Has everyone seen the photo of the Archbishop of Canterbury presenting an award to Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi? If not, please have a look

[TheStateWeAreIn]

I don’t know what to say really, I just want as many women on MN as possible to see this picture.

Particularly Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi‘s wife.

There’s so much going on there.

(I know there’s another thread about the award and it’s subsequent withdrawal, I just wanted to start a thread to focus on the photo)

I do find this quite shocking. It’s difficult to explain but I don’t really want to live in a country where this is accepted.

I am a brown woman. I am totally against modesty culture, and have a big problem with this. It's like the monks who went to the Eiffel..Too much pandering.
I myself would have an issue handing out that award.
That said, I expect this thread to deteriorate, so won't say more.

Be sad when such choices are taken away from you and you are permanently entombed in black.

You think it’s racist and Islamaphobic to be horrified at women being subjugated?

Goodness

Better just not object to Muslim women being dressed in shrouds then, I mean it’s bad but me getting called racist is far worse and I wouldn’t want to risk that 🙄

Very good point

The terrible thing is that when i first looked at the picture, I didn't even SEE his wife. Poor woman.

I think it’s fine to start a thread about the image in particular - I either hadn’t seen it or had glanced quickly and not actually noticed his wife because she is essentially invisible!

I think head scarfs are absolutely fine but no one has managed to convince me that a Niqab or Burka is anything positive for the women inside them and I think we should be working to stop their use (via communication, outreach and education).

The covered woman would know it’s not her place to speak and you wouldn’t be able to hear her easily under the face covering.

We could just ban them in public buildings as the French have done.

I’m so heartened this thread hasn’t carried on in the vein of the first few replies. I was in despair of MN for a while there.

Anybody who says "its her choice"
needs to look up

Mahsa Amini

Yes. Usually mn threads are as the first few posts were either more accusations on top. I’m glad rational, intelligent women can say why they have an issue with this.

Many of us who are brown are worried about a regressive, misogynist take over of many religions. Not just Islam but also Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism...
It's always men.

Absolutely horrific and heartbreaking

I saw this photograph yesterday and was shocked.
I was angry and disappointed that the AofC condoned the treatment of Ashrafi's wife.
And I thought he's just going through the motions and does the AofC realise that he doesn't respect her at all, and thinks she's an immodest whore.
Because let's face it, that's what men like him think about western women. No respect at all. We're not even human. One step above an animal. I suspect the AofC is too busy trying to be kind and is too naive to realise.
So yes, I'm with the OP on this one.

I always point out on these threads that dressing in a burkha or niqab is NOT Islamic. One of the intentions of early Islam was to liberate women. At a time of truly terrible oppression of women, Islam allowed women to work, to be educated and to refuse a potential marriage partner. In The Qur’an women’s and men were asked to dress modestly. That’s all. However Islamic law requires that all Muslims are Khalifah ( caretakers ) of the planet. The number of Muslim women who use bikes is very low. Many women conveniently forget about saving the planet in favour of performative Islam. A poster on here explained that her husband found it erotic to insist his wife covered up and that only he could see her hair and face etc. That is NOT true Islam.
I am reading the BBC news story about Sara Sharif at the moment which shows how her father and step mother made her wear a hijab to cover bruising and the social workers did not check because it might look disrespectful to Islam. That is totally against the spirit and law of Islam.
I wonder if the posters on here defending the wearing of niqab, burkas and indeed the hijab, square their consciences with what happened to Sara and indeed no doubt, lots of women and girls. It is not Islamic.
Albania is a Muslim country yet virtually no women there cover up. Covering women up is cultural not Islamic.

Maybe she’s as worried about the Islamification of the West as I am, and is trying to get through to as many complacent people as possible.

Me neither. I thought it was AI with an extra hand on the piece of paper. She literally blends into the background.

I agree
It is a sad reflection on men that women have to cover up to such a degree.

My thoughts - the Archbishop of Canterbury is a gibbering fool and the head of her church is little better. Quite honestly, this isn't religious tolerance, it's cowardly appeasement of something that's morally insupportable and an affront to the female sex.

The photograph exemplifies exactly how far the UK is willing to go to pander to the followers of a Wahhabist cult.

I lived next door to a Muslim family, they were nice, quiet etc. Before the daughter hit puberty she used to play outside in a pink sari and sing away. When she did hit puberty she was covered like this in black and not allowed outside anymore. Unsupervised that is. No playing.
I remember passing her and a family member as I was heading out for a day cycling, alone, in my lycra outfit. It was such a nice day, wind in your face, sun on your skin. Alone with your thoughts.
It was around the time that the U.S withdrew from Afghanistan and all the women's rights were disappearing.
It was just so stark, it's still a vivid memory. I can't imagine living being passed from father to husband, covered head to toe in black, not leaving the house alone. It's absolutely brutally repressive. I felt so so lucky to have the freedom that I have and even then it's not perfect but I am so grateful for it. And so devastated for the women and girls who were losing what they had gained.

@Banjas. Have you read my comment? Do you know that being made to wear the hijab, prevented social workers seeing Sara Shalif’s injuries and bruising. Are you happy with that?Are you happy that the UK’s tolerance towards a practice which is un Islamic, lead to the death of Sara. Are you happy about that?