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8 comments from readers

Sharif
27 September 2007 at 16:04

“Human kind cannot bear very much reality,” T.S. Eliot once wrote and that is what I find in Ziauddin Sarwar’s piece. On one hand you talk of Ramadan, which is an obsession with a vast majority of Muslims, who, do not talk of anything else other than the ‘holy’ month of Ramadan. In addition to the five rituals of Namaz, extra prayers and Quran readings are performed like a sacrament of the brainwashed. And then comparing all this with Muslim women fashions!!. Where I come from, a very high proportion of women are locked up in ‘four walled’ prisons and any peeping out of window, if it does exist, is considered a crime which is dealt with harshly. If you go to streets of Lahore or Jeddah or Tehran, you only see men sitting in the parks, having fun and playing games. Have you ever wondered where their sisters, mothers or daughters are when they are having a day out? I can tell you. Sitting in their dungeons, doing cooking or cleaning. When I telephone and the man in the house is away, the wife usually says her husband is away and if asked where he is, you get the answer, ‘I do not know’ Yes you do see well off women in the streets, some even are seen driving, but they are only allowed to go out shopping. Whenever I am in Pakistan and hear women saying, let us go out, it means automatically ‘to do shopping or window-shopping’. The percentage of such women is perhaps less than 1 in 100000 at a rough estimate.

Happy ramadan is fine, Zia, but do not confuse the issue with ‘fashion’ of Muslim women. We are talking about a rare commodity. I was born Muslim, but because of my liberal inclinations, people call me an infidel. The title doe not bother me a bit any more.

Sharif
27 September 2007 at 16:14

Sorry I missed your second name,Sardar sahib. Sorry

malaysian sister
28 September 2007 at 07:47

Fine time to talk about fashion. Some of us see Ramadan as a time for extra social activitivies in a religious style--lots of food and gathering with friends and family at the mosque and prayers. And fashion is just the thing we do at the mosque, showing off our embroidered and what not prayer clothing.

gnuneo
30 September 2007 at 13:31

it is a good message for the non-muslim readers to hear - that Islam is not *just* a hideously patriarchal religion, and that in many elements it is a rapidly evolving and heterodox mixture.

salaam sharlone, was this really the right place to post those views? Many of the things you mention are tribal, pre-islamic cultural relics, and would remain even if tomorrow Islam disappeared magically. It IS the case that global Islam has many diverse elements, and many of them are positively orientated, and this was a fairly rare article that brought this to light.

i remember from my travels in iran, that despite the highly orthodox dress code imposed, as the women walked past there was often a peek of high heels, or other small signs of rebelliousness.

oppression nearly always creates a reaction, and whilst it is important the struggle and polemicize against the oppression, there is also always a place for the appreciation of the rebellious.

Islamic women's fashion is surely one such? :)

Sharif
30 September 2007 at 14:34

I am sorry if I annoyed you in this ‘holy’ month of Ramadan. I disagree with your thesis that ‘imprisoning women’ has anything to do with ‘pre-historic’ cultural relics. I maintain that unless one identifies a certain problem, you cannot solve it. Unfortunately that is the major hindrance to empowerment of women and other advancements like democracy, freedom of thought and democracy. To prove my point, here are some quotes from Quran on women:

"When you contract a debt for fixed period, put it in writing. Call in two male witnesses from among you, but if two men cannot be found, then one man and two women whom you judge fit to act as witnesses; so that if either of the women makes an error, the other will remind her." (Quran 2:282)

"Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and beat them." (Qur'an 4:34)

You ask wisely if this is he right place to express such thoughts. Gnuneo, where else if not here. In a Muslim country, such thoughts are considered blasphemous and could result in shortening my life. I remember, once a gentleman forgot it was Ramadan and ate something in public back home. Some people around beat him up. And nobody to came to help, as this act is equated with insult to Islam

gnuneo
01 October 2007 at 23:44

salaam sharlone, - but i am not a muslim, and so do not feel the slightest offended by your comments! ;)

nor was i criticising your comments in the NS - as indeed you say, where else if not here?

no, all i meant was, this article was a rarity in western media, as it had a lighter touch than normal western media about Islam, which despite its flaws (many of which it shares with christianity - indeed, is far better than christianity in many many ways, especially in regards to women's rights, beleive it or not!), and was mentioning the many ways that islamic society has organised itself, and the heterodox ways that muslim women deal with the dress restrictions imposed by their societies and religion.

in these days where warmongering western leaders are drumming the war-drums against iran and using islamophobia to attempt to justify it, dehumanising all muslims whenever they can, this is a friendly, timely reminder that muslims are people too, and that islam is not monolithic.

that is all i meant, i was not criticising your very just critique of islam, and again - i was most certainly not offended by it.

peace, sister.

xx

Sharif
03 October 2007 at 16:27

Sister gruneo: thank you. All the best

gnuneo
04 October 2007 at 10:37

LOL, actually its brother, but again i take no offense. ;)

peace and love.

xx