I had an eye opening experience the other day and I would like to thank the cold weather of my native Logan, Utah for leading me to it.
For those of you not native to northern Utah, it's freezing here during the months of November through March (even April) and having to expose myself to the elements to get to and from class leaves my very sensitive nose and sinuses to be ravaged by the wind and ice/sleet/freezing rain/snow depending on mother natures mood. After several days of below zero temperatures and the wind, I had to find a way to protect my face because than the constant slipping of wrapping my scarf around my mouth and nose just wasn't cutting it for me.
So one night after having enough I decided to look up how Muslim women tie their head scarves to veil their face. Now, I knew of the Hijab, the scarf that covers the hair, neck and ears but I didn't know what the term for the style of scarf that veils everything except the eyes. Doing some research, I learned that the proper name is Niquab and now armed with that information I was ready to search for tutorials on how to tie one myself.
I found so many tutorials on different ways to wear Hijabs, Niquabs, and even Burqa's. Thanks to youtube I found several beautiful women from many different countries (many not even middle eastern) who were sharing many variations of how to wear their scarves.
What I learned in that hour of my pursuit to find a non claustrophobic way to keep my face from freezing this winter, I found many beautiful women with wonderful smiles, eyes that shone. Women who were happy with themselves and excited to share their love for different colors and styles of garb and best of all... I learned that I had more in common with them than I had thought.
Not that I thought we'd never have anything in common. No. I just hadn't taken the time previously to really see and understand who these people were.
Now before anyone thinks that my pursuits of warmth are a mockery to Muslim faith, rest assured. I wear a hat as well for extra warmth and in the end it just looks like everyone else who wears the "scarf mask". If that still bothers some individuals, please know that I hold other people's beliefs in high regard.
I admire these women who show their devotion to God by their manner of dress.
In fact, I admit that I think that all the variations of style and form of scarves are beautiful. I would wear them willingly simply because I think that it's just another beautiful way to express yourself. However, I don't because I respect the Muslims in my community and would never want to make a mockery of something they find sacred.
The other think I learned in such a short amount of time was that there are people in the world who don't have respect for other religions or ideas but their own. They would rather bash and trash and call these women terrible things in the comments sections of these videos simply because they don't conform to their societal norms and upbringing.
Tell me, is it bad that women of their own free will and choice find joy and peace in one religion instead of another? Is it bad for anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, to stand firm with what they know is right even if that idea is unpopular?
I find it atrocious that in the "land of the free" there are people who would want to limit the freedom of others simply because they disagree.
I hope that I can at least be civil to everyone because I believe every one is allowed to respect regardless if they agree with me or not.
So if you have an opinion or a comment, feel free to share.
