On wearing the hijab | Narjes Jaafar and Sally Beydoun

On wearing the hijab | Narjes Jaafar and Sally Beydoun

The hijab or veil has become one of the most discussed pieces of clothing in modern times. One cannot read the news without stumbling upon a story of discrimination related to what a woman was wearing at some specific time, and things seem to be getting worse.

We often judge people before we hear their stories, and this is what Sally Beydoun and Narjes Jaafar are trying to battle. Narjes, a second year medical student, and Sally, a fifth year pharmacy student, are not at TEDxLAU to present a drug that will make people less judgmental and empathize before they jump to conclusions. They are actually going to put their medical background behind and join forces to present their personal journeys with the hijab.

Great talk! I just belief that there is no freedom of wearing a hijab or not for a woman. In my opinion it is simply a symbol of religious oppression and a culture that is long overdue to change. Any woman who is “happy” to wear it because she was forced in the first place as a child to wear it, learned to adjust herself and now is forcing other woman to comply as well does not is an example of fredom. Sadly this is even what this talk is all about: how both woman are forced by society to wear the hijab or not and how they decided to react to this. As for freedom of religion and specially religious practice: every human has the right to practice this/her beliefs at his/her own discretion. Whatever makes you happy: go for it as long as you don´t violate other peoples rights.
Wearing a hijab is creating a lot of social pressure for other woman. So is a hijab still covered by freedom of religion? Speaking of religion: throughout human history most of the pain and suffering was caused in the name of god and in order to protect a certain “flavor” of belief system. In my opinion there is a direct link between human suffering and organized religions. Not because of the religion itself or what is written in some old book, but because of what men are doing today “in the name of allah” or did in the past (I am looking at you, catholic church!). The system of oppression in islamic countries is a problem for all of us and the hijab is (at least in the west) THE symbol of a backwards and barbaric practice of islam.
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