Balancing Religious Sensitivity, Fashion Sense
Young Women Follow Islam's Ancient Tenets on Modesty -- but With a Modern Twist
"Isn't this so cute?" cooed Hiba Khan, admiring a loose-knit vest glimmering with a sequined brown collar at Tysons Corner Center's LVL X clothing store. Sexy, the 21-year-old Fairfax City resident admitted, but that's easily remedied with a long-sleeve top and a properly fastened head scarf.
In the hip young Muslim crowd, modesty is always in.
"I usually try not to buy anything too flashy or too revealing, but yeah, I want to look nice," she said while at the mall one recent afternoon for a little back-to-school shopping.
With summer coming to a close and classes about to start, she and a half-dozen other college students were in search of "sister-friendly" clothes -- attire that conforms to Islamic dictates but appeals to a contemporary sense of style and beauty.
But sticking to Islamic standards of modesty isn't always easy, and it doesn't always come naturally to girls raised in the United States, where MTV and Hollywood are more likely than religious texts to set fashion standards. Choosing to follow Islam's clothing guidelines is often the result of a deep desire for cultural identity or religious soul-searching -- especially for young women such as Khan, who as a teenager decided on her own to adopt the clothing standards of her religion.
That doesn't mean she and other young Muslim women want to put aside a desire to be pretty.
"We want to look beautiful, but we don't have that pressure to be sexy," said Khan's friend Khadija Amjad, 21, of Centreville, dressed in a sleek black-and-purple ensemble that stretched to her ankles. The outfit was topped by a pink-and-purple hijab , or head scarf.
Estimates of the number of Muslims in the United States vary from 3 million to 7 million. About 150,000 live in the Baltimore-Washington area, according to the American Religion Data Archive.
Muslims, men and women, are required by their holy book, the Koran, to be modest in their attire, Islamic scholars said. How the guidelines are interpreted varies by geography and family tradition, from simply avoiding form-fitting or revealing clothes to covering oneself with a head-to-toe burqa .
"The whole thing goes back to the presence of God," said Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic Studies at American University. "You need to be in a state of decorum. You must ask yourself: How would God like to see me?"
Rika Prodhan, 22, a recent graduate of George Washington University, never worried too much about her form-fitting outfits and cascading hair when she was growing up in Houston. But as she matured into an observant young Muslim woman, a nagging voice in the back of her head grew louder. She recalls it telling her that the Koran was unambiguous -- the body, including the hair, should be well covered.
While in college, she gradually adjusted her wardrobe to better reflect her religious convictions, eventually purging it of clothes that revealed her ankles or wrists. Finally, after much introspection, she began wearing the hijab, a big step that she knew would forever change the way she was perceived in public.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR200508...
Simple Q
is being hijaabed up AND fashionable an oxymoron?
When people admire a girls pretty Hijaab or pretty Jilbaab-is that wrong
Who admires girls hijaabs/jilbaab?? Maybe other girls... and you can read into that however you want but generally guys.... not so much.
Lastly im not sure whay oxymoron means so im gonna say no.
Back in BLACK
i dnt see anything wrong with that...as long shes covered up and fits in the criteria of hijab
Garfield
u seriously have NEVER admired a pretty hijaab?
i get really pretty ones these days
how pretty is [url=http://www.thehijabshop.co.uk/prod.php?code=DECR-01-TURQ]this [/url] one
that is nice...get it
yeh i tend 2 wear pretty ones as well
so do I-most of the times
but I get told off for it-
Hijaab doesnt mean that u have to stop being fashionable
exactly! being covered is the most stylish look you can get...i still buy fashionable stuff from the high street shops AND i wear hijab :!:
these days hijaab is in fashion
SO many girls colour co ordinate their hijaab, with their purse and skirts etc
but certain women from the elder generation have an issue with this
they think hijaab =dress ugly :roll:
Two words together which are the opposite of each other,
e.g. 'usually always.'
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
GUILTY! :oops: :!:
lol defo aint like that anymore! i personally dnt see anything wrong with it...better than dressing like a model from the telly :!:
Hijab is for modesty.
It is not to be hit by the ugly stick.
however, fashion these days tries to dictate towards immorality.
So you can be fashionable, but you gotta be careful and not follow the wrong trend.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
true as long as theres a balance between your own sense of 'fashion' and the fashion that is promoted by the west
im sorry if you think your hijaab is pretty then thats fine...
but just dont expect guys to notice it or comment on it.
too frivilious.
Back in BLACK
innit...u got ta hav a balance wid evrythin :!: u can still be fashionable n wear da hijaab aslong as its within the bounderies of Islam!
"nafrath gunaho sey karo, gunagaro sey nehi"- (Professor Dr Muhammad Tahir-Ul-Qadri)
The point of hijab is that women don't draw attention to themselves.
The point of hijab is for women to hide their bodies.
Secondly not to draw attention to themselves.
But at the same time it is not to look ugly.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
nicely put Admin :!:
Salaam
If you go to certain areas in London, Hijaabi’s are stared at a LOT…that’s cos Hijaabi’s are not that common in certain areas.
However, just because Hijaabi’s are drawing attention to themselves this doesn’t mean that they are not fulfilling the objective of a Hijaab.
The main point of a Hijaab is to cover….to look modest.
One of the most attractive features of a girl is her hair which is covered in a hijaab.
As long as the Hijaab gets the job done (covers) then big deal if her hijaab matches her skirt etc
Wasalaam
last year i went to a girly sleep over with my friend, didnt know the girls that were hosting it though.
anyway, they had fashionable hair styles, really chic clothes, lime green shoes, pale pink knee high boots. just like any other trendy teenager or twenty something british girl.
next day everyone got ready to go out, completely covered modestly, yet fashionable. co-ordianted their hijabs with their outfits.
one girl who had come from washington had a black bandana and wrapped over it was a delicate chiffon scarf from the tie rack.
they are young so who says they cannot be fashionable too?
as long as they are modest and keep within limits then why not?
[color=blue][b]Yeh! ive heard many women say that. Well its betta then dressin like nwdayz sisters do, aint gnna say wat we call em but im sure ull understand
We r taught to cover ourselves nt expose ourselves. I was listenin to 1 of Shaykh ul Islam's lectures dis mornin, Sayyedina Imam Mahdi, part 1. He was talkin basically bout fitnah n wen he mentioned bout the sisters u shuld hav seen the expression on his face.
Every single word he sed was true n i believe its true coz the examples he gave was signs of qiyamat which we've already hav started seein.
Sumtimes i feel like sayin sumthin to these ladies but 4 respect i hav to remain quiet, unfortunately
If the elder generation arent gnna set an example then hw will the daughters listen :? [/b][/color]
"Duniya toh badalti rehti hai...Ey mere Quaid tuh kabhi Na badal janaa"
How cool is that? Who said one can't be fashionable and a Hijaabi at the same time.
By the way girls, does anyone else find long hair difficult to maintain under a Hijaab?
jus put it up in a bun
i admit colourful hijaab looks good, but i personally stick to black...i dont like to stand out in these bright colours and have people lookin at me...coz thats what tends to happen
[color=blue][b]hehe..
Dats tru i intend to stik to black too, at all times. White is anotha colour but only on special occasions like fridayz, laylatul qadr etc...[/b][/color]
"Duniya toh badalti rehti hai...Ey mere Quaid tuh kabhi Na badal janaa"
Black looks stunning on some people. Btw my hair isnt that long to put in a bun.
I was considering cutting it kinda short. Its too much to handle.
the reason i say about standing out is coz in my town and i believe where you live in nelson i hardly see people in colourful hijaabs, mostly i see black hardly coloured
Too be honest, i am spilt on this topic. The thing is I don't really want to sound critical too the girl who do practice Hijab as i sure it a big thing and all these girls do have a element of islam in them, no matter how they act.
But as salaf said if they gaining people attention, i don't think it is deem right. The key is modesty IMO. If you gaining people attention, you are opening urself too the elements and it can't be a good thing. Too be honest there more important thing too be worry about, but the concept of teh hijab is beginning to be abused and in a couple of years, it will become a big problem as some people don't know where to draw the line and the idea of modesty is changing with time and what wasn't acceptable yesterday is today.
"A true Muslim is thankful to Allah in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity."
[url=http//www.guidancemedia.com/videostream.php?id=Burda.mov]Quran[/url]
in racist area's hijaabi's attract attention
so aint they fulfilling the conditions of hijaab?
Well they not attracting it for the wrong reason are they, they attracting attention because they muslims. Now a girl in a muslim populated area are gaining attention for a whole different reason, which the hijab is meant to protect you from in the first place. That is a big difference between these two examples.
"A true Muslim is thankful to Allah in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity."
[url=http//www.guidancemedia.com/videostream.php?id=Burda.mov]Quran[/url]
they're are still causing head to turns
even it is for a diff reason
They are, but then if that what the argument about, then the only solution would be Med idea of pardah. Because anyone dress different from the norm is going to get some attention, however if you stick to a certain criteria where modesty is more of the focus then the latest fashion or sticking out, then there isn't a problem IMO.The idea of hijab, tight clothes, full makeup too me kind of contradict the idea of the main principle of hijab and modesty.
"A true Muslim is thankful to Allah in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity."
[url=http//www.guidancemedia.com/videostream.php?id=Burda.mov]Quran[/url]
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