Fashion For Muslim Women In The Workplace

Fashion For Muslim Women In The Workplace

Muslim women all over the world are identified through the wearing of a hajab (the traditional headscarf of culture, elegance, heritage, and pride), from the bedouins to the boardrooms. Some may perceive these women to be submissive, soft-spoken, and not in good command of the English language; however ―young women in Dubai (for example) are overturning a traditionally patriarchal culture to find their feet in the workplace.‖ (Sharp) The wearing of a hajab is a symbol that depicts the decency of Muslim women and is worn as a respect to their religion, not to be shown as a political statement.

Ironically, ―About 20 years ago, the situation surrounding Muslim women was very different to what we have now. If a woman worked, she was not allowed to wear hijab. Women were generally unable to demand their Islamic rights. So the women who worked were those who were forced to by necessity (poverty) or those who didn‘t mind compromising their Islamic values. This made the Muslim society, including men, feel aversion toward women working and leaving the house - it was seen as parallel to losing one‘s Islamic identity and values. As time passed, the gap between working Muslim women who compromised their Islamic identity and values, and women who stayed at home and wore hijab, widened.‖ (Akhmat)

It is quite interesting to hear the views of people from the Western world that are outraged by Muslim girls wearing a headscarf, but at the same time tolerate women in skimpy clothes. Muslim women are not oppressed by this clothing item; in fact, many feel free from unwanted advances and sexual harassment that is faced by many Western women. When a Muslim woman covers herself, she places herself on a higher level by allowing men to see and respect her intellect, faith, and personality. The physical person is to play no role in social interaction.

‗The new Islam woman‘ is portrayed as being educated, engaged in society and politics; …she challenges the secular elite by representing an alternative modern image and identity. The central symbol for the modern Islamic woman is a certain kind of veil: Tesettür (the symbolism of the Tesettür veil is quite contradictory). The veil, with roots in the Ottoman elite‘s fashion, refers to values such as patriarchal hierarchy, gender segregation, and women‘s domestic role. Still other times the veil is simply a commercial fashion accessory (there are constantly changing patterns and colors, special fashion shows, and shops) associating the bearer with an active, urban, and modern Islamic lifestyle. As a uniform and symbol of social mobility, the Tesettür veil unites people across class and political motivation; as a fashion accessory it differentiates between those who can afford to follow the latest trends and buy quality materials, and those who cannot afford to.

Many modern Muslim women now have the opportunity to pursue a three-year professional fashion design program in drafting, computer-aided design, marketing, live drawing, fashion, culture, textiles, and communication. The Paris-based Ecole de Mode International (ESMOD) offers master‘s programs in fashion design and business administration in France, Germany, Norway, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Brazil in collaboration with the Fashion Design Institute in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ESMOD provides young women with.

FASHION OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES:

Fostering a better understanding of Islam is not simply a challenge for Muslims, but a challenge for all Americans. Islam, after all, can no longer be considered a non-Western religion and Muslims are no longer ―them.‖ Muslims are ―us‖ and is the fastest growing religion in the United States. Democratic politician Robert F. Kennedy, then United States Attorney General, said in his ―Extremism, Left and Right,‖ pt. 3, in The Pursuit of Justice in 1964, ―Ultimately, America‘s answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.‖ The religious beliefs, social customs, dress, language, music, family, structure, traditions of hospitality are only some of the multiple dimensions assimilated into the values of mainstream American society.

According to Rifkin, ―the American Muslim community is more affluent and educated than anywhere else. That will lead to greater development of Islamic thought here to a degree that I think in the future the Muslims of America will be influencing the leaders of Muslim nations more than the other way around.‖ More recently, in 2001, the Boston Globe noted that, by redefining their role in culture and society, American Muslim women may have an impact on Muslims throughout the world. As the paper reports: ‗Unfortunately, the way Islam is practiced currently in some countries is not ideal,‘ said [one Massachusetts woman]. ‗A lot of countries are looking to see how we practice it here, and we have the potential to be a really strong role model for... women in other countries.‘ (Paulson)

American Muslims who follow Prophet Muhammad‘s (peace be upon him) doctrine of ‗tolerance and equality of others messages‘ see themselves as pioneers contributing to the development of society. Some young Muslim women may be perceived as radical and/or ambitious, yet they are much better educated than their mothers and are using this as a springboard for them to play a much wider role in society. In the 21st century, American Muslim women are now finding ways to make it work. As Smith notes, ―The Qur‘an is cited as being fully egalitarian in its treatment of men and women… Muslims generally insist that this equality represents a great improvement over the circumstance of women before Islam and that the Qur‘an is a remarkably equitable document in comparison with the sacred scriptures of other religious traditions.‖ Social consciousness, justice, and divine harmony are messages continually reiterated throughout the faith. ―In order to understand what Islam has established for woman… Islam has given woman rights and privileges… The rights and responsibilities of a woman are equal to those of a man but they are not necessarily identical with them.

The irony of Islam in America is that except for a few instances, we are thoroughly integrated secularly and civilly but grossly separated and dysfunctional religiously. (Ahmad) Many American Muslims fear that being involved will mean being misunderstood or, worse, becoming a victim of a campaign to demonize their religion or distort their views. Editor Greg Noakes, an American Muslim commentator, observes that many Americans, Muslims, and non-Muslims alike, believe another major barrier to greater understanding of Islam lies in the portrayal and images of Muslims in the media. ―For the most part, American media coverage of Muslims and events in the Muslim world concentrates on the sensational… in the hunt for sensationalism the media pass over the exciting variety of interpretation and expression among Muslims who often profess very different ideas and attitudes while still remaining within the Islamic community.‖ These culturally based-misinterpretations from ―both Muslims and non-Muslims label the systematic distortion of Islam as ‗Islamophobia,‘ a fear of everything Islamic.‖ (Smith)

American Muslims, ―continue to face dehumanization and a growing trend of Islamophobia,‖ said Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. In a 3-day meeting held on 9/1-3/06 in Rosemont, IL that drew nearly 40,000 Muslims from Canada and the United States, Ingrid Mattson, the newly elected and the first woman president of the Islamic Society of North America, called President George W. Bush's recasting of the war on terror as a "war against Islamic fascism", inaccurate and not helpful to people of her faith. Labeling terrorism as "Islamic" only adds to a misunderstanding of the religion. As an alternative to ‗Islamic fascism,‘ Mattson suggested the words ‗terrorism, crime, violence,‘ adding that she and other Muslims don't understand why the label ‗Islamic‘ is included when Bush and other leaders talk about terrorism.‖ Sharing similar thoughts, Akhmat believes that, ―nowadays, if a Muslim woman practices Islam—she prays, fasts, wears hijab, and so on—she is sometimes seen as a fundamentalist and perhaps a terrorist, which reflects the general misunderstanding of people regarding Islam.‖ Hoping to dispel these stereotypes and breakdown cultural prejudices, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England called on Muslim Americans to spread to the world the word about freedom, citing the success of Muslim businesspeople and professionals in the United States.