In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
Salam Alaykom,
The relationship between liberation, resistance and the Holy Hijab, is one that was forged by the Holy Hands of the Ahlulbayt (peace be upon them), by the will of Allah. The link between resistance, rebellion and the hijab of Sayyeda Zainab (salamullah aleyha) is imperative to research, as to how, even in this century, modesty and hijab is a symbol of active resistance against oppression. Many lectures and speeches have explored hijab and its importance. Modesty is a virtue that is incredibly valued in Islam. However, this article aims to take a different angle and talk about the strength and power of modesty and hijab itself. For example, how Sayyeda Zainab’s hijab was not just a fulfilment of her duty to God, but also her pledge of allegiance to Islam and the Imam of her time.
Orientalists, European scholars and academics always have fetished and degraded the hijab of Muslim women throughout history. Why are elusive and degrading depictions of Muslim women, constantly regurgitated in books, films, and pop culture? Why are television shows made and centred around the liberation a woman gets from removing her hijab? Why do articles and news sites and headlines label us Muslim women as oppressed, lesser and uncivilised beings, with no intelligence and capabilities whatsoever? The answer to this can be summed up by this quote, from the 20th-century political philosopher Frantz Fanon: ‘The woman who sees without being seen, frustrates the coloniser.’ Our biggest enemies in this day and age, are our mindsets, and how we allow western beauty standards and ideals to oppress us. When we submit to the coloniser and remove our hijabs, we are submitting to the Yazid of our time. Wearing hijab liberates a woman, we are taking back the power over our identities, which is exactly what Sayyeda Zainab emphasised. We are resisting against the patriarchal western civilisation, which has oppressed modesty for centuries.
The same hijab, blessed by the Holy Prophet’s (peace be upon him) hands, which was torn from the head of Sayyeda Zainab, is the same hijab that society today tries so hard to suppress. Sayyeda Zainab’s symbol of resistance and the flag she waved to highlight her political allegiance to Islam, was the holy cloth on her head. Yazid tried to dishonour the women of the Holy Ahlulbayt (peace be upon them), but he could not.
When the men of Yazid ripped the hijabs on the planes of Karbala, it was not just an act of torture but was also a political message. A message that conveyed to the rest of his empire: he did not care for the pinnacle of modesty. It was an act done purposely, to shame the women, and to wave his banner of immodesty and degeneracy, over the pure flag of Islam, which is embodied in the Hijab.
To understand the purity of a ‘mere cloth’, and finally see through the propaganda and delusions of artificial beauty pushed so hard in this society, you will finally see the beauty in modesty, and the power of your hijab. When I wear my hijab now, I finally understand that I am a flag-bearer of Islam, that people will look to me and see my religion. To observe hijab is an honour; I am waving the flag of al-Abbas, upholding the sanctity of Zainab, and honouring the sacrifice of Hussain. When we honour modesty, we are epitomising the resistance of Zainab against the tyrants of our modern age.
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