My Boday Is My Own Business
I often wonder whether people see me as a radical,
fundamentalist Muslim terrorist packing an AK-47 assault rifle
inside my jean jacket. Or maybe they see me as the poster girl
for oppressed womanhood everywhere. I’m not sure which one
it is.
I get the whole range of strange looks, stares, and covert
glances. You see, I wear the hijab, a scarf that covers my head,
neck, and throat. I do this because I am a Muslim woman who
believes her body is her own private affair.
Young Muslim women are reclaiming the hijab, reinterpreting it
in light of its original purpose to give back to women ultimate
control of their own bodies.
The Qur’an teaches us that individuals should not be judged
according to gender, beauty, wealth or privilege.
Nonetheless, people have a difficult time relating to me. After all,
I’m young, Canadian born and raised and university educated,
so why would I do this to myself, they ask?
Strangers speak to me in loud, slow English and often appear
to be playing charades. They politely inquire how I like living in
Canada and whether or not the cold bothers me. If I’m in the
right mood, it can be very amusing.
But, why would I, a woman with all the advantages of a North
American upbringing, suddenly, at 21, want to cover myself so
that with the hijab and the other clothes I choose to wear, only
my face and hands show?
Because it gives me freedom!
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