I was Muslim for the day today. It was a wonderful, eye opening sort of experience. I have been spending much of the semester thoroughly investigating Islamic women, particularly in Iran and Pakistan for a 30 page paper. I turned it in on Thursday and gave my 20 minute presentation today. It was something I learned a world from, something that I think ALL Christians should study, and that we would profit from. Islam is more than a faith, but it’s also a way of life, very different from your average Christian. It literally is a concern in every aspect of life, and unless we understand it, we cannot understand why people in the Middle East for example act the way they do. Likewise we would know that terrorists are the exception not the rule, that everything they do is in violation of the Koran, and that they are formed by a lot of patriarchal practices left over from the days before Islam, and of practices they picked up from conquering lands. In truth the Islamic practice of hiding the hair means lots of things to lots of women from freedom to be Muslim, to having an honorable place in a man’s world, to being non-Western, to piety, to everything. We automatically assume that it is oppression but that’s not necessarily the case.
So for my presentation today I wore a hijab (head scarf) which covered all of my hair, and left my cross under my shirt. I got up and got ready for school, did the school thing, and went to lunch where I met Nahel who provided my scarf and much help. (She is from Saudi Arabia, and this is her first year at UNA.) I had to eat a turkey sandwich not the usual bacon and ham. Then I went to class and about beat a friend who attempted to “liberate” my hair. It was windy today, and though I’ve been practicing at home I haven’t worn it out so, I had to adjust it in the bathroom a few times, to keep it from slipping. I then had to run to Best Buy after school and I wore it out, and kept in on to go by a guy friend’s house. At supper I didn’t drink wine (alcohol like pork is forbidden to them), and tonight I came home finally with a new perspective.
I am so very thankful that I was blessed (for there is no other explanation) to be born in a country, to parents, in the Primitive Baptist faith, where I can make my own decisions and follow my own dreams. I have always been glad to have these things, but I never understood just how oppressed I might have been elsewhere. I mean lets face it I am not as submissive as I would like let alone, as submissive as Islam requires. Here I can dress as I like, speak on what I like, do what I like for a living, and there are no real rules. I can marry and work, I can go to school, I can wear blue jeans and my hair blowing all crazy like in the wind.
On the other hand, I was surprised in many ways. When I put on the hijab today and walked out of the house I felt humbler, I felt a weight that constantly reminded me of submission to God. Not that wearing a veil some how made me more religious, spiritual, humble, or whatever, but that it was an ever present thought. I got lots of strange looks, from students, from teachers, from an older Muslim lady who scowled at me because my bangs were attempting to slide out from under it. I was glad that I was treated respectfully by everyone and no one was mean, granted I don’t look Arabic, but everyone assumed that I was Muslim. I accidentally circled the sandwich with bacon on it at lunch and the girl automatically changed it saying, I know you can’t eat pork. I had people who didn’t recognize me just because I had on a hijab, that part was a little disconcerting. It was a unique experience, but I’m still glad I’m not Muslim.
So for my presentation today I wore a hijab (head scarf) which covered all of my hair, and left my cross under my shirt. I got up and got ready for school, did the school thing, and went to lunch where I met Nahel who provided my scarf and much help. (She is from Saudi Arabia, and this is her first year at UNA.) I had to eat a turkey sandwich not the usual bacon and ham. Then I went to class and about beat a friend who attempted to “liberate” my hair. It was windy today, and though I’ve been practicing at home I haven’t worn it out so, I had to adjust it in the bathroom a few times, to keep it from slipping. I then had to run to Best Buy after school and I wore it out, and kept in on to go by a guy friend’s house. At supper I didn’t drink wine (alcohol like pork is forbidden to them), and tonight I came home finally with a new perspective.
I am so very thankful that I was blessed (for there is no other explanation) to be born in a country, to parents, in the Primitive Baptist faith, where I can make my own decisions and follow my own dreams. I have always been glad to have these things, but I never understood just how oppressed I might have been elsewhere. I mean lets face it I am not as submissive as I would like let alone, as submissive as Islam requires. Here I can dress as I like, speak on what I like, do what I like for a living, and there are no real rules. I can marry and work, I can go to school, I can wear blue jeans and my hair blowing all crazy like in the wind.
On the other hand, I was surprised in many ways. When I put on the hijab today and walked out of the house I felt humbler, I felt a weight that constantly reminded me of submission to God. Not that wearing a veil some how made me more religious, spiritual, humble, or whatever, but that it was an ever present thought. I got lots of strange looks, from students, from teachers, from an older Muslim lady who scowled at me because my bangs were attempting to slide out from under it. I was glad that I was treated respectfully by everyone and no one was mean, granted I don’t look Arabic, but everyone assumed that I was Muslim. I accidentally circled the sandwich with bacon on it at lunch and the girl automatically changed it saying, I know you can’t eat pork. I had people who didn’t recognize me just because I had on a hijab, that part was a little disconcerting. It was a unique experience, but I’m still glad I’m not Muslim.
