VEILED: PERSPECTIVES
Sumaya began wearing hijab at a young age. Her mother first got her into wearing the veil. A big part of
their religious belief lead to the hijab. With the influential factor of family, Sumaya put on the hijab. At first
she was not overly fond of it as she did not see many others, such as celebrities on television wearing hijab,
so the idea of it did not seem like the norm for her at that age. With time, she began to understand hijab
more. The negative association of the veil were pushed aside and it became a part of who she is today. With
knowledge of Islam came attachment to the hijab.
She moved from her home in Syria about 7 years ago. Even at a young age of about 10 years old Sumaya
was able to distinguish the difference between culture and religion. Every country is different and has their
own societal norms and laws. People often get an impression of Islam through the cultural setting, which
is highly misleading. Culture tends to override religion; no country follows Islam perfectly, as no person
follows Islam perfectly (excluding the Prophets who are set as an example of perfect Muslims).
Men and women are different - we’re built and wired differently and we have different roles to balance each
other. This is where people lose sight of the purity and value of difference and subject women to inferior
roles. There is absolute equity in Islam, however, patriarchical societies turn and ignore those propositions
and formulate adverse interpretations and laws. Society has not accepted full equity yet, in both Western
and Eastern societies. If Islam was followed word-by-word to the full extent of its truth, we would live in
a world of equity and harmony. We are ready for it, but maybe we are just not used to it. The patriarchical
barriers need to be broken down to gain full acceptance of the value and potential of both men and women.
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