Friday, August 08, 2008

When Muslim men performed their Friday prayers,

So I went out for lunch with mother, only she had eaten and decided to walk around, leaving me to eat. Fine with me really. And so I did. Surrounded by many ladies in their floral, colorful baju kurung and hijab. Oh boy, really I didn't feel out of place. Yeah right.

Call me judgmental or bias, or polarized.

I felt they're having their eyes on me, exploring every inch of my hair. When really, its still in its natural color, not the ones with super-brown color. Ehem. Perasan. Yes perhaps. I just felt, inadequate. I don't fit in when our faiths are quite similar.

My phone rang, kido. Yes, so basically, the conversation revolves around phonies at school. What's new? Phonies here, phonies there. They make our world more exciting. I knew the lady next to me was particularly staring at me, only because I talked in English, with a little melayu words, like, "kan", "sial", "gila". Almost like saying, "budak ni agaknya lupa agama kot.. tak Melayu.. Pengaruh Barat barangkali.. Budak membesar kat bandar.." etc. etc.

Then at another table, 4 ladies having their meals in a square table, 3 in hijabs and 1 not. Her hair color? Much like mine, still in natural color. But odd thing is, the three in hijabs were eating using fork and spoon but my dear kakak who is not fully covered, was eating with her bare hands and mind you, they were all eating rice. So what? Lagi melayu agaknya. Just the beauty that captured my eye.

Then I wondered, when would I indulge the art of hijab, to indulge one step deeper in my religion, my faith.

I ask you one thing dear reader, I saw a woman in a hijab, with a shemale pushing their trolley. Then it occur to me: does one vow to the hijab because its a protocol, a uniform or because they surrender their hearts and souls to Allah S.W.T, to Islam?

You see, to wear a hijab merely is not to "cover" up because as Muslim women, its mandatory. But when its mandatory, it doesn't mean you wear the hijab, you could still live a "liberal", a "modernize" life. A religious life that you adapt to the time, to the era. Wearing, vowing yourself to the hijab, is sacred. You have to perform you 5 pillars devotedly - especially the basic 5 times prayers.

Like the woman I saw with her faithful shemale companion, I wondered, does she even try to dakwah to her fellow friend? Does she not know that its haram, berdosa besar for a man to even try to look like a woman? Oh I'm sure she does, they taught us in our PMR-SPM text books repeatedly. But you know, I guess its her responsibility as well to guide her friend into the path right in the Islamic context, in the eyes of Allah S.W.T. To see her and him to walk buying groceries, I wonder what she thinks of him. I wondered for her: as a woman wearing a hijab, who performs her duties as a Muslim devotedly, will she by any chance help him? Or would she just be mere friends, just as that.

After all, these are all sacred duties.

13 comments:

pinknerd said...

time and time again, we revel in this topic of the hijab, and it's astonishing, because though it seems simple, it's actually a rather complex subject. why do people wear the hijab in the first place? muslims, in the hearts of hearts, think they know -that's what the religion commands they say, but so what? the non-muslims don't understand this, they need something more concrete, something they can relate to and understand, and it's ironic. here you'll find almost every hijab wearing women unable to answer, maybe the usual like to prevent from the lust of men, et cetra, but all these can be countered with existing cases of rape of the hijab wearing and such, so what is one to do? as for me, a hijab wearing teen who lives in a very superficial environment where if you don't have hair, you're not even half as good looking as those guys with their heads shaved bald -i have my say on the matter, only the question is: how open are you to not refuse my explanations?

to some, hijab is forced unto them, they can prance around covered and chastise those without it when they fundamentally don't even understand WHY it's even on them. they don't hate it, they claim to love it, but it could probably just be a habit, you know, like putting clothes on everyday. some others do it willingly, conscious and always seeking for reasons why they do what they do, some like me see it not for the islamic faith, but as a general commitment, like getting married and being loyal to your man. it's a deep topic, seemingly simple but very abstract.

the way i see it, when you put it on and start covering yourself, you put on an armour, you cover a lot of aspects, it could be the best part of you (after all, my hair is my asset), and you might also be covering your negative side, a sign that you're aware of your flaws and you're shy by it.

ideally, you try to be a better person.

and that is religion.

Anonymous said...

good discussion. but then again i find it ironic to be talking bout transgender and hijab - and delivering ultimatum of blaming others.

wearing hijab needs understanding to the fundamental of religion. failed to understand it makes you a muslim who followed blindly.

and yet when the same question of why transgender chooses to be what it is - they say its a matter of understanding themselves too.

ironic...

Anonymous said...

i sort of agree with you.

but, don't all of us, regardless whether or not we put on the hijab, carry the same responsiblities as a muslim?

like the woman with the shemale friend. true, she is responsible of advising her shemale friend. tapi what about the other friends of the shemale yang tak pakai tudung? they are all equally responsible regardless of whether or not they pakai tudung.

and in zaman sekarang, i believe that we do have at least a couple of friends who are bergelumang dalam maksiat. drinking, having premarital sex, etc. maybe we do care although we say nothing at all sebab nak jaga perasaan. tapi sex, arak, semua tu haram jugak. and yes, ada jugak dalam buku teks pmr-spm, kan?

i think one of the main reasons orang pakai tudung but bukak balik is because the societies nowadays are berat sebelah. orang pakai tudung are roced to carry huge responsibilities to jaga maruah Islam yet other muslims without hijab, with their bin and binti names are privileged to do anything they like. a person tend to react like this - 'omg teruknya dia pakai tudung yet boleh buat macam tu' when they see a person with hijab doing unappropriate things. kena ingat, even with the hijab on, they still have nafsu. syaitans are all around, menghasut and menggoda. a person with a hijab may not necessarily have an iman more teguh than a woman hijabless.

true, when they put on hijabs, it's supposed to show that they are portraying modesty. but not everyone thinks that way. to some, to put on hijab simply means to cover their aurah, to prevent them to get dosa as to be devoted fully in islam isn't as easy as it seems. but yes, the mentality needs to be changed.

basically what im trying to say is kita semua ada responsbility yang sama selagi kita bernama muslim. to devote to Islam, to surrender to Allah.

Anonymous said...

sorry typo. *are forced to carry :)

Nadrah Mustafa said...

Basically to all of you,

TERIMA KASIH. nak reply, tapi semua panjang panjang. Haha.

But nonetheless, all of you make sense!

Jat,
go buat kerja! You punya comment panjang nak mampos!

Re-Arrange,
And the transgender issue, its the ancient debate of Nature Vs. Nurture.

Really, all of these questions in life, no absolute answers really. Tengok je the comments above, everybody has a piece of mind that is rational.

Anon's right about the couple thing. Nasib baik lah aku ni single. :)

Anonymous said...

is hijab supposed to be tudung? how come ive nvr heard of that word beforeeee? lol! dont use difficult words here la. i want to read also. lol.

*cosmic freak* said...

Well adik. Misconceptions of life. I get that a lot.

Saya sering dipandang serong ketika di kalangan mereka bijak pandai bila saya bertutur bahasa melayu yang dikatakan "skema" seperti ini dengan rakan rakan.

Dan saya juga dipandang pelik ketika bertutur bahasa inggeris yang sempurna dengan rakan sekerja saya yang bukan orang Malaysia.

I eat with my barehands, even when I'm with my colleagues, and apparently there's only 3 Malaysians in my office and I'm the only Malay. And I spent my 8 years of studying in a very typical malay community hostel.

We are all judgemental. Of course. But there's 2 Things we must remember. Jangan mengutuk sebarangan tanpa asal usul. And jangan buat kerja tuhan, which is jatuhkan hukum when we don't know who we even are yet.

Nadrah Mustafa said...

Faz, hahaha yes lah hijab is tudung.

Kakak Abby,
the English part is well, haha partly true too. and WEH BETUL? 8 YEARS kat malay community? syabas anda telah survive. Ehem, no offense. But you know.. Er, sorry.

And yes betul apa kakak cakap!

*cosmic freak* said...

1 year in a very very typical malay kampung school, 4 years in an all-malay boarding school and 3 1/2 years in uitm melaka, well, yeah, an all-bumiputera 95% malay campus.

but I think if you're adaptable in any situation like me, you can easily survive and even fit in.

Anonymous said...

"i think one of the main reasons orang pakai tudung but bukak balik is because the societies nowadays are berat sebelah. orang pakai tudung are roced to carry huge responsibilities to jaga maruah Islam yet other muslims without hijab, with their bin and binti names are privileged to do anything they like. a person tend to react like this - 'omg teruknya dia pakai tudung yet boleh buat macam tu' when they see a person with hijab doing unappropriate things. kena ingat, even with the hijab on, they still have nafsu. syaitans are all around, menghasut and menggoda. a person with a hijab may not necessarily have an iman more teguh than a woman hijabless." - so true.

As you know, I was one of them who used to wear the hijab . and now no. The thing is, people are too judgemental. like if you pakai tudung you're not allowed to go out late at nights with guys or go for parties. the thing is, partying is not wrong. but nowadays the word PARTY will always involve booze. sebab kita dah besar dan boleh minum arak ( non muslims ) jadi kita yang melayu yang kawan dgn bangsa bukan melayu ni susah lah. we want to stay as friends but the things that we do doesnt seem to be the same.

and they will also call us kolot. org kampung and stuff. They expect us to do the stuff that they do. Drink, Clubs, Sex. Name it.

I've seen malay girls with tudung do things that they're not supposed to do. Buat sex dekat tangga Pasar Seni. Kepala tutup tapi bawah tak tutup. Siang pakai tudung, malam bukak and pergi club minum semua.

oh god. This topic will never end!

Astaghfirullahalazim.

and I am still a no one to judge anyone as I am a nobody in this religious world. I am still learning and I am still doing those sins. I may not drink and hope not, but who knows in the future ? All I can say is that Good Luck to the Muslims. We will see each other in the after world.


wwwwoahh I dont think I made any sense !

fazm. said...

well well, i've been friends and partying with drinkers (non muslims) alot, but still i don't drink. in fact, i even have a non muslim boyfriend, who drinks and smokes too. and i'm really proud of myself, i don't do neither. drink nor smoke. yeay me! ;)

Anonymous said...

Partying with non-muhrim is always wrong ain't it?

Anonymous said...

why is it wrong when she's abiding the rules and yet being a human?