Friday, November 1, 2013

The Quiet Revolution

Author and Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School Leila Ahmed was raised in Cairo in the 1940s, a time when veils and headscarves seemed irrelevant to both modern life and Islamic piety, a time when it was assumed the veil was backward, a restriction of female autonomy. In the late 1990s she was walking back to her hotel with a friend when they ran into a crowd on the Cambridge Common, an arresting sight of a gathering of women in hijab. Why, Ahmed asks, did this change take root so swiftly, and what does this shift mean for women, Islam, and the West?

You have to keep your emotions in check as you follow her scholarly explorations through nationalism, socialism, Islam and anti-imperialism.  Along the way, be surprised by nuggets like the 102-storey Empire State Building is lit up in green every year to honour the month of Ramadan. In a nutshell, she surmises that it is impossible to understand the underlying dynamics of the veiling movement of the last four decades without reviewing the history of the Islamic movement and the political crises and conditions that give rise to it.

In chapter 9, "Backlash: The Veil, the Burka, and the Clamor of War", she wrote:
Among the responses noted earlier were those indicating the veil's intended meanings of challenge to the sexism of the rules of dress in the dominant society and the meaning of the affirmation of the rights to equality of minorities in society. Clearly these are meanings that the hijab can come to have only in societies that declare themselves committed to gender equality and equality for minorities. They are not meanings that the hijab could possibly have in Cairo or Karachi or Riyadh or Teheran. ("A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America", page 213)

Yaacob Ibrahim served only to muddy the waters by pointing out that Muslims cannot wear the hijab while on duty because "servicemen are not allowed to wear or display religious symbols on their uniforms or faces". While Sikhs are permitted their turbans. And the speaker of the house dons a veil in parliament in full glare of national television. All men are brothers, some are big brothers.

Mufti Shaikh Syed Isa Semait should have phrased his comments more carefully when he proposed (to the guys behind the online petition) a question asking if all the Muslim women working at the front line as nurses want to wear a hijab. Better still, ask the people if we want such political appointees to represent us if they have no clue what the real issues on the ground are.

10 comments:

  1. I look forward to Inderjit Singh taking over from Halimah as speaker of parliament. After which, Inderjit should be given the honour to take over from our phony president and Singaporeans perhaps can finally look forward to the right chap guarding their reserves.

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    1. You mean the guy who spoke against the PWP, then hide in the toilet when it was time to vote?

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    2. Yes, Inderjit was the chap hiding in the toilet with eugene tan. But if Inderjit becomes speaker of parliament, he can ensure no PAP buggers do the same

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    3. Whether it is Inderjit Singh or Halimah Yacob, the issue at hand is are they "allowed to wear or display religious symbols on their uniforms or faces"? If yes, why not the nurses or other front line staff? You cannot have double standards in the affirmation of the rights to equality of minorities in society.

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  2. None have the guts to stand up against the exco in the party and none in parliament have the guts to stand up against the rest.

    Everyone's balls is encased, cloaked in silk... not sure about the gals..

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    1. cloaked in silver or cloaked in money?
      I wonder why our politicians are so highly compensated by the PAP gahmen?

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    2. There is such a thing as code of conduct amongst thieves and liars. They are essentially in it for the money, so no matter what, the biggest crooks at the apex know it is in their interest to reward their subordinates accordingly. Hopefully the Messiah will one day find a way to reveal the networth of each PAP bugger, starting with one father and son.

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    3. So what if the messiah knows the worth of the fortune. The Father can afford to own up to the last cent. What can sinkies do to any of them?

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    4. The 60 % dumbass sinkies can help make PAP the minority and retribution can come in all forms. LOL

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    5. And with the PAP as the minority, surely in no time we will be back to the 'night-soil' bucket squatting system which is still prevalent in neighbouring countries. not sure how our young will stomach the stench?

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