By Ramona Siddoway
A couple of months ago an Women’s Interfaith Discussion
Group met to discuss common misconceptions people have about other religions.
Besides walking away with much more respect for other religions and the amazing
women in that group, I think we all agreed that for the most part we don’t know
squat about anybody else’s religion. Not really. We tend to lump everyone into
large stereotypical groups with not much more than media, hearsay, and
Hollywood to back any of our claims.
By Saadia Faruqi
Source: Tikkun Daily
It
seems that controversy over the hijab – the Islamic tradition of covering a
woman’s hair and body – will not die down anytime soon. Governments such as
France and Germany seem to be dead set against it, while theocracies such as
Saudi Arabia go the other extreme by forcing women to cover. But ask the
average Muslim woman, and she will probably wonder what the fuss is all about.
Since when is dress a political statement, even a weapon? FEMEN – a feminist
Ukrainian protest group – seems to think it is, and is up in arms over the
hijab, declaring April 4 as International
Topless Jihad Day.
What FEMEN activists perhaps did not expect was that Muslim women who wear the
hijab are a tad possessive about their right to wear it, and don’t take lightly to a
declaration of jihad (Arabic for struggle) against it.
A couple of months ago an Women’s Interfaith Discussion
Group met to discuss common misconceptions people have about other religions.
Besides walking away with much more respect for other religions and the amazing
women in that group, I think we all agreed that for the most part we don’t know
squat about anybody else’s religion. Not really. We tend to lump everyone into
large stereotypical groups with not much more than media, hearsay, and
Hollywood to back any of our claims. 