By Nazia Siddiqui
I did a poll a few days back trying to understand why my hijab could make someone uncomfortable. I was triggered by the recurring news of the hijab bans, the latest one being the EU’s top court allowing employers to ban it in the workplace, especially where there is face to face interactions with clients.
Through my poll, I understood that even though hijab could overwhelm, annoy or even confuse people, rarely anyone I know is threatened by it.
Hijab is a very basic piece of clothing for a Muslim. We shouldn’t be questioned, let alone be banned from wearing it. Imagine if one day a culture bans people from wearing footwear, sun hat or clothes altogether because it makes someone uncomfortable. We would be outraged because we cannot be denied the right to choose how much to cover ourselves in public. Understand the same outrage from hijabis all over the world every few months with such bans.
This is just a little reminder to everyone.
Hijab isn’t a threat to you. It is however a threat to those patriarchal institutions that cannot have a woman decide anything for herself. Such institutions are powerful enough to control your ideologies too, unfortunately. So think hard about the reason you don’t like a hijab.
And if you just dislike a hijabi for being a Muslim, that’s a discussion for another day.
Even so you shouldn’t stand for denying us our basic rights just because you can’t stand me. Don’t you agree?
In any case, try to approach a hijabi kindly about your apprehensions. Most would love to clarify your doubts. However, some might feel they don’t owe it to explain to anyone and that should be okay, too.