She Said It and She's a Muslim

Journalist Irshad Manji writes in her new book, "an intimate and optimistic apologia for a future with more liberal and open interpretations of Islam...[that] in the end, the book fails to grapple with some of the more substantial questions that would make this future a reality:-

...Despite her belief that a woman’s choice about wearing the hijab should be respected, she accuses hijab wearers of a kind of self-deception, of using the hijab as “an emblem of faux modesty.” Manji claims that, “far from protecting herself against the ‘Western’ disease of sexualizing breasts and other bodily bits, she’s fetishizing her entire body as genitalia.” Manji is skeptical that women choose the hijab out of modesty because she believes men still “gawk at women who cover.”

That is quite a remarkable metaphor.

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Burkha Irk: Death Threat For Dance & Fashion Moves

Reported (k/t=AtlasShrugged):-

Dutch satirist Johan Vlemmix has decided not to perform his latest hit Do the Burqa onstage following death threats.

Any wonder?

I will make no comment on their music, her dancing abilities, her body qualities or her fashion statement.

But it is news.

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Arab Female Modesty

And this was where?

It was strange to see most of the women with their faces covered some in traditional Arab garb others in fine black silken attire. It was not unusual for them to drop their face cover if they thought no other Arab was in the area and I was surprised to see they wore full make-up underneath.

Saudi Arabia?

Egypt?

Iran?

And when?


The answer.

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Giving the Cover-up Finger

They have to wear gloves, too?

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This Is Not Israel

News from Germany:

The German state of Hesse has become the first in the country to impose a ban on the full Islamic face veil for public sector workers.

The western state had already stopped teachers and civil servants wearing headscarves to work in 2004.

The case was brought after a woman working for the city of Frankfurt said she did not intend to reveal her face on her return from maternity leave.

A similar ban is being considered in Lower Saxony, local media report.

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Acculturation Seminar on Islamic Feminine Headwear

A Hot Female In the Saudi Kingdom

1. That's Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, (the one with the shorter neck):



2. A fashion safety warning:



3. Instructions:






Sources:

1

2

3


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Saudia Arabia Has A Problem

Sometimes I get inquiries why I include items of fashion on my blog if it is mainly a political blog.

Well, sometimes it become relevant:-

Saudi Arabia's religious police have arrested 10 "emo" women for allegedly causing a disturbance in a coffee shop, Al-Yaum newspaper reported on Saturday.

The coffee shop owner in the eastern city of Dammam called the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to complain after the young women, dressed and made up in the "emo" fashion, apparently began disturbing other clients.

The religious police then called their parents to come and collect the women, and to sign pledges that the girls would not repeat their ostensibly offensive un-Islamic behaviour and dress.

'Emo'?

The trend is characterised by wearing skinny black jeans, tennis shoes, colourful T-shirts bearing the names of emo bands, heavy make up and sharply chopped and sometimes radically coloured hair-dos.

Emo = "emotional hardcore"

Emo has been associated with a stereotype that includes being particularly emotional, sensitive, shy, introverted, or angst-ridden. It has also been associated with depression, self-injury, and suicide.

But, then again, there's always Rima Faikh, Shiite Miss America, as a role model:

Wow, A $650 Covercharge

She obviously had a lot on her plate:

Muslim Woman in Italy Is Fined for Wearing Veil

A 26-year-old Tunisian woman has been fined for wearing a face veil while walking to a mosque in northern Italy, adding to the growing debate on the integration of Muslim minorities in Europe. The police in the city of Novara, a stronghold of Italy’s anti-immigration Northern League, stopped the woman on Friday while she was walking with her husband to prayers. The woman, who is Muslim, was wearing a black niqab that covered her face but left her eyes exposed....the Italian police fined the Tunisian woman about $650 under a bylaw introduced in January by the mayor of Novara that bans clothing in public that prevents identification by the police.

“We just enforced a local law that stops people from covering their face near sensitive places like schools, hospitals or post offices,” Police Inspector Leonardo Borghesani said. “We understand the fine is hefty, but she can appeal,” he said.

Islamic Modesty Issue

If you are a Muslim female and in the nude, do you wear a hijab?

Why do I ask?

This story (via AtlasShrugs):-

Woman suing judge took nude cell phone pics

HEIGHTS — A Muslim woman who is suing a Wayne County judge for making her remove a religious scarf during a court proceeding says that several cell phones containing nude photos of her were stolen during a burglary at her house.

Raneen Albaghdady, 33, called police March 27 after she found her house in the 25000 block of Andover ransacked. Among the items taken were six cell phones that she told police had nude photos on them.

She said she suspected an ex-boyfriend was responsible for the break-in, and that she was worried he may post the photos on the Internet, because he previously had posted other pictures of her online, police said.

Is Islamic Custom To Blame?

Was this death avoidable if not for Islamic custom?

Muslim woman strangled by her burkha in freak go-kart accident

A woman wearing a burkha (file photo). A Muslim woman has died after her burkha became caught in a go-kart she was driving. The 24-year-old woman, who has not yet been named, died a terrifying death today when a fluttering part of her burkha became caught in the wheels of a go-kart she was driving near the town of Port Stephens, north of Sydney...She was strangled in a second and crashed the vehicle.

But then again, there was this previous incident that had nothing to do with Islamic customs:

Her death is being likened to that of American dancer Isadora Duncan, acknowledged as being the creator of modern dance, and who was famous for the flowing silk carves she liked to wear.

But while riding in an open-top car in Nice in 1927, her scarf became entangled in one of the vehicle's spoked wheels and she was strangled.

But, on the other hand, what was a burkha-clad female doing out and having fun?




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Joint Muslim-Jewish Head Fashion?

Post-Islamic Fashion

The transparent veil:

Why Head-Coverings Are Problematic (and Not in France)

First, I posted this.

The there was a burkha robbery (here, too).

Ambassador calls for divorce after veil-wearing Muslim bride reveals a beard and crossed eyes

The would-be bride had hidden her face behind a Muslim niqab throughout their short courtship, meaning the diplomat had no idea what she looked like.

Full Story and here, too.

Islamic Fashion Goes Hip-Hop

Or was that Hip-Hop gone Islamic fashion?

That's Amber Rose (not that I really know)

No Fashion Comment

Britain has ordered the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats, in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of two British diplomats from Tehran.

How can you be sure it's tit-for-tat is they're dressed like this?



Or like this?




Of course, Muslim women can make another fashion statement like this past week:





Qatari Princess, Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, who wore a turban to cover her hair, with France's Carla Bruni Sarkozy

and



Queen Rania of Jordan with Sarah Brown

Beach Modesty

I am presuming that I have upset some Muslim visitors with occasional posts about Islamic fashion due to modesty requirements.

There was this one on beachwear. And this one on the hijab. This satirical one. And this, too. And there was this racy one.

Well, I spotted an ad in an Israeli paper for a firm, HydroChic, that provides swimsuits that both Jewish observant women and Muslim women can benefit from if they wish.

Here are some examples being modeled:





So, if that's your style, pick your outfit and enjoy!

Ladies Islamic Fashion

You may have seen photographs like the two below, usually in a humorous framework, regarding the more extreme Muslim custom of covering almost all of a woman's body, and not only her hair or her face in an act of modesty.




Well, here's one from the Ottoman Empire period in the Land of Israel around the First World War, 1900-1914:



At the least, they aren't dressed all in somber black.

Bakri's Bosom (No, Not Omar the Cleric)

Well, lookee here:



The story of this rather revealing picture?

Revealed: Radical cleric Bakri's pole-dancer daughter

As the daughter of firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, Yasmin Fostok might be expected to share his fanatical beliefs. But the radical Muslim's daughter has ditched his extreme interpretation of Islam - as well as most of her clothing.
The busty blonde has been revealed as a topless, tattooed pole dancer...

...She grew up a devout Muslim and in her teens wore a veil. She left school in Enfield at 16 after her parents arranged a marriage to a Turk but the couple separated.

She told The Sun: 'I've done pole dancing, but I like to keep it quiet.

'I don't normally do topless work, but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'

She said she did not get on with her father. 'His views are nothing to do with me,' she added. 'I am an adult, my own person. I do my business and he does his.'...

...But last night Bakri's protests he know nothing about his daughter's new lifestyle were undermined by claims he personally paid for her to have a breast enlargement operation. According to The Sun, he paid £4,000 in cash to a clinic in London for the operation that launched her career as a pole dancer. A friend told the newspaper: 'Her dad's ashamed of her behaviour but she'd never have become a pole dancer if he hadn't paid for her bigger boobs.

I guess it happens to the best...and the worst.

And he's the fellow who threatened Paul McCartney.

(Kippah tip: Zalmi)

Hijabs Are Not Yet For The Hippy

Islamic fashion is an issue, a legitimate one.

Two years ago, it was a matter of beachwear.

Now, it's the hijab. Seems that there are

multiple shades of the hijab






And what is the problem with that?

...Mona Abaza, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, believes the hijab has transformed itself from a symbol of piety into a cultural mechanism, a political statement, and finally, a fashion trend. "Like any other religious symbol, hijab has taken multiple meanings through time," she said.

for example

...Egypt continued to witness a steady growth of religiosity in general due to the efforts of the more moderate Islamist grass-roots organizations. As a result, more women began to wear the veil.

But there's a down side:

...As more teenagers and fashion-conscious women from upper middle class backgrounds don the hijab, store managers are experimenting with fashionable scarf styles, tying techniques, and designs in a bid to win over consumers.

...Many women have picked up on the hijab-chic trend and started grooming businesses where veiled women can have their scarves arranged for different occasions - from graduation parties to weddings.

...However, in the age of reality shows about cat walks, aspiring models and the newest pop music contestant, some sociologists believe that the religiosity of the hijab is being overshadowed by its fashion appeal.

And in case you really wanted to know:

The "Spanish wrap" – a tying technique in which the headscarf is wrapped behind the neck – has become a favourite style for young veiled women.(*) Also, thanks to long-sleeved, close-fitting tops, veiled women can buy any piece of clothing, from strapless tops to backless dresses. In a society where expression of sexuality remains a taboo, Abaza believes that by adapting sexy outfits to the hijab, young women are attempting to be veiled and appealing at the same time.

But let's not go too far:-

But critics say new hijab techniques reveal the neck and sometimes a part of the chest, and therefore fail to embrace the essence of what it means to be veiled. While some consider this a deviation from the real purpose of hijab, others think that it is a tolerable expression of individuality...."Huge earrings popping out of the headscarf, odd combinations of colours, skin-tight clothes wrapped about the body are common among many veiled women today,"...recent hijab trends are due to a lack of self-confidence and identity.

Bottom line?

Abaza, however, does not believe that hijab is an inherent part of Egyptian culture, but is rather an "invented tradition". "Where was it during the 1960s? You could hardly find a single veiled woman at Cairo University during that time," she said.

Of course, there are those that don't wear a hijab:

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(*)

(In case you want to know how to wear one, try this)