You Will Always be the Muslim Woman

The image of Islam, caricatured by the West has always been rather bleak. What more the image of a woman in Islam. They have painted it grim. A woman in black with a face covering and more cloth to cover a king size bed of any grandeur. If the woman is not wearing a face covering, she still has her head fully covered and is still wrapped around in a bed sheet. If the cloth she dons is not black, it still covers her body, oppressing her from freedom of speech, thought and movement.

And when you can't imagine such an image even grimmer, wait to you hear the description of her role as a Muslim woman: servant to her husband, baby-making factory, education-deprived, slave to the kitchen, prisoner in the home. The list goes on - no matter what the Muslim woman looks like.

Unfortunately for Muslims in the other parts of the world - i.e. Muslim not populated countries - there are those who are caught up with such reports from the leading media and begin to look down on fellow sisters who persist in dressing the Muslimah fashion. These "covered" sisters are described as backward, traditional, eastern (if you like), and in a nutshell.... just not modern enough!

Needless to say, many Muslim women are affected by such snide, cruelty and ignorance gelled together into a lump of insult. As much as they wear the Hijab proudly for the sake of the Creator, those labels stick out from all the cloth that cover them and may poke into their self-esteems.It's harder than you think to wear Hijab without the people to support you and it pays to support a sister who is coming into the wonderful world of Hijab, be it she a new Muslim or a born Muslim. But firstly, always remember to support yourself.

As a Muslim woman, it is imperative to remind yourself that you are a confident woman with a good education. You may be a wife and a mother but the you only slave for the sake of Allah. Tell yourself that everyday and toss those rocks of insult aside. Once you have stood up to those who see you as "THE Muslim woman," support another sister who may be facing the same issues.