Undergrad who wears the niqab. Ask me anything

I'm pretty sure the vast majority of Muslims on this forum are Somali or of Somali descent to be honest. There's an entire thread for you guys.

What?? I thought I was the only one!

There's nothing wrong with having an arranged marriage if you consent to it

He's over-reacting. Some people hear "arranged marriage" and equate it to "forced marriage"

Good for you sister. don't expect anything, but you scare children away and are oppressed comments from the Atheists, who regard women to be free when they are hostesses or dustbin cleaners, having to serve hundreds of men day in day out, with 1 in 2 suffering from sexual harassment but regard it as oppression, if a woman chooses to cover up, and withdraw from the world for spiritual reasons. you have my respect.

Do you find it difficult to make friends at univ? or at least, those that are secular.

What?? I thought I was the only one!

No, I didn't find it difficult and I do have some non-muslim friends, one is a laid back Christian and the other is an agnostic (ex-muslim).

Good for you sister. don't expect anything, but you scare children away and are oppressed comments from the Atheists, who regard women to be free when they are hostesses or dustbin cleaners, having to serve hundreds of men day in day out, with 1 in 2 suffering from sexual harassment but regard it as oppression, if a woman chooses to cover up, and withdraw from the world for spiritual reasons. you have my respect.

Fair enough....I can't force you to change your mind.

I'll just finish on the statement that those that wear a niqab do so because they feel their religion requires them to do so.

the stupidity of the matter is the niquab is no way islamic nor ordained anywhere int he quran. most people ( both muslims and non-muslims) are ignorant of this fact so dont feel bad) but in reality the niquab was just an invention for arab men to keep their women ( sometimes multiple wives) shrouded from theeyes of other men. its origins actually pre-date islma in fact. so the dress is cultutral, but many try and apply a false relgious or even spiritual signifcance to it.

No I'm fully aware of this matter...so I don't feel bad. If you had read my post carefully, I wrote:

'those that wear a niqab do so because they feel their religion requires them to do so.'

At no point did I say that Islam requires the niqab. I stated those women feel their religion requires them to wear it. There's a difference between the two.

Don't feel bad...many people jump the bandwagon before reading something properly.

in that case you were making a comment that makes little or no sense - if they feel they are doing something that is religious when it is not, then they are wrong. they could also feel the need to walk around with wearing a stuffed camels head, but that would also be irrelevant, and dumb , and therefore not worthy of any 'protected right'

Because it is a part of who I am and I see it as a way for me to get more reward in this dunya. I'm really disappointed sister that as Arab/Muslim you do not support me in my decision to wear something that is encouraged in our religion. As I said I try to overcome that barrier and interact with people and most people I know whether they agree or disagree with my decision on wearing the niqab respect me and don't mind it. As a muslim you should know muslims wear the niqab, hijab, thawb and have beard to stand out and for people to recognise them as muslims, it is a form of dawah.

My sister wears a niqab and the think you said was offensive towards all the muslims. Why not get some respect for other people beliefs?

You interact socially with people who aren't your friends.

She shows her face in every shop does she?

The media is to blame for people being scared when they see a dark, shapeless figure with no face moving towards them? K den

either you are a complete idiot or you genuinely have been falsely 'educated' in the nature of islam. a 'scholar' cannot state something to be islamic if it is not mentioned in the quran or hadiths. the niqab is not referenced anywhere in any islamic writing- there is not even a requirement to cover a womens face . its use pre-dated islam in fact in arab society. so its se is a hangover of that, not any islamic declaration. the fact you didnt even know this shows you are already way over your head .

Say you had 2 or more women wearing a niqab in the same area, how would I know who's who?

I find it strange that you call her sister, it's almost as if you use that to form some common ground by which you attempt to change her opinion.

How does wearing it give you more reward in this world?

You absolute cretin. At what point did I say niqab is mentioned in the quran or hadith?

The question is what constitutes modesty and this is open to interpretation. Scholars can be called upon if the hadiths or the quran stays silent on the matter.

Take your head out of your arse and you may come to realise this.

i think you are the one demonstrating basic comprehension difficulties. the quran is not silent on the matter, it instructs muslims women to cover their chests with cloaks - again you give the answer of some ignorant that has never actually read the quran but wants to preach about it online. we have established niqab is not islamic, therefore its afforded no specific religious protection. nor is it spiritual, its simply a cultural hangover of arab men covering up their many wives in the past. 'Modesty' can be interpreted in many ways, in fact those who are truly modest would never leave their house for fear of someone looking at them. so by your 'logic' true muslims lock themselves in their houses. equally wearing a camels head over your face would also preserve your modesty, so you are trying to suggest any crackpot idea can be argued as 'islamic' it cannot.

you are so poorly educated that you are resorting to pathetically childish name-calling and as such arnt even worth talking with. goodbye.

But do you have any friends that are completely not religious (atheist)?

I would personally find the niqab (showing only the eyes), slightly offputting: as generally we are used to reading peoples faces during social interactions... so I assume it would only be from tone of voice and eyes that you can express emotion (other than physically ofc).

Though, I am completely for freedom of religious expression (even though admittedly I greatly dislike religion), and it is a part of that, so its fine.