Islam Today

I like the argument of Hirshikind and Mahmood about the limitation of looking at the concept of wearing the veil in black and white, and I would like to comment on that. Perhaps those feminists who are propagating the idea of liberating through the outer appearances are only artificially liberated themselves from their inner prejudices. They obviously have difficulties of noticing the subtle levels of inner liberations. Perhaps for some women who are wearing the headscarf it is an expression of their femininity.

I think instead of forcing masses to wear it or not to wear it, it should be more of a personal choice. Same with abortions or other personal-public dramatic matters. It is important to provide public education on the views for and against those passionate topics, but the 'end result' should be a personal decision based on many individual factors.

For some wearing the short sкirt can be viewed as the submission to patriarchal rule. For others it can be viewed as the expression of their feminine side, and therefore the liberation of their 'inner woman'.

The liberation is very questionable topic in itself. I think the most important is to keep liberating inside through all the levels of imaginary enemies and obstacles. If we believe that the problem exists, it becomes real. To deal with it is important in a balanced way, otherwise the solution or antidote for it becomes a problem in itself. But while we learn to hold the balance it is inevitable to be smashed to the opposite extreme, until we become more skillful in balancing in between the opposing extremes. I noticed it works the same way in private lives or public movements.