Reflection on Ashura

Ashura is the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is a historically significant day for Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) enjoined his community to fast on this day since the Jews also fasted on that day to remember their deliverance from the Pharaoh. It was a day to fast and seek forgiveness from sins. The fast was not made obligatory but was a liked act of worship that continues to this day. The day of Ashura is a day of reflection on one's own actions and safeguard against sin.

As a sunni Muslim this was the only way I understood Ashura, it was not until I was in college when I became friends with Shi'a Muslims that I understood how important this day was. On Ashura, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Husayn was killed along with his family on the battlefield of Karbala. This day became a day of remembrance by a group of Muslims that became the Shi'a. When I first learned of the history of this day and the way it defined the Muslim community in its infancy, I was taken back. I had never learned this history. As I read more and talked to my Shi'a friends I began to understand this day in a way that I had never thought. Husayn, the beloved grandson of the Prophet, was the son of Ali, the fourth caliph of the Muslim community, and Fatima, the beloved daughter of the Prophet. Husayn was supposed to be the leader of the Muslim community, but by that time the ruler was Yazid who had inherited the title. Yazid turned out to be a cruel ruler, and his cruelty lead him to stop Husayn who was leading his family and followers against him. On the tenth day of Muharram after a long cruel siege, Husayn was killed along with his family, the women and children were taken captive.  He was decapitated, his head put on a spear and marched for all to see. When I learned of the events of this battle, I wept, thinking how any ruler of the Muslim community could have dared to lay a harsh hand on the head of the beloved of the Prophet. I remember reading the stories of Hasan and Husayn as a child, both were noble children from whom I learned many lessons. However the biggest lesson that Husayn taught the Muslim community and one that is remembered by my Shi'a brothers and sisters is the one of standing up to injustice and oppression, to fight the good fight even after knowing you're going to lose. Husyan knew he was outnumbered but he could not remain silent, he had to stand up against the tyranny of Yazid. While he had supporters many did not join him, leaving him with a small group made largely of his family. To this day his actions and sacrifice is remembered by Muslims by retelling and reenacting the story.

While I don't participate in rituals and gatherings as do my Shi'a friends, I remember this day and remind myself of the ultimate sacrifice that should be made, to stand up to injustice everywhere. Husayn died living the message taught by our beloved Prophet, he reminded us to strive for justice and to struggle against oppression. This message holds true today, what would have Husayn done in today's world? What would he have to say about the dictators of the Muslim world? As I fast on the day of Ashura as did the Prophet, I remember and reflect upon Husayn's message. What do I do to make this world more just? What do I sacrifice for truth, freedom, and justice? I learned a great message from my Shi'a friends, "Every day is Ashura, every land is Karbala."

Hijab is not just for women

I work at an Islamic school in which the dress code for all the teachers as well as the female students from grade 4th and up is the wearing of the abaya and a head scarf. The abaya is an Arab form of modest dress which is basically like a long dress or overcoat that is very loose and hides the shape of the body. For the men and boys, there is no such dress requirement. The male students wear short sleeve polo shirts with cotton pants and the male teachers wear the regular business casual attire, pants and button down shirt. I have never in my life worn an abaya, since it is not part of my culture (I'm not Arab). When I go to the mosque I usually wear loose pants with a tunic that covers my arms and bottom and then a long scarf covering my head, neck, and chest. I had to get an abaya when I started working there. I was told that I could not wear the Indian type dress (loose pants and tunic  that I normally wear and which is considered modest by requirements of Islam). In the meetings some of the teachers have asked to be allowed to wear skirts and long shirt or other forms of dress that is not the abaya. However this idea was not taken because there is a concern that the women will start wearing tight skirts and tight shirts and the abaya which is basically a thin shapeless overcoat covers all that. What irks me about all of this is that the abaya or thobe (long dress like robe worn by Arab men) is not a requirement for the men at the school. One male teacher comes dressed in a tight short sleeve button down shirt that fails in covering his behind and he's usually wearing tight pants. I'm sure if he was to bend down his shirt would go up and his buttocks would stick out. However he like most Muslim men can get away with this even though that is an immodest form of dress. If the abaya is forced on the women then the thobe should be forced on the men. Even the Imam wears office attire with a tie and that is okay. This double standard on rules of Islamic dress for men and women is very frustrating. In the conversations within Muslims, the idea of hijab is all about women. The Imam always reminds the "sisters" to cover more and that hijab is obligatory on believing women. What I never understood is why there is a one-sided analysis of the "hijab"?  According to the dictates of Islam, believing men and women are both enjoined to lower their gaze and to guard their private parts (ie sexual acts outside of marriage) and to dress modestly. All Muslims, men and women have restrictions on the dress, the nakedness should be covered, this extends from the navel to the knees and for the women it is also the chest. However while this is strictly enforced by Muslims for the women, it is rather lax in general for the men. This is seen in the school where I teach and is seen in the society also. Muslim boys are allowed to wear short shorts when competing in sports in school even though it goes against the rules for covering for all Muslims, however this point is never brought up or is even an issue. Boys are allowed to wear shorts that barely reach their knees at times. However for many Muslim girls they have to give up partaking in sports all together because they will have to wear outfits that show off their arms or are bit too tight. Imams never remind the men to dress more modestly. There is never any lecture that says men, you should stop wearing muscle shirts and tight jeans or shorts that reveal the thigh. I've seen many young men coming out of the mosque dressed in this very manner. When will the discussion about hijab including all believing people, men and women. When will the discussion of hijab also include that it is not just physical covering but also covering of the heart and inner soul from the evil around us? I want to have a discussion about that. 

A history of the veil by Newsweek

Here is an article by Newsweek on the veil, will provide my own commentary on it soon.

Seeing Clearly

Aside from the flag, no piece of cloth in history has been imbued with as much power to liberate and oppress, rally and divide as the veil. Throughout the Muslim world, women have donned the veil as a form of modesty, piousness and defiance, and thrown it off to express freedom, strength and protest. Muslim governments have legislated head covering as a sign of religiosity and banned it as an obstacle to secularism. For liberal Western societies, the debate over the higab --a scarf that covers the head but not the face--crystallizes a key modern dilemma: how to reconcile the commitment to protecting freedom of expression with the ideal of integration and social cohesion?

As traditional as it seems, the veil has gone through perhaps more radical changes in use than any other item of apparel. It has been embraced, banned, enforced and made optional, often in the same country within a matter of years. Indeed, throughout history its meaning has been shaped by the political and social forces at work. The only unchanging characteristic of the veil is that it serves as a universal sign of Islamic heritage--and that women resent being told what to do with it, either way. "When women are pressured to veil, they protest, and when they are forced to unveil, they protest," says Fadwa el-Guindi, an anthropology professor at the University of Qatar. "The veil becomes the symbol of liberation par excellence."

The veil did not always have religious connotations. Pre-Islam, it was worn by upper-class Arab women in the Byzantine and Persian empires, who covered their hair as a symbol of status. More and more elite women began adopting the veil in the seventh century as a way to distinguish themselves from the lower classes. As the Islamic empire spread, the value of modesty--stipulated in the Qur'an for men as well as women--merged with the social customs of the upper class, creating a correlation between the veil and Islamic faith. While the Qur'an does not mandate veiling for women, it does encourage the Prophet Muhammad's wives to cover their heads to separate themselves from the rest of the religious community. "When Islam became imperial, a lot of cultural baggage infiltrated Islamic society," says Haifaa Jawad, a senior lecturer in Middle Eastern studies at the University of Birmingham in England.

Continue reading the article.