The Controversy Of The Veil In Islam

In Islam, the only submission is to Allah. So how is it that wearing a veil connotes submission towards other people. The Islamic veil and hijab has recently shot up to being a controversial topic of debate. The argument consists of three different perspectives: people who believe the veil is a religious necessity, people who believe the veil is a gender barrier between men and women causing women to be submissive, and people who believe there is common ground between Islam and gender equality. Through the lens of gender, this discussion can be well analyzed because the wearing of the veil often indicates a type of submission to men for some women and a type of rebellion from men to some women. Either way, the veil is connected to gender. Although

To some women the veil and “its meaning stretch beyond spirituality” (Pina Sadar). To them, the veil represents an opportunity for reclaimed Muslim feminist identity. Because for so long the debate about veil has been between Muslim men and Non-Muslim people, modern Muslim women are now using it nominate a new perspective on it. Modern Muslim women are proposing independence to be associated with the veil. They want the veil to be a choice that a woman may choose without being associated with anything she has not exclusively associated herself with or without being excluded from any group because of it. Muslim feminists have long time been excluded from Muslim communities due to their feminist views and from feminist communities due to their clothing. Close-minded feminist groups often ostracized Muslim feminists because they believe that if a woman wears a veil she does not truly care about her equality since she is supposedly allowing men to dictate her clothing. This is not the case however. Muslim feminists want to begin “reasserting their right to shape the meaning of their own clothes” by clarifying that “a woman’s freedom [is] to choose not only her own form of a dress but also to shape its meanings - whatever they may be” (Pina Sadar). Muslim women should be able to decide whether or not their cover themselves and why they do so. The verdict is not up to Muslim men, Non-Muslims, or even other Muslim women. It is an individual choice. Nadiya Takolia, a writer from The Guardian, came to the conclusion that wearing a veil or hijab was “not about protection from men’s lusts” but instead about “telling the world that [her] femininity is not available for public consumption” (Pina Sadar). The evolution of the veil has changed drastically in modern times. It has transformed from a religious commitment to a political and gender debate. The topic of the veil has called for the