Why the Indian Muslim Clergy is Hijacking Muskan’s Just Campaign: Do They Want To Buttress The Polarizing Efforts By Hindutva Forces In Assembly Elections?
By
Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef, New Age Islam
14 February
2022
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Hijab or veil is not a religious command; it is
only a product of culture, that too a part of elite culture. It has been
declared obligatory by clergy nowadays, particularly in the Indian
sub-continent. However, the entire era of the Prophet as well as the era of the
Companions was devoid of such a practice. The rulings were for the mothers of
the believers, the holy wives of the prophet (pbuh). Now clerics have
prescribed it for all Muslim women, particularly in South Asia. Arab scholars
too are having a second opinion on it. For example, Muslim Brotherhood women do
not cover their faces; a head scarf is sufficient for them. Even for that,
there is no such prescription among classical jurists.
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A woman in Thane, Maharashtra, on Sunday holds a placard during a protest in support of Muslim students in the Karnataka hijab row. (PTI Photo)
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No doubt
teenager student Muskan Khan did a brave job when she refused to toe the line
of saffron goons besieging her while she was trying to enter the premises of
her college to submit her assignment in her college in Udupi, Karnataka.
A lonely
Hijabi girl in front of so many saffron-clad goons mischievously and
threateningly sloganeering, asking her to remove her hijab before entering her
college is bound to be scared. She faced very bravely, seemingly like a lioness
indeed, though, as she explained later to BBC, she was feeling very frightened,
and started shouting Allahu Akbar, as she has probably been trained to do from
childhood when she feels scared and smells danger. Now, on second thoughts, she
says, if faced with a similar situation in future, she would shout Hindustan
Zindabad (Long Live India!), demonstrating the general Muslim faith in Indian
Constitution, which was also more than evident during the anti-CAA protests by
Muslim women across the country a couple of years ago.
Only in
this sense her stand is justified and makes her a symbol of resistance in the
same way as anti-CAA-NRC protesters earlier. As far as her religious zeal and
also that of other thousands of Muslim girls who are now on the streets in many
cities supporting her case is concerned, it is to me a psychological case as
when one feels lonely and scared in a hostile atmosphere, one finds asylum in
religious assertion. I think this identity assertion is a worldwide phenomenon
which emerged in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks and consequent haunting of
innocent Muslims everywhere in the world. They came under siege, threatened and
abused. In reaction some misled boys took arms in their hands for revenge while
the overwhelming majority of Muslim men and women made the decision that they
should go about their normal life, getting education, professional knowhow and
engage in normal economic activities, while not compromising with their
religious identity. And that is why we see that religious assertiveness in
Muslim societies nowadays is stronger and more rigid compared to nineteenth and
twentieth centuries when European onslaught was more direct and more
aggressive. This assertiveness took many shapes and different forms like
turning to mosques in bulk, sporting long beards and changing a neutral Khuda
Hafiz (goodbye, may God protect you) with a puritanical Allahl Hafiz (goodbye,
may Allah protect you) when seeing off a friend or a relative.
A video of Muskan Khan shouting at a
mob of young men has gone viral
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Another
point to understand is that the coastal area of Udupi in Karnataka has been a
radicalized area and a Hindutva laboratory for quite some time. Muslim
community too is fairly religion conscious there and Hindus of this area are
also strongly saffronized. Both the communities have been living in isolation
with each other. So this incident should be seen in this context too.
The claim
of BJP supporters to save the Muslim women from the oppression of a patriarchal
society is completely flawed. They want to stop Muslim women acquiring
education while at the same time tarnish the image of Islam. Similarly, the
reference to college uniform is also wrong because generally colleges or
universities do not prescribe uniforms. That is only done in schools. Muskan is
a student of a college. Muslim girls had been going to that college donning
their hijab for years. Uniforms are, however, prescribed in a few colleges and
yet few students in a college or university anywhere comply with the uniform
restrictions. If Hijab is a religious attire, what about turbans that Sikh
students wear? Why is that not an issue? Not that it should be, I am not saying
that at all. Sikhs have every right to demonstrate their religiosity, if they
so wish.
Now Muskan
Khan’s brave stand is being celebrated worldwide for a variety of reasons.
Different feminist and religious groups have different takes on the issue. But
the case of present day India is different.
With
Assembly elections in several states, Indian Muslim clergy is hijacking this
just issue to help BJP polarize society and help consolidate their faltering
vote bank. It is difficult to reach any conclusion other than this, for the
Muslim society in general has assiduously avoided any religious issue in the
last several years for this very fear of polarizing the society. Earlier
Maulana Tauqeer Raza Barailvi too tried to do the same, on some other issue,
though with little success.
Coming to
the present issue of Hijab, first of all this was a problem of a girls'
college, where only girls study. Wearing hijab / burqa was not prohibited on
the college campus, though not allowed in class rooms. But some students
(belonging to Muslim political parties) instigated Muslim girls to start
demanding permission to wearing burqa inside the classroom too, which they were
not allowed to do. And then the commotion started.
A woman wears India's tri-colour (national flag)
hijab during a protest against the hijab ban imposed in the few colleges in
Karnataka, outside Mira Road Railway Station, in Mumbai on Friday. Image
Credit: Nitin Lawate
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The dress
code of the college is salwar suit. Talks were held between the parents and the
college administration with the help of the locals, but the Popular Front of
India intervened and insisted that the parents of the girls demand more, then
they staged a protest, reached the court and when politics entered then saffron
thugs were sent by Hindutva forces. That is what actually happened. Combating
the forces bullying others is appreciable indeed, but forgetting your own
purpose and the larger environment is clearly a motivated act. Clerical
intervention clearly has ulterior motivations.
Now country
wide protests and sit-ins inspired by the clergy can only be designed to help
communal forces. I refuse to believe that they are stupid people who do not
know its consequences. They are merely making an issue out of a non-issue. They
have to have some motivation for doing so, going against the community’s
considered view.
Hijab or
veil is not a religious command; it is only a product of culture, that too a
part of elite culture. It has been declared obligatory by clergy nowadays,
particularly in the Indian sub-continent. However, the entire era of the Prophet
as well as the era of the Companions was devoid of such a practice. The rulings
were for the mothers of the believers, the holy wives of the prophet (pbuh).
Now clerics have prescribed it for all Muslim women, particularly in South
Asia.
Arab
scholars too are having a second opinion on it. For example, Muslim Brotherhood
women do not cover their faces; a head scarf is sufficient for them. Even for
that, there is no such prescription among classical jurists.
The pet
slogan for our clergy is ‘’Islam is in danger” and Hijab or purdah (veil) is an
inalienable part of our religion. This is simply not the case. The clergy’s
modus operandi in this regard is that in their fatwas and explanations they
always cite the opinions and fatawa of their teachers and so called elders
only. They never revert to original sources and the main texts, because they
have convinced the common masses not to bother about seeking textual knowledge
of our sacred literature. They do not like Muslims studying, rethinking and
making their own mind rationally. This
is a good tool for the clerics to maintain their monopoly on interpretations of
religious teachings.
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A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef is a Research
Associate with the Centre for Promotion of Educational and Cultural Advancement
of Muslims of India, AMU Aligarh.