Showing posts with label Thoughts About Hijab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoughts About Hijab. Show all posts
,

'Hijab Rules Rant' Discussion on Hegab Rehab


Hegab Rehab by Ange recently posted a new article, titled "Hijab Rules Rant".

And not too long, there's an interesting discussion going on there! Check out the post and get involved in the discussion. I really want to know what your thoughts about this topic raised by Ange. She talks about
What is hijab really? What is modesty?
Is hijab in its purest form the simple essence of modesty, of making sure you look decent on the street? Or is it a long list of strict rules we must abide by and if we don't we must be lectured by everyone under the sun about it?
And about various hijab style Muslim women around the world wear.

Here is my opinion I dropped in the discussion section. I stressed out especially on the various hijab style worn by Muslim women:

Of course, for me, hijab is about the essence of modesty. In my opinion, like you and Alia said, hijab highlights the important to dress, to look decent on the street. So that you aren't bothered, so that you feel comfortable with yourself, and so that you connect to people on an intellectual level rather than a physical one.

Islam's mandate is to cover the whole body, except hands and face (for feet, as far as I know, it's still in grey area whether they can be showed or not). Islam doesn't prescribe the rigid rules about what color we can wear, or what fabric we should wear.

People, or in this case, Muslim women, also have their own identity (nationally/ethnically, professionally, culturally, etc). They also have creativity and expressions. Dressing is one of their ways to keep their identity, to be creative, and to express their self through clothing. These are allowed in Islam. Wearing hijab doesn't mean that you have to lose your identity or personality, and it's important for us to develop our unique identity or self. As Erik Erikson, a famous child development expert, said (in one of articles in Islamic Horizons magazine, titled Serving Tawheed and Turkey page 44):
"Failure to achieve an identity can lead to confusion and despair".
And I believe that Alloh SWT loves diversity :) He creates beauty in this planet from the diversity of things and creatures who live in it.. :)

As a muslim woman who wears hijab, there is a whole new realm of possibility for our clothes, from traditional clothes to urban or modern outfits, there aren't any rules on what styles it should be. We can wear clothing (hijab/jilbab) in various styles.

In the Qur'an Surah 7:26,
"O ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness,- that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition."
So clothing does not have to be drab. It is all right for both sexes to use clothing to enhance beauty as well as to cover nakedness.. But the most important thing is to be modest and righteous.

(Alloh knows best).

So, Sisters, let's not be judgemental.. let's show to the world that Islam is full of love and compassion.. :)


Regarding to the discussion that's still happening, so far, I like and agree with the comments from Alia, Zainab, and Hijab Revival.

Zainab and Hijab Revival have a good opinion about what is Hijab really, not only about how we dress (outer hijab), but also how we conduct ourselves in public, how we act towards others (social hijab), and then of course inner hijab (our inner being like our character, thoughts, etc). And even though some scholars have disagreements about some aspects of hijab, the majority agree on the core aspects of hijab in the Qur’an.

So, what is your own opinion about that?

You can read their comments and all other opinions here, in the comment's section of the article.



Fashioning Faith's Updates are on Twitter - Facebook - RSS - BlogLovin
Devamını oku...

,

Rabia Z on a film 'The Veiled Threat'

Rabia Zargarpur, a Dubai-based Muslim fashion designer, better known as Rabia Z. (the name of her clothing label), a while ago was filming her concern on some people's thoughts: that hijab is a threat.

And here's a flash of the film:



"Questioning the servitude of forced veiling or unveiling in shared spaces, Rabia Z, an Arab, Afghani American Muslim takes on a journey across six nations, hotbeds of the veiling controversy - France, Afghanistan, Pakistan, USA, UK and UAE - to find a solution. Stirring dialogue with everyday people, religious scholars, policy makers and press, trying to understand both sides of the argument; her meetings with other Muslim women - like Jana of Hijab Style blog / Sarah Elenany / Funny Girls - all working towards building cultural bridges reveals heartwarming stories of women affecting change."



Out of the topic, I love to watch Rabia Z's Hijab Style and all her designs in this film... ;)




Follow Fashioning Faith on Twitter - Facebook - RSS
Follow with bloglovin
Devamını oku...

,

Just a Little Thoughts and Another Daily Outfit

First of all I want to thank to all Fashioning Faith's readers for all their feedback, love, support, and reminders, that keep me motivated to make improvement and to do my best to be better and better each day. I really appreciate that.

Recently, I got an email from one of my readers, Rosi Vela, who said that there were too many posts about luxurious things/clothes on my blog that most of us can't afford to buy. I introspect myself... and I think perhaps it because I wrote too many Chanel or Irna La Perle on my blog... ^_^

I didn't mean at all to encourage my readers to buy luxurious things. My posts about 'luxurious things' such as clothing line from the runway fashion, celebrities or 'whats in style now' were intended to show various styles/designs out there that I love, and these are ONLY for STYLE/DESIGNS INSPIRATION.

I just want to show various possible style that we can adapt to our own style, and show that we can also be 'ourself'... be 'original' in our hijab... :) 

For our daily outfits, we can pick up something we love from the style, and then implement it on our daily style with some 'make over' or 'adaption' to meet/fit our own taste and our own concept/standard of modesty. For example when we want to design/sew our own abaya/dresses, or when we want to mix-match pieces of clothes in our wardrobes.

I'm an ordinary woman too, just like most of you, who can't also afford to buy luxurious things. I just love to see designers' clothing line and people's style on the street... :)

And I agree with what Jana of Hijab Style has said that

‘Fashion’ is not necessarily about what’s ‘hot’, or the latest fad, or having the most expensive designer gear. For me it’s about being creative within my limits, those primarily being price, availability and hijab-appropriateness of clothes. It’s about combining things tastefully and experimenting with fabrics, cuts and colours. It doesn’t have to be ostentatious.
I think it's about build up our own style that is comfort for us with pride and happiness.

Regarding to the email, perhaps I need to try to do more posts that are more 'down to earth', that are closer to our daily life, styles from 'real-life' Muslimahs (I mean not from Runway or Celebs). Perhaps more posts on muslimahs' style on the street or posts about tips/style from my own outfits, and how to mix-match clothes?

But, I do think that I might continue to post article/photos from Runways and Designers, or models on Magazine which I love that can be a source of style inspiration for Muslim women.

Anyway, thank you for the feedback. Hope you can always give your feedback to me... :)

So, today I post about my daily outfit. The piece of clothes that I wore to the wedding party yesterday. In Indonesia, particularly in my city, we usually wear 'Batik' to attend wedding parties or formal occasions. And here I am in my favorite 'vintage' Batik dress from my Grandma with 'wayang' picture on it.

It's an 'original' batik ('Batik Tulis') which means that the picture/patterns on that dress was made/drew by hands (uses a manual wax-resist dyeing), not by computerized printing techniques or machines, and the fabric is 'kain mori' (that is so comfort to wear).

I added an off white belt made of coral stones look-alike and a long earing to spice up the look.


Hi... hii... :) I'm not so confident for doing this. But I hope it would be helpful :)

Note: Wait for my review about Mahi Gown (from iLoveModesty.com) on my next post! :)


"O ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness,- that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition! (Al Qur'an, Surah 7: 26)




Subscribe to Fashioning Faith
Follow with bloglovin Devamını oku...

,

Muslimah Fashion in The Media: What do you think?

There is a big discussion happened in regard to the article on Muslimah Media Watch written by Diana, entitled 'Coverage of “Fashionable” Muslim Women Cramps Our Style'. You can read the article and all of the comments replying to the article here.

Below is my comment in reply to the article:

Assalamu'alaikum wr wb.

It's nice to have this kind of discussion here, and I would like to share my opinion too, as I wrote on the comment's section on Hijab Style Blog, with some addition:

I personally feel happy with the way media represent the muslimah style and fashion recently. Most of them appreciate our faith and our modest style.

But sometimes Media try to make 'hot stories' by creating contradictions or conflicts between something (eventhough this may have a positive value, but sometimes this is not right, and media should remember that they have responsibilities, ethics, and values to write stories/articles based on that). 
In this case, Media, in some way, contributes to create a dichotomy between niqab/abaya wearer and tunic-jeans wearer, or could be between hijab-wearer muslim women and non-hijab muslim women... the perception that some people on the other side are more or less pious than the other. This kind of perception, shaped by the media, can make an uncomfortable situation for us, muslim women, that actually it shouldn't like that.

Ideally, we, as muslims, have to bear in mind that all of us are trying our best to obey Allah SWT; to do what Allah wants us to do. All of us are just trying our best, in our way, to be close to the "Real Truth from Allah". We all have the same intention. So, there is no need to get into dichotomy, trichotomy, etc, and to judge each other.


And about our clothes as a hijab, me as a hijab fashion blogger too, have a basis according to Qur'an:
Surah 7:26
O ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness,- that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition!

So clothing does not have to be drab. It is all right for both sexes to use clothing to enhance beauty as well as to cover nakedness. The most important thing is to be modest and righteous.

One more thing I'd like to add is in regard to the BBC's question: “But doesn’t the showy nature of fashion contradict the essence of Hijab?”

In my opinion: No, it doesn't contradict. I think based on the ayah above, it's okay if we are showy about our clothes, as long as we're NOT SHOWY about OUR BODY. (Allah knows best)

Fashion is showy. It shows creativities on clothes/outfits. So does 'Muslim Fashion', it is showy, it shows creativities on modest clothes/outfits ('modest' according to Islamic rules).

So, what is wrong with 'Muslim Fashion'? Perhaps for some people, the reason why they want to deal with 'Muslim Fashion' is because they do want to fit in and be a part of mainstream society (nothing wrong with this as long as they keep follow Islamic rules in their life, for example: wearing hijab in western style; And people have their own reason why they want to fit in);
And for some other people, is because they want to create beautiful outfits (still within Islam's rules of modesty) in their own style as their self expression. And this is all right too according to the ayah above.


Do you have any other opinion? What do you think about the way media covers muslimah clothing? Please share with us? It's all right if we have different perception or different point of view. These will wider our horizon... ;)

Note: Read also the most recent article about muslimah clothing in these media:
The Guardian: Muslim schoolgirls show that faith and fashion are not incompatible
MLive.com: Islamic fashion now appeals to non-Muslim women, too
And tell me what do you think about those articles?
Devamını oku...

, ,

The 'Puffed' Hijab Style

Recently, Hijab Style publish a post about the popular 'puffed' hijab on The Media Line. If you don't read it yet, you can read it here. It's an interesting topic for me, especially because few of my friends and my blog's readers once ever ask me about it: it's permissible or not, and the Media often blow up this issue. So, I was wondering about that.

The 'discussion' that came up at the comment section of the post also draw my attention. One of the readers left an interesting comment (and I agree with it), which reads:

"I can't believe people make such a fuss over nothing! As a muslim woman, it annoys me that every small decision we make such as our hair UNDER our hijabs is blown totally out of proportion. It's totally our choice what we decide to do regarding hijab." - Jaz.

At the first time when people ask me about this 'puffed' hijab. I'm not really sure it's allowed or not. I just think logically... When we have a long thick hair, where should we hide it underneath our hijab? We need to tying our hair up in a bun. It's also give some air circulation around our neck, and it's a bonus if people find it gives a beautiful shape to the hijab. I think this is natural. As long as we just put the bun normally and naturally, not extremely high on the top of our head, I think it's okay.

Few people use this hadith to prohibit the 'puffed' hijab:


Abû Hurayrah relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “There are two categories among the inhabitants of Hell whom I have not encountered. The first are people who carry whips like the tails of cows and beat the people with them. The second are women, clothed yet naked, drawn to licentiousness and enticing others to it, their heads like the swaying humps of camels – they will neither enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance, though its fragrance can be found to a great distance.” [Sahîh Muslim (2127)]


Based on the link of explanation that Jana has given to us, that hadith is very frequently mis-interpreted. Here's the link to read a thorough explanation about that. It shows no real proof to prohibit simply tying your hair up in a bun.

Perhaps the problem here is if we use a big abnormal imitation bun/hair clips to make a 'look' that seemingly we have a long thick hair, but the fact is not.

And I agreed with what Jana said to The Media Line:
Jana said she noticed the emergence of this style mostly among the younger generation.
“Young women are always eager to try out new trends, especially those that come out of the Gulf, as they are often associated with luxury and high fashion”. 

She continued:
“Religious authorities always seem to be trying to control women’s expression of fashion, perhaps for fear that trying unconventional styles is somewhat a rejection of religious values. However, I believe it should be treated like any other fashion trend that will probably die out with time.”

Hope this article can give an answer to all of the doubts about 'puffed' hijab style, and stop us for making judgement on other people before seek for the truth.

And Allah knows best.

What's your opinion?







Bookmark and Share
Subscribe to Fashioning Faith
Follow with bloglovin Devamını oku...

,

A Reflection to be a Muslim Woman in Western Society

Fashioning Faith has just heard about a Hijab Day Challenge. That was happening recently on Thursday, March 4th, 2010. It was a day when the MSU at UCI (Muslim Student Union at the University of California Irvine) put on a challenge for many non-Muslim women: To try to see what it is like to wear the headscarf many Muslim women wear for one day. As part of their Islam Awareness Quarter, the statement was more of a way to see what it's like to be in the shoes of a Muslim woman.

Here was the flyer:

(Image via MSU-UCI official website)

At the end of the day, the MSU also brought in an esteemed speaker, Yasmin Mogahed to talk about hijab at a campus where a hundred women tried on the headscarf for a day to understand how a woman that wears hijab feels. Yasmin spoke about the role of hijab and modesty in contemporary American society.

I wonder how it would be? What are the thoughts from people who accepted this challenge?

You can watch the videos of Yasmin's talk here.
And also watch the videos of the reflections on hijab, by both muslims and non-muslims after Yasmin's talk, here.

What do you think about this?


Bookmark and Share

Subscribe to Fashioning Faith Devamını oku...

,

Wearing Hijab Without Losing Your Identity (Part 2)

One of my readers, Putri Ayuningtyas, sent me a picture of her and her friend wearing Hanbok, a Korean traditional dress. She is an Indonesian, but right now she lives in Germany. She likes Korean stuff, and also have a blog, titled In Her Shoes.


Her pictures and some articles from Islamic Horizons I read recently have motivated me to write this post (Wearing Hijab Without Losing Your Identity part 2) as an addition to the the previous one. If you miss the part one, here is the link to read it.

As human being, we have a multiple identities. One person's identity (or 'identities', for more accurate) might include all of multiple significant social categories. The identity is made up of his/her ethnicity, citizenship, political view, religion, and so on.

In term of citizenship identity, sometimes there are some people who do not want to wear hijab because they think they might lose their personal identity as a citizen/ethnic of some country. They think if they wear hijab, other people will assume that they are Arab, or wearing other culture's clothes that do not suit with their country.

As we already know, wearing hijab doesn't mean that we will losing our identities. We still could show our identities through, for example, our clothes.... whether we are a doctor, an engineer, a teenager, a mother, an American, a Russian, an Indonesian, a Japanese, a soccer fan, etc.

We need to build a healthy sense of identity that allows us to be defined for who we are. We could be an Indonesian-muslim, a Korean-muslim, an American-muslim, etc. We could be a muslim-baseball fan, a muslim-engineer, a muslim-lawyer, a muslim-mother, etc.

Islamic Horizons, an Islamic magazine in America, raises this identity issue in their March/April 2010 issue. You could read the online version here. There are some articles about identity issue on Islamic School in America.

In one of articles on that magazine, titled: Serving Tawheed and Turkey page 44, Erik Erikson, a famous child development expert, said that:
"Failure to achieve an identity can lead to confusion and despair".
 So, it's important for us to develop our unique identity or self.


A picture from the cover story

(Photograph courtesy of The American Youth Academy)

As a muslim woman who wears hijab, there is a whole new realm of possibility for our clothes, from traditional clothes to urban or modern outfits as long as you love it, there aren't any rules on what styles it should be...

So, what do you think about this?


Bookmark and Share

Subscribe to FashioningFaith



Devamını oku...