Mahsa Amini and the Incongruity of Western Pro-Hijab Agitation
Her name was Mahsa Amini and she died (on 16 September 2022), after being arrested in the Iranian capital Tehran. Her crime? Taking off her hijab.
Amini was detained by the Guidance Patrol, the Iranian government's religious police, for not donning a headscarf in accordance with Islamic law. She died in their custody. Most probably from injuries sustained during her arrest and interrogation.
Since the death of Amini, Iran has been convulsed by ongoing protests with the demand that women should be free to choose whether to wear the hijab as the core issue.
Curiously, if you heard the phrase ‘Hijab Protest’ over the past two decades it was most likely in the context of someone, somewhere in the Western world, who did not feel totally validated by all of society in her decision to cover her hair. This was invariably met with expressions of deep sympathy from all corners of the mainstream media. In fact, the pro-hijab crusade is firmly entrenched on the fringes of ‘wokeness’.
From Munira Ahmed channelling her inner-Obama on Women’s March posters to Nike bringing out a ‘sports hijab’, the dominant narrative seems to be that the hijab is somehow a symbol of female liberation.
Given that the most common Islamic explanation behind the need for the hijab is that it protects women through reining in male sexual desire, the defence of this garment, by those who would normally loudly denounce any focus on the effect of female clothing on men as ‘slut shaming’, is bewildering to say the least. Then again, logical consistency has never been a hallmark of wokeness.
Perhaps the strangest expression of the hijabi cheer-leading that exploded in most western countries over the past decade or so is #WorldHijabDay. On the 1st of February women around the world are encouraged to don the hijab for a day. One of the stated aims of this day, which is enthusiastically promoted on college campuses, is to safeguard the right of women to wear the hijab. Given that this right is enshrined in all western countries already (admittedly some ban the full-face veil), and that many reports where hijabs were pulled from Muslim women have been shown to be hoaxes, one struggles to see why this issue needs to be highlighted.
Indeed, the bigger issue surrounding the hijab around the world is the fact that women, and often very young girls, are forced to wear it. This has been highlighted to me on several flights out of the Middle East where ladies around me got rid of their headscarves almost as soon as the flight was airborne.
The events in Iran following Amini’s death present us with further, deadly, evidence of this fact.
This brings us to some vital questions: Will those behind #WorldHijabDay issue strong statements in support of the right NOT to wear the hijab? Will Linda Sarsour or Ilhan Omar denounce the mullahs in Iran for their oppression of women who simply want to feel the wind in their hair?
Even before the current Iranian protests, an image of a young lady in Tehran holding her hijab on a stick, to symbolize her utter rejection of it, went viral. Will western feminists track her down to make sure that she tells her story on every single talk show out there?
You probably know the answers to these questions. You must also know that ‘World Hijab Day’ and other forms of hijab cheerleading has nothing to do with freedom.
For an in-depth investigation of the truth-claims of Islam (including Islamic teaching on the status of women), please see my book ‘Questioning Islam - Tough Questions and Honest Answers About the Muslim Religion’
Kind regards,
Peter
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