I have been looking at the fashions worn by Islamic women. It may surprise you just how beautiful they are. I will explain just a bit as to what they wear and why. It is a question of modesty not repression. It is a choice for most but not for some. As with all things there are exceptions, there are always extremists in all walks of life. I am not into debating that. All I can say is that while I was in London last year I saw so many lovely young women dressed in Muslim style and was amazed at the variety and beauty of it all. When I lived in England we had a lot of Indian and Pakistani people living around us. The women were beautifully dressed, even the poorer ones. The shops that sold the cloth to make a Sari had wonderfully beautiful materials. Exquisite in fact.
I will share a few pictures and bits of information in a couple of posts
This is how we imagine all Muslim women to look. This is far from the truth.
Well, even that is beautiful but its far from average. Each predominantly Islamic country has its own rules. Some are very strict and some are not. What it comes down to is the law. In each country it only applies to Muslims. Their religion tells them to dress and behave with modesty. In actual fact so does our bible. The bible tells us women to cover our hair when at prayer. The Muslims pray formally 5 times a day. Our bible also tells us to dress modestly. In our world not many people believe this anymore, and even Christians seem to have lost the respect that we once had. It has only been in recent, post war years that women gave up wearing hats. SO WHY do we run down Muslims for doing what their religion teaches? Is modesty a bad thing?
Tell me this is more attractive
As I said, each Muslim country has a different tradition, different belief and different requirements.
The Hijab is a veil that covers the head and chest, which is particularly worn by a Muslim female beyond the age of puberty in the presence of adult males. It can further refer to any head, face or body covering worn by Muslim women that conforms to a certain standard of modesty. It not only refers to the physical body covering, but also embodies a metaphysical dimension, where al-hijab refers to "the veil which separates man or the world from God”. Hijab can also be used to refer to the seclusion of women from men in the public sphere. Most often, it is worn by Muslim women as a symbol of modesty, privacy and morality.
The hijab can be complicated and decorative
or simple and plain.........it all depends on where you are from.
Covering the face is not a requirement except for the most extreme Islamic rules. Mostly it requires that a woman is modest, is covered in the presence of all but her immediate family. The Hijab has come to mean the whole thing. Covering from head to toe with only face, hands and feet showing. However the modern Islamic woman in many countries have set aside the modesty for fashion. While adhering to the law, they choose to dress in "fashion" with top designers just as we do. You only need to look in some of the clothing stores to see the extent of this trend. Many Islamic women though do not like the western fashions. Unfortunately many western women have no respect for the traditions of other countries and flaunt themselves where and whenever they can in public. Many counties are very tolerant of this but it does nothing for our reputation abroad.
What is wrong with modesty? what is so threatening about a woman being covered? It used to be that Nuns would cover their heads and chests, in fact their dress was not much different to this Hijab.
I am not pretending to know a lot on this subject, but I do get tired of hearing about the oppressed women of Islam. Yes, some are. So are some of us. Some women here have cruel or abusive husbands and the law is sometimes not able to help them. SO in Islam there are wife beaters, but from what I know, and what I have been told by people who live there, or are married to Muslim men .........it is not the normal. Why do we judge people? If you read your bible (if you are not Christian ignore the whole thing) you will notice that even Mary covered herself. Women did in those countries. Its western culture that has made us look like .............I wont say it here. I have never been particularly modest, I liked male attention. However I understand completely why its wrong. A bit late in life I agree and very difficult to change but I admire these women who live their religion. One young lady said that the competition now to be trendy and yet still be within the laws of Islam in itself is not modest. It is in many ways a shame if they too succumb to western morals.
This is a small part of what I want to show. You should see the Indian and Pakistani ladies fashions, and the mens for that matter. They are fantastic. In this post I have posted quite plain dress compared to what is out there. I also want to do a post on the countries and how they differ. Arab dress,Pakistan, India and Africa, Egypt, Iran and Iraq and Turkey so many different styles and yet all require modesty and express this in many different ways. I find it fascinating The only thing I do not understand is this........all those countries are HOT, how can they stand all the clothes?
