Masih Alinejad, Iranian Woman and the Hijab Laws

Recently, I read some interesting stories about Iranian woman who fighting for her rights to choose wear hijab or not. As a Muslim, I know it's a compulsory for a women to covering their hair and dress her body neatly. As we all know, the duty for covering, which has been established for women in Islam. There are some countries which require every woman to use hijab in public space, for example in Iran.

Since 1979, woman in Iran are required by law to cover their hair in public space. Iranian law requires women and girls over the age of 7 years old to wear a headscarf called a hijab, which covers their hair, ears, and neck, whenever they are out in public. Going out uncovered — or even wearing a headscarf that is too loose — can lead to punishment. According to the Iranian government, 3.6 million women were warned, fined, or arrested in 2014 for "crimes against public prudency and morality," which are most often dress code violations.

The headscarf law was passed in 1983, a few years after the Islamic Revolution. For the conservative clerics who lead Iran, requiring women to wear the hijab is part of enforcing compliance with Islamic law. And for many Iranian women, wearing the hijab is an important religious practice, as well as a way to dress modestly and appropriately. But many Iranian women have no such belief. To them, the law's requirement that they wear the hijab anyway feels unjust and oppressive.

(Source: Vox)

Masih Alinejad is one of Iranian women who demanding her rights to express her feeling and thought about women and hijab. She is an Iranian journalist, writer and also an activist which living in the US. During her life, she facing so many experiences that successfully taught her everything that she wants in her life. She was politically active from a young age and was arrested as an activist for producing leaflets critical of the Government in 1994. As an activist, she is really active to defend the women rights, including the use of hijab.

Alinejad near her home in Brooklyn. (Johnny Harris/Vox)

Last year, she made a breakthrough regarding to the use of hijab for Iranian women through the Facebook Page that she created, named; My Stealthy Freedom. The purpose of this Facebook Page is she really wants to change the rule of use hijab for Iranian women. She took a photo of her posing in Iran without a hijab in public provoked a rush of responses from friends who sent photos of themselves doing the same thing. "My Stealthy Freedom" became a destination for women who wanted vent their frustrations at the regime's restrictions. By mid-2014, the page had more than 450,000 followers. Today it has more than 800,000. (Source: Vox)

(Photo credit: My Stealthy Freedom)

(Photo credit: My Stealthy Freedom)

(Photo credit: My Stealthy Freedom)

Because of her debut on her Facebook Page, she became well-known in social media or even in international media. She also received a human rights award in Geneva for creating a Facebook page inviting women in Iran to post pictures of themselves without their headscarves in defiance of rules requiring them to wear a hijab. The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, a group of 20 non-governmental organisations, gave Alinejad its women’s rights award for “giving a voice to the voiceless and stirring the conscience of humanity to support the struggle of Iranian women for basic human rights, freedom and equality.” (Source: The Guardian)

In her Youtube video, she makes her points regarding to that issue, when she had an interview with Vox, "My mother wants to wear a scarf, I don't want to wear a scarf. Iran should be for both of us!". Some of the pictures come from young girls saying that they just want to feel the wind in their hair. It's a simple demand.

I've seen the interview video twice and yes, the video was really touched my heart. It is not because I don't believe in God or my religion, and it isn't because I agree 100% with Alinejad. I believe in Allah, Prophet Muhammad SAW, and Al Quran. I believe in Islam. But everyone has the rights to choose, the rights to have their own freedom, to express their opinions, their feelings. It does not mean they do not respect with Islam or their God, but once in her lifetime, she wants to be herself. She need her freedom.

You can see the video here:

Alinejad was raised in a religiously conservative family. She was forced to use hijab since she was 7 years old, even she is not agree with the rule at that time, till now. She was thinking that every people has their rights to choose. People has the rights to choose their belief or religion, express their feeling and opinion, or even rights to choose what's good or bad for themselves.

Ironically, what she does now, is already irritated the Iranian government. Alinejad’s campaign, reported in the Guardian last May, irritated Iranian authorities, and state-affiliated media launched a smear campaign accusing Alinejad of using recreational drugs or being perverse. The television report claimed three men raped Masih in a London subway station after she took drugs and undressed herself in public. The report also claims her 17-year-old son was a witness to the rape.

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The discussion of the use of hijab is debatable, particularly in countries where the majority is Muslim. As we know, Indonesia is a country with Muslim majority. But we don't have a rule which require women to wear a hijab/veil/scarf at the public space. I still did not or not yet use hijab in my daily life, even my Mom, my sister and some of my relatives are already using hijab now.

As a personal, I was thinking that the use of hijab are every woman's choices, also their responsibility to their God. I know as a good Muslim, we should cover our hair and dress modestly according to the Al Quran. But I think, beyond all of that, the use of hijab is not just a concept that requires us to cover only our hair or body, but rather an obligation for woman to well-behave, polite, keep their good words and deeds, has a good and clean heart, also be humble and tolerate to each others. They should have to inspire many people around her. At least, she could be a good inspiration for her family and her friends.

Someday, I would really like to cover my hair with hijab and once I decided to use hijab, I really want to commit and istiqamah in His way. If I want to use hijab, it is because of myself, not because of the judgement from everyone else or who I am with. Something that I know, Allah is Great. He is the one who can judge us better.

Be respect and tolerate to each other.

Don't steal their freedom.

#thoughts #news