ASSALAMUALAIKUM WA'RAHMATULLAH WA'BARAKATUH
A Letter to the Culture that Raised Me
by Yasmin Mogahed
(Monday June 20 2005)
"With my veil I put my faith on display - rather than my
beauty. My value
as a human is defined by my relationship with God, not
by my looks. So I
cover the irrelevant. And when you look at me, you don't
see a body. You
view me only for what I am: a servant of my Creator."
Growing up, you read me the
Ugly Duckling. And for years
I believed that
was me. I am a woman - that ugly duckling among men. For
so long you
taught me I was nothing more than a bad copy of the
standard.
I couldn't run as fast or lift as much. I didn't make
the same money and
I cried too often. I grew up in a man's world where I
didn't belong.
And when I couldn't be him, I wanted only to please him.
I put on your
make-up and wore your short skirts. I gave my life, my
body, my dignity,
for the cause of being pretty. I knew that no matter
what I did, I was
worthy only to the degree that I could please and be
beautiful for my
master. And so I spent my life
on the cover of Cosmo and
gave my body for
you to sell.
I was a slave, but you taught me I was free. I was your
object, but you
swore it was success. You taught me that my purpose in
life was to be on
display, to attract, and be beautiful for men. You had
me believe that my
body was created to market your cars. And you raised me
to think I was an
ugly duckling.
But you lied.
Islam tells me, I'm a swan. I'm different - it's meant
to be that way.
And
my body, my soul, was created for something more.
God says in the Quran: 'O mankind, We created you from a
single (pair) of
a
male and a female and made you into nations and
tribes, that you may
know one another (not that you may despise each other).
Verily, the most
honoured of you in the sight of God is the one who is
most righteous"
(Quran 49:13).
So I am honoured. But it is not by my relationship to
men. My value as a
woman is not measured by the size of my waist or the
number of men who
like me. My worth as a human being is measured on a
higher scale: a scale
of righteousness and piety. And my purpose in life -
despite what the
fashion magazines say - is something more sublime than
just looking good
for men.
And so God tells me to cover myself, to
hide my beauty
and to tell the
world that I'm not here to please men with my body; I'm
here to please
God.
God elevates the dignity of a woman's body by commanding
that it be
respected and covered, shown only to the deserving -
only to the man I
marry.
So to those who wish to 'liberate' me, I have only one
thing to say:
Thanks, but no thanks.
I'm not here to be on display. And my body is not for
public consumption.
I will not be reduced to an object, or a pair of legs to
sell shoes. I'm
a
soul, a mind, a servant of God. My worth is defined by
the beauty of my
soul, my heart, my
moral character. So, I won't worship
your beauty
standards, and I don't submit to your fashion sense. My
submission is to
something higher.
With my veil I put my faith on display - rather than my
beauty. My value
as a human is defined by my relationship with God, not
by my looks. So I
cover the irrelevant. And when you look at me, you don't
see a body. You
view me only for what I am: a servant of my Creator.
So you see, as a Muslim woman, I've been liberated from
a silent kind of
bondage. I don't answer to the slaves of God on earth. I
answer to their
King.
