Answering Mariam Mokhtar article “Tudung: Fashion, obligation or farce?”
Nothing in her article is sincere in finding the answer to her question.
Harris Nasril
Im writing this responding to the article by Mariam Mokhtar titled ” Tudung: Fashion, obligation or farce?”, published in The Heat Malaysia. (http://www.theheatmalaysia.
In her article, she claimed that tudung is not part of Malay culture. Furthermore, she said that it originated from the Middle East, Saudi’s dress code.
I produce a few of her quotes, full of hatred towards Islamic dress code, for reference:
“The tudung or hijab is not part of Malay culture. The white jubah, which is becoming more common among Malay men, is not Malay, either. The sanctimonious men may only be happy when all women wear a purdah and do not leave their homes. These men will be sorry when their four wives are unable to work and generate an income for the men.”
“Islam may have originated in the middle-east, but it does not mean that Muslims are compelled to adopt Arab garb. We have our own culture and are proud of it. We do not need to ape the Saudis’ dress code and customs, nor their treatment of women and people who are not Arab.”
“Is the tudung forced onto Malay women? Our grandmothers wore the selendang and they were no less religious than the tudung-wearing grannies of today.”
After condemning the tudung dress code, Mariam presented her proof, without naming the person such as “One woman said”, “One said”, “Another woman who lives in front of a park”.
“One woman said, “A stranger asked why I did not wear a tudung, and asked if I prayed. Another wondered if I believed in God.
I do not judge those who wear the tudung, but I find that the more conservative Muslims are the most judgemental of all.”
Is tudung wearing a farce? Some Malay tudung-wearing women, abandon the headscarf when they holiday outside Malaysia. One said, “I feel liberated. I am reminded of my youth, with the wind blowing through my hair. When overseas, I do not wear a tudung, but there is no compromise in my faith. I pray and observe what Islam expects of me.
I wear the tudung in Malaysia, because society expects me to wear one. I know this is wrong.” The moment she entered Terminal 4 at Heathrow, for her return flight to Kuala Lumpur, her tudung was firmly planted on her head.
Another woman who lives in front of a park, in Malacca said, “Some Malays consider the tudung a measure of a girl’s modesty, but I would like to put them right and invite them to observe what the tudung girls and their boyfriends do, in the park.”
She even went further by irresponsibly claiming that “throughout Malaysia, more toddlers, some as young as two, are forced to wear tudungs and told not to play with boys of their age.”
Well, I have a daughter too and I never force my daughter as what you said! Maybe there are a few cases, but certainly Mariam cannot simply generalize it as “throughout Malaysia”. What nonsense is this?
She ended her article by questioning the rational of wearing the tudung:
“So is the tudung forced onto some Malay women, to control their behaviour? Is tudung wearing a farce? Or is it a means to make easy money?”
Nothing in her article is sincere in finding the answer to her question. She instead chose to play propaganda-style by quoting ‘anonymous’ sources such as “one woman said”, “one said”, and “another woman who lives in front of a park”.
Yesterday, I asked my facebook followers, to provide some answer to her question. ( https://www.facebook.com/
Nur Fateha Asmuni : Tuntutan agama dan saya nak ikut. Tak susah pun. Mana yang mampu, no harm pun buat.
Siti Khadijah : Allah perintahkan lelaki dan perempuan untuk menutup aurat. Jadi, saya memakai tudung kerana ianya satu kewajipan. Jangan memperkata perintahNya.
Hazlyn Ismail : Pakai tudung sejak skolah rendah krn cikgu suruh. Cikgu juga ajar tentang kewajiban menutup aurat. Lama2 pakai tudung sudah jd kebiasaan dlm kehidupan. Sama spt solat. Klu tinggal tudung atau solat jiwa jadi x tenang dan rasa bersalah. Itulah alasan akak pakai tudung.
Nurul Ashikin : Aku tak minat pakai tudung. Tak selesa, rimas, panas tp aku pakai je atas alasan aurat.
Anis Shabirin : sbb tuntutan agama. tapi tak pun mmaksa anak2 pkai. mereka sendiri nak. anak 10tahun 3 bln lepas mintak belikan tudung. kak pun terkejut. katanya segan dia nak jawab dgn Allah nanti
@nurul hassan : Sebab saya tak berkawan dgan munkar nakir .. Saya takut ta dpt menjawab nnti
@nur syuhada : Tuntutan agama untuk tutup aurat jd tudung la yg sesuai takkan nak pakai baldi keras..
Anis Zakiah : Masa zaman dulu dulu sbb terpaksa. Sekarang dh jadi terbiasa dan suka.
Zakiah Arifin : memenuhi tuntutan agama- menutup rambut(aurat)
Nurhaiza Shahrir : as a respect to my husband.
Suzie AL Yatimi : Sbb tuntutan agama Islam suruh wanita menutup aurat.
En Che Qie : Hanya memenuhi tuntutan agama.. Terpulang pd setiap individu nk pkai tudung cmne jnji tutup aurat…ko xnk pkai tudung pn lantak r..xyah jaki sgt dgn org yg bertudung.
Hajar Yusoff : Saya cuma menutup aurat menggunakan tudung..nak pakai baldi susah sbb baldi keras..tudung senang sikit sbb diperbuat drpd kain..kalau nak tutup aurat pakai bende lain dipersilakan janji tutup aurat..x semestinya memakai baju atau tudung..pakai papan pun boleh..janji tutup aurat..btw ade je yg pakai tudung still ✗ tutup aurat seperti yg diperintahkan.
Perhaps the last comment by Nurul Adni is one of the best:
“Because i want to please Allah, the only one worth pleasing.
dulu2 keluar rumah dressing ikut perkembangan semasa thinking “would he like this?”.. skrg keluar rumah sambil berfikir “would He like this?”.
ive said it time and again, pakai tudung is super liberating! rasa bebas, saves time (sbb takyah pi 2 jam setting rambut sebelum pi dinner), u can be fashionable yet modest, people started talking to me and less of my chest, tak payah penat2 nak cover line lemak tersembunyi/ awkward lines sbb dah tak pakai baju skimpy.. in Malaysia, senang nak ke mana2.. takdala sibuk nak cari selendang bila nak pi masjid/kenduri/ doa selamat etc.. rambut lebih sihat sbb dilindungi dari matahari, benefits are endless! hahahaha.. i did it out of free will and enjoying every minute of it.
perasaan mencintai tuhan kalau dihayati boleh bg ketenangan yg tak terkata. mariam should really try it!
one more thing, kalau dia kata tak pakai tudung pun boleh please Allah, kenapa bila kita pergi jumpa Dia kena bertutup?
ie: solat, jenazah.
memang Allah Maha Mengasihi Maha Penyayang. kita tak pakai apa2 pun dia tetap syg.. tapi takkan la kita takleh tunjukkan hormat kita pada Dia dgn pakai pakaian terbaik utk dia. pakaian terbaik adalah pakaian yg dipakai masa buat the ultimate ibadat. solat.
kenapa bila solat, jumpa tuhan, kita boleh bertudung? supaya fokus tetap pada yang satu. takda masa nak fikir nampak butt crack tak? nampak cleavage tak? tutup terus, setel. senang. boleh fokus pada ibadah. He knows women are super conscious of how we look. really saves us the trouble so that we can focus on what really matters.
tak suka sgt bertudung, kalau berani, request la tak nak dikafankan. amacam? huhu.. islam cukup cantik. dia protect kita even bila kita tak sedar we need protection. betapa ianya menyayangi wanita. its sad that women cant learn to love themselves as much as Allah loves them.
tak nak sgt bertudung, terserahlah, pilihan awak… tapi jgn la kondem pilihan org lain pulak.”
If one woman chose to wear tudung, that is her choice. Regardless if Mariam thinks its not a malay culture, or because she thinks that its is arabic dress code, or simply because she doesn’t like it, she has to respect that choice. Aren’t you the one who so called liberal that is pro freedom? What freedom are you talking if you did not respect others choice to dress? Don’t be such a hypocrite. Respect each other, is that too difficult to you?
(original posting : https://www.facebook.com/
