I offer this brief passage from the Institute of Islamic Information:


The word "hijab" comes from the Arabic word "hajaba" meaning to hide
from view or conceal. In the present time, the context of hijab is the
modest covering of a Muslim woman. The question now is what is the extent
of the covering? The Qur'an says:

"Say to the believing man that they should lower their gaze and guard
their modesty; that will make for greater purity for them; and Allah
is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women
that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; and that they
should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily
appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and
not display their beauty except to their husbands..." (Qur'an 24:30-31)
These verses from the Qur'an contain two main injunctions:

A woman should not show her beauty or adornments except what appears
by uncontrolled factors such as the wind blowing her clothes, and the
head covers should be drawn so as to cover the hair, the neck and the
bosom. Islam has no fixed standard as to the style of dress or type
of clothing that Muslims must wear. However, some requirements must be
met. The first of these requirements is the parts of the body which must
be covered. Islam has two sources for guidance and rulings: first, the
Qur'an, the revealed word of Allah and secondly, the Hadith or the traditions
of the Prophet Muhammad (S) who was chosen by Allah to be the role model
for mankind. The following is a Tradition of the Prophet:

"Ayesha (R) reported that Asmaa the daughter of Abu Bakr (R) came to
the Messenger of Allah (S) while wearing thin clothing. He approached
her and said: 'O Asmaa! When a girl reaches the menstrual age, it is
not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this.
He pointed to the face and hands." (Abu Dawood)

Now who's culture are these mandates in dress and conduct coming from?
It is clear that this is not a classic African interpetation of how women
or anyone mantains respectability. A thousand years ago, a woman who
was initiated in the holy priesthoods of any African religion would have
probably appeared bare chested during rituals, sometimes during daily
activity. If nothing else we know that she would be bare shouldered (as
in the photograph shown here). Is she any less a priestess in showing
parts of her body? Are the people present any less children of God for
having witnessed and participating in said spiritual ritual because it
was conducted by a bare shouldered sister? By the way, black people have
always recognized the spiritual powers naturally inherent in women. Why
would any black woman deny her God-given right to serve as clergy because
arabic and white men have a problem with women as priests? Imagine how
many sisters miss their calling because they allow the dicatates of other
cultures to determine their lives.

Which brings us to another point; the validity of the Quron in the African
person's life. How did we come to be introduced to this book? Should
we be following it's words? Don't we have our own spiritual teachings?
Yes! And these words of wisdom or no less sacred or important because
they are primarily passed down orally.

Every religion is birthed from some people's culture. Religion is not
created in a vacuum, nor is it a non-cultural thing. So, when you adopt
a religion, you adopt a culture. If you convert to Judiaism you will
be introduced to Semetic culture. You may begin to eat kosher foods.
Dress according to semetic custom. This is the order of things. So when
an African becomes a muslim she is introduced to arabic culture. Now
perhaps the ways of arabic people suits you well. But does it wear better
on your body and soul than the ways of your own people? Are saying that
we are proud to be black as long as we do not have to dress, pray or
speak like black people? There are black people dieing to learn arabic
so that they can recite the Quron, yet they have no interest in learning
the languages spoken by our people before we arrived here on slave ships.
We will carry the cross of Jesus before we commit our lives to the Orisa,
Loa or Abosum. Why is that?

And before I miss the opportunity, I believe it is imporatant to state
that clean living is possible through african spirituality. We do not
need to look outside our cultures to find paths to sobriety, fidelity
or otherwise. We come from a race of hard workers, spiritual masters,
governmental wizards and cultural architects. Everything that we admire
about the Nation of Islam can be done within a African context. Is has
already be done. (In fact, a lot of spiritual communities are doing it.)
When we choose to practice the ways of others we are declaring war on
ourselves. We are forcing our own culture in extinction. We are showing
others around us that we are ashamed and without roots. We are begging
to be exploited. Is this not true? What would you think if the Jews decided
to become the followers of the Aryan Nation? Or became disciples of a
Hitler-based organization? You would say that they had gone mad. Yet,
black remain the only people on the entire planet that know nothing of
their own language, religions, dress, ethics and sciences. And a lot
of these black people are turning to others to give them direction. Something
to think about, eh?
Click Here for even more to think about

In future, posts I will continue to explore exactly what is missing from
arabic and european religions that can be found within various african
spiritual paths and how healthier black people are when they practice
their own beliefs.

* I am in no suggesting or encouraging any form of recriprocal racism.
In general terms, black people need to place their own survival above
the survival of other people. Not because any one people are more sacred
than another, but because historically europeans and arabs have placed
a low value on our lives and culture. In addition, they have made no
indication that they were wrong for doing so. In more specific terms,
some individual arabs and europeans have attempted to make ammends socially,
spiritually, economically, etc. These individuals should not feel that
the stance of "black first" is in any way an attack on their efforts.
Nor should they be upset Black people are being encouraged to embrace
their own cultures. If they are upset by this suggestion, then perhaps
they are still very much racists within their hearts.