A Hijab: Religious or Cultural?

Please don’t confuse Muslim and Islam.  Muslim is the CULTURE.   Islam is the RELIGION.  Many who speak in and out of the news today confuse the two or use them interchangeably.  They are not interchangeable.

One may practice the faith of Islam and live in a Muslim culture.  The hijab (a headscarf that covers a woman’s head and face in Muslim cultures) is not required by the religion of Islam.  It is a choice by those who are of the Muslim culture.   Many Muslim women choose not to wear a hijab, and they are not breaking any Islamic laws.  Many Muslim women, however, choose to wear a hijab as a part of their Muslim heritage or culture but not as a religious requirement.  Again, it is not a requirement of Islam.

There should, therefore, be no reference made to this as being a “religious” issue.  It is not.  It is a cultural issue.  There should, therefore, also be no reference made to this as being one in the same as the Catholic church’s lawsuit against the Obama administration’s birth control mandate.  The Catholic church is currently defending its freedom of religion under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  This is very different from any cultural freedoms.

If you want to live in the United States of America, you must abide by its laws.  Other cultures are respected, but not to the point of it becoming a security issue for others.   The hijabs need to be removed in the U.S. when required for security reasons.  If you want a driver’s license in the United States, remove your hijab, get your photo taken, and obtain your driver’s license.  It’s a very simple procedure.  No court of law needs to be involved.  If you choose to shop in public stores and a security guard asks you to remove your hijab before entering a particular store, you must do so, or else don’t shop at that store.

And please don’t try to claim that the hijab is a religious article of clothing protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.  It is not.  It is a cultural article of clothing.   Please don’t confuse the two.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mall_muslim_snub_whENdrLXa1AzMXMn6kESaJ#ixzz1vnU5zEXE