Islamic Sharia and Islamic countries have been criticized for restricting women's choices in clothing, forcing them to wear the hijab against their will. However, Islamic apologists argue that women in Western societies face similar pressures, being compelled to wear revealing clothing instead of having the freedom to choose their desires. According to this line of thinking, non-Muslims should refrain from criticizing Islamic Sharia and Islamic countries for their dress code restrictions, given that Western societies also impose their own form of dress code compliance on women.
Please check out this video by Ali Dawah, an Islamic apologist.
Response:
It's unrealistic to assume that individuals can be completely shielded from social pressure. There will always be some level of influence, especially since we don't live in a flawless world. Moreover, this social pressure in the West is not due to any Law/Compulsion, but only due to Fashion/Trend, and it is "minimal".
However, Western societies have found a solution to this issue by granting both narratives the freedom to express themselves under the guise of freedom of speech. This means that:
- one narrative can argue that the hijab oppresses women and prevents them from living freely and looking attractive,
- while the opposing Muslim narrative can assert that women need to wear the hijab for their own safety.
As a result, both viewpoints coexist in society, balancing each other out and providing individuals with a range of perspectives.
If Islamic apologists claim that Western women are "beauty sick," Muslims are free to share their beliefs and help these women supposedly recover from their illness.
But in the Islamic States, it is a combination of two thing i.e. Compulsion through Law + Compulsion through Social Pressure:
- Firstly, it is the LAW which compels women for a certain Islamic dress code. And not obeying it results in punishment. They are fined and even imprisoned.
- And then comes the compulsion through social pressure too. And this social pressure is not a "light" pressure like in the Western social pressure, but it is an "Extreme Social Pressure".
- Firstly, it is the family which exerts this social pressure. And the extent of compulsion of this social pressure even surpasses the extent of compulsion due to law. Girls are beaten by their families if they refuse to dress according to Islamic dress code and wear the Hijab. And they are even killed in the name of Ghayrah (Arabic: غَيْرَة).
- In addition to familial pressure, societal expectations also play a significant role in shaping the lives of girls and women in Islamic societies. Men often experience high levels of sexual frustration ins such societies, which can make it difficult for females to venture out in public without being subjected to harassment and catcalling. This creates a challenging environment for women to navigate, compelling them to conform to strict Islamic dress codes. Such catcalling and harassment also still exists in the West, but it is minimum as compared to Islamic societies, and gradually it is also vanishing.
- Moreover, Islamic countries don't allow non-Muslims to preach and criticize Islam and Sharia for making Hijab obligatory. They put a complete ban upon this counter-narrative. And this thing is known as 100% Religious Brainwashing.
Ultimately, Islamic apologists are wrong on all fronts. It is a shame that we had to spend time to counter this foolish argument.
In religious societies, there is so much pressure on girls that stories of oppression and injustice against them are considered normal and acceptable. People in the West, who enjoy freedom and equality, don't even realize the existence of this extreme oppression on millions of Muslim girls. Please read thousands of witnesses of girls from Muslim families on ex-Muslim subreddit, how this extreme pressure broke them mentally and how they were compelled to live under fear.
Moreover, it is also wished that Islamic apologists would have answered these questions why Islam prohibited slave women from wearing the Hijab, why Umar Ibn Khattab used to beat the slave women for taking the Hijab, and why Islam even kept their breasts naked in public. Please read the detailed article on this issue here: Islam Prohibited Slave Women from Wearing the Hijab or Even Covering Their Naked Breasts in Public
At the moment, Islam gets a free pass despite being the culprit of compelling slave women not to wear the Hijab and to move in public with naked breasts, but on the other hand Western system has become the sole criminal for compelling women for revealing clothes, although it never enforces anything. How blind should we be to digest such huge Double Standards?
Hassan Radwan