A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| The commission goes too far |
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| Abu_Atheek |
| 03/27/02 at 05:57:33 |
| [img]http://www.jamaat.org/jiwelcome2.gif[/img] The commission goes too far AL-WATAN newspaper recently published the official circular from the Commission for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice (CPVPV). The circular shows what is allowed and what is not allowed. As for the importance of women in public places wearing modest clothing, I feel that I should comment because as a woman, I am directly concerned with it. First, many of my women friends and I have had unnerving experiences with the CPVPV. The problem seems to be the abaya — the black cloak which women wear in public. The CPVPV insists that women should wear an abaya covering the head and they approach any women who are wearing an abaya which falls from the shoulders. The CPVPV can be found reprimanding and rebuking women in all kinds of public places: gardens, bookstores, schools, colleges, women’s coiffure shops and banks. They also insist that women should cover their faces, including their eyes, even in elementary schools! I want to know who imposed these rules. Are they Islamic requirements? No, in fact, there is nothing in the Shariah (Islamic law) that mandates such things. Nor is there any requirement that the abaya be black. Can it be that these requirements are simply the creations of the commission’s members? In addition, some members of the commission use very harsh words when speaking to women. These words are not in keeping with either their actual or their self-appointed roles. For example, they have sometimes said, “You whore, you shameless harlot who does not fear punishment in the hereafter, cover your hair with your abaya or we will put you into the GMC” — meaning the commission’s patrol car. Faced with such a tirade, most women swallow the insults and ignore them. If a woman tries to explain that she is doing nothing contrary to Islamic teachings, they say “Shut up. Do not resume to speak. Don’t you know that you must not speak to a man outside your family?” Given these facts, it is imperative that any candidate wishing to become a member of the CPVPV be subjected to rigid scrutiny and be given proper orientation on how to deal with women in public. In addition, I suggest that all members of the CPVPV wear plainly visible badges on their clothes for definite identification. This is important in case anyone wants to lodge a complaint; in that case, he or she would have correct information about the alleged offender. Moreover, it should be made clear that women have the right to wear abayas or veils of their own choice; this does not contradict any Islamic teaching. The members of the CPVPV must be also banned from entering women’s shops or centers in the name of their duties; they should remain at the gates or at the entrance. Only the regular police should be allowed in those places in order to guarantee and maintain security. [i]Jawaher Ahmed Al-Jaber/Al-Watan[/i] [url]http://www.arabnews.com/Static/LocalPress.asp[/url] |
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