Are catwalks modest?

    When Muslim women are walking up and down the runway, there are male photographers present, male audience present, men reading and seeing about the fashion show in the news, does this defeat the purpose of hijab? Whilst we flaunt the “modest clothing” on our body, we are being watched and ogled at. Beautified faces, beautified clothes, is this really modest, if we think about modesty in its entirety and not just a piece of cloth? Does this thought process make me extreme? O_o

    3. Is it really Hijab?

    We are seeing Muslim women bloggers who categorise themselves as Hijabis and whilst they may be struggling to wear the hijab in its correct form, showing your hair and neck is not hijab and should never ever be promoted as hijab. Whilst these bloggers influence our youth to wear turbans, show their awrah yet call it hijab, surely we should be challenging this and not encouraging when these bloggers “make it” and become “famous”.

    Honestly is it a great thing to see sisters excelling and making a name for themselves, but at the expense of a lost identity?

    Are Muslim women having an identity crisis, trying to fit in between the “modern world” and Islam? What are WE doing to lead our youth and what CAN we do to lead them? To ensure our youth do not feel like they need validation? To ensure our youth are looking up to the correct figures as their role models?

    May Allah allow us to excel in His beautiful Deen, and forgive us when we fall short.

    by 

     

     

    Source: ilmfeed

  • Kolam Renang Awam Austria Haramkan Burkini Atas Alasan Kebersihan

    Kolam Renang Awam Austria Haramkan Burkini Atas Alasan Kebersihan

    HAINFELD, AUSTRIA: Pakaian renang untuk wanita Muslimah atau ‘burkini’ kini diharamkan di sebuah kolam renang awam di bandar Hainfeld, Austria.

    ‘Burkini’ dilarang untuk memastikan kolam renang tersebut mematuhi peraturan kebersihan, kata anggota parti berhaluan kanan, Freedom Party (FP) yang juga ahli majlis perbandaran, Peter Terzer.

    Katanya seperti ditukil Russia Today (RT) dan NÖN.at: “Kami amat puas hati dengan peraturan baru ini. Dengan ini, kami boleh memastikan, tidak ada seorang pun yang memakai burkini boleh masuk ke dalam kolam renang itu.”

    Larangan kontroversi tersebut juga mendapat sokongan dari datuk bandar Hainfeld, Albert Pitterle, lapor RT.

    Beliau berkata keputusan itu tidak sepatutnya dianggap luar biasa kerana menurutnya, ia sejajar dengan peraturan kolam renang yang wujud sejak berdekad-dekad lamanya.

    Menurut RT, bulan lalu, sebuah lagi kolam renang awam di bandar Neutraubling di Jerman turut mengharamkan wanita daripada memakai burkini.

    Ini setelah seorang pengunjung wanita membuat aduan tentang seorang wanita yang memakai burkini di kolam renang tersebut.

    Datuk bandar Neutraubling, Heinz Kiechle, dilaporkan tidak senang hati dengan pemakaian burkini, yang katanya “bertentangan dengan usaha perpaduan dan mengiktiraf antara satu sama lain yang kerap dibincangkan di banyak bandar.”

    Selain itu, lapor RT, anggota parti FP di Austria, Encik Terzer, juga menggesa agar keselamatan lebih ketat dilaksanakan di kolam renang itu.

    Beliau merujuk kepada laporan-laporan yang mendakwa beberapa wanita didakwa diserang secara seksual oleh pendatang asing di kolam-kolam renang di Austria, yang menyebabkan beberapa kemudahan riadah mengharamkan semua pelarian lelaki.

    Dalam kes terbaru, pihak berkuasa bandar Mistelbach di Austria mengharamkan secara sementara semua pelarian daripada sebuah kolam renang awam.

    Ini setelah seorang remaja perempuan berusia 13 tahun diganggu secara seksual oleh seorang lelaki muda “berkulit gelap”, yang dipercayai seorang pencari suaka.

    Bahkan menurut RT, pihak berkuasa tempatan memasang papan tanda tertera “hari ini semua pelarian tidak dibenarkan masuk” menyusuli insiden itu.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Dr Mahathir Slams Zeal To Impose Dress Code

    Dr Mahathir Slams Zeal To Impose Dress Code

    KUALA LUMPUR — The rift in Malaysian society over a spate of dress code enforcement actions by government agencies and public buildings on non-Muslim women has widened, with former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad saying that Malaysia is now sliding backwards and is acting like Saudi Arabia in its zeal to impose a dress code on the public.

    “We are now sliding backwards. Soon, not only shorts will be an issue. If a woman leaves a house without a burqa, it will be considered wrong,” he said yesterday, adding that dress codes in government buildings should only apply to its employees and not to visitors, especially those who are not Muslim.

    Earlier yesterday, Cuepacs, an umbrella group of 140 civil service unions, spoke up for civil servants who have been criticised for directing women to wear sarongs before entering government buildings.

    Many of the civil servants had used their own money to buy sarongs for visitors who were improperly dressed.

    “The aim of the dress code is get people to dress modestly, it is applicable to everyone. You cannot just go to someone’s house dressed however you want,” Cuepacs president Azih Muda told reporters yesterday.

    “But no one is to blame in these incidents. The personnel are not wrong for following the rules and the client (visitor) is also not wrong as they may have forgotten about the dress code.”

    “The people who are wrong are those who are posting comments (on social media) and sensationalising something that should not be sensationalised in the first place,” he said.

    Mr Azih said that Cuepacs would be sending out a certificate of appreciation to a People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) officer who on June 16 generated controversy for stopping a woman wearing shorts and making her wrap a towel around her waist before allowing her into Sungei Buloh hospital.

    Meanwhile, an ethnic Chinese opposition lawmaker and a columnist engaged in a war of words after the latter labelled the lawmaker an “enemy” to her own race for donning a headscarf while in a mosque last week.

    In a Facebook post, Ms Lim Fang, who is a columnist with Sin Chew Daily and China Press criticised Selangor state Speaker Hannah Yeoh of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) for allegedly giving a chance for Malay government officials to impose dress codes on Chinese women.

    “If DAP’s Hannah Yeoh can assimilate into Malay society why should Chinese women be different from Malay society? The DAP should discipline the enemy within,” the columnist wrote on Wednesday.

    Ms Yeoh, who is ethnic Chinese, retorted on Facebook yesterday that “extreme views exist in every faith and race” and called on fellow Malaysians to reject such mindsets if they hoped to move the country forward.

    The appreciation letter signed off by Cuepacs follows a similar letter of appreciation issued by Rela to one of its security guards working at a Road Transport Department (RTD) office on Wednesday.

    The guard caused an uproar in Parliament and social media earlier this month by making a middle-aged ethnic Chinese women wear a sarong over her knee-length skirt before being allowed to access the Department.

    Rela had issued the letter despite Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai clarifying that there is no “sarong policy” at the RTD and the department issuing a public apology to the woman.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • 39 Year Old Youth Counsellor Jailed Seven Months For Taking Nude Photos Of 12 Year Old Girl

    39 Year Old Youth Counsellor Jailed Seven Months For Taking Nude Photos Of 12 Year Old Girl

    He volunteered by counselling troubled youths. Yet, the 39-year-old preyed on the 12-year-old daughter of a friend, asking her to strip for his camera when she asked him for money.

    Today (June 9), District Judge Low Wee Ping sentenced the man, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, to seven months’ jail and chided him.

    “I find it ironic that you were once a counsellor for troubled youths, yet you did this to the girl,” said the judge.

    District Judge Low also took issue with the defence lawyer for underplaying the severity of the crime. “If you think it is merely taking a naked photo, then you don’t know what you’ve done and what the law is trying to protect,” he said, adding that “sexual exploitation of a child” was a better description of what had transpired.

    The court heard that the man was a friend of the victim’s mother, and had on previous occasions given the victim small sums of money ranging from S$2 to S$10.

    On April 25, 2012, the victim asked the man for S$300 to buy a handphone. The man called the victim’s friend, a 17-year-old sales assistant, later in the evening asking them to go to his Ang Mo Kio home. As she was uncomfortable going there alone, the victim asked her friend to accompany her.

    Once there, he said he would teach them how to make money by becoming a “hostess”. Despite her reluctance, she was persuaded to strip naked and pose on the bed for a photo, which the man took with his mobile phone. The next day, a family friend of the girl’s reported the incident to the police.

    Today, defence lawyer S S Dhillon argued that the victim was a “runaway girl” and that her mum had confided in his client about her problems. The man had not touched her either, he added.

    Pleading for leniency, he highlighted the man’s “contributions to society”, such as speaking to delinquents about not re-offending and voluntarily contributing S$27,000 to eight Nepalese earthquake victims.

    But deputy public prosecutor Dillon Kok pressed for a sentence of six to eight months’ imprisonment, citing the aggravating factors in the case, including the victim’s young age and his persuading her to pose naked despite her reluctance. “It is not even taking a picture of a naked girl. It’s child porn,” Mr Kok added.

    The maximum punishment for the offence under the Children and Young Persons Act is five years’ jail and/or a S$10,000 fine.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Turkey Lifts Ban on Hijab at High Schools

    Turkey Lifts Ban on Hijab at High Schools

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who co-founded the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), has long been accused by opponents of eroding the secular values of the modern Turkish state.

    Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, a close Erdogan ally, said that an amendment was made to the dress code regulations for female students to say they will not be forced to keep their heads uncovered.

    “I know that some female students were longing for (this amendment) to high school regulations,” Arinc told reporters after the cabinet meeting late on Monday.

    Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu welcomed the amendment as an effort for “democratization.”

    “This should not only be seen as the lifting of the ban on the wearing of headscarf,” Davutoglu told the private NTV television Monday.

    “There has been an effort for freedoms and democratization in every sphere.”

    Kamuran Karaca, head of the Egitim-Sen education union, said that the measures would provoke a “trauma” in Turkey.

    “Turkish society is heading back to the Middle Ages through the exploitation of religion,” he said.

    Last year, Turkey lifted a long-standing ban on women wearing the headscarf in state institutions as part of a package of reforms to bolster freedoms and democracy — which drew the ire of secularists who denounced the move as an attempt to Islamize the staunchly secular country.

    Women can already wear the Islamic headscarf — known as the hejab — in universities. The wives of most AKP ministers wear the hijab, as does Erdogan’s wife Emine.

    The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, based the post-Ottoman republic on a strict separation between religion and state.

    Critics accuse Erdogan, who last month moved to the post of president after over a decade as prime minister, of seeking to undermine Ataturk’s legacy, charges he denies.

    Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/09/139845/turkey-lifts-ban-on-headscarves-at-high-schools/