The Hypocrisy of Some Hijabis- Comedian Sadia Azmats

I have no issues with those who choose to dress modestly. To each his own, as they say.  And almost every religion has its conservative faction. What I do take issue with are those who use it as a political statement, those who force their women to dress conservatively, and those who might dress modestly but act in a contradictory fashion.

Take Sadia Azmats, a British Muslim stand-up comedian who wears a head covering, and then dresses like this.

The whole point of dressing "modestly in Islam, is not to call attention to oneself. Yet here Sadia is wearing skin-tight pants and red stiletto f-me shoes. Then again, she told Metro UK a few days ago:

It’s Ramadan, the month where Muslims not only fast our stomachs (during daylight hours) but when we Muslim women strive for modesty wherever it can be sought out.

The ‘modesty’ part is a bit of a problem for me. I’ve had sex during Ramadan (after Iftar, not during the fast which isn’t permitted) and it’s great.

Well it’s great all year round but there is a heightened sense of arousal given the increased awareness of primal urges through the hunger and thirst. If I had a choice, I’d give up a sandwich over semen.

But when I’m not observing fasting during the 30 days of Ramadan then society imposes upon me an almost involuntary fasting by holding me to a higher set of expectations than I do of myself.

Society expects me to be a ‘good girl’ and to lower my gaze around men. Muslim women are supposed to be bastions of culture, tradition, and responsibility, especially during Ramadan.

Muslim women like me – rounded, complicated, emotive and above all horny – aren’t even supposed to exist.

Say whaaat?  Premarital sex in Islam is haram (forbidden) and considered a sin. According to Al-Islam:

(A) Pre-Marital Sex
Pre-marital sex is absolutely forbidden in Islam, no matter whether it is with a girl-friend or a prostitute. Pre-marital sex is fornication (zina).

It also happens to be punishable according to Sharia law.

Allah says:

Do not go near adultery, surely it is an indecency, and an evil way [of fulfilling sexual urge]. (17:32)

Fornication and adultery have severely been condemned in the saying of the Prophet and the Imams. In Islam, pre-marital sex is considered an immoral act against the rights of Allah and one's own sexual organs.

Pre-marital sex is a sin punishable by the Islamic court. If an unmarried man and an unmarried woman are found guilty of fornication in an Islamic court, their punishment will be as the following:

The woman and the man who fornicate scourge each of them a hundred whips; and in the matter of God s religion, let no tenderness for them seize you if you believe in God and the Last Day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (24:2)

If the unmarried man or woman commit fornication more than once, then they will be punished three times by hundred wipes, and if they are proven guilty for the fourth time, then they will be put to death.6 (As for adultery, its punishment is even more severe because married persons have no excuse, whatsoever, to commit adultery. The shari'ah says that married persons guilty of adultery should be stoned to death.)

Therefore, pre-marital sex is out of the question as a means of fulfilling the sexual urge.

So, on the one hand, Sadia is wearing a hijab to show her devotion to her Allah:

The hijab is worn by Muslim women as an act of obedience to God’s command in the Quran, where Allah (God) says:

وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ

“And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment….” (Quran 24:31)

And yet she's blatantly going against Islamic law by having pre-marital sex.

How's that for breathtaking hypocrisy.

I've written in the past about Muslim hijabi hypocrisy:  Bizarre hijabs worn by London women, and the Hypocrisy of Hijabi High-Fashion.  Yes, indeed, it exists.

Sadia wants to wear the hijab, I honestly don't care, but act accordingly.

Egyptian Cleric Says V'Day Is "Adultery Day"- People Celebrating Will Burn In Hell

All you people who gave your sweethearts or loved ones flowers or chocolates or a Valentine's Day card will burn in hell. Oh, and by the way you're all adulterers, too- I guess even those who gave their parents or their brothers and sisters a card or a gift. At least according to Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, an Egyptian Salafi cleric, you are.

In an online video posted Wednesday, Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah, known as “Abu Islam” and owner of the private television channel of “al-Ummah,”referred to February 14 as ‘adultery day’.

“February 14th, we celebrate “adultery” day. The Christian church will surely celebrate this day but I urge all Muslims and those who fear God, not to use anything tinted in red. Even al-Ahli team [the national football team] will not wear its red jersey."

“We [Muslims] do not have fornicators, we do not commit sins. Valentine’s Day represents for the Christians, a celebration for adultery and prostitution, and those who go out on this day are prostitutes. Each prostitute would choose a guy with whom she will spend her day and night.”

Muslims don't have fornicators or commit sins?  No, they just torture and murder their kids in the UAE and rape them in Saudi Arabia. In Afghanistan they practice pederasty and sit around lusting after young male dancers dressed as women. In Iran they have temporary marriages, which is simply Islam-sanctioned prostitution.  And sexual harassment and violence against women in Egypt is far more prevalent than in any Western country I've ever visited. No that pious lot don't commit sins at all.

Abu Islam went on to say:

“They spend their life in celebration and “promiscuity”. What does love mean for them? Adultery, prostitution and obscenity.

Yes, he's a Salafi, the worst of the lot, but they are gaining more traction and popularity.

You can see the video on Al Arabiya.

Dubai Businessman and Sister-in-law Acquitted Over "Lewd Act"

Emiratis obviously have nothing better to do with their lives than trying to get other people into trouble, and for no legitimate reason.

M.M. an Egyptian business man (35) and L.H. his Emirati sister-in-law (39) were hauled into court after a man who was eating with his wife and mother-in-law at a local Dubai Chinese restaurant claimed M.M. and L.H. kissed while M.M. was teaching L.H. how to use chopsticks.

Some torrid, illicit affair between the man and his sister-in-law? No. His wife happened to be chowing down on Chinese food as well.

For whatever reason, the nosy Emirati man and his wife became offended by the threesome and fetched the police.

According to the wife of L.H. the Egyptian:

“One of the women who was present with the claimant was constantly looking at us. We were dining, chatting and laughing. When the waiter served us the food, my sister asked my husband to teach her how to use chopsticks, and he did so. Shortly after we left the restaurant, the woman and the claimant came to us accompanied by a policeman, who asked us to go to Jebel Ali Police Station. I explained to them that my husband did not kiss my sister. I said that it is impossible because M.M. is my husband.”

The claimant's side of the story:

“He started teaching her how to eat with chopsticks. He hugged her and kissed her neck. Then he kissed her cheeks and to my surprise he kissed her lips in front of all the diners. My wife informed the restaurant management, who said he could not do anything. My wife then called the police. They were seated just four metres from us and nothing was blocking our vision. They hugged and kissed in front of everyone."

They had been charged with "committing a lewd act in public", but were acquitted.

Even if they had kissed on the cheek (which L.H., her sister and M.M. all deny),

“It is impossible for me to kiss my sister-in-law and especially in front of my wife [L.H.’s sister]. I am innocent,” said M.M.

L.H. also said she could not have kissed her brother-in-law in public and in front of her sister.

that's considered a lewd act?

What a colossal waste of time.

Hypocrisy of Hijab High-Fashion

I believe that most women who don the hijab, niqab or burqa are either forced to by their men-folk, or they wear them out of some skewed quasi-religious/feminist ideology that compels them to make a political statement, of sorts, out of their Islamic garb: I am Muslim, Hear Me Roar.  For others it's a litmus test for their supposed 'piety', as if you can't be a moral person without covering your head.

There are also those Muslims (and many of them female) who claim that women are obliged to dress modestly because they don't want to tempt men, who I suppose have absolutely no control over their sexual instincts if they are aroused by a woman's ponytail.

Islam commands women to cover their bodies so as not to trouble men who are weak and unable to resist temptation. In Islam, men and women are commanded to dress modestly and not appear "naked" in public, even in all male and female situations.

By covering their bodies from head to toe these women feel they are not calling attention to themselves, and therefore saving men from committing fitnah by lusting after them. This might very well be true in Arab lands where the hijab/abayas etc are the norm, but in Western countries where it's more of an oddity than anything else, they stand out like sore thumbs, which would seem to defeat the purpose.

According to Islam, men are supposed to dress modestly as well, but unless they are wearing a Thobe (tunic) or shemagh (head dress) Muslim men are usually dressed in Western clothing (often jeans and t-shirts), and unless they are accompanied by their hijab or burqa-wearing wives, there's no way you would identify them as Muslim. One reminder of  gender inequality  in Islam, and its inherent hypocrisy.

Ironically, the resurgence of interest in the hijab came after 9/11, but not satisfied with the dull colors and styles that typify modest Islamic clothing, Muslim women who wear the hijab, niqab or burqa (for whatever reason) are now clamoring to prettify their outfits, and Islamic high-fashion has emerged.

In Australia, an exhibit - Faith, fashion, fusion: Muslim women's style in Australia- has just opened at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, which features the latest styles and trends for modest women's clothing. Some of the outfits are actually quite attractive, but many are as form-fitting simply longer versions of their Western counterparts.  Designers have brought color and style to the normally drab garments, but fail to see the utter hypocrisy in trying to look fashionable while trying to maintain a semblance of so-called modesty. Now, not only are they drawing attention to themselves by wearing a veil, they are attracting even more attention by making themselves look trendy.

ABC Australia video of the 'faith, fashion, fusion' event.