This is just getting out of hand. Ridiculous...

A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.

The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.

Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd. [Source: BBC]

This is how Saudi ladies will look like from now on :-(

Why don't they enforce full-face cover and kill the issue? What do you call this? Religion and Islam? No Way!

Oh... by the way... anyone knows which eye should be covered? Left of right? (I assumed left because they keep on telling us to do things with our RIGHT thing... Ah... now I'm getting the rule. "Do the Right things with the RIGHT things only." This is where the Human "Rights" came from and here we see it in action.

Long live "One-Eye Veil."

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Here is a time-waster news of the day:

This undated photo made available by Danish public broadcaster DR1 shows 18-year-old Iraqi-born, Huda Falah who DR1 says it has chosen as the winner.

Iraqi-born Huda Falah was on Tuesday named Miss Headscarf 2008, beating 46 contesters in the competition organized by Danish public broadcaster DR.

Huda, 18, won the competition that was open to anyone aged 15 or older.

"The woman is like a diamond and you don't show it to everyone," Falah said in an interview with the broadcaster, adding she entered the competition in order to help bridge the divide between Muslim and Danish youth.

And the iPod, maybe?

The broadcaster's 15-19 online community DR Skum announced the competition in May, but underlined it was a fashion contest, not a beauty contest and open to anyone - regardless of religion!!!

DR's youth club, 'Skum', believes that the project would display the 'cool Muslim women' who 'often make up a very fashion-conscious and style-confident part of the Danish street scene'.

It looks like some Danes are getting desperate to show some respect to what other Danes are dying to insult. Or is it a real respect to the 3.7 percent of the country's population - Muslims (210,000 persons - that is 7 times the population of Monaco)? According to U.S. State Department, they are the second largest religious group there! In spite of that, Hijab has recently been the focus of a heated debate in Denmark to ban wearing it. It is pity to see the West confusing Hijab and modesty with or other religious symbols such as crucifix. Stories like these and campaigns such as the one lead by Danish Peoples Party (DPP) only shows how much ignorant, racist and anti-Muslims that part of Denmark is.

While DPP is fighting to marginalizes Muslims, some are beginning to realize the sheer impact of the hatred they have fueled against themselves from Muslims all over the world after the cartoons scandal and the support they shown in favor of insulting Qura'an by the Dutch lawmaker, Geert Wilders, in his infamous short clip.

Anyway, as a winner, Huda will receive an iPod and a hot, specially made headscarf designed by a Danish fashion boutique. Five semi-finalists will walk away with subscriptions to Muslim Girl magazine.

Now, I have a question to these Danes: Are you done ridiculing Islam and regard the hijab as a symbol of what you see as the inferior status of women in Islam? This competition is just a kind of a joke, but it's also something I hope will force Danes to accept women who choose to wear a headscarf.

A screen grab from the Denmark Radio Web site in Copenhagen shows contestants for the Miss Headscarf competition on Tuesday, June 3, 2008.

Last but not least, the whole point of the Hijab is that it's a symbol of chastity and modesty; to cover women instead of turning them into objects. I don't mind looking at a nice objects, but this object is not one of them!

Here is an interview with the winner, subtitled to English:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOIP9PdSciM[/youtube]

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A while ago, the International Herald Tribune had an article about how Muslim fashion designers are getting more creative:

But young Muslim entrepreneurs around the world are making their own fashion statements, modestly, challenging the status quo in their communities as well as stereotypes outside.
[...]
Specialty fashion houses and companies starting distinct ranges intended for fashion-conscious women who observe hijab, which means either covering one's head or, more broadly, dressing modestly, is part of a much wider trend. Filling a market gap for products that either comply with Shariah law or that are simply more attractive to Muslim values is a niche that is attracting increasing numbers of manufacturers and retailers. Toys like the Fulla doll, a modest Barbie of sorts, and comic books with Islamic superheroes like "The 99" are as much a part of this sector as the traditional domains of Islamic finance and halal, or permissible, food.

One of the most interesting designs are the Burqini Swimsuits, specially this female Muslim lifeguard (to the left) in Australia (photo by brimfulofsasha). Definitely not as sexy as Pamela Anderson in Baywatch (to the right), but it serve the purpose, unless your purpose is something else :-p .

What actually brought this subject to my mind is this new Muslim Fashion Magazine, MSLM. The magazine is for Muslim women in the Netherlands.

A group of young fashion-minded women, mostly second generation Moslem clearly stands out in our society. MSLM shows the fashion of this group. Because these young women grew up in the Netherlands, because they are Dutch, their background creates a fashion-clash which results in new interesting forms and silhouettes for both Moslem and non-Moslem women. Designers are inspired and influenced by this, use elements of another culture or design custom-fit products. From traditional to trendy, from the Mid-East to the West.

By MSLM MAMA is showing how we can play in to the wishes of this group of girls whom, with their extra frame of rules and their colourful background, have specific demands for the way they dress. MAMA is very curious to what the industry has planned for them!

[Source: MAMA]

Natasa Heydra has a little preview of the shoots in the magazine here (click thumbnail on the right) and more exciting shoots from the MSLM Exhibition here!

Also don't miss these photoshoots in MSLM fashion magazine - "Where tradition and modernity meet" :

More here!

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If the Netherlands becomes the first European country to ban the burqa and other Muslim face veils this month, Hope says she'll resort to wearing a surgical mask to dress in accordance with her religious beliefs.

"I'll wear one of those things they wore during the SARS epidemic if I have to," said the Dutch-born Muslim, one of about 50 women in the Netherlands who wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes.

Last December, parliament voted to forbid women from wearing the burqa or any Muslim face coverings in public, justifying the move in part as a security measure.

The cabinet is awaiting the results of a study into the legality of such a ban under European human rights laws, before making its final decision. The results are expected in the second half of this month.

"This is an enormous victory for traditional Dutch decency," said Geert Wilders, the populist member of parliament who first proposed the burqa ban, after hearing parliament had backed it.

"The burqa is hostile to women, and medieval. For a woman to walk around on the streets completely covered is an insult to everyone who believes in equal rights."

The Dutch may have been among the first to legalize cannabis, prostitution and euthanasia -- earning them a reputation for tolerance -- but they are now in the process of imposing some of Europe's toughest entry and integration laws.

Famile Arslan, a Dutch-Muslim lawyer, believes a ban would only reinforce today's polarized climate, and prompt more women to wear the niqab as a form of protest.

"We are very scared that what starts with a ban on the burqa will end with a ban on the hijab," she said, referring to the Muslim headscarf worn by thousands in the Netherlands.

"A country once known for its tolerance is now becoming known for its ignorance," she added, stressing public opinion of the Netherlands' 1 million Muslims had hit an all-time low.

In 2004, France controversially banned overt religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves, large Christian crosses and Jewish skullcaps from schools, arguing they were contrary to its separation of church and state.

In the same year, the Belgian town of Maaseik banned burqas, by adapting existing laws which require people to be readily identifiable in public.

The fact that the potential new law is consistently spoken of as a "burqa ban" also spreads confusion and reveals ignorance about Muslim customs.

"I think the niqab and the burqa are a little bit extreme and can I understand why people want to see a woman's face," said 16-year-old Kaoutar Yakubi, who chooses headscarves ranging from bright pink to black depending on her mood.

"But I don't think there should be laws governing how a person dresses -- it is their choice."(Reuters)

Maybe if the burqa is something like this:

or maybe if the were like how Hussein Chalayan shows them, it would be art and fashion!!

Then it would be acceptable in the west.

Happy Woman's Day!!!

PS. Burqa is similar to a niqab, the burqa covers the wearer's entire face except for a small region about the eyes. There is a misunderstanding that the burqa is like abaya (a long garment used by Muslim women), which is not true.

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وزير الشؤون الدينية التونسي: حجاب المرأة دخيل ونشاز و"لباس طائفي". اعتبر وزير الشؤون الدينية التونسي المرأة التي ترتدي الحجاب بأنها "نشاز"، بحسبانه مظهرا "غير مألوف" إلى جانب أنه "زي طائفي". وقال الوزير أبو بكر الأخزوري في حوار أجرته صحيفة "الصباح" التونسية الثلاثاء 27-12-2005 في رد على سؤال حول العودة النسبية لظاهرة الحجاب في تونس، إن "ظاهرة الحجاب تراجعت في تونس" و"إنها ظاهرة غير مقبولة في تونس".

Tunisia's religious affairs minister has criticized Muslim women's practice of wearing head scarves, saying it does not fit with the North African country's cultural heritage.

Aboubaker Akhzouri said the government of the moderate Muslim country also rejects Muslim tunics like those worn in Persian Gulf states and the practice of men wearing long beards.

"It's regrettable that we don't respect our specificity," he was quoted as saying in Assabah newspaper on Wednesday. He said the head scarf is "foreign" and "an intrusion," and recommended a traditional Tunisian Islamic tunic known as the jebbah.

Duh...!

Do the Tunisia's religious affairs minister, knows anything about Islam and Hijab? I'm sure he does, but it looks that criticizing Islamic symbolys is becoming a trend hiding behind political agendas. It's funny to know that Headscarf is banned in Tunisia, while mandatory in Amsterdam's Islamic College!

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One in three people believes that women who behave flirtatiously are at least partially responsible if they are raped, Amnesty International report published in UK today reveals. A similar number think that women are partially or wholly responsible for being raped if they are drunk, and more than a quarter believe women are responsible if they wear sexy or revealing clothing.

And they call Muslims all names coz Islam is for woman entrenchment!

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"British girl wins battle over Muslim clothing: "I'm happy that I did this. I feel that I have given hope and strength to other Muslim women," by Dilpazier Aslam, The Globe and Mail, 3 March 2005.

Yes, this is not "Hijab" battle in French schools; this time it is "Jilbab" battle in UK. And the result was "Victory"... Shabina Begum left the court wearing her jilbab.

A schoolgirl who was refused permission to wear an Islamic gown in class has claimed a "victory for all Muslims" after the British Court of Appeal ruled that she had been denied the right to manifest her religion.

As Olivier Roy points out in Globalized Islam, this re-traditionalization isn't about rejecting the West or its ways, but about trying to compromise with them. Remember, this is a discussion about how we get Muslim girls in public schools, not how we keep them out.

Yes, she may be excluded by some peers in the short term, but the longer-term inclusion of this young woman in educational and later work settings is the real future worth creating.

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This is hijab-in-fashion week. Armani thinks the headscarf (also known as Islam's 6th-fard-for-women-only) is cool and in-fashion.

And indeed, in Beirut's annual Fashion Week, being held this week, the hijab made some appearances (see photos on this page) in designs by Egyptian Hani Buhiari and Saudi Amina Al Jassem.

However, some of the designs lacked both hijab and coverings of other "ornaments," and so did not pass MWU! censors, such as this outfit by Lebanese designer Dany Atrache and the one at the end of this entry (do not click on the "continue reading" link if you are easily offended or if you have been undergoing i'tikaf at Muzammil Siddiqi's mosque for the full extent of your adult life).

As Armani told an Italian newspaper, "You can be packed with explosives even with your face uncovered."

So in a way, Arab and Muslim fashion designers are doing their part in the "War on Terror"--the way they must figure it, the less there is to wear, the fewer explosives there are to hide.

[via: MWU]
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