Importance of Hijab highlighted on World Hijab Day

LAHORE: While observing World Hijab Day, Jamaat Islami launched various programmes on Saturday for creating awareness and mass mobilisation for promoting Hijab not only as religious obligation for Muslim women but also their fundamental right to choose it as part of their dress.

Workers of JI and its organisations of women, students, lawyers, workers, etc. held meetings, walks and seminars to highlight the importance of Hijab in protection of women’s honour and protection besides holding mass contact campaigns in houses, markets and public places distributing pamphlets to counter anti-Hijab and anti-Islam propaganda of the west.

Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Sirajul Haq emphasised that Hijab is not an obstacle in development of society but the much needed source of protecting women’s respect and security. He said in fact Hijab is the crown of a woman as it was part of the most noble and sacred women in Muslim history. He was addressing an international Hijab Conference here Saturday organised by JI women wing and addressed by women leaders from abroad. The noted speakers included International Muslim Women’s Union President Dr Samiha Raheel Qazi, JI Women’s Secretary General Durdana Siddiqui, Dr Rukhsana Jabeen, Rabia Tariq, Dr Humaira Tariq, Samina Saeed, Dr Zubeida Jabeen, Director Family Welfare Forum Aafia Sarwar, Dr Mumtaz, Dr Asiya Shabbir Mansoori, Dr Samina Khokhar, Ms Noorul Ain Khan, Sadia Farooq, MPA Syeda Zahra Naqvi, MPA Farhat Farooq and Sadaf Ali.

Sirajul Haq said in this age of cultural conflict in the garb of countering terrorism, Muslim women have a greater responsibility to promote Hijab and counter enemy propaganda. He expressed satisfaction that despite full-fledged propaganda against Hijab and Islamic dress code, the culture of Hijab is becoming common in the world especially in the west. He said Muslim women idealise the noble and sacred ladies like Hazrat Khadija and Hazrat Fatima (RA) who observed complete Hijab. He noted that the West made its women a mere production worker in factories and an object of pleasure for men, while Islam has elevated women to a privileged and precious member of the society.

He said enemies of Islam are attacking its ideology and ‘our family system in the garb of terrorism and backwardness, urging Pakistani women to come forward to protect their ideological foundations and identity’. He said it was the pious and committed women who taught the children of Kashmir and Palestine the lesson of freedom and trained them to stand up to oppression.

Afghan mothers encouraged children to defeat enemy forces of 50 countries having hundreds of times more weapon and fire power with sheer faith and commitment, he added.

Sirajul Haq expressed sorrow that Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted that bringing change within this tenure is not in his power and hinted that his promise of making a Madina like state was mere political sloganeering. He said Allah Almighty orders women to observe (Pardah) veil as vital part of dress and symbol of nobility. He said the veil has never been an obstacle in development anywhere in the world in the past. He said Islamophobia was on the rise in the west and Muslim women were being specially targeted there despite that west claimed to be champion of human rights.

A joint communiqué issued by the conference said Hijab represents Islamic civilisation and rules of Hijab not only applied to women but to the men also. Muslims are fortunate that their religion gives them a beautiful and practical system of modesty, chastity and honour, creating boundaries in which the two sexes can keep relationship. This system creates a civilised society where men and women are able to build a stronger society together, not in competition with each other.

It said if men and women are made to compete each other in the name of equality in every sphere, then woman suffers the most being the weaker sex. Despite many laws in the West, women are not safe and being exploited in various manners. Our Muslim society is also suffering because of following the western model and wrong attitudes. This is because we have not cultivated gender issues according to the principles of our religion. The rules given by Islam are the only guarantee of women’s safety. Our message is that parents and grandparents should understand their responsibilities.

Boys and girls in homes and institutions should be taught these principles of Islam from an early age so that they know what culture they have been taught in matters of the opposite sex. Men should be made to respect and care for women as Islam has taught. Both genders should know their limits.

On the occasion special awards were given to Umme Kulsoom, Begum Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Humaira Ehtesham, Surayya Asma, Zahra Waheed, Fehmida Gul, Gulfreen Nawaz, Aafia Sarwar, Asma Faiz, Azmi Imran, Zarafshan Farheen, Dr. Ayesha, Mehtab Sirajul Haq, Dr. Nusrat Tariq, Zunaira Zafar, Mehjabeen, Ruba Urooj and Diba Mirza.