Now I am going to ask you a “Fill in the Blank” question. There are political, economic, cultural, oppressive, feminist-based, family guidance-based, place of birth-based, religious, sociological reasons why woman… (Fill in the blank with: Cover or not cover their hair)

To understand the issue of head covering it is important to realize not all women choose to cover or not cover based on the same reasons. For example a woman may cover simply because she was born in a village in Sivas, Turkey, and this may come naturally. She will see it as something people in her family have been doing for hundreds of years, and might not even give a second thought to the practice. A woman born in Utah, USA may not cover because she has never seen anyone doing it in her family and might not even think about it. Both of these women are not consciously given decisions. They are just the way they are.

Another example may be that a woman in Pakistan, going to a more religious school, may cover not to stand out because she is afraid of peer pressure. And a woman in England going to a liberal school may be afraid of covering because she will stand out and be subjected to a different form of peer pressure.

In different sects of Christianity, Judaism, or Sikhism women may choose to cover their hair. Similarly, they may choose to shave their head if they are practicing Buddhism. Some Muslim women may cover, and others may not. So as you see, the argument about to cover or not to cover is really endless, and as far as I am concerned, is a time consuming debate which could go both ways depending on who is arguing it, and why they are arguing it. Arguments will usually take people nowhere because people going into the argument already have a predetermined opinion. During an argument, the only thing they are focusing on is defeating their opponent. So they are constantly thinking of coming up with new ways to prove why “they are right”, and even if they have not been able to convince their opponent by the end of the argument, they have convinced themselves even further by finding 100 more reasons on why “they are right.” So no, I am not here to offer you my argument on the topic. But instead I am here to share. I will share why I choose to cover and what I feel when I cover, realizing this is utterly personal. I am not speaking on behalf of all Muslim women, nor am I speaking on behalf of what is the right thing to do. I am speaking on behalf of my experience with the Muslim veil; so I can grow, and perhaps you can grow, and by the end perhaps we might be a little more inspired compared to our starting point before this article.

I come from an international family, so I was not raised Muslim. I embraced Islam at the age of 22, only a couple of years ago. My encounter with Islam didn’t come from my family or friends, but it was rather personal. I see it as something that was meant to be and so it happened.

In the days when I used to do makeup and my hair, I would say I could bring some attention to myself; yet no matter how much I dressed up, there was always a woman more beautiful than me in my immediate surroundings. Before submitting to Islam, I did try to compete and shine and draw attention, and I really think that was necessary for me to understand the meaning behind veiling.

It happened very suddenly. I was a student, doing my bachelor’s in the USA. I didn’t really think about it, nor did I really weigh the consequences. One night, I was turning in my bed, from left to right, right to left, unable to sleep and the next day I went out of the house with a black scarf on my head combined with a Victoria’s Secret hoodie and loose jeans, to meet my friend. I texted my friend before meeting her; my text said: “Hey, so I don’t want to shock you, but I am coming to meet you with a Muslim head scarf.” So that is how my story started. But I am not writing to tell you my story; I want to write about the state of worship I feel after I covered.

There is no doubt that female beauty was created by God in such a manner that it almost screams out the beauty of the Divine. And yet, just as many ideologies such as Feminism have pointed out, female beauty and sexuality has been turned into a matter of pure arrogance between woman, dictated by an industry run by men, whose only desire is to make money out of it. To use it and abuse it. Unfortunately, something so Divine, has been turned into something so shallow. They have used it to sell their products and they have used it to control power. And I had bought their story: this is how I know the amount of damage it can cause to a woman. Because it also damaged me. A lot.

I was created fairly beautiful, but instead of being thankful for it, I always competed with it. Sexuality and beauty had turned into things I would compete for, things that I would look at jealously in other women, and realize other women envied in me. It was a cruel competition, when women’s magazines constantly bombarded me beauty products, fashion, surgical and non surgical ways to beautify myself so that I could hold my man’s eyes upon myself. Things I needed to do so he wouldn’t cheat on me. Then I would turn the page, simply turn one thin layer of paper to come across an article about self confidence and the keys to feel beautiful and sexy the way you are. Between two millimeters of thickness lay two incredibly huge concepts that women have been enslaved to. We’ve produced this race that nobody will ever win; and that is the exact point of producing it in the first place. Feeding our ego that makes us feel so good when we declare our beauty to the world, and betrays us when something better comes along.

My aim with my veil is to internalize the philosophy of Rumi, who said, “Die before you die.” I tell myself: “It’s ok, there is no race, step aside. Be humble. Keep your beauty within. Liberate yourself from things that don’t matter. Be afraid that one of your sisters may feel pain in her heart because she feels less because of your beauty. Understand that the most precious creation in this Universe is a human heart. Be sensitive toward the women who have lost their families because of the cruel sexuality games. Be sensitive to those who are going through the pain of anorexia. Care for the ones who are depressed because of their weight. Care for the women who have been used and abused by rich business man only to be thrown away like a piece of garbage and who are feeling lost and empty inside. Don’t judge the women who don’t cover. Don’t judge women who have sexual relationships in return for money. Don’t judge anorexic women trying to models. But instead, care for them. Be sensitive to their feelings, to their inner battles. Step aside from the silent completion that is going on between them, hide your sexuality and let women who are in the competition feel safe in your presence. Be their shelter. Allow her to look at you and know that you are out of the game. Try to give her a moment of peace while she is with you because only God knows the struggles she is going through. Suppress your ego. Know that your value does not depend on how you look but depends on your spirituality. Take every part of ego in your heart and crush it. Crush your desire to be superior to other human beings, in every single aspect. Internalize it in every possible aspect of your life, including spirituality, physical beauty, success, fame or money. Love them, care for them, nourish them. So before going out from your house, first wear your veil over your heart that will protect it from the evil in the world, then complete it with your physical veil. Be at peace. Smile like the Virgin Mary…”

And quite surprisingly, when I was in the Western world, the moment I tried smiling like Mary, I would encounter people acting like Jesus. I am in no means saying veiling is the only way to accomplish this, but I am saying that veiling, together with other practices, has led me to this path and I am very thankful for it. Veiling has become a means of healing for my heart. And for the first time in my life, I felt satisfied with how I looked, which led to self confidence and internal peace. No matter what I say, I can’t express myself better than Rumi did, so I will finish with a quote from him:

“With God two ‘I’s cannot form. You say ‘I’ and he says ‘I’. Either you die before him, or let him die before you, then duality would not remain. But it is impossible for him to die, either subjectively or objectively, since he is the ever living God, the undying. He possesses such gentleness, that if it was possible, He would die before you so that duality may vanish. But since it is impossible for him to die, you die, so He may manifest himself to you and duality may vanish.”

The Meaning of Life According to Islam

Said Nursi explains the aim of creation in the following words: “Belief in God is the highest aim of creation and the most sublime result, and humanity’s most exalted rank is knowledge of Him. The most radiant happiness and sweetest bounty for the jinn and humanity is love of God contained within knowledge of God.” In other words, we are created to believe in God. Once a person believes in God they will try to get to know Him and acquire knowledge about Him. This knowledge of God can only be built on a belief in God. This intimate knowledge of God must surely lead to the love of God, which is described as the highest degree of happiness a human being can achieve. A person with a heart that overflows with the love of God will strive to keep his commandments and ex-press this love through worship.

Achieving closeness to God gives life its real meaning. The closest proximity to God can be achieved only in Heaven. While God is closer to us than ourselves, we may put barriers between our conscious and subconscious, and our heart and our Lord. Islam teaches that, from our perspective, doing good and staying away from evil is a means of getting closer to God. Islam teaches that humans are equal in all respects (e.g. race, gender, status, occupation, appearance, etc) except for closeness to God. Every good deed brings a person closer to God, and every evil act takes them further away from God. We can understand this, as there are many ranks or stations in closeness to God. Thus, the test of choosing between good and evil has the purpose of giving people the opportunity to rise through these stations of spirituality.

Islam teaches that angels have fixed stations. They cannot commit sins or descend to lower stations, nor can they achieve a higher station through good deeds. Unlike angels, however, humans can get closer to God and rise through these stations by doing good deeds or descend and get further away from God by committing sins. So, God gives hu-man beings the opportunity to rise to a level beyond the angels or go below the level of Satan; it is all our choice. Without the creation of Satan or evil, there would not be any stations for humans to pass through to get closer to God, and therefore, we would be like angels with fixed stations.

The Concepts of Good and Evil in Islam

As humans, our definitions of good and evil are based on our perceptions and thinking. Human experience, however, is limited in many ways. Many things and events which at first appear to be good may prove in the final outcome to be evil, and vice versa. True knowledge, that is knowledge which is not subject to limitations, is only with God. The Qur’an clearly states that God is the only authority in defining good and evil. Therefore our perceptions of good and evil may be misleading:

. . . but it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But God knows, and you know not. (Baqara 2:216)

The Islamic definitions of good and evil are based on the purposes of creation and the meaning of human life. As mentioned above, the ultimate goal of human life is to become perfected spiritually through belief in God (iman), the knowledge of God (marifatullah), the love of God (muhabbatullah), and the worship of God (ibada). Accordingly, whatever brings a person closer to God and will benefit him in the Next World is good, and whatever takes a person away from God, and thus incurs His anger is evil.

Extrapolating from these definitions, one can see that those things and events that we perceive as evil may in reality be good, if they lead us closer to God. For instance, a disease may be perceived as evil. But a person who goes through the disease with patience grows spiritually and becomes closer to God.

No calamity strikes except by God’s permission. (Taghabun 64:11)

Wealth and health may be perceived as good. But if they lead a person to indulge in worldly desires and forget God, then they become evil for that person.

Have you seen the one who takes his desires as his god? (Furqan 25:43)

The tricks of the devil may be perceived as evil. But they are evil only for those who fall for those tricks and forget God:

Satan got the better of them and caused them to forget God. Those are the party of Satan. Truly the party of Satan are the real losers. (Mujadila 58:19)

On the other hand, through resistance to the devil and through patience in submission to God, one grows spiritually and becomes closer to God. So, for such a person, the existence of the devil and his tricks is a means of spiritual ascension.

…And those who persevere in seeking the pleasure of their Lord, and keep up prayer and spend (benevolently) out of what We have given them secretly and openly and repel evil with good; as for those, they shall have the (happy) issue of the abode. (Rad 13:22)

The following verse from the Qur’an exemplifies good and evil as they relate to the conduct of our lives:

It is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the East and the West, but righteousness is this that one should believe in God and the last day and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the captives, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in time of conflicts-these are they who are true (to themselves) and these are they who guard (against evil). (Baqara 2:177)

An inclination toward good and a dislike for evil is inherent in every human being. Prophet Muhammad teaches that good is the beautiful personality and beautiful virtues of a person, while evil is what makes one’s heart uncomfortable, unhappy, and is that side of a person that they do not want anyone to know about. Islam teaches that good deeds in this world are like seeds that will be harvested in the Hereafter:

Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s-weight of good, see it! (Zilzal 99:7)

Also the Prophet said: “Save yourself from the Fire, even by giving half a date in charity, and if you do not find (half a date), then by saying a good word.” God is Just. Good will be rewarded sooner or later.

God is never unjust in the least degree: If there is any good (done), He doubles it, and gives from His own presence a great reward. (Nisa 4:40)

The Prophet explained these verses with the following words: “God rewards every single good deed that we do in this life and He is Just. He rewards people both here and in the Hereafter. For the unbelievers, on the other hand, they receive all their rewards here in this life and for them nothing is left for the Hereafter.” The Messenger of God states that all good deeds are important. “Do not underestimate any of them. Even smiling is not an unimportant action.”

Doing good deeds results from an intention and motivation that causes the action, and therein lies its value. A seemingly good action, if done for reasons other then pleasing God, may not be valued by God as a good deed and may not contribute to that person’s rising to the stations of spirituality. Good deeds done without the intention of pleasing God are most likely motivated by one’s ego. Therefore, it can be said that belief in God should be strongly located in the heart of a person when doing good deeds. Only a strong belief in God can guide people toward committing good deeds.

Human beings are not free to choose in many things. We cannot choose to live without eating, we cannot choose to live without drinking, and we cannot choose to live without sleeping. However, we are completely free in one thing: we can choose between good and evil. Life is about options, and decisions, and situations to choose between; good and evil are in front of us as options. We make our decisions, and God creates good and evil based on our decisions. It is inherent in Islam to believe that both good and evil comes from God.

Wherever you are, death will find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high! If some good befalls them, they say, ‘This is from God’; but if evil, they say, ‘This is from you’ (O Prophet). Say: ‘All things are from God.’ But what has come to these people that they fail to understand a single fact?” (Nisa 4:78)

God creates both good and evil based on our choices. Once we have made a choice, the action itself is independently created by God. For example, when a person decides to lift his arm, God creates all the necessary action in the muscles for that action to happen. The lifting of the arm might be to help somebody or to harm somebody; that decision is made by the person, and God merely converts the decision to action. We know, or are obliged to know, the consequences of our actions. People know that if they steal and are caught, they go to jail. We cannot blame the authorities for making that person suffer; it was their action that caused them to end up in jail. The authorities merely implement the law which states: if you steal, you go to jail. Similarly, God’s rule is that if you choose evil, it will be given to you; if you choose good, it will be given instead.

People are influenced by a number of forces in making choices. People are naturally inclined to do good. The reflections of God’s beautiful attributes, such as mercy and love, guide people toward good. However, two enemies work constantly against people to force them into evil. These enemies are Satan and one’s ego or carnal self.

Islam teaches that Satan in himself has no power to create. There is no war between Satan and God; this is a Hollywood fantasy. Satan was given a certain amount of time by God after he rebelled, because it is possible for people to make progress and attain higher spiritual stations through resisting his temptations. Satan’s only power is the ability to whisper into people’s souls and try to misguide them. He whispers to prevent people from doing good, or at least to delay it.

The Test in Islam

These are the reasons why this life is viewed as a test in Islam. The test is a struggle of choosing good over Satan and the carnal self. It is not a test to reveal anything to God; He already knows the past and the future. Rather, it is to reveal the outcome to ourselves and to help us grow in the process. Although the details may differ, the concept of the struggle is common in many religions. One important point in this struggle is to stay constantly active in good pursuits. It is easier for Satan and the carnal self to misguide people who are inactive and who are looking for ways to kill time. A believer should not waste time with fruitless actions; rather they should spend their time working for the afterlife and being useful to their fellow human beings. Another means to stop Satan and to nullify the carnal self is to surround oneself with people of belief and have strong relations with a believing community. A lone person is more prone to attacks from Satan and to follow the desires of their carnal self.

The main method in Islam for resisting Satan is prayer and refuge in God. Without God’s permission, Satan cannot cause any harm. A person who takes refuge in God and asks for help from Him with an open heart will be immune to Satan’s evil whispers. We need to maintain our motivation to get closer to God. We need to remember God in every single part of our life, and we need to establish our connection with God through prayer. An examination of Prophet Muhammad’s life shows that he spent a considerable amount of his time in worship and prayer. Published prophetic traditions include various prayers that are intended to guard us against the tricks of the devil.

Conclusion

Good and evil are intricate concepts that are difficult to define without reference to some sound sources. The revealed scriptures, messengers of God and the human inner conscience provide us with the knowledge of good and evil, as well as giving us information on how to attain good and prevent evil. In this article we have indicated various aspects of good and evil as they are described in the main Islamic sources of knowledge, the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions. A clear understanding of good and evil, a conduct of life that is directed toward the achievement of good for all humanity, and “enjoining good and forbidding evil” are the goals of a person of faith.