World Hijab Day

Hadiza: When I heard you talking about it at the planning stage, I also did not think it was going to be such a big affair.Rahma:  We just wanted a small reflection moment and an activity that will celebrate and support those who wear the hijab because they see it as a part of their […]

Hadiza: When I heard you talking about it at the planning stage, I also did not think it was going to be such a big affair.
Rahma:  We just wanted a small reflection moment and an activity that will celebrate and support those who wear the hijab because they see it as a part of their package of rights as Muslim women. We had no idea that it was going to generate so much interest.
Aisha: I was in the newsroom when I got a text message from Saadiya one of my cousins requesting me to provide media coverage for the World Hijab Day. I was curious and called to obtain relevant information from her. After our discussion, I announced the event to colleagues in the newsroom and that opened an interesting discourse on hijab. This is what I recorded from the discussion.
Salma: The event is long overdue. Given the controversy hijab wearing has generated recently in Nigeria I think Muslims should emphasise their right to wear it and place hijab on the front burner of public discourse.
Jummai:  Yes, it is an indeed an issue. Lagos state government has banned hijab wearing in schools and the Muslim community has taken the government to court.
Kunle: The amazing thing is that Governor Babtunde Fashola is a Muslim. We Lagosians know ourselves. Although we are cosmopolitan in our outlook we do not tolerate people who take us for granted and try to erode our rights. The Governor wants Nigeria to join the league of countries such as Turkey and France where hijab wearing generates controversy. This is Nigeria and we wont let him get away with it. The court will decide if Muslims in Lagos schools have the right to wear hijab or not. He knows he will lose the case and has asked for out of court settlement but even then, the government is employing delaying tactics. The Muslim Ummah is up to the task.
Jummai: There is no rhyme and reason to all this opposition to hijab wearing displayed by people like Fashola. Even in the West, some countries have refused to join this hijab bashing vogue. I remember that Italian Minister, I cant remember his name now, who said he will not support a ban on Hijab because all the pictures of the virgin Mary show her wearing hijab.
Kunle: That is true but the one I found most surprising is the American government’s support for the right of Muslims to wear hijab. In his speech when he visited Cairo, President Obama made it clear that adherents of various faiths have freedom of worship in the United States and Muslims  have a right to wear hijab. He said “ freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one’s religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state of our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That is why the U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it.’
Anne: Yes. Freedom for all to worship is important and hijab is not a strange thing to Christians. We are also enjoined to wear it. Nobody who appreciates the truth will try and prevent the catholic sisters and indeed all Christians from wearing it. However the issue at our level is the difference between those churches that make it a policy for women to cover their heads when they come to worship and the Pentecostal churches that allow women to leave their heads uncovered.
Rahma: Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo, the vice president’s wife, who was the special guest at the first World Hijab Day on February 1 2014 in Abuja, made a presentation that also cited this fact. She said ‘Hijab is the companion of every woman, for there is no religion that allows immodest form of dressing.’ Quoting copiously from the Quran which prescribes hijab for women Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo also highlighted the fact that hijab of the eyes was also prescribed for men as the Quran urged them to lower their gaze and avoid staring at women who are not their wives. She said ‘the subject of Islamic dressing is important for all Muslim women especially the youths who today are faced with peer pressure within their communities. Some mode of dressing done in the name of fashion are indecent, indiscipline and immoral and cannot in any way be mistaken for modernization. ‘
Mrs. Amina Namadi Sambo said ‘these are against Islamic injunctions as contained in the holy Qur’an and hadiths, which specifically enjoin women and girls to dress in a way that covers their nakedness thereby, promoting chastity. She expressed happiness ‘that more and more Muslim women are working to sensitize and promote Islamic identity and culture in this globalized world of today where new media technologies have revolutionized our world. The influence of new technologies such as internet and cable television which promote western culture and tradition with all its negative values and ethos have done more harm to us than good especially in fashion and design.’ She received a resounding applause.
Aisha: I also liked the fact that she drew attention to the origin of hijab when she said ‘modesty is a component of several world religions, particularly in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It may come as a surprise to many that it was not Islam that invented modesty or hijab. This existed in the laws of religions revealed before Islam, and remnants can still be found in the books of those faiths and historical books.’  
Salma: We all encourage our children to wear the hijab but what I do not like is the holier than thou attitude of some of our Muslim sisters who use the type and length of the hijab to measure peoples’ faith. They see those of us who wear small and modest scarves as inferior Muslims. While external hijab is very important, the hijab of the heart is even more important. We have recorded cases of abuse of hijab–women who wear the hijab to commit theft in markets! Rather than look down on people they should encourage those who do not wear hijab to do so, in line with Qur’anic injunction. May the hijab remain with us forever.