Veiled or Brained?

Woman Dress Code, Religion Versus Tradition

We have three major areas of debate when it comes to Islam in relation to women dress and dress codes. First being the face covering, linked to several security as well as social issues, and hereunder we will explain how unrelated it was to Islamic traditions. Then the bodily appropriate coverage, which Islam had advised-on in broad and elastic terms. Finally, we will discuss the controversial head covering.

Face Covering and Loss of Identity:

The commonly perceived to be Muslim women dress code, covering her entire body including her face, hands, and feet has nothing to do with Islam. It is a nomadic habit among Asian tribes, more related to the male domination nature of these societies, when we compare it to the African Sahara habit of covering faces of both male and female, like in the case of Tuareg tribes, where uncovered male face is a source of shame while women face covering is a voluntarily act, we shall then understand it was a matter of appropriateness to environment as well as ancient tribal tradition and not a religious tradition.

Today, this tribal habit became part of history in Turkey, at least in major cities, while it remained a living practice in Saudi, wherefrom it was exported to the whole Arabic world during 70s, 80s and 90s of the 20th century when Muslims from allover the globe were employed to build the petroleum civilization of Saudi kingdom. In Saudi, you will hear a lot about that habit. About how it encouraged adultery among women and men, due to lack of identification of woman persona. Even in Egypt, a court case I read once was about act of fornication committed by a totally covered woman, when she kept inviting her lover home, even when her husband was there, astonishingly she could make it because her lover stepped-in all time as a face-covered friend of her. It took three years until the cheated man hare a moaning from the room, to open the door and face his lifetime shocking scene!

Apart from the fragile claims of Wahabism jurists, who defend face covering as Islamic tradition, as they are all proofed false by numerous Muslim jurists, we will use one proof to show how Islam did not favor this identity-confusing nomadic tradition. When we say that God prohibited face covering during pilgrimage in Mecca and Medina, we can find-out what the real Islamic attitude toward face covering was. Until today, and due to clear commandment, everywoman must expose her face during Haj to Mecca.

Body Covering in Quran:

As a matter of fact, there is no dress code stated in Quran neither for women nor for men. Quran only advised some practices to increase the appropriateness of women appearance and to improve her perception in public. The terms used in the holy verses in this regard was intentionally broad and general to give flexibility to women dress, that should essentially change over time and with the diversity of environments and climates.

First verse being “And tell the believing ladies to cast down their eyes (upon seeing a stranger) and guard their chastity, and reveal not their charm save what is outward; and let them cast their veils over their bosoms” Light: 31. And as we can see, the verse advises Muslim ladies to guard their chastity, and limit their charm (meant body charm) to their husbands and their 1st degree kinship, and as by this time, women dresses usually had longitudinal clefts to enable nursing mothers feeding their babies, the verse advised the ladies to use their veils (that was already used before Islam to cover part of the head by the bedouin adornment habit) to cover these clefts and accordingly ensure covering their breasts. The second verse is”O’ Prophet, tell your wives and daughters and the believing ladies; to get well covered (meant when they go out) so it is likelier to be known (as free and regarded ladies), so they do not be subject of any harm. God is all-forgiving, all-compassionate” Allies: 59. We find the verse here giving a general command for appropriate dress that does not reflect looseness, aiming to decrease women exposure to verbal as well as physical harassments.

In both verses, we find-out the following points:

• Both used the term “tell”, so it was not “order” or “force” , which means women dress of whatever nature shall not be enforced to all women (like the case of Saudi or Afghanistan). The idea in the verses was about educating women how they should be dressed appropriately, not to force them to a nomadic black uniform.
• Both verses were directed only to the “believing women” with special emphasis on apostle’s wives and daughters in the second verse. It was not directed to other women in the Muslims state in Medina, specially knowing that Medina had a plenty of Jews and some Christians. Accordingly, whatever role Islam has in this regard, shall never be enforced and dictated on non-Muslims living in a Muslim state, which means again that Wahabism system in Saudi is baseless in this regard, only as it is baseless in many other.
• Quran commented a specific problem in the first verse, which is the breastfeeding clefts that was a necessity before buttons and zippers, and proposed an environmental solution to it which is the use of the bedouin veil, usually used by bedouins as a tool for adornment, to cover it. Also in a later part of the verse, Quran advised women to adopt a gait that supports the same impression of a serious woman, to avoid being thought-off as playful lady and subsequently lower the possibility of harassments.
• The 2nd verse gave a general recommendation, using the term “Youdnin Alihenna men Glabibhenna” which has the direct translation of “to get their dresses closer over them” that we interpreted and translated as “to be well covered” or simply appropriately covered. This is more or less related to the broad recommendation in the first verse, advising believing ladies to show only what is outward of their charm and feminine beauty. Both verses were deliberately general and broad termed, to give a room for changing time and conditions. Today, a woman can use a modern trousers and shirt during work or studying, and she will be fulfilling the recommendations as far as her dress does not reveal her charm and feminine treasures to everyone.
• In both verses, God educated women about the reason they should control their charm. It was their own welfare and safety. It had never been a matter of protecting men from seduction as the traditional jurists used to claim.
• The term “tell the believing ladies” gives an idea about the assets Quran relied on to define the broad terms in these verses. That is the “feminine intuition“. As everywoman knows by heart how she can be appropriately covered and how she can be seductive. If the woman is truly believing and convinced that God wanted her to leave the right impression, she can look in an appropriate way according to the society wherein she lives. On the other hand, she can whenever she wants look seductive even under the layers of “shadoor”. I can write a hundred pages on the difference between seductive and appropriate dressing for women, and it will be all meaningless. Only everywoman knows how to hide or reveal her charm, this is why the verse particularly relied on convincing not forcing women to adopt modesty in dressing.

Apostolic Teachings and Controversial Head Covering:

We have two oral teachings linked to apostle of God that is usually used as a reference for head covering in Islam. Both narrated by “Aisha“. In the first, she narrated: when “Asmaa bent Abi Bakr“ appeared to him in a light dress, Apostle of God said “O’ Asmaa, when the woman reaches puberty, it is not appropriate for her to reveal but this (pointed to his face) and these (pointed to his hands)”. And in the other, narrated “Aisha“: Apostle of God said, “A devout Muslim woman should not reveal after puberty but this and these (and pointed to his face and his arms) “

Supporters of head covering rely on these two hadieths, while their opponents rely on the fact that both hadieths are mono-referenced hadieths, a matter that decreases its credibility and doubts its linkage to apostle of God, claiming mono-referenced teachings to be only enough for advisory, supporting or detailing concepts supported by other scriptures, but not to establish a concept independently.

Afar from this debate, we see head covering to be a matter of personal choice to every lady to choose as she believes and comforts with. My own wife uses a veil as a head cover. I did not force her to do or not. She is a Muslim lady, she is an adult, and covering her head was her choice according to what she believes. This is the way it should always be. I think "Freedom" is the right word here. The opposition of head covering comes as an over-doing behavior in secular-societies like France once. Why should anyone be annoyed by a woman covering her own hair? As far as she does this in her own freewill? What harms secular foundations in this?

Among the three images we have here, I see the first to be wrong from security standpoint. While the 2nd and 3rd are both tolerable from social standpoint and it matters everylady only to choose what she feels comfortable with.

The Lady & the Cowards

On Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

The barbarian ashes of the world did it, assassinating the brave lady of Pakistan, one of my early models of feminine character, the personified beauty, the pretty rose of Indian subcontinent, they assassinated "Benazir Bhutto". The freaked-out rats of Qaida did their former threats, assassinating the former prime minister, who lives in elective exile in Dubai for 8 years, before she return home last October. When the coming election parameters favored here, they killed here with a suicidal bomb. They fooled a son of bitch young man, convincing him he will be admitted to heaven of God, if he assassinated the cute lady and the strong diplomat of Pakistan. May God burn in hell the assassin and all the devilish organization behind him. I do not agree to many aspects of Benazir's policies myself, but this does not make me less grievous on her murder.

This was the last thing I needed to get out of my low-motive mood I had over the past weeks. It only came to me as an extra dose of depression to resist the trials of recovery.

Creeping Darkness

When Sorrows Encircles Your Soul

Lonely, with the shiver of a cold night, after a long working day, that ended around 11:30 pm. When I am happy, lights fly from my heart to enlighten the world around me. On the other hand, when I am sad, darkness prevails, creeps inside my chest, covering my heart as well as all the universe with its heavy stain.

Looking from the window at the deserted street in this late hour of a winter night, I convert my look to the sky, trying to catch a moon. I can not, my ears then seem to hear a very old song from an Arabic TV series, it says;

Speed-up angels, help the moon
Free it to encircle the Earth

Speed-up boys to rescue it

Before the darkness drowns it

I bless "Mahmud Mursi", the giant Egyptian actor, who played in that series the role of two twins. The First is the kind and fair governor "Sadeq Halawany" who was murdered by his own twin brother "Saqr". Why fairness and truth dies swiftly in our country? The mental image of "Saqr" with his rich rural outfit, recalls its contrasting image, "Abdulla Gaith" in the masterpiece movie "The Unlawful". Wherein his image was a live representation of poverty, ignorance and illness triad. The Holy triad in our sad valley of Nile. As holy and ancient as Osiris, Isis and Horus triad. It had even outlasted the Oserian triad by 200 centuries now. I recall "Faten Hamam" in the same movie, when she was raped and conceived her rapier's baby. She was trying to find some sweet potato roots to feed her children and her handicapped husband, when the land owner caught her and raped here in the potato field. Dying from puerperal sepsis in the village yard, she was giving her last breaths saying; "A potato root was the reason, O' my baby, it was all about a potato root"

This lady was pushed to steal by poverty and illness of her husband, raped by vanity, and let to die by the ignorant village society, who thought she deserves her agonizing death being a fornicator. Now, here image is replaced in my aching head with that of "Jean Valjean" in Hugo's everlasting tragedy "The Miserables" I can not recall the name of the actor. Yet, his image is engraved in my mind, while he entered a small rural restaurant, shivering of cold and hunger altogether. He was asking the waiter, with his eyes carrying a mix of fear, hope, misery and pain, saying; "Soup and bread, I have money ... I can pay"

Another image of "Faten" as a farm girl crosses my mind, from "Taha Hussein" masterpiece this time, "Prayer of a Singing Bird". She played the role of "Amna", the smart sister of "Hanady", who was a simple village girl seduced by the civil engineer, to whom she used to serve as a housemaid. Upon pregnancy, he dumped her, to be back to her family, whereby she was murdered. In that movies "Amna" asked a very fair question. Why we kill the entrapped bird while we do not dare to touch the hunter? I do not agree in general to depicting man as a hunter and woman as the bird, it is a form of a stereotyping. However, in that movie, the girl was a real naive victim who lost her life under the motto of love. By the end of that movie, Taha Hussein narrated "Prayer of the singing bird, was it narrating the very same song, in that deserted space wherein Hanadi was slayed"

She was always such an esteemed artist Ms. "Hamama", never spoiled her reputation with adventures with Gulf Sheiks. Unsurprisingly, she did not have to announce a repentance and did not have to veil and stop acting. She was a real actress, unlike many of today's stars who act in movies to increase their value as whore I am afraid. Controversially, an actor who was accused for prostitution according to Egyptian laws, was one of the repented actresses lately! another, who used to be famous for her semi-porn movies also was one. I had always believed that who adopts modesty in his behavior remains modest for life. He deviates sometimes as a human being, then redirect himself. Those who goes for an extreme behavior are always liable to shift to the opposite extreme.

Closing my eyes, I hear rain drops over my window. I open my eyes to find nothing, I then feel and smell the scent of a rainy weather without realizing it. I recall one of my beloved "Nezar Qabbani" poems;

When it is rainy in Beirut

I need some intimacy

you choose the place

you choose any place

a bar, a cafe over a bridge

invading the holiness of seas

when it is rainy in Beirut

my sorrows grows and branches

so, I need some intimacy

I need a woman ...

who knows love chemistry

Me too, I am not in Beirut, and it is not raining, but I need some intimacy. Even in a dry weather, my sorrows grows and branches. I feel lonely to bones. I remember then a verse from New Tastement, when Jesus asked his disciples to stay with him, in his last night in land, he said; "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me""What? could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" Matthew: 40-41. The very same story across human history. The inspired leader, the man with the mission and faith, usually imagine all his followers carries the same degree of faith and dedication. He cannot imagine that he is very special, and he can do what others will be too weak to tolerate. This is the everlasting tragedy of great souls.
Matthew: 38. Leaving them to his prayer, he came back to find they all fall asleep. So, in his most difficult hour, he prayed alone. He then said to them

I imagined, according to the biblical story, that Jesus knew the next day to be his last day on earth. What could he feel then? What kind of a night a man can spend if he knew it will be his very last one? How merciful is God letting us know not about it. I then heard in my ears the Quranic verse "And the agony of death comes in truth.This is that which you were trying to escape" Qaf: 19.

From Magdstan with Sorrows

Farwelling Secular Prosperity

Hereunder, the last part of the faction story "Magdstan, a Sister Glorius State", today, we will see what happened to Nasser, the glorious president of Magdstan, the person I invented as a lung of glory in the era of Arabic asphyxia. The end might look sad, but I see it a factional end for a factional story. A leader who believes in his dreams, will face the problem of public ignorance in our Arab nations, a problem makes leading the nation, or misleading it, as easy as leading a herd. We usually dream of Salvatore, the just governor who will make a heaven-garden from our country. The question is, if it happened and we had him, can we handle him? Our problem is much deeper than our governments, it is within our skulls I believe, this what we need to face, and this what drove the end of my story to be that sad.

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Direct Airing from presedential residency in Zahera, President "Nasser Al-Magdi"

Dear Fellow-citizens, Glorious Magdis,

Before you I stand today as usual, an assigned employee at the degree of President of State before his employer, the nation. In such ceremonies, I used to discuss my decisions before you and explain it in details. However, today, it is more difficult to explain and detail, it is a decision that can be narrated only with pain in heart and burn in the throat. Yet, it is an obligation on myself, regarding my commitment to you since I attended the office, and regarding the national policies and strategies we agreed on together years ago. Therefore, my situation today was mandated against my will, only by the moral obligations I hold toward my glorious nation.

As we are all aware, we ran lately the Parliament elections, a one that brought-up the allies who calls themselves "Islamic Brothers", while I call them "Islamified Brothers". I have to admit they succeeded to convince you o' my nation with their shining slogans and attractive utopian words, I have to admit because this is what you expressed yourselves in the election. It is a weak majority what they achieved, but still a majority by the end of the day, a majority qualifying them, to be in charge of leading the policies of the state of Magdstan for three years according to our constitutional articles.

When the results of election were mainfested, I found myself in a very critical situation. I had to choose between respecting democracy, apart from how devastating results I can personally predict, or not to respect the baby-democracy in our land. The confusion was, being a baby, if we did not respect it today, it shall never be applied again. It was unequaledly tough decision between two risks. Lately, I had my choice, and I stand before you today to announce it. To announce a couple of presidential decrees;

First, to name Mr. Roshdi A'amer, the leader of the "Islamic Brothers Mass", as a prime minister, assigning him to compose his administration within two weeks from the decree issuance. Before narrating my 2nd decree, I would like to elaborate with you for moments about the consequences I predict in advance for the 1st one. Having the loyalty that I have to our nation, and despite my decree applying the results of the democratic process, I have to highlight my fears, those delayed my decree for 4 days from the date of elections to the date of decree issuance. It is a consequences I predict to come true very shortly after having the Islamified mass in power. These are,

1. Once they put in practice, the shaking economic regulations they announced before, applying what they called "Islamic Economy", this will result in devastating turbulence to the international trading movements. Moreover, their access to power will essentially freak-out foreign capital investments within Magdstan, which started already since election results airing. The first reaction was freezing the Magdi accounts and credits globally, until the international community ensure these liquid assets shall not be employed to finance terrorism and extremist societies.
2. Deterioration of the international relations of Magdstan, also started already with the comments of Mr. Roshdi A'amer on the international bank decisions, freezing assets of Magdstan, wherein he narrated that he does not know a thing called international community! Moreover, he used the words "Shaking EU" and the "Devilish USA'. The expectations about how US and EU shall react to these words are highly variable.
3. Once in charge, the new Islamified admin. will apply its totalitarian regimen. Wherein, the personal freedom of individual will be crashed under what they call "Islamic traditions". Sadly, a day has come, when Magdstan adopts a totalitarian system like that of Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
4. Rapid decline of national unity is highly expected to take place. Starting with the letter submitted from "Michel Samir", the proclaimed leader of "Christian Magdis in US" society, to the US Congress. Needless to say, the fanatic Michel found in the Islamified mass accessing the office, a unique opportunity to justify his dreams of support from USA, aiming to establish an autonomy zone for Christian Magdis in South Magdstan. Which is highly possible to happen if things kept its descending rate. Shall this nightmare comes true? Magdstan will never be one again, once detached, forever detached and further detachements might happen.

"Nasser Al-Magdi" can never be part of this chaos, I wish you accept my sincere apologies, taking the second decision. Whereby, I resign from the position of "President of State". Handing over my responsibilities to Marshal "Ali Gazal" the supreme Commander of Magdi Army, whom I trust to lead safely the transitional period, before the new presidential elections take place next September. Today, I have to farewell a land wherein I was born, and a nation that I had always adored. Only to find a place in the world, when secularity and human rights can be applied, parting in purpose from those who cover their vanity with Islam. Islam, my faith, that I had always seen as the most secular, practical and civilized, I can not see it today applied in my homeland with the nomadic understanding of that IB mass.

Finally my beloved people, I wish days will prove wrong all my expectations, I really hate feeling right about what I said. I had only wished all prosperity and glory for this land and this nation. May God bless you Magdstan people and keeps our beloved Magdstan with his unflagging care. To you Magdi Armies, and to you Marshal "Gazal", I rely on the honesty and patriotism of the army, to navigate and pass safely from this storm. The army took it out from the storm of monarchy before, and it is capable to do it again whenever theology seems to be too stinky to its future ans stability. Thank You

Reincarnation of Judas

Why I hate Sadat?

Here, I shall answer the objecting comments I have got from some friends on the last post “Dead Hero and Dead Zero”. Primarily, I want to say that I had never imagined neither Sadat nor Judas as a Satan, who is skeletoned out of all goodness. Yet, both names have always presented to me the word “Betrayer” embodied in human figure. To give some examples about the betraying nature of Sadat, I will give some examples on variety of levels and from different perspectives, as a man and as a president

• First Betrayal was to his wife and hard days’ partner, when Mohamed Anwar, the junior military officer proposed to Miss “Iqbal” the daughter of his village governor “Umda”, he was a subject of initial rejection by the family due to the social difference. She was “Iqbal” herself who insisted on getting married to the young troop. Later on, when Sadat met Jihan, and she conditioned his to divorce “Iqbal” before getting married to her (not the opposite as shown in the movie), he simply did, he gave the new bride what she asked for apart from the miserable lady, whose daughters had never lived as those of Jihan, the First Lady afterward. This is what a coward man will typically do.
• Second was on the night of revolution, the one who spent in Cinema with “Jene” as he used to call here while his colleagues are under arms, moreover, he created a fake conflict with a man in the cinema and went to police station to register his place during movement time of the army. Later on he claimed it was a coincidence, yakhy …….. (Documented in the Revolution Members Assessment Investigations in 1952)
• Third, was the misleading information he transmitted after his visit to Yemen to assess the situation, based on which, Nasser took the decision of Egyptian interference in Yemen. (His written and signed report is documented)
• Fourth betrayal after he became the president, affirming he will follow “Nasser’s line”. Later on, as the joke said by that time, he followed Nasser’s line with an eraser. (his commitment is documented in AV recordings)
• Fifth when he agreed with Syrians to have the first cessation of attack on Tiran lines while he gave a different orders here to his army. (Compare the documented order of the supreme leader of army and the documented Syrian maps with Sadat handwriting over it)
• Sixth was on 7th of October when he breached to Kissinger his intentions not to propagate the attack further on the Egyptian frontline (CIA release for 1973 LSD)
• Seventh, when crippling the chief commander of his army from attacking the Israeli army on the west coast of canal, later on known as “Defreswar bulge”
• Eighth when he decided to solve the Egyptian conflict upon his own initiative requesting others to follow while he took Jerusalem visit initiative alone.
• Ninth when he unleashed the curse of Islamic fundamentalism to face the leftist and Nasserist Protestants to his lousy policies. Through an overt agreement with Omar Temesani
• Tenth when he created the first Muslim/Coptic frictions in the contemporary history through his conflict with the Pope. It was then when Egyptian Christians found out they are treated as a 2nd class citizens in their own land.
• Eleventh when he sold-out all achievements of the public sector, with an ambitious plan to drain it and then sell-it-out in a radical move to right. Needless to mention what we have now is his extension (Documented )
• Twelfth when he selected a clever general who is 100% afar from diplomacy and political life as a deputy to him.
  
  Was this dozen of betrayals enough to hate a man? At least for me it is