Generalizations about a certain issue....
Why is it that most if us tend to generalize about certain things when it is really an unfair thing to do? Generalizations are really unfair. If you give it some thought, you will notice that most of us do that in many situations. Let us take an example.
There are the people who come from areas where religion, education and general knowledge are not properly taught and embedded to a great extent. I think that maybe negligence played a role for this to happen. I really am not sure what to think, whether it is the financial aspect that caused this problem to arise, or the lack of education, negligence and indifference that did it all. I personally feel it is all the former together, because knowledge can be acquired by anyone if they want to (at least minimum knowledge), or if they are encouraged to do so by someone who they happen to mingle with who does not come from the same background as they do, namely someone who is well educated and on proper grounds of religion and ethical standards. It is those who need to give some attention to the less fortunate ones that were deprived of such knowledge. I believe it is those who need to wake up and realize that they do have a responsibility towards certain people in society.
The problem is every one is too busy with their own lives and couldn't be bothered to care for those around. That in turn lead to fissures and cracks in many societies, and I believe not only in the middle east, but world wide.
Back to the main issue, there's this strange heritage of indifference which inflated greatly amongst many people of the poorer segment of our society, leading to terrible outcomes.
The view of Islam about women, for instance, is very fair and just (for those who really understand the true meaning of the Holy Quraan and Hadeeths). However many people in such societies (and some in the higher ones too) treat a woman as if she is nothing. She has become an object rather than a being. Her rights are different and inferior to those of a man.
The men in such societies (on a larger scale than the higher and educated) interpret the meanings of the Quraan and the Hadeeths in the way that suits them, or as a result of a misunderstanding that passed from generation to generation, rather than the truth put forth by God and his Prophet (Allahuma Saly 3ala Rasoul Allah).
Again, I believe this is a result of the inheritance process of misunderstood (or misinterpreted) beliefs from one generation to another.
For instance the Hadeeth of the Prophet (Allahuma Saly 3ala Rasoul Allah) that mentions the phrase "Nakisato Aklin wa din". This section of the Hadeeth does not mean a woman is less intelligent than a man, nor does it imply that a woman is naturally less in belief than a man. It points out to the emotions of a woman. Meaning that a woman is more emotional than a man by nature (nakisato Aklen), and the other part (nakisato din) points out to a woman's physiology where it comes to her getting a monthly menstrual cycle not enabling her to being able to fast or pray or the year through.
Men from that segment of our society misinterpret things like that. They just take things literally without proper comprehension of the true meanings behind them. Islam has in fact given many rights and respect to a woman, and Prophet Muhammed (Allahoma Saly 3aleih) emphasized on women's rights in so many Hadeeths and even in his farewell khutbah (speech) to the Moslems.
Anyway, to get to the point, I wanted to mainly discuss the Hijab issue in Egypt. I want to first state some things then discuss them. I felt a need to categorize some the following though
Here goes:
When I state the following I am referring to the lower class majority of the Egyptian society
a) On the streets sometimes we see young ladies wearing a scarf, yet walking with a young man or maybe even sitting in one of those public gardens where there is some privacy and they are practically all over one another! (very negative, isn't it)
b) A young lady wearing a scarf, yet wearing tight jeans or trousers with a very short shirt on top, or sometimes a very tight skirt with a big slit at the back or on the side.
c) A young lady going to her work with the scarf on, but takes it off (I personally encountered that at the hairdresser's and at my dentist's clinic, and many other places). Many go veiled and take it off while working in front of other men whom are not maharem (not maharem - are ones that are not supposed to see them unveiled).
d) Other young ladies dressed very decently as muhajabat (dressed Islamicaly, i.e. a veil and long clothing, not tight or revealing) yet still walking hand in hand, or the man practically hugging her, or has his arms wrapped around her shoulders, as they walk or sit intimately at some public garden or elsewhere (and in many cases they are not engaged or married).
When I state the following I am referring to middle and high class Egyptians.
a) At a club for instance, young (sometimes women too) veiled girls dress in tight jeans, short shirts on top
b) A veiled young girl can be seen walking with a nice young man holding hands (supposedly her boyfriend, which is not supposed to happen in the first place not even with a non muhajaba/veiled Moslem young girl), or sitting having an intimate talk some where, in public (I guess they think it is acceptable! And even if not, who cares because they do it any way!). Here I am mainly referring to the physical closeness more than the talk itself, because I guess some people can sit and have a talk together in public without giving others a chance to feel there is something wrong going on. Mixing amongst men and women is alright but with conditions. Won't dwell into that now though.
c) A veiled young girl can be seen standing alone amongst a group of guys and you can hear them joking and laughing around for quite a while, you may hear the girl's laughter quite clear (even from a distance).
I personally find all of the above as unacceptable and provoking somehow, whether the female is low class or high class. But what really startles me is the attitude of many of lower class, Muslim, veiled Egyptian females! (the higher classes will take their turn, but later!). They are no model of a proper veiled Muslim young lady or woman, and here I am referring to the attitude. What makes me say this is I have had several discussions with different people about this issue and what really upsets me is that they tend to generalize! "All veiled women do this and that, why wear the hijab then?" is usually the phrase used.
First let's take the lower classes:
We cannot assume that all of the low class Egyptian females are bad, or the ones that are of higher social status either! Maybe a larger percentage of the lower classes are truly not good in terms of general attitude or in character (as in honesty for instance) but we still cannot say "all". There is good and bad every where. I also feel for them. The misconceptions that have risen amongst this specific segment of our society, I believe, did so because of how the men of their societies deal with them. A woman has to be veiled in their society as a symbol of piety and goodness! The parents and the society forcefully make them wear the veil, without understanding what it truly symbolizes. The veil is something obligatory on each and every Moslem girl and woman after they reach the age of puberty or even before that if the girl's body starts taking a feminine and desirable shape, but wearing hijab should be encouraged in a proper sense. According to true understandings of what it symbolizes and obliges one to do.
In other words when a woman wears a veil, she should do it because she wants to and not because it is a social obligation. The Islamic veil is not just about extra clothing, but it is very much about certain conducts of behavior too.
The outcome of this forceful veil is that the girls take off the veil once they know they are far from their area's site! And moreover, the conduct of behavior as a whole changes. The families in such areas are messed up in their beliefs and applications to such beliefs! Most of them, unfortunately have no clue what religion and ethical conducts are truly about or how to bring up their children to be constructive individuals to them selves or to society.
Conclusion is, many women in those societies wear the veil as a response to their societies' demands rather than religious obligations. Only a few percentage do it in response to proper understanding of religion.
When we come to the higher sector of the community, it is more complicated. Most of the women and young girls wear it because they are aware that it is a religious obligation, a fewer percentage wear it because they are told they should, and another fewer percentage seem to have wore it but are not really aware of the aspect of change of conduct, i.e., again as I mentioned earlier, the hijab, or the veil, is not just a matter of extra clothing, but also a matter applying a certain conduct of behavior encouraged by Islam.
However, in the higher segment the issue is much better than that of the lower due to the education and awareness. There are some negative aspects I do agree, but even here we cannot generalize.
Conclusion is, for the latter there is much more awareness and sincerity amongst the veiled of the higher class society regardless of the fact that not all apply it properly, but at least they do not take it off after they leave home! I still do not blame those young women in the lower classes since they truly haven’t received proper awareness.
The conclusion to both sectors is, WE cannot say ALL of the women in the lower sector or the higher sector are bad. We can rather say, "Some".
We must rid ourselves of the habit of generalizations about issues concerning people. We must view each case individually and if we must, then we should not keep on criticizing or blaming the concept, rather than the person applying the concept itself. We should not say for instance: "the muhajabat are all bad" or say: "the muhajabat are wearing hijab uselessly" when we see someone not behaving accordingly to the rules.
We should just view things separately and try to actually not comment much, unless if we happen to know the person and will be able to be of advise or help rather than just sit and comment uselessly, or end up in a gossip session! If someone has something constructive and useful to say, then so be it, if not then just pray for them to be better. I hope this would be a good idea.
I do believe however, that there is a growing awareness amongst many sectors in our communities about religion, and general understandings. I would just like to add, that we must all make an effort to the lower and less educated. We must begin to make approaches to help enlighten them if we ourselves have enough knowledge. We shall all continue to be recipients of information till the moment we die, all I am trying to say, we must share what we receive with others. Those of us who were lucky to know something new, share it, do not keep it to your self.
I would like us all to work on wanting to make a nation Allah and Prophet Muhammed (Allahoma Saly 3aleih) and all the other Prophets (Allahoma Saly 3alihim) would truly be proud of!
There are the people who come from areas where religion, education and general knowledge are not properly taught and embedded to a great extent. I think that maybe negligence played a role for this to happen. I really am not sure what to think, whether it is the financial aspect that caused this problem to arise, or the lack of education, negligence and indifference that did it all. I personally feel it is all the former together, because knowledge can be acquired by anyone if they want to (at least minimum knowledge), or if they are encouraged to do so by someone who they happen to mingle with who does not come from the same background as they do, namely someone who is well educated and on proper grounds of religion and ethical standards. It is those who need to give some attention to the less fortunate ones that were deprived of such knowledge. I believe it is those who need to wake up and realize that they do have a responsibility towards certain people in society.
The problem is every one is too busy with their own lives and couldn't be bothered to care for those around. That in turn lead to fissures and cracks in many societies, and I believe not only in the middle east, but world wide.
Back to the main issue, there's this strange heritage of indifference which inflated greatly amongst many people of the poorer segment of our society, leading to terrible outcomes.
The view of Islam about women, for instance, is very fair and just (for those who really understand the true meaning of the Holy Quraan and Hadeeths). However many people in such societies (and some in the higher ones too) treat a woman as if she is nothing. She has become an object rather than a being. Her rights are different and inferior to those of a man.
The men in such societies (on a larger scale than the higher and educated) interpret the meanings of the Quraan and the Hadeeths in the way that suits them, or as a result of a misunderstanding that passed from generation to generation, rather than the truth put forth by God and his Prophet (Allahuma Saly 3ala Rasoul Allah).
Again, I believe this is a result of the inheritance process of misunderstood (or misinterpreted) beliefs from one generation to another.
For instance the Hadeeth of the Prophet (Allahuma Saly 3ala Rasoul Allah) that mentions the phrase "Nakisato Aklin wa din". This section of the Hadeeth does not mean a woman is less intelligent than a man, nor does it imply that a woman is naturally less in belief than a man. It points out to the emotions of a woman. Meaning that a woman is more emotional than a man by nature (nakisato Aklen), and the other part (nakisato din) points out to a woman's physiology where it comes to her getting a monthly menstrual cycle not enabling her to being able to fast or pray or the year through.
Men from that segment of our society misinterpret things like that. They just take things literally without proper comprehension of the true meanings behind them. Islam has in fact given many rights and respect to a woman, and Prophet Muhammed (Allahoma Saly 3aleih) emphasized on women's rights in so many Hadeeths and even in his farewell khutbah (speech) to the Moslems.
Anyway, to get to the point, I wanted to mainly discuss the Hijab issue in Egypt. I want to first state some things then discuss them. I felt a need to categorize some the following though
Here goes:
When I state the following I am referring to the lower class majority of the Egyptian society
a) On the streets sometimes we see young ladies wearing a scarf, yet walking with a young man or maybe even sitting in one of those public gardens where there is some privacy and they are practically all over one another! (very negative, isn't it)
b) A young lady wearing a scarf, yet wearing tight jeans or trousers with a very short shirt on top, or sometimes a very tight skirt with a big slit at the back or on the side.
c) A young lady going to her work with the scarf on, but takes it off (I personally encountered that at the hairdresser's and at my dentist's clinic, and many other places). Many go veiled and take it off while working in front of other men whom are not maharem (not maharem - are ones that are not supposed to see them unveiled).
d) Other young ladies dressed very decently as muhajabat (dressed Islamicaly, i.e. a veil and long clothing, not tight or revealing) yet still walking hand in hand, or the man practically hugging her, or has his arms wrapped around her shoulders, as they walk or sit intimately at some public garden or elsewhere (and in many cases they are not engaged or married).
When I state the following I am referring to middle and high class Egyptians.
a) At a club for instance, young (sometimes women too) veiled girls dress in tight jeans, short shirts on top
b) A veiled young girl can be seen walking with a nice young man holding hands (supposedly her boyfriend, which is not supposed to happen in the first place not even with a non muhajaba/veiled Moslem young girl), or sitting having an intimate talk some where, in public (I guess they think it is acceptable! And even if not, who cares because they do it any way!). Here I am mainly referring to the physical closeness more than the talk itself, because I guess some people can sit and have a talk together in public without giving others a chance to feel there is something wrong going on. Mixing amongst men and women is alright but with conditions. Won't dwell into that now though.
c) A veiled young girl can be seen standing alone amongst a group of guys and you can hear them joking and laughing around for quite a while, you may hear the girl's laughter quite clear (even from a distance).
I personally find all of the above as unacceptable and provoking somehow, whether the female is low class or high class. But what really startles me is the attitude of many of lower class, Muslim, veiled Egyptian females! (the higher classes will take their turn, but later!). They are no model of a proper veiled Muslim young lady or woman, and here I am referring to the attitude. What makes me say this is I have had several discussions with different people about this issue and what really upsets me is that they tend to generalize! "All veiled women do this and that, why wear the hijab then?" is usually the phrase used.
First let's take the lower classes:
We cannot assume that all of the low class Egyptian females are bad, or the ones that are of higher social status either! Maybe a larger percentage of the lower classes are truly not good in terms of general attitude or in character (as in honesty for instance) but we still cannot say "all". There is good and bad every where. I also feel for them. The misconceptions that have risen amongst this specific segment of our society, I believe, did so because of how the men of their societies deal with them. A woman has to be veiled in their society as a symbol of piety and goodness! The parents and the society forcefully make them wear the veil, without understanding what it truly symbolizes. The veil is something obligatory on each and every Moslem girl and woman after they reach the age of puberty or even before that if the girl's body starts taking a feminine and desirable shape, but wearing hijab should be encouraged in a proper sense. According to true understandings of what it symbolizes and obliges one to do.
In other words when a woman wears a veil, she should do it because she wants to and not because it is a social obligation. The Islamic veil is not just about extra clothing, but it is very much about certain conducts of behavior too.
The outcome of this forceful veil is that the girls take off the veil once they know they are far from their area's site! And moreover, the conduct of behavior as a whole changes. The families in such areas are messed up in their beliefs and applications to such beliefs! Most of them, unfortunately have no clue what religion and ethical conducts are truly about or how to bring up their children to be constructive individuals to them selves or to society.
Conclusion is, many women in those societies wear the veil as a response to their societies' demands rather than religious obligations. Only a few percentage do it in response to proper understanding of religion.
When we come to the higher sector of the community, it is more complicated. Most of the women and young girls wear it because they are aware that it is a religious obligation, a fewer percentage wear it because they are told they should, and another fewer percentage seem to have wore it but are not really aware of the aspect of change of conduct, i.e., again as I mentioned earlier, the hijab, or the veil, is not just a matter of extra clothing, but also a matter applying a certain conduct of behavior encouraged by Islam.
However, in the higher segment the issue is much better than that of the lower due to the education and awareness. There are some negative aspects I do agree, but even here we cannot generalize.
Conclusion is, for the latter there is much more awareness and sincerity amongst the veiled of the higher class society regardless of the fact that not all apply it properly, but at least they do not take it off after they leave home! I still do not blame those young women in the lower classes since they truly haven’t received proper awareness.
The conclusion to both sectors is, WE cannot say ALL of the women in the lower sector or the higher sector are bad. We can rather say, "Some".
We must rid ourselves of the habit of generalizations about issues concerning people. We must view each case individually and if we must, then we should not keep on criticizing or blaming the concept, rather than the person applying the concept itself. We should not say for instance: "the muhajabat are all bad" or say: "the muhajabat are wearing hijab uselessly" when we see someone not behaving accordingly to the rules.
We should just view things separately and try to actually not comment much, unless if we happen to know the person and will be able to be of advise or help rather than just sit and comment uselessly, or end up in a gossip session! If someone has something constructive and useful to say, then so be it, if not then just pray for them to be better. I hope this would be a good idea.
I do believe however, that there is a growing awareness amongst many sectors in our communities about religion, and general understandings. I would just like to add, that we must all make an effort to the lower and less educated. We must begin to make approaches to help enlighten them if we ourselves have enough knowledge. We shall all continue to be recipients of information till the moment we die, all I am trying to say, we must share what we receive with others. Those of us who were lucky to know something new, share it, do not keep it to your self.
I would like us all to work on wanting to make a nation Allah and Prophet Muhammed (Allahoma Saly 3aleih) and all the other Prophets (Allahoma Saly 3alihim) would truly be proud of!
posted by Dalulla at 2:10 AM
2 Comments:
hi dallula , i just want to comment here regarding the forbidden acts whether from veiled or unveiled, that these acts are not only (if done) by veiled girls but sometimes from unveiled ones.
and at the end of the day , we are humans (i mean veiled girls) are humans can do wrong things , ofcourse unjustifiable, but we cant just put pressure on girls , by the social obligations that they have to switch suddenly once they wore the veil.
i know some who were afraid from getting in veil bec this requires further steps and obligations to do in terms of behavior and the way they dress,
things cant be changed all at a sudden , it is quite hard.
i understand what you mean ya dallula , about the way veiled girls how they should behave , but the people who tend to generalize (as u say about veiled girls ) are usually destructive , they look at the bad aspects and the bad conduct that veiled girls do and overlook the other side, they actually overlook that also some of the unveiled girls do some of these behaviors as well . and when we tend to be too harsh on girls saying you should do so and so in order the picture to be ok , then this will discourgae girls from taking this step.
Roora dear.. Menawara my blog!
The reaason i wrote this whole article was becasuse i just hate it when people are full of mistakes and sit there criticising ohers whom could at least be trying. THat was why i wrote this post to say what i wrote in my post saying:
"We should just view things separately and try to actually not comment much, unless if we happen to know the person and will be able to be of advise or help rather than just sit and comment uselessly, or end up in a gossip session! If someone has something constructive and useful to say, then so be it, if not then just pray for them to be better. I hope this would be a good idea.
Constructive criticism is good, negative criticism is not. The other point i wanted to make is for girls who approach the hijab was to try to wear attitudes changes with them.. No gossip, no over reactings with guys in public or in private.. conduct of dress that would not be provocative in terms of the general image of Hijab like the short shirt issue with the tight jeans, or the skirts with the slits .. things like that.. Non of us are perfect.. I am a muhajaba but i do not wear the Hijab as i am really supposed to.. But i believe i am not provocative either.. I wear jeans but with long shirts on top, I wear skirts but with no slits.. I am trying.
I daydreamed one day i was on a talk show for some reason, and i do not know why, but i recal starting my discussion by saying that my code of dress is not the one that is required by the Sharee3a, but please pray for me dear viewers and pray for other moslems too! I do not like arguing when i know i am not 100% correct, and i do believe it is a blessing from God not to argue knowing i am not right all the way.
In all cases the idea was not to be harsh at all, on the contrary, i was trying to send two messages, that moslem women and girls should make a good impression between themselves and God first, then for others to be encouraged to wear Hijab. Again Hijab is not only a matter of conduct of dress, it carries many other important values that we should abide with. and the second, is I was addressing those people who for some reason have nothing better to do than sit back and criticize others while they are full of mistakes themselves, and not to generalize in any issue whatsoever.
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